Dear list members,
I am wondering about appearances of the word "saśarīra" and/or "svaśarīra" in various contexts. I have encountered saśarīra/svaśarīra in the episodes of Triśaṅku and Śambūka from the
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, but would be curious to know of other places where these or similar concepts show up. In both of these episodes, the goal of Triśaṅku and Śambūka is to enter some sort of heavenly realm or divine form (variously referred to as divam,
gatim, svargam, devatvam etc.) with their body. Also in these episodes, Triśaṅku and Śambūka have gone rogue to engage in
tapas as a way of achieving this goal.
An example from each of the Rāmāyaṇa episodes:
guruśāpakṛtaṃ rūpaṃ yad idaṃ tvayi vartate |
anena saha rūpeṇa saśarīro gamiṣyasi || VR 1.58.4 (Triśaṅku episode)
śūdrayonyāṃ prasūto 'smi tapa ugraṃ samāsthitaḥ |
devatvaṃ prārthaye rāma saśarīro mahāyaśaḥ || VR 7.67.2 (Śambūka episode)
I am especially curious about the use of "saśarīra" in similar ways, but I am open to any use of the term from the literature at large.
With thanks in advance,
Aaron