Final answer:
The "hungry tigress" panel in Horyu-ji Temple depicts a story from the Jataka tales where the Buddha, in a past life, sacrifices himself to feed a starving tigress and her cubs, highlighting the Buddhist virtue of compassion and selflessness.
Step-by-step explanation:
The "hungry tigress" panel from the shrine in the Horyu-ji Temple in Nara, Japan, portrays an important event from the Jataka tales, which are a collection of stories about the previous lives of the Buddha. In this particular story, the Buddha, in a past life, sacrifices himself to feed a starving tigress and her cubs. This act of compassion and selflessness is a fundamental moral teaching in Buddhism, emphasizing the virtue of sacrifice for the well-being of others, even at great personal cost.