| Description |
1 online resource (239 pages) |
| Contents |
Intro -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgments -- A Note on Transliteration and Translation -- Introduction -- 1. Instructions, Admonitions, and Aspirations in Vamsa Proems -- 2. Relocating the Light -- 3. Nagas, Transfigured Figures Inside the Text, Ruminative Triggers Outside -- 4. Nagas and Relics -- 5. Historicizing (in) the Pali Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index |
| Summary |
Vam?sa is a dynamic genre of Buddhist history filled with otherworldly characters and the exploits of real-life heroes. These narratives collapse the temporal distance between Buddha and the reader, building an emotionally resonant connection with an outsized religious figure and a longed-for past. The fifth-century Pali text Mahavamsa is a particularly effective example, using metaphor and other rhetorical devices to ethically transform readers, to stimulate and then to calm them. Reading the Mahavamsa advocates a new, literary approach to this text by revealing its embedded reading advice (t |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Mahānāma, active 5th century. Mahāvaṃsa.
|
| SUBJECT |
Mahāvaṃsa (Mahānāma) fast (OCoLC)fst01356808 |
| Subject |
Buddhist literature, Pali -- History and criticism
|
|
Buddhist literature, Pali.
|
| Genre/Form |
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| ISBN |
9780231542609 |
|
0231542607 |
|
