Oak and the Tribe of the Buddha

[John C. Huntington]

Oak? maybe its a joke (sorry)

I do not think so! Oaks grown in Europe, North America and California  
(a species called "live Oak") but not in India. My botanical  
references to India list no oaks. To be blunt, some one is making up  
something of no merit what so ever.

John



John C. Huntington, Professor
(Buddhist Art and Methodologies)
<http://huntingtonarchive.osu.edu>
Department of the History of Art
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH, U.S.A.





On Sep 28, 2005, at 10:49 AM, jkirk wrote:

> Hello Indologers,
>
> This is a query that came to the Buddha-L list, and as I too am  
> wondering
> about this translation of shakya--any comment, anyone?
>
> Thanks,
> Joanna Kirkpatrick
> ==================================
>
>
>
>
>> Dear list members,
>> Here's a quotation from the new book _Oak:  The Frame
>> of Civilization_, by William Bryant Logan, Norton, 2005,
>> page 24:
>> 'The name of the historic Buddha, Shakyamuni, means
>> "the sage of the oak tree people".'
>> This surprised me, and I haven't been able to find any
>> corroboration on the internet or in my library.  I'm not
>> an expert on Pali or Sanskrit, so I can't judge the
>> accuracy of this statement.  The book is not a scholarly
>> volume, so there aren't footnotes  -- otherwise I'd just
>> look at his references and I might have my answer already.
>> Was the Shakya tribe/clan really named after oak trees?
>> Sincerely,
>> Greg Bungo
>