Story of the Horse-King and the Merchant Simhala in Buddhist Texts
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11469346 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Naomi Appleton (0000-0002-9176-2910, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 187-201 |
| Publication date | 2007-02-03 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Buddhist Studies Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0265-2897 • E-ISSN: 1747-9681 |
| Publisher | Equinox Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1558/bsrv.2006.23.2.187 |
| OpenAlex | W2019952596 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 1 |
The Asvaraja story relates the adventures of a caravan of merchants shipwrecked on an island of demonesses and rescued by a flying horse, the asvaraja, ‘king of horses’. The Simhala story continues this narrative to include the chief merchant, Simhala, being followed home by a demoness, who tries to get him back before seducing and eating the king. Simhala is crowned king and invades the island. Each story has many versions, both Mahayana and non-Mahayana. This paper examines five key versions: birth story with ‘ocean of samsara’ metaphor; political and quasi-historical narrative of the invasion of Sri Lanka by the Sinhalese; warning that ‘all women are demonesses’; glorifi cation of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara; and Newar warning of the dangers of travelling to Tibet. Each version reveals some of the issues that its community is preoccupied with
Adventure · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Bodhisattva · Buddhism · Literature · Metaphor · Narrative · Theology · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.12 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2009 - 2021 (13) |
| Highly cited | No |