[INDOLOGY] Two terms

Wed Sep 14 08:51:41 UTC 2016

Dear Artur,

the Sinhala Thūpavaṃsaya has been translated by S. Berkwitz, The Enshrining of the Relics.
On p. 131f. you'll find the translation of this passage as follows:

"Dear boy! The enshrining of the relics has been done by King Ajātaśatru. Create a suitable defense for them." The deity Viśvakarma, who heard those words, came and prepared a device outfitted with figures of wild beasts, and created a device in the relic chamber out of wooden forms that held shining swords of crystal and that whirled around with a speed equal to that of the wind."

By the way the word vāḷa means predators in other contexts too. Thus we have diwans (pallaṅka) the feet of which are decorated with figures of beast of prey (Vin IV 299,21f.).

Best,
Petra Kieffer-Pülz

Am 14.09.2016 um 08:45 schrieb Artur Karp:

> Dear List, 
> 
> Would anyone take pity on me and translate this bit of the Sinhalese text for me?
> 
> [Sent by Rolf Heinrich Koch:]
> 
> "daruva, Ajātaśatru rajjuruvan visin dhātu nidhānaya karavana lada, topi da īṭa sudusu ārakṣāvak karav" yi kiya.
> e bas äsū Viśvakam divyaputra avut vyālarūpa yukta yantrayak yodā daṇḍin neḷā karana lada dūpayan dhātu garbhayehi ävāṇa puhupat kaḍugena vānavēgayak hā samāna vēgayen sisārā divannā vū 
> yantrayak mavā,...
> 
> Sinhala Thūpavaṃsaya (2007) p. 109sq.
> 
> In advance, etc. 
> 
> I would be especially grateful for the meaning of vyālarūpa -  as it is understood in the text: in the form of ferocius animal(s) [like tigers or lions] or serpent(s)?
> 
> 
> 
> Artur
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 2016-09-12 17:19 GMT+02:00 Rolf Heinrich Koch <rolfheiner.koch at gmail.com>:
> I am just working on Sinhalese sources of the Buddhacarita.
> 
> Regarding vāḷasaṅghātayantan the Sinhala Thūpavaṃsaya reads:
> 
> 
> "daruva, Ajātaśatru rajjuruvan visin dhātu nidhānaya karavana lada, topi da īṭa sudusu ārakṣāvak karav" yi kiya.
> e bas äsū Viśvakam divyaputra avut vyālarūpa yukta yantrayak yodā daṇḍin neḷā karana lada dūpayan dhātu garbhayehi ävāṇa puhupat kaḍugena vānavēgayak hā samāna vēgayen sisārā divannā vū 
> yantrayak mavā,...
> 
> Sinhala Thūpavaṃsaya (2007) p. 109sq.
> 
> Best 
> Heiner
> 
> 
> www.rolfheinrichkoch.wordpress.com
> 
> Am 12.09.2016 um 15:03 schrieb Seishi Karashima:
>> Dear colleagues,
>> 
>> Almost identical passages are found in the Thūpavaṃsa: The chronicle of the Thūpa and the Thūpavaṃsa: Being a Translation and Edition of Vācissaratthera’s Thūpavaṃsa, by N.A. Jayawickrama, London 1971: Luzac (Sacred Books of the Buddhists / Pali Text Society, v. 28; Unesco Collection of Representative Works), pp. 182f.
>> 
>> Jayawickrama translated the passages in question as follows: 
>> 
>> Sakka, the king of the deities addressed Vissakamma: 'Ajatasattu, my dear, has done the enshrining of the relics ; you provide protection there', and despatched him. He came and set up a contraption with a number of figures of ferocious animals and setting up inside the relic chamber (another contraption) which made the wooden figures bearing crystal coloured swords revolve with the speed of the wind, he had it all joined to one pin, had a rampart of granite in the form of a 'brick-hall' 6 built, and having it covered on top with a single (stone-slab) had earth thrown in and the ground levelled and had a granite thiipa established upon it. (ibid. p. 46).
>> 
>> Cf. also Dīghanikāyaṭṭhakathāṭīkā Līnatthavaṇṇanā, ed. Lily De Silva, London 1970: Luzac, vol. 2, p. 246, ll. 14ff. vāḷasaṅghātayantan ti kakkhalaṃ paṭibhayadassanaṃ aññamaññapaṭib{h}addhagamanāditāya saṅghāṭitaṃ rūpakayantaṃ yojesi. ten’ āha “kaṭṭharūpakānī”ti ādi.
>> 
>> With best regards,
>> Seishi Karashima
>> 
>> 2016-09-12 21:42 GMT+09:00 Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh at umich.edu>:
>> Hi Artur,
>> 
>>      I checked Google Images for "Nagayantra", and there are several interesting diagrams and designs for such Yantras, some of which are evidently found in Thai Buddhist temples.  Here is a link:
>> 
>> http://www.sak-yant.com/archive/108yant/payanakarach/yantpayanakarach.jpg
>> 
>> Madhav
>> 
>> On Mon, Sep 12, 2016 at 8:32 AM, Artur Karp <karp at uw.edu.pl> wrote:
>> > contraption
>> 
>> :)
>> 
>> any image of ?
>> 
>> 2016-09-12 14:29 GMT+02:00 Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh at umich.edu>:
>> Hi Artur,
>> 
>>      It probably refers to some contraption surrounded by a host of serpents.  Serpents as guardians of hidden underground treasures is a reasonably common idea in Indian literature.
>> 
>> Madhav 
>> 
>> On Mon, Sep 12, 2016 at 8:24 AM, Artur Karp <karp at uw.edu.pl> wrote:
>> Dear Madhav, 
>> 
>> The PTS,s Pali-English Dict.:
>> 
>> Vāḷa - [cp. late Sk. vyāḍa, see Geiger, P. Gr. § 54⁶] I. a snake Vism 312 (so read for vaḷa).- 2. a beast of prey [...] vāḷa-miga, a beast of prey, predaceous animal, like tiger, leopard, etc. [...]
>> 
>> When in search for the Elixir of immortality Garuda enters the underworld, he kills two serpents hidden under the [eternally] revolving wheel. (Mbh. I, 29. 3-9). 
>> 
>> When the relics of the Buddha are hidden by Ajatasattu in the underground chamber, Vissakamma places over them, for their defence the [eternally] revolving vāḷa–saṅghāṭa–yanta.
>> 
>> If vāḷa would mean "snake, serpent", then this could be one of the tropes linking both the narrations.
>> 
>> Yanta means "contrivance, artifice, instrument, machine, mechanism" - in what way could it be constructed/pegged together - using serpents? Ataching it to serpents? Giving it a serpentine look?
>> 
>> Artur  
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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