Dr.Michaels,
Truly enough, elephant finds a special place in the various anecdotes related to Buddha's birth.According to some, Mahamaya , Siddharth Gautam Buddha's Mother( Queen to King Suddhodhana, Buddha's father) dreamt of a white elephant entering her womb before Buddha's birth.(or, elephant making their way out of her womb, according to others) The Hatigumpha cave in Orissa, India, depicting two elephants forging their way out of a mountain cave, is related to Buddha's birth anecdotes.
Elephant has a significant place in Buddhist iconography.

                Alakendu Das.

Sent from RediffmailNG on Android




From: "Michaels, Axel via INDOLOGY" <indology@list.indology.info>
Sent: Mon, 1 Jun 2020 16:13:44 GMT+0530
To: Indology <indology@list.indology.info>
Subject: [INDOLOGY] The Buddha and the elephant

Dear all,

 

a friend asked me, whether I now the origin of Malraux’s following epitaph: “The elephant is the wisest of all the animals, the only one who  remembers his former lives; and he remains motionless for long periods of time, meditating thereon.-BUDDHIST TEXT”. It’s in Malraux’s Anti Memoirs.

 

I have no clue. Anybody of you?

 

Axel Michaels

 

__________________________________________________

 

cats

Prof. Dr. Axel Michaels

Senior Professor | Vice President Heidelberger Academy of Science and Humanities | Founding Director of CATS

Centre for Asian and Transcultural Studies (CATS)

Südasien-Institut / South Asia Institute

Universität Heidelberg

 

Vossstr. 2, Geb. 4130

Raum 130.03.07

D-69115 Heidelberg

 

T: +49-6221-5415209

E: michaels@hcts.uni-heidelberg.de

W: www.hadw-bw.de/nepal.html,

      http://www.asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php?id=4396

 

 

_______________________________________________
INDOLOGY mailing list
INDOLOGY@list.indology.info
indology-owner@list.indology.info (messages to the list's managing committee)
http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list options or unsubscribe)