Spreading cow dung under trees

[Ryan Richard Overbey]

Dear esteemed colleagues,

As I work on my dissertation on, the Great Lamp of the Dharma  
Dhāraṇī Scripture (T1340, extant only in sixth-century Chinese  
translation) I have run across an interesting passage about preachers  
(*dharmabhāṇaka) who preach in nice parks and groves with plenty of  
trees. The passage, found around T1340, v. 21, p. 754b for those who  
have access to Chinese, could be very roughly translated as follows:

"they will spread on the ground under the trees a lump of cow dung,  
and having thus decorated them, they then ask the *dharmabhāṇaka to  
preach. When that *dharmabhāṇaka preaches the dharma, then in that  
grove there will be grove-protectors: sky-spirits, earth-spirits, tree- 
spirits, and other minor deities, and all the classes of beings  
including gandharvas, kinnaras, garuḍas, mahoragas, nāgas, and  
yakṣas. ... They will praise the people who decorated, for because  
they spread cow dung under the trees, they will be able to remember  
and guard and never forget, and they will circumambulate those trees  
as if they were worshipping stūpas."

I am interested in this passage for various reasons-- domestication of  
the landscape and its assorted numena, the transformation of trees  
into stūpas, etc.

But I must admit my ignorance about the South Asian background for the  
finer details of this episode. Does anyone know of any instances where  
trees are transformed into stūpas or other types of shrines via the  
application of cow dung?

I know plenty of examples of cow dung as a general material for  
consecrating ritual space, as in so-called "prototantric" Buddhist  
texts like the Mahāmāyūrīvidyārājñī, where ritual arenas are  
set up by clearing the ground, drawing a circle, and applying cow  
dung. And I know about the general value of cow dung for quotidian  
uses, such as fuel for fires or for washing floors.

But I know very little about cow dung being used to mark a place or  
object as a permanent site of worship for the local numena. The text  
specifies that even after the dharmabhāṇaka leaves, the local  
spirits will guard the grove faithfully.

It may be that the episode simply refers to the well-known potency of  
cow dung for purifying a space, but I would love to know if anything  
more specific may be found. I would be most grateful for any insights  
or analogues you may have!

All best,
Ryan Overbey
Ph.D. candidate, Committee on the Study of Religion
Harvard University
overbey at fas.harvard.edu