Yael Shiri | University of Bristol (original) (raw)

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Papers by Yael Shiri

Research paper thumbnail of THE ŚĀKYAS AS GAUTAMAS: MONASTIC SELF-REPRESENTATION IN THE MŪLASARVĀSTIVĀDAVINAYA 1

Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 2022

This article explores the relationship between the Śākya and Gautama designations associated with... more This article explores the relationship between the Śākya and Gautama designations associated with the historical Buddha in relation to the re-imagination of his lineage in the textual environment of the (Mūla-)Sarvāstivādins and their wider religio-historical context. In particular, it explores the amalgamation of these two names within an otherwise unknown aetiological story embedded in the Saṅghabhedavastu of the Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya, in a unique narrative sequence designed to re-tell the origin of the Śākya clan. Through a close reading of the text, I provide evidence of the story's many Buddhist and non-Buddhist sources and propose a relatively late date for the story's appearance. In this light, I further suggest a reading of this story as an apologetic narrative with a polemic agenda vis-à-vis the imagined critique of allodox practitioners adhering to Brahmanical religious, social and aesthetic-literary values, and as a self-representation instrument for this monastic community.

Research paper thumbnail of Robert DeCaroli: Image Problems: The Origin and Development of the Buddha's Image in Early South Asia. (A McLellan Book.) x, 263 pp. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2015. £44. ISBN 978 0 295 99456 7

Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of From Royal Ideology to Religious Polemics The Evolution of the Śākyan Tutelary Temple in South Asia

Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient , 2020

This article explores the evolution of a story, common to many Buddhist traditions, narrating the... more This article explores the evolution of a story, common to many Buddhist traditions, narrating the Bodhisattva’s presentation as an infant at the Śākyan tutelary temple. Contrary to previous readings of the story, I argue that from its earliest occurrences this story was meant to shape the image of the Bodhisattva and the Śākya clan as an eminent royal lineage. As the article suggests, this image was fashioned in light of the prominent royal dynasties of Middle Period South Asia (ca. 1st–5th c. CE), particularly the Kuṣāṇas and Sātavāhanas. However, as time elapsed and the story evolved, it accumulated additional meanings and motifs which shifted its focus from a tale of royal symbolism to a polemical story of Buddhism’s religious superiority. To illustrate the development of this narrative I analyse both literary sources, with special attention to the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya, which likely contains the earliest extant literary version, and various visual sources found primarily in Āndhradeśa and the site of Kanaganahalli (Karnataka, in the Greater Āndhra region), where the story clearly carried special significance.

Thesis Chapters by Yael Shiri

Research paper thumbnail of The Śākyas in the Mūlasarvāstivāda- vinaya as a Trope of Buddhist Self- Representation in Dialogue with the Religious “Other” (unpublished PhD thesis)

The different hagiographical accounts on the life of the Buddha have justifiably drawn much schol... more The different hagiographical accounts on the life of the Buddha have justifiably drawn much scholarly attention since the very inception of Buddhist Studies as an academic field of study. Informing numerous rituals, artefacts, and teachings, the life of the Buddha is a defining element in almost any Buddhist tradition. As such, it is also a precious source for the study of Buddhist discourses of self-representation, past and present. As part of this lavish tradition, much has been dedicated to the description of the Buddha’s clan — the Śākyas. Nevertheless, research on the majority of these stories has not yet been thoroughly conducted.
Treatments of the topic, such as in the admirable works of André Bareau, typically approached it from a “historicist” perspective, trying to uncover the historical “truth” beneath the narratives. However, this dissertation treats such narratives as “historical traditions”, rather than excavating them for their presupposed historical facts.
In this dissertation, I focus on stories which are transmitted in the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya (MSV), composed between the 2nd and 5th centuries CE. The Mūlasarvāstivāda nikāya, which was one of the most influential in ancient India, disappeared from its native-land in the 13th century. Its vinaya, which is an enormous and unwieldy text, is not available in its entirety in any Western language. By analysing such accounts, using narratological and philological methods, and in light of visual materials, the dissertation aims to shed new light on the way in which they reflect the historical circumstances of their compilers/authors. As this dissertation demonstrates, these monastic authors were in constant dialogue with other religious communities, and predominantly brāhmaṇas.
While the dissertation focuses primarily on the cycle of birth-stories in the Saṅghabhedavastu of the MSV, it also draws upon other parts of this vinaya as well as on other Buddhist genres and the writings of other Buddhist schools.

Research paper thumbnail of THE ŚĀKYAS AS GAUTAMAS: MONASTIC SELF-REPRESENTATION IN THE MŪLASARVĀSTIVĀDAVINAYA 1

Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 2022

This article explores the relationship between the Śākya and Gautama designations associated with... more This article explores the relationship between the Śākya and Gautama designations associated with the historical Buddha in relation to the re-imagination of his lineage in the textual environment of the (Mūla-)Sarvāstivādins and their wider religio-historical context. In particular, it explores the amalgamation of these two names within an otherwise unknown aetiological story embedded in the Saṅghabhedavastu of the Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya, in a unique narrative sequence designed to re-tell the origin of the Śākya clan. Through a close reading of the text, I provide evidence of the story's many Buddhist and non-Buddhist sources and propose a relatively late date for the story's appearance. In this light, I further suggest a reading of this story as an apologetic narrative with a polemic agenda vis-à-vis the imagined critique of allodox practitioners adhering to Brahmanical religious, social and aesthetic-literary values, and as a self-representation instrument for this monastic community.

Research paper thumbnail of Robert DeCaroli: Image Problems: The Origin and Development of the Buddha's Image in Early South Asia. (A McLellan Book.) x, 263 pp. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2015. £44. ISBN 978 0 295 99456 7

Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of From Royal Ideology to Religious Polemics The Evolution of the Śākyan Tutelary Temple in South Asia

Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient , 2020

This article explores the evolution of a story, common to many Buddhist traditions, narrating the... more This article explores the evolution of a story, common to many Buddhist traditions, narrating the Bodhisattva’s presentation as an infant at the Śākyan tutelary temple. Contrary to previous readings of the story, I argue that from its earliest occurrences this story was meant to shape the image of the Bodhisattva and the Śākya clan as an eminent royal lineage. As the article suggests, this image was fashioned in light of the prominent royal dynasties of Middle Period South Asia (ca. 1st–5th c. CE), particularly the Kuṣāṇas and Sātavāhanas. However, as time elapsed and the story evolved, it accumulated additional meanings and motifs which shifted its focus from a tale of royal symbolism to a polemical story of Buddhism’s religious superiority. To illustrate the development of this narrative I analyse both literary sources, with special attention to the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya, which likely contains the earliest extant literary version, and various visual sources found primarily in Āndhradeśa and the site of Kanaganahalli (Karnataka, in the Greater Āndhra region), where the story clearly carried special significance.

Research paper thumbnail of The Śākyas in the Mūlasarvāstivāda- vinaya as a Trope of Buddhist Self- Representation in Dialogue with the Religious “Other” (unpublished PhD thesis)

The different hagiographical accounts on the life of the Buddha have justifiably drawn much schol... more The different hagiographical accounts on the life of the Buddha have justifiably drawn much scholarly attention since the very inception of Buddhist Studies as an academic field of study. Informing numerous rituals, artefacts, and teachings, the life of the Buddha is a defining element in almost any Buddhist tradition. As such, it is also a precious source for the study of Buddhist discourses of self-representation, past and present. As part of this lavish tradition, much has been dedicated to the description of the Buddha’s clan — the Śākyas. Nevertheless, research on the majority of these stories has not yet been thoroughly conducted.
Treatments of the topic, such as in the admirable works of André Bareau, typically approached it from a “historicist” perspective, trying to uncover the historical “truth” beneath the narratives. However, this dissertation treats such narratives as “historical traditions”, rather than excavating them for their presupposed historical facts.
In this dissertation, I focus on stories which are transmitted in the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya (MSV), composed between the 2nd and 5th centuries CE. The Mūlasarvāstivāda nikāya, which was one of the most influential in ancient India, disappeared from its native-land in the 13th century. Its vinaya, which is an enormous and unwieldy text, is not available in its entirety in any Western language. By analysing such accounts, using narratological and philological methods, and in light of visual materials, the dissertation aims to shed new light on the way in which they reflect the historical circumstances of their compilers/authors. As this dissertation demonstrates, these monastic authors were in constant dialogue with other religious communities, and predominantly brāhmaṇas.
While the dissertation focuses primarily on the cycle of birth-stories in the Saṅghabhedavastu of the MSV, it also draws upon other parts of this vinaya as well as on other Buddhist genres and the writings of other Buddhist schools.