Gail Hinich Sutherland is Assistant Professor of Asian Religions at Louisiana State University.
摘要
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"The author does a very successful job in exploring the place and function of demons in Hindu/Buddhist mythology and iconography. She addresses the ways in which demons dwell on the boundaries between good and evil, human and divine, and, as boundary transgressors, serve to connect the disparate aspects of the religious traditions together." -- Paul Courtright, Emory University
Among the most ancient deities of South Asia, the yaksstraddles the boundaries between popular and textual traditions in both Hinduism and Buddhism and both benevolent and malevolent facets. As a figure of material plenty, the yaksis epitomized as Kubera, god of wealth and king of the yaks In demonic guise, the yaksis related to a large family of demonic and quasi-demonic beings, such as nagas, gandharvas, raksand the man-eating pisaacas.
Translating and interpreting texts and passages from the Vedic literature, the Hindu epics, the Puranas, Kalidasa's Meghaduta, and the Buddhist Jataka Tales, Sutherland traces the development and transformation of the elusive yaksfrom an early identification with the impersonal absolute itself to a progressively more demonic and diminished terrestrial characterization. Her investigation is set within the framework of a larger inquiry into the nature of evil, misfortune, and causation in Indian myth and religion.
目次
Abbreviations
Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Approaching the yaksa
The problematic function of demons Indian ethical paradigms
My approach to the material
Chapter 1. The Yaksa And The Waters
Introduction
Iconography and method
Yaksa beginnings in Buddhism and Jainism
Iconography and metaphor
Mythological background
Nature cosmology
The essence of the waters
The demiurge in the waters
Trees, water, and fertility
Trees in Buddhist tradition
The lotus
Pots of plenty
Makaras
The naga
The magic fish
Local waters
The family of demons
Introduction
Yaksas and raksasas
Pisacas
Gandharvas
Kinnaras or kimpurusas
Kubera
Introduction
Kubera and the lokapalas
Chapter 2. The Yaksa In Hinduism
Vedic Sources
Varuna
Chapter 3. Trial By Water In Hindu And Buddhist Texts
Introduction
The testing naga
The testing yaksa
The Bodhisatta and yakkha
Varuna as yaksa
Trial by water continued: moral conclusions
Chapter 4. The Yaksa In Buddhist And Jain Representations And Thought
Buddhist cosmology and myth
The Buddhist cosmos and the demonic
Transformation and conversion
The fluid, physical, and moral forms of the demons
