[INDOLOGY] Alchemy metaphor

[jacob at fabularasa.dk]

Dear list,

A similar case of transmutation in narrative literature is found in the 
Tibetan version of the framing narrative of the Vetālapañcaviṃśati. 
There the corpse possessed by the vetāla turns into gold upon the 
success of the young prince Bde-spyod (Sātavāhana) in bringing it back 
to the benevolent ascetic Klu-sgrub (Nāgārjuna). Each time a limb is cut 
from the golden corpse, it grows back out again, thus making it an 
inexhaustible source of wealth destined to be used for spreading 
Buddhist doctrine and helping secure the prosperity of Bde-spyod's 
kingdom when he himself becomes king.

The same theme is rehearsed in at least one manuscript of the Indian 
version of the Vetālapañcaviṃśati attributed to Śivadāsa (Poleman no. 
2317; ms. c in Heinrich Uhle's 1881 critical edition). There, however, 
the corpse only turns into gold after king Vikramāditya has slain the 
now malevolent ascetic (variously described as a yogin, a digambara, and 
a kṣapaṇaka) who sent him out to fetch it for his own 
magical-ritualistic purposes. The king then states that the limbs of the 
golden corpse shall grow back out again when cut, and that the gold 
shall be used to pay off the debts of the earth.

Both cases, one seemingly derived from the other, present us with 
examples of the transmutation of a corpse into gold; and, furthermore, 
in both cases the transmutation seems to serve the dual purpose of 
providing material wealth (securing the prosperity of the kingdom, 
paying off the debts of the earth) and providing a metaphor for 
spiritual purification (helping spread Buddhist doctrine, paying off the 
debts of the earth).

Best,
Jacob

Jacob Schmidt-Madsen
Lecturer (Sanskrit)
Department of Indology
University of Copenhagen
Denmark

Artur Karp skrev den 2014-07-21 11:08:
> Dear List,
> 
> Two more instances that seem to be indicative of the alchemy
> metaphor's popularity in the Indian narrative tradition.
> 
> During his last days - as described in the Mahaparinibbana-sutta - the
> Buddha's body looses its natural coloring and becomes  golden-hued. On
> his way to Kusinara he crosses the Golden River (Hiraññavatī), and
> he wears a gold-threaded robe. A sign of his final purification and,
> ultimately, transmutation --- ?
> 
> In a well known myth, Hiranyakashipu decides to kill his disobedient
> son Prahlada. He devises a series of deadly attempts that should have
> ended in his son's death, but is unsuccessful. According to the
> Bhagavata-purana, the number of these "treatments" is - if I counted
> them well - SIXTEEN. Has anyone analyzed the sequence? Is it in any
> way evocative of the 16 saṃskāras ---? Or - does it contain just a
> free, sort of caricatural variation on the alchemical process, and
> that is why it ultimately ends in the performer's death?
> 
> Thanks for a highly interesting exchange and -
> 
> All the Best,
> 
> Artur Karp
> Senior Lecturer in Sanskrit and Pali (ret.)
>  South Asian Studies Dept.
> Oriental Faculty,
> University of Warsaw
> Poland
> 
> 
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