Sources of the moth and lamp imagery

[George Thompson]

There is also that nice, well-known simile at BhG 11.29:

"Like the moths [patangaah] that rush frantically to the burning
flame, and to their destruction, so these worlds rush in a frenzy into
your mouths, to their destruction."

Best,

George Thompson

On Thu, Jun 16, 2011 at 5:39 AM, Klaus Karttunen
<klaus.karttunen at helsinki.fi> wrote:
> Dear Greg,
> as patanga this is found in the Ramayana 3, 27, 13, Mbh. 2, 39, 19 & 3, 2,
> 65 & 5, 52, 12, etc., as salabha in Ramayana 3, 13, 36, Mbh 2, 16, 10 & 17,
> 15, etc., in Asvaghosa, Bhasa, etc, in Pali Udana p. 72 (PTS ed.). See my
> paper
> “Śalabha, pataṅga, etc. Locusts, Crickets, and Moths in Sanskrit
> Literature”, The Second International Conference of Indian Studies,
> Proceedings. Cracow Indological Studies 4–5. 2003, 303–316.
>
> Best,
> Klaus
> Klaus Karttunen
> Professor of South Asian and Indoeuropean Studies
> Asian and African Studies, Department of World Cultures
> PL 59 (Unioninkatu 38 B)
> 00014 University of Helsinki, FINLAND
> Tel +358-(0)9-191 22674
> Fax +358-(0)9-191 22094
> Klaus.Karttunen at helsinki.fi
>
>
>
> On Jun 16, 2011, at 11:38 AM, Gregory Bailey wrote:
>
> Dear List,
>
> Can anyone enlighten me as to the earliest reference to the image of the
> deluded moth being attracted by the lamp and then burnt in its flame.
>  Bhartṛhari (VŚ 3, 82) gives an instance of it.
>
> Any help would be appreciated as another colleague has requested information
> about this as the image is used in nationalist posters of the thirties.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Greg Bailey
>