This rare and important hanging scroll by the Japanese artist TOSA YUKIHIRO* depicts the passing of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni into nirvana. In Buddhist thought, nirvana is a release from the cycle of death and rebirth. Parinirvana is the ultimate nirvana, which occurs with the death of the physical body of someone who has attained enlightenment.
The Buddha passes into nirvana while lying on a platform in meditation beneath sacred trees near the banks of the Batsudaiga River, represented behind a host of disciples. In the surrounding crowd are Bodhisattvas, Buddhist monks, Hindu deities, men and women of every class, a multitude of animals, and even some mythical beasts.