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

[Tieken, H.J.H.]

Dear Dominik,

Does what applies to Skt droṇam (ntr) also apply to Pāli doṇī (fem.)? I have to add that I find it hard to believe that the body was indeed immersed in a bathtub full of oil.

Herman

Herman Tieken
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________________________________
Van: INDOLOGY [indology-bounces at list.indology.info] namens Dominik Wujastyk via INDOLOGY [indology at list.indology.info]
Verzonden: vrijdag 23 november 2018 19:14
Aan: ALAKENDU DAS
CC: Indology
Onderwerp: Re: [INDOLOGY] The Buddha's body in a vat of oil

"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: snehabhāvitāyām 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<http://sas.ualberta.ca/>



On Fri, 23 Nov 2018 at 03:31, alakendu das via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto: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<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>>
Sent: Tue, 20 Nov 2018 21:47:59 GMT+0530
To: indology <indology at list.indology.info<mailto: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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