Body of the Buddha

Greco-Indian fusion (Gandhara style) in art (maxwell.syr.edu)

The Buddha's body was extraordinary with 32 Marks of a Great Man (lakkhana). More than handsome and entrancing, his past skillful karma also gave rise to 80 "secondary characteristics" (anubyanjana) or "marks of a great man." While he was human, these marks are often accentuated in statuary and religious paintings, which also frequently depict moments of transformation.

For example, after emerging from deep meditation, he skin would take on a more golden burnish than usual. He was radiant and glowing, and his colorful aura became visible. Another example popular in Burmese art (and like much of Chinese and Tibetan iconography) is when the Buddha took on the appearance of a world monarch to humble a king. In addition, past buddhas lived in a time when humans were much taller (and longer lived), giving rise to bigger-than-life stone carvings in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere.

The details of his physical appearance are recorded in the Pali Canon from older Sanskrit sources (since the idea of the marks of a great man were pre-Buddhist Vedic teachings popular in Brahminical lore).

Payer.de

1. He has beautiful fingers and toes.
2. He has well-proportioned fingers and toes.
3. He has tube-shaped fingers and toes.
4. His fingernails and toenails have a rosy tint.
5. His fingernails and toenails are slightly upturned at the tip.
6. His fingernails and toenails are smooth, rounded, no ridges.
7. His ankles and wrists are rounded and undented.
8. His both feet are equal length.
9. He has a beautiful gait, like that of a king-elephant.
10. He has a stately gait, like that of a king-lion.


11. He has a beautiful gait, like that of a swan.
12. He has a majestic gait, like that of a royal ox.
13. His right foot leads when walking.
14. His knees have no protruding kneecaps.
15. He has the demeanour of a great man.
16. His navel is without blemish.
17. He has a deep-shaped abdomen.
18. He has clockwise marks on the abdomen.
19. His thighs are rounded like banana sheaves.
20. His two arms are shaped like an elephant's trunk.


21. The lines on the palms of his hands have a rosy tint.
22. His skin is thick or thin as it should be.
23. His skin is unwrinkled.
24. His body is spotless and without lumps.
25. His body is unblemished above and below.
26. His body is absolutely free of impurities.
27. He has the strength of many elephants or even more men.
28. He has a protruding nose.
29. His nose is well proportioned.
30. His upper and lower lips are equal in size and have a rosy tint.
    
31. His teeth are unblemished and with no plaque.
32. His teeth are long like polished conchs.
33. His teeth are smooth and without ridges.
34. His five sense-organs are unblemished.
35. His four canine teeth are crystal and rounded.
36. His face is long and beautiful.
37. His cheeks are radiant.
38. The lines on his palms are deep.
39. The lines on his palms are long.
40. The lines on his palms are straight.
    
41. The lines on his palms have a rosy tint.
42. His body emanates an aura extending out two meters.
43. His cheek cavities are fully rounded and smooth.
44. His eyelids are well proportioned.
45. The five nerves of his eyes are unblemished.
46. The tips of his bodily hair are neither curved nor bent.
47. He has a rounded tongue.
48. His tongue is soft and has a rosy-tint.
49. His ears are long like lotus petals.
50. His ear lobes are beautifully rounded.
    


51. His sinews and tendons don't stick out.
52. His sinews and tendons are deeply embedded in the flesh.
53. His topknot is like a crown.
54. His forehead is well-proportioned in length and breadth.
55. His forehead is rounded and beautiful.
56. His eyebrows are arched like a bow.
57. The hair of his eyebrows is fine.
58. The hair of his eyebrows lies flat.
59. He has large brows.


60. His brows reach the outward corner of his eyes.
61. His skin is fine throughout his body.
62. His whole body has abundant signs of good fortune.
63. His body is always radiant.
64. His body is always refreshed like a lotus flower.
65. His body is exquisitely sensitive to touch.
66. His body has the scent of sandalwood.
67. His body hair is consistent in length.
68. He has fine bodily hair.
69. His breath is always fine.
70. His mouth always has a beautiful smile.
    
71. His mouth has the scent of a lotus flower.
72. His hair has the color of a dark shadow.
73. His hair is strongly scented.
74. His hair has the scent of a white lotus.
75. He has curled hair.
76. His hair does not turn gray.
77. He has fine hair.
78. His hair is untangled.
79. His hair has long curls.
80. He has a topknot as if crowned with a flower garland.