Yasodhara, the Wife of the Bodhisattva

Obeyesekere, Ranjini (Übers.):
Yasodharā, the Wife of the Bodhisattva : the Sinhala Yasodharāvata (The Story of Yasodharā) and the Sinhala Yasodharāpadānaya (The Sacred Biography of Yasodharā) / transl. with an introduction and notes by Ranjini Obeyesekere. - Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, 2009. - xiv, 100 S.
ISBN 978-1-4384-2827-7
US$ 45,00 (Hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4384-2828-4
US$ 14,95 (Paperback)
DDC: 891.4808

Beschreibung
What about Buddha's wife? We all know that Prince Siddhārtha left his wife and infant son to begin his journey to enlightenment. The Pali canon does not mention the woman he left behind. Yasodharā enters the commentarial tradition around the first century CE and lives on in the folk tradition, growing from a shadowy figure to a nun and arahat (an Enlightened One), even gaining magical powers. In this book, Ranjini Obeyesekere offers a translation of two works from Sri Lanka on this intriguing figure. The Yasodharāvata (The Story of Yasodharā) is a folk poem, whose best-known verses are Yasodharā's lament over the departure of her husband. The Yasodharāpadānaya (The Sacred Biography of Yasodharā) is an account of Yasodharā as a nun capable of miracles, who has traveled through saṃ|sāra with the Bodhisattva, and who is praised by him. Obeyesekere places these works within their historical and literary context and provides a glossary of Buddhist terms. [Verlagsinformation]

Inhalt
Preface. ix
Acknowledgments. xiii
INTRODUCTION. 1
   Yasodharā: The Woman
   Yasodharā in Early Sanskrit and Pali Buddhist Literature
   Yasodharā in Sinhala Literature
   The Folk Poem Yasodharāvata (A)
   The Tradition of Lament in Sinhala Poetry
   The Yasodharāvata (A) in the Context of Sinhala Literary History
   The Printed Texts
   An Analysis of the Poem Yasodharāvata (A)
   Modern Critics of the Yasodharāvata
1. The Poem: Yasodharāvata (The Story of Yasodharā). 35
2. Comments on the Yasodharāpadānaya. 59
3. The Prose Text: Yasodharāpdānaya (The Sacred Biography of Yasodharā). 63
APPENDIX. 81
A Review of the Palm Leaf Manuscripts of the Yasodharāvata in the National Museum Library, Colombo, and the British Museum Library, London.
Glossary. 89
Bibliography. 99

Übersetzerin
RANJINI OBEYESEKERE is an independent scholar and retired Lecturer of Anthropology at Princeton University. She is the author, editor, and translator of several books, including Portraits of Buddhist Women: Stories from the Saddharmaratnavaliya and Jewels of the Doctrine: Stories of the Saddharmaratnavaliya, both also published by SUNY Press.

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