Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Blair Solari" data-source="post: 31551257" data-attributes="member: 589556">3:5:10 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF TĀVATIṂSAThe devas of Tāvatiṃsa dwell in a beautiful city made of gold, jewels and other precious materials. This city was said to have arisen by the power of the kamma made by Magha and his companions building the great hall.544This city is ten-thousand yojana from the eastern gate to the western gate, and the same from north to south. It has two thousand gates in all, and is adorned with many parks and ponds. In the center is the mighty Palace of Victory (vejayanto nāma pāsādo), seven hundred yojana high, made of the seven precious things.545 It is adorned with a standard (dhaja) of three-hundred additional yojana.On golden staffs are standards of jewel; on jewel staffs are standards of gold. On staffs of coral are standards of pearl; on staffs of pearl are standards of coral. There are staffs made of the seven precious things bearing standards of the seven precious things, and in the middle of these is the three-hundred yojana high standard, made of the seven precious things. The whole palace thus is one-thousand yojana in height.In the city there is also a great tree, koviḷāra pāricchattaka,546 three hundred yojana around. At the foot of the tree, there is a stone slab sixty yojana long, fifty yojana wide and fifteen yojana thick. This slab is the rose-coloured throne of Sakka, king of the devas, the paṇḍukambalāsana. When he sits upon it, he sinks to the depth of half his body, when he stands it returns to its previous shape. (Dhp-a 2:7) Other texts mention decorated gateways in the encircling wall, which is made of the seven precious things and is sixty yojana thick, and a great high-street, sixty yojana wide and paved with gold (Jāt 544, Eng. 542). The chief gate-way is called Cittakūṭadvārakoṭṭhakā (possible translation: the “Beautiful Mountain Guarded Door”) and it is guarded by statues of Inda (Sakka in his war-like manifestation) who stand there “like tigers” (Jāt 541).Prominent among the features of Tāvatiṃsa are the many pleasure parks and gardens. The chief of these is the Nandanavana, “The Grove of Delight.” It is adorned with various lovely trees and ponds, and features a Nandana Lake (Jāt 220). The Nandanavana is always thronged with devatāsand their retinues of accharās547 who come to enjoy themselves. We hear of festival days (ussavadivasa) when the devas congregate here to make merry (Vv-a 1). A typical story, one among many in the Vimānavatthu, is of a woman who made an offering of flowers to the Buddha and afterwards was reborn as a female deva who would spend her time singing, dancing, gathering garlands of Paricchattaka blossoms and generally playing in the Nanadanavana, surrounded by a retinue of one thousand accharās. The verses describing her blissful existence speak of her dancing:While you are dancing with all your limbs in every way, deva-like sounds (dibbā saddā) stream forth, delightful to hear.While you are dancing with all your limbs in every way, deva-like scents (dibbā gandhā) are wafted around, sweet scents, delightful … .And the perfume of those sweet-scented, delightful garlands on your head blows in all directions, like the mañjūsaka tree.You breathe that sweet scent, you see unearthly beauty (rūpaṃ amānusaṃ—lit. non-human forms), 544 Sālāya nissandena Dhp-a 2.7.545 Sattaratana, i.e. gold, silver, pearls, rubies, lapis-lazuli, coral and diamond, ref. PED.546 Identified by the PED with the Coral Tree, Erythmia Indica.547 acchāra. Commonly translated as “celestial nymph”, these are the wondrously beautiful dancing girls who entertain the devas, see § 3:5,11<hr />3:5:11 ACCHARĀS CELESTIAL NYMPHSThere are often references to devas in the sensual heavens being endowed with the “five cords of divine sense-pleasure” (dibbā pañca kāmaguṇā). Beautiful gardens full of flowers and blossoming trees, and an ambience full of music and dance, have already been referred too, but this makes up only a portion of the devas’ pleasures. Firstly, we may mention that the devas themselves are often described as of “extremely pleasant appearance.”558 They are also said to be radiant, with a glorious brilliance which is compared to the morning star, (Vv-a 9) or even to the sun and moon (Vv-a 30). They wear the finest cloth and are gorgeously adorned with gold, jewelled ornaments, and especially flower-garlands.559 Male devas always appear to be twenty years old, female ones to be sixteen (DN-a 14).Especially beautiful are the ubiquitous accharās, (Sanskrit apsara) usually translated as “nymphs.” The accharās are female devas whose erotic charms form one of the principal delights of Tāvatiṃsa. The loveliness of the accharās was proverbial, and it is common in the texts to hear the beauty of a human woman praised by saying that she was “just like a divine nymph.”560 Besides the natural beauty of their form, like the other devas they are often said to be radiant and sometimes compared to the star Osadhi.561 The accharās are always adorned with finery and jewels, and are skilled in the arts of music and dance.Very frequently accharās are described with the adjective kakuṭapāda, usually translated as “dovefooted.” This has led to some representations in later Buddhist art of beautiful female forms with bird-like talons instead of feet. This does not seem to have been the original intention of the word, and would, it seems, rather spoil their charm!562 Kakuṭapāda probably referred to the colour or perhaps the softness of their feet. There is a passage in the commentary to the Suttanipāta which says that they were all disciples of Kassapa Buddha and had given him an offering of oil to anoint the feet, and hence were eventually reborn as “dove-footed” (Sn-a 1: 12). This seems a contrived explanation, given the vast numbers of accharās found in Tāvatiṃsa, (Sakka’s retinue alone constitutes twenty-five millions) and it may be that the phrase seemed odd already at the time the commentaries were composed. The adjective itself is a rare one; according to the PED, the word kakuta occurs only in this compound, never independently. In a Jātaka story there is a long verse passage in praise of the beauty of the accharā Alambusā: The ascetic Isiniṅga was so advanced in his practice of sense-restraint that Sakka became afraid that he would accumulate enough merit to replace him on the throne of Tāvatiṃsa, so the King of the Devas decided to send the accharā Alambusā to tempt him. Sakka remarks that while the Nandana Grove is full of lovely accharās, none has Alambusā’s skill in knowing how to entice a man. When the hapless Isiniṅga saw her approaching his hermitage, he spoke aloud a long plaintive series of verses:“Who is this, radiant like lightning or the healing star?Adorned with bracelets and earrings?With complexion like the sun, and scent of sandalwood.With her well-formed thighs of great enchantment, who is this woman lovely to behold?558 Abhikkantavaṇṇā. This phrase is common for instance in the Devasaṃyutta of the SN. It is translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi as, “of stunning beauty ”.559 See Vv-a passim, ex. 1. 3. 2.560 Devaccharāpa ṭibhāgā see for example Jāt 132, 152, 327, 387 among many others.561 See for instance Jāt 523 quoted below. This star is likely Venus or possibly Sirius.562 It is also possible that these images have simply been misidentified and were supposed to be kinnara.------ Post added on [DATETIME="UT"]1786367298[/DATETIME]</blockquote>

Verification: Winadiyakata thappara keeyak tibeda?

Top Bottom