Phra Mae Thorani
| Translations of Phra Mae Thorani |
|
|---|---|
| Pali | Vasudhara |
| Burmese | Wathondare (ဝသုန္ဒရေ) Wathondara (ဝသုန္ဒရာ) |
| Khmer | Preah Thorani |
| Pwo Karen | Soung Th' Rui |
| Thai | Phra Mae Thorani (พระแม่ธรณี) Mae Phra Thorani (แม่พระธรณี) Nang Thorani (นางธรณี) |
| Glossary of Buddhism | |
Phra Mae Thorani (Thai: พระแม่ธรณี) is an chthonic goddess from Buddhist mythology in Southeast Asia.
The earth deity's name changes in different countries, but is generally a form of a word for "earth," i.e. Pṛthivī, Kṣiti, Dharaṇī, Vasundharā, and so on. In Cambodia the earth deity is known simply by her title: nān ganhān (pronounced "neang kongheng") from nān, "lady," and gānhān, a Khmer word for "princess." In the Thai regions she is known as Nang Thoranee or Mae Thoranee: "lady earth" or "mother earth." In Burma and Arakan she is Vasundhara (transliterated variously as Wathundari, Wathundaye, Vasundari, and so on). Sometimes she is given the epithet Sundarī, "beautiful one," or Vanitā, "dear one." I use the name Vasundharā in this dissertation for consistency, but the reader should keep in mind that this particular form of the earth deity's name is unknown in Thailand or Cambodia.
Her name is derived from the words Thorani, the Thai pronunciation of Pali dhāraṇī "ground, earth", the honorific phra and the word mae "mother".
Images of Phra Mae Thorani are common in shrines and Buddhist temples of Burma, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos. According to Buddhist myths, Phra Mae Thorani is personified as a young woman wringing the cool waters of detachment out of her hair to drown Mara, the demon sent to tempt Gautama Buddha as he meditated under the Bodhi Tree.
The Bodhisattva was sitting in meditation on his throne under the Bodhi Tree, Mara, the Evil One, was jealous and wanted to stop him from reaching enlightenment. Accompanied by his warriors, wild animals and his daughters, he tried to drive the Bodhisattva from his throne. All the gods were terrified and ran away, leaving the Bodhisattva alone to face Mara's challenge. The Bodhisattva stretched down his right hand and touched the earth, summoning her to be his witness. The earth deity in the form of a beautiful woman rose up from underneath the throne, and affirmed the Bodhisattva's right to occupy the vajriisana. She twisted her long hair, and torrents of water collected there from the innumerable donative libations of the Buddha over the ages created a flood. The flood washed away Mara and his army, and the Bodhisattva was freed to reach enlightenment.
...
Wikipedia