A Buddhist Ritual Manual on Agriculture : Vajratuṇḍasamayakalparāja - Critical Edition / Gergely Hidas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hidas, Gergely, 1970- Author.

Contributor:

European Research Council (ERC), Funder.

Series:

Beyond Boundaries

Beyond Boundaries ; 3

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (145)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; Boston : De Gruyter, [2019]

Language Note:

English.

Summary:

This volume is the first in-depth study of a recently discovered Sanskrit dharani spell text from around the 5th century CE surviving in two palm-leaf and three paper manuscript compendia from Nepal. This rare Buddhist scripture focuses on the ritual practice of thaumaturgic weather control for successful agriculture through overpowering mythical Nagas. Traditionally, these serpentine beings are held responsible for the amount of rainfall. The six chapters of the Vajratundasamayakalparaja present the vidyadhara spell-master as a ritualist who uses mandalas, mudras and other techniques to gain mastery over the Nagas and thus control the rains. By subjugating the Nagas, favourable weather and good crops are guaranteed. This links this incantation tradition to economic power and the securing of worldly support for the Buddhist community.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Acknowledgements

Contents

Introduction

Edition and translation

References

Index

Notes:

This eBook is made available Open Access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 https://www.degruyter.com/dg/page/open-access-policy

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 06. Apr 2020)

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9783110621051

3110621053

OCLC:

1121057604

Access Restriction:

Open access Unrestricted online access