“This 12th-century Nepali sculpture depicts a powerful story of divine intervention and protection: during a sudden and violent storm, the serpent king Muchalinda rose to form a protective cave around the Buddha, permitting him to remain in deep meditation. Since 1997, this object has been on regular view in museum galleries and featured in landmark exhibitions.”
"Thus have I heard. At one time the Lord was staying at Uruvela beside the river Nerañjara at the foot of the Mucalinda Tree, having just realized full enlightenment.
At that time the Lord sat cross-legged for seven days experiencing the bliss of liberation. Now it happened that there occurred, out of season, a great rainstorm and for seven days there were rain clouds, cold winds, and unsettled weather. Then Mucalinda the naga-king left his dwelling place and having encircled the Lord’s body seven times with his coils, he stood with his great hood spread over the Lord’s head (thinking) to protect the Lord from cold and heat, from gadflies, mosquitoes, wind, sun, and the touch of creeping things.
At the end of those seven days the Lord emerged from that concentration. Then Mucalinda the naga-king, seeing that the sky had cleared and the rain clouds had gone, removed his coils from the Lord’s body. Changing his own appearance and assuming the appearance of a youth, he stood in front of the Lord with his hands folded together venerating him.
Then, on realizing its significance, the Lord uttered on that occasion this inspired utterance:
Blissful is detachment for one who is content,
For one who has learned Dhamma and who sees;
Blissful is non-affliction in the world,
Restraint towards living creatures;
Blissful is passionlessness in the world,
The overcoming of sensual desires;
But the abolition of the conceit “I am” —
That is truly the supreme bliss."
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"In Buddhist tradition, the serpent king Muchalinda protected the Buddha from a storm after he became enlightened. The story is depicted in art, including sculptures and carvings.
Story
- After becoming enlightened under the Bodhi tree, the Buddha continued to meditate for seven weeks.
- A storm arose, and the rising waters threatened to submerge him.
- Muchalinda, the king of the nagas, coiled his body beneath the Buddha to lift him up above the flood.
- He spread his hood over the Buddha to serve as an umbrella.
- After the storm, Muchalinda assumed his human form, bowed before the Buddha, and returned to his palace.
Art
- The Buddha Sheltered by Muchalinda is an 11th century Cambodian statue.
- Statues and carvings of Muchalinda with seven heads have been found at the Ta Prohm-temple in Cambodia.
- The iconography of Mucilinda protecting the Buddha is very prominent in Southeast Asian Buddhism.
The story of Muchalinda and the Buddha is told in the Mucalinda Sutta."
This Made my day!
Talk about an Epic Synchronicity
They came before the Vikings! Just sayin’
LOL Touche
