纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 041无量寿佛坐像(5)（在线收听）

Our sculpture, one of the earliest known, probably dates to the third century AD, when Gandhara was ruled by the Kushan kings of northern India, whose empire stretched from Kabul to Islamabad. It was a wealthy region, thanks to its position on the Silk Road - the trade routes linking China, India and the Mediterranean. From Gandhara the main route ran west through Iran to Alexandria in Egypt. Gandhara's prosperity and political stability allowed the construction of a great landscape of Buddhist shrines, monuments and sculpture, and further missionary expansion. It's something that will be a recurring feature through this week - the religions that survive today are the ones that were spread and sustained by trade and power. It's profoundly paradoxical: Buddhism, the religion founded by an ascetic who spurned all comfort and riches, flourished thanks to the international trade in luxury goods. With the luxury goods like silk went the monks and the missionaries, and with them went the Buddha, in human form, perhaps because such an image helps when you're teaching across a language barrier.

这尊佛像大约雕刻于公元三世纪，是已知最古老的佛像之一。当时犍陀罗在北印度贵霜王朝的统治之下，该王国的领土从喀布尔一直延伸到伊斯坦布尔。其时，丝绸之路连接着中国、印度与地中海地区，贵霜王朝位于这条路线的节点上，因而国力强盛。始于犍陀罗的主干道向西穿过伊朗，一直通往埃及的亚历山大港。国家经济繁荣,政治稳定，因而可以修建大量寺庙和佛像，并能派出僧侣，四处传扬佛法。能够流传至今的宗教，起初都是靠着贸易与国家实力发展起来的。佛教的创始人当年拋弃了荣华富贵，过着苦行僧的生活，但矛盾的是，佛教的繁荣靠的却是奢侈品贸易。僧侣们与丝绸等贵重物品一起踏上旅途，随身携带佛像。也许在语言不通的时候，用人类形象表现的佛像更能体现佛法的深意。

There are four standard poses for the Buddha that we know today. He can be shown lying, sitting, standing and walking; and each pose reflects a particular aspect of his life and activity, rather than a moment or an event. Our sculpture shows him in his enlightened state. He's robed as a monk, as might be expected, but unlike a monk his head is not shaved. He's dispensed with finery and removed his princely jewellery. His ears are no longer weighted down with gold - but the elongated lobes still have the empty holes that show that this man was once a prince.

我们今天所熟悉的佛像有四种标准姿势：卧姿、坐姿、站姿及行姿。 这些姿势所表现的与其说是某一时刻，不如说是佛陀生活中的某一侧面。本文中的佛像表现的就是佛陀开悟时的形象。他身着袈裟，但蓄有头发，与普通僧人不同。他已脱掉了华丽的衣饰，摘掉了珠宝。他的耳朵上不 再坠有沉甸甸的金饰，但长耳垂上的耳洞仍显露了他的王子身份。