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@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@uw.edu.pl> wrote:

> contraption

:)

any image of ?

2016-09-12 14:29 GMT+02:00 Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh@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@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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