纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 042鸠摩罗笈多王一世金币（5）

Shaunaka Rishi Das, Hindu cleric and Director of the Oxford¹ Centre for Hindu Studies explains:

牛津大学古印度研究中心主任、印度教僧人肖纳卡·里希·达斯解释道：

"Hindus will see a deity² on the whole as God present. God can manifest anywhere, so the physical manifestation³ of the image is considered to be a great aid in gaining the presence of God. By going to the temple, you see this image that is the presence, or you can have the image in your own home. So they'll invite God to come into this deity form, they will wake God up in the morning with an offering of sweets. The deity will have been put to bed, in a bed, the night before, raised up, will be bathed in warm water, ghee, honey, yoghurt, and then dressed in hand-made dresses-usually made of silk-and garlanded with beautiful flowers, and then set up for worship for the day. So it's a very interesting process of practicing the presence of God."

印度教将所有的神都当作造物主的分身。造物主无处不在。因此，对神灵形象的实体展现被认为对呼唤造物主显身极有帮助。去寺庙参拜时，神像便是显身。同时，你在家里也可以供奉。印度教徒会邀请造物主进入这一实体。早上敬献甜食唤醒他，晚上将他置于床榻之上，起床后用温水、酥油、蜂蜜、酸奶为他沐浴，然后穿上通常用丝绸缝制的服装，并饰以美丽的花环，最后再开始一天的敬拜。这一套实践造物主显身的仪式十分有趣。

The god whose presence Kumaragupta chose to practise most intensely is obvious from his name. He chose as his special god, the god of war, Kumara, and it's Kumara that we see on our second gold coin.

鸠摩罗笈多一世最常敬拜的神祇从他的名字就能看出来。他选择的是战神鸠摩罗。这便是我们在第二枚金币上看到的形象。

Naked to the waist, he holds a spear and is mounted on a sacred peacock. Not the vainglorious⁴ peacock of western tradition, but an aggressive and terrifying bird that he's riding into war. This image, created 1,600 years ago, is still immediately recognisable today, you can see it in many shrines⁵. But there's one final detail that's worth mentioning-Kumara and his peacock are shown standing⁶ on a plinth.

鸠摩罗上身赤裸，手握长矛，骑坐在一头孔雀上。他们的孔雀并不像西方传统中那样是虚荣自负的象征，而是一种凶残可怕的神鸟，鸠摩罗骑着它上战场。这一 形象出现于1600年前，时至今日仍能让人一眼认出，在许多寺庙都能见到。但有一处细节值得一提，金币上的鸠摩罗与孔雀立于基座之上。

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 deity   

n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物)

参考例句：

• Many animals were seen as the manifestation of a deity.许多动物被看作神的化身。
• The deity was hidden in the deepest recesses of the temple.神藏在庙宇壁龛的最深处。

3 manifestation   

n.表现形式；表明；现象

参考例句：

• Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。
• What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。

4 vainglorious   

adj.自负的；夸大的

参考例句：

• She is a vainglorious woman.她是个爱虚荣的女性。
• Let us not become vainglorious,provoking one another,envying one another.不要贪图虚荣，彼此惹气，互相嫉妒。

5 shrines   

圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。
• Their palaces and their shrines are tombs. 它们的宫殿和神殿成了墓穴。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。