Ties That Bind: Maternal Imagery and Discourse in Indian Buddhism

277 Pages·2012·1.388 MB·English

by  Reiko Ohnuma

Ties That Bind
This page intentionally left blank
Ties That Bind
Maternal Imagery and Discourse
in Indian Buddhism
z
REIKO OHNUMA
1
Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further
Oxford University’s objective of excellence
in research, scholarship, and education.
Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi
New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto
With offi ces in
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised
Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian
Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.,
and are used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2012 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
www.oup.com
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ohnuma, Reiko.
Ties that bind : maternal imagery and discourse in Indian Buddhism / Reiko Ohnuma.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-991565-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-19-991567-5
(pbk. : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-19-991566-8 (ebook)
1. Buddhist literature—India—Themes, motives. 2. Motherhood in literature.
I. Title. II. Title: Maternal imagery and discourse in Indian Buddhism.
BQ1029.I42O57 2012
294.3 (cid:99) 8—dc23 2011043000

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For Attie, Astro, and Rich
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
List of Illustrations i x
Conventions xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 3
1 . “A Mother’s Heart Is Tender”: Buddhist
Depictions of Mother-Love 11
2 . “Whose Heart Was Maddened by the Loss
of Her Child”: Mothers in Grief 36
3 . “Whose Womb Shall I Enter Today?”:
M ā y ā as Idealized Birth-Giver 66
4 . “Who Breastfed the Blessed One after His
Mother Had Died”: Nurturance, Guilt, and Debt in
the Traditions Surrounding Mah ā praj ā patī 86
5 . “Short-Lived” versus “Long-Standing”: M ā y ā and Mah ā praj ā patī
Compared 113
6 . “She Is the Mother and Begetter of the Conquerors”: Pregnancy,
Gestation, and Enlightenment 134
7 . “Just as a Mother’s Milk Flows from Her Breasts”:
Breastfeeding and Compassionate Deeds 165
viii Contents
8 . “What Here Is the Merit, May That
Be for My Parents”: Motherhood on the Ground 180
Conclusion 204
Abbreviations 2 13
Notes 2 15
Bibliography 2 43
Index 257
List of Illustrations

2.1 The grieving mother Kis ā Gotamī asks the
Buddha for medicine to cure her dead son. 48
2.2 The yak ṣ i ṇ ī H ā rītī, surrounded by her children. 56
3.1 M ā yā dreams of a white elephant and conceives
the future Buddha. 72
3.2 M ā y ā gives birth to the future Buddha from her
right side. 75
4.1 Mah ā praj ā patī nursing the future Buddha. 87
4.2 Mah ā prajā patī standing outside the monastery
after the Buddha has refused to institute an order
of nuns. 95
6.1 Suj ā tā off ers milk-rice to the Buddha. 137
6.2 The goddess Prajñā p ā ramit ā . 152