A Tide of Merit.
Stressing the importance of 5th–6th-century copper-plate charters connected to the Viṣṇukuṇḍin dynasty for the history of Buddhism in Āndhradeśa, this article demonstrates that, contrary to earlier scholarly assumptions, and despite the paucity of archeological evidence for Buddhist activity at that...
| Published in: | Indo-Iranian Journal Vol. 61; no. 1; pp. 20 - 97 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Brill Academic Publishers
2018
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=127736019&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 127736019 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00197246 OG7 jtl: Indo-Iranian Journal issn: 00197246 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: 2018 vid: 61 iid: 1 pid: 639 pub: Brill Academic Publishers artinfo: ui: 127736019 10.1163/15728536-06101003 ppf: 20 ppct: 77 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 3.4MB tig: atl: A Tide of Merit. aug: au: Tournier, Vincent affil: , École française d’ Extrême-Orient su: Buddhism Christianity sug: subj: Buddhism Christianity keyword: Bodhisattva kings and the Bodhisattvayāna Buddhism in South India and Laṅkā epigraphy of Āndhradeśa Ikṣvāku and Viṣṇukuṇḍin dynasties Māravijaya Sthā̆vira/Theriya lineages and the Tāmraparṇīyas Vinaya and <italic>vaṁsa</italic> literature ab: Stressing the importance of 5th–6th-century copper-plate charters connected to the Viṣṇukuṇḍin dynasty for the history of Buddhism in Āndhradeśa, this article demonstrates that, contrary to earlier scholarly assumptions, and despite the paucity of archeological evidence for Buddhist activity at that time, Buddhist lineages still benefitted from lavish donations by ruling families. This study consists of three parts: the first explores the representation of two Viṣṇukuṇḍin rulers as Buddhist kings, and shows how their portraits and their aspirations are permeated by the ideology of the Bodhisattvayāna. The second part examines one of the main recipients of royal donations, the Sthā̆vira/Theriya lineage of the Tāmraparṇīyas, already known from inscriptions issued under the previous Ikṣvāku dynasty. The analysis of these earlier records from Nagarjunakonda in light of little-studied copper plates shows that the Tāmraparṇīyas had a strong institutional presence in Āndhradeśa from the mid-3rd to the late 6th century. The lineage’s connections with Laṅkā and with other Theriya centres along the Bay of Bengal are delineated through a close examination of the terminology used in the inscriptions under scrutiny, in light of co-eval records, and especially of Pāli Vinaya literature and historical narratives. The last part of this article focuses on a poetic allusion to the episode of the Buddha’s victory over Māra included in the opening stanza of a grant issued by king Pr̥thivīśrīmūla. The evidence suggests that this record connects for the first time the water poured by Śākyamuni in his previous lives as a Bodhisattva with a flood that drove away Māra’s army from the seat of Awakening, a motif that grew—like a tide—and spread across Southeast Asia. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Indo-Iranian Journal is the property of Brill Academic Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Indo-Iranian Journal holder: Brill Academic Publishers dt: @attributes: year: 2018 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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