纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 054度母雕像(3)（在线收听）

But this statue was absolutely not made to titillate. She is a religious being, one of the spiritual protectors to whom the Buddhist faithful can turn in distress, and from a religious tradition that has no difficulty at all in happily combining divinity and sensuality. The statue of Tara takes us into a world where faith and bodily beauty converge, to move us beyond ourselves. It also tells us a great deal about the world of Sri Lanka and south Asia, 1,200 years ago.

但制作它的意图并非撩人情欲。在佛教中，它是虔诚的信徒在遭遇困境之时祷告求助的神祇，来自一种能将神性与感官享受毫无困难并愉悦地加以结合的宗教传统。度母神像带我们进人了一个用信仰与身体之美的结合来促成超脱的世界，也让我们多少了解了1200年前的南亚与斯里兰卡。

The island of Sri Lanka, separated from India by only 20 miles (32 km) of shallow water, has always been an important hub in the seaborne trade that stitches the lands of the Indian Ocean together. In the years around 800 AD Sri Lanka was in close, indeed constant, contact with the neighbouring kingdoms of south India, but also with the Islamic Abbasid Empire in the Middle East, with Indonesia, and with Tang China. Sri Lankan gems were particularly highly prized, and 1,200 years ago rubies and garnets from here were being regularly traded to east and west, reaching the Mediterranean and possibly even Britain. Some of the gems from the great Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo may well have come from Sri Lanka.

斯里兰卡岛与印度仅隔着二十英里浅海，一直是海上贸易的重要集散地和印度洋各岛的连接点。在公元800年左右，它不但与南印度诸邻国关系密切，也与中东的伊斯兰阿拔斯王朝、印度尼西亚和中国唐代往来频繁。斯里兰卡的宝石口碑极好，1200年前，这里出产的红宝石 与石榴石定期销往东西方，运送到地中海，甚至远涉英格兰。萨顿胡的盎格鲁-撒克逊船葬中的部分宝石可能就来自斯里兰卡。

But it was not only goods that travelled. The teachings of the Buddha, who lived and preached in north India some time around 500 BC, had gradually evolved into a complex philosophical and spiritual system of conduct, designed to liberate the individual soul from the illusion and suffering of this world.

踏上旅途的不仅仅是商品。公元500年前后，佛陀曾在印度北部传法，他的教义逐渐发展成一套复杂的、帮助苍生脱离世间苦难的哲学与修行系统。