Dear all,

I am interested in the respect-showing gesture the Pali form of which is bhagavataṃ abhivādetvā, “having paid homage to (/having saluted) the Bhagavat,” which is the form of respect the Buddha’s monks, nuns, lay followers, etc. show him. In Buddhist Sanskrit texts this is replaced by bhagavatpadau śirasā vanditvā (or some variant of it), “having honoured the feet of the Bhagavat with his head.” The equivalent phrase bhagavato pāde sirasā √vand is sometimes found in Pali canonical texts, apparently as the equivalent of bhagavataṃ abhivādetvā, and in Pali commentaries as a gloss of it.  

In non-Buddhist Sanskrit texts, abhivād- (caus. of abhi-√vad) does not have a sense of bowing down with the head but seems to mean “salute”, “greet”, “introduce oneself,” sometimes with one’s name. The references I have found for this (without doing an exhaustive search) are Manu and its commentaries, MBh, etc. Is abhivād- found in pre-Buddhist Sanskrit literature as a form of greeting and if so, in what sense? And is the phrase bhagavatpadau śirasā √vand found in non-Buddhist Sanskrit literature, especially as a gloss on abhivād-? Any references dealing with this topic would also be appreciated.

Best wishes

Mark

Dr Mark Allon

Chair, Dept. of Indian Subcontinental Studies

The University of Sydney

Australia