The Arhat (Buddhist saint) Abheda (Without Fracture) was also known as Abheda the Elder or Subinda. A contemporary of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni (traditionally dated to 563–483 BCE), he was born into a wealthy Brahmin family in Rajagriha (modern Rajgir), Bihar. He is one of the Sixteen (and later Eighteen) Great Arhats who were perfected individuals commissioned by the Buddha to be custodians of the Dharma (Buddhist law) until the arrival of the future Buddha, Maitreya. He is represented in his standard iconography as supporting an enlightenment stupa (reliquary monument) with both hands. He has cropped hair, wears a flowered outer robe (sanghati), and is seated cross-legged on a lotus base.
The Sanskrit inscription in siddha script inscribed around the base is the Buddhist creed: The Buddha has explained the cause of all things that arise from a cause. He, the great monk, has also explained their cessation.
See also M.2005.154.1. A comparable sculpture of Abheda, albeit attributed to the 18th-19th century, is in the British Museum, London (1954,0222.2).
