[INDOLOGY] The Buddha's body in a vat of oil

[Dominik Wujastyk]

"teli-dona" in Sanskrit would be "taila-droṇam".  This expression occurs
twice in the *Carakasaṃhitā*.  In both cases it should be understood not in
the sense of "a barrel of oil," but rather "ten litres of oil."  A *droṇa*
is a unit of measure (see *Roots of Ayurveda* "Śarṅgadhara on weights
measures and definitions."  A droṇa is not exactly ten litres, but roughly
so.

When the *Carakasaṃhitā* gives its longevity instructions at Ca.ci.4.7, the
patient is to be put in a barrel and the word is *droṇa*: s*nehabhāvitāyām
ārdrapalāśadroṇyāṃ sapidhānāyāṃ digvāsāḥ śayīta* "he should lie naked in a
palāśa-wood barrel that has been steeped with oil, covered with a lid."  (
*Roots*, "Rejuvenation through Soma" in the Suśruta chapter).

My conclusion is that although there are oiled barrels in classical
Ayurveda, a teli-dona isn't a barrel of oil, but rather an amount of oil.

Best,
Dominik


--
Professor Dominik Wujastyk <http://ualberta.academia.edu/DominikWujastyk>
,

Singhmar Chair in Classical Indian Society and Polity
,

Department of History and Classics <http://historyandclassics.ualberta.ca/>
,
University of Alberta, Canada
.

South Asia at the U of A:

sas.ualberta.ca



On Fri, 23 Nov 2018 at 03:31, alakendu das via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dr.Karp,
> I apologise for being a little late in citing a probable reference
> vis-a-vis your query.I could access my library
> only yesterday evening,where I came across the book"The Vedantic Buddhism
> of Buddha"by J.G.Gennings(Oxford University Press ,1948).Pg 427 of the book
> g
> brings out the fact,that after Buddha's Mahaparinirvana,HIS body was first
> wrapped in unsoiled garment and cotton,and then laid on an oil-trough to
> form the pyre.This has reference in the Khudda Nikaya of the Sutta
> pitaka.The word Teli-Dona implies oil-trough.
> Alakendu Das.
> Sent from RediffmailNG on Android
>
>
>
>
> From: Artur Karp via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
> Sent: Tue, 20 Nov 2018 21:47:59 GMT+0530
> To: indology <indology at list.indology.info>
> Subject: [INDOLOGY] The Buddha's body in a vat of oil
>
> pali tela-doni, sanskrit taila-droni.
>
> Was the body placed in cold - or hot oil?
>
> Any mention of the oil's temperature in the accessible sources?
>
> Artur Karp (ret)
> Chair of South Asian Studies,
> University of Warsaw
> Poland
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