The idea that damaging sacred artifacts is a heinous deed is expressed not only in Indian and Sri Lankan Buddhist inscriptions and in PƗli literature, but also in the literature of the Indian Buddhist schools. It is a social idea, a product of a shared imagination, bound up with concepts of material culture and should be traced to the evolution of the cult relics, stūpas, Bodhi-trees, and images, rather than to any particular text or school. The first part of this paper presents some of the early textual references to these ideas in Pali, Sanskrit, and Prakrit, and then several of the much later texts and inscriptions. Suffice it to say that the destruction of stūpas, images and books was a reality that is attested in Tibetan and Chinese histories for India or in the Mahāvaṃsa for Lanka. Those who damage religious objects are threatened with dire consequences in their next life. The second half of the paper concerns a translation of sections on the damage or theft of sacred artifacts in the Thai “Three Seals Law Code,” compiled and issued under the aegis of Rama I in CE 1805 but based on earlier legislation up to 500 years earlier. The ideology outlined in this text and the very harsh punishments accompanying these actions call for a comparison with other Buddhist cultures. These examples also illustrate the state’s serious involvement in and enforcement of religious rules.
目次
Abstract 69 I 70 II 76 III 78 IV 81 V 84 VI 87 VII 88 VIII 89 IX 91 X 94 Note 95 Acknowledgements 95 Conventions 95 References 96
