Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afd. Letterkunde
1 total work
This volume contains an English translation of the Mahakarmavibhanga, based upon a Chinese translation by Gautama Dharmaprajna of 582 A.D. The contents of the Mahakarmavibhanga have been illustrated on the reliefs of the hidden base of Candi Borobudur (Central Java, 9th Century A.D.) and the Chinese text contains many variae lectiones which help to clarify the intent of the sculptors. Chapter 3 re-examines the characteristics of the text and the manner in which the themes have been laid out on the walls. Chapter 4 deals with the language of gestures, as seen at Borobudur. This is the first work in English to deal with the identification of the reliefs. It contains many new identifications which provide an insight into the methods of illustration adopted by the sculptors. Contrary to the generally accepted view, neither the text nor the reliefs emphasize bad behavior resulting in negative karma; instead it deals with negative and positive karma in a scrupulously even-handed fashion. In Chapter 4, the gestures and postures, the ``body language'' of the figures in the reliefs are subjected to systematic analysis.