評論
打印
Why put a horse on the coin, instead of the king? This looks back to an ancient sacrificial ritual-established long before Hinduism-that had been observed by the Indian kings of the past, and was preserved and continued by the Guptas. It was an awesome and elaborate year-long process that a king might opt to do once in his reign. It cost a fortune, and culminated in a massive theatrical event: the sacrifice itself. Kumaragupta decided that he would perform this rite.
為什么硬幣上的形象是馬而不是國王？這源自印度教誕生之前就已存在的一種古老的祭祀儀式，之前的印度國王一直奉行，笈多的國王也將其繼承了下來。這種儀式，位國王一生中也許只能舉行一次，因其步驟繁復可怖，持續時間更是長達一年，要耗費大量錢財，并以大規模夸張的殺生獻祭作為結束。鳩摩羅笈多一世決定要舉辦一次。
A stallion was selected and ritually purified, then released to roam for a year, followed and observed by a vast escort of princes, heralds and attendants. A key part of their job was to prevent it from mating: the stallion had to remain pure. At the end of its year of sexually-frustrated freedom, the horse was retrieved in a complex set of ceremonies before being killed by the king himself, using a gold knife, in front of a vast audience. Our gold coin commemorates Kumaragupta's performance of this ancient pre-Hindu ritual, that had reaffirmed his legitimacy and his supremacy. But at the same time, Kumaragupta was vigorously promoting other, newer, religious practices, invoking other gods in support of his earthly power. He was spending large amounts of money on building temples and filling them with statues and paintings of the Hindu gods, making them manifest to the worshippers in a new and striking form. He was, in fact, creating the gods anew.
他們選中了一匹牡馬，凈身儀式后，放它出去漫游一年。一支由王子、信差及仆從組成的隊伍一直尾隨并觀察它。他們的主要任務之一是阻止它交配:牡馬必須保持純潔。在整整一年無法交配但自由自在的生活之后，牡馬被抓回來，經過一系列復雜儀式后交給國王，由國王在眾人面前用金刀親手將其殺死。我們這枚金幣便是為了紀念鳩摩羅笈多一世所完成的這一比印度教還古老的儀式。該儀式再次確認了他的王統與無上的權力。但與此同時，鳩摩羅笈多一世也急于推動其他較新的宗教活動，希望得到其他神靈的扶持，以鞏固自己在人世的地位。他花費了大筆金錢修建神廟，在寺內廣樹雕像，繪制壁畫，用新穎動人的形式來吸引信徒。事實上，正是他與當時的許多人一起，重塑了神靈的形象。
What sort of relationship, between devotee and deity, was being encouraged during this flourishing of Hinduism under the Guptas?
在笈多王朝，印度教蓬勃發展之際，信徒與神之間形成了一種怎樣的關系？
