纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 054度母雕像(4)（在线收听）

The new faith spread rapidly along the trade routes of India. So that when this sculpture of Tara was made around 800 AD, Sri Lanka had been predominantly Buddhist for over a thousand years. The particular strand of Buddhism that flourished in Sri Lanka at this time gave a special place to divine beings called bodhisattvas, who could help the faithful live better lives. Tara is one of them.

新的信仰沿着印度的贸易路线迅速传播开来，因而在这尊度母雕像完工之时，佛教已作为斯里兰卡的主要宗教存在了千年以上。在盛行于斯里兰卡的众佛教天人中，菩萨占据了重要位置，他们是能救信徒于苦难的神灵。度母便是其中之一。

Here's Professor Richard Gombrich, a leading expert on Buddhist history and thought:

佛教历史与思想研究方面的权威理查德贡布里希教授这样分析她的背景：

"Now, who exactly is this Buddhist image called Tara? She is a personification. She represents in person, symbolically, the power of a Buddha to save you, to take you across the ocean which is this world, into which, according to most Buddhists, you are continually reborn, until you find your way out. There is a particular future Buddha, a bodhisattva called Avalokiteshvara, and he is first found in texts which probably date from the first century AD. Initially he operates by himself, but after a few centuries the idea came that his power to save could be personified as a goddess. She represents his compassion and his power. Tara is simply an aspect of Avalokiteshvara."

她是一个化身，象征佛陀拯救众生、渡人脱离轮回苦海的力量。有一位特殊的未来佛菩萨，叫观世音，早在公元一世纪便有关于他的文字记录。起初他以男神的形象度化众人，但数百年后，他的救世力量逐渐以女神的形象来承载，她代表他的慈悲与无边法力。度母便是观世音的化身之一。