The "Brahma’s Request" painting in Western Qin cave 196 at the Binglingsi Grottoes has been generally identified as a preaching scene for a long time. This paper proposes that it is a scene of Sakyamuni preaching known as " Brahma’s Request," which originated from Gandharan art. In the art of Gandhara,Sakyamuni is generally flanked by Brahma and Indra, but the picture only shows Brahma kneeling on one knee requesting Buddha to provide teaching; a depiction that is in fact closer to descriptions found in Buddhist scripture.
