ཟླ་བའ་མད intro.12
The Sūtra of the Moon (2) intro.12
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intro.12
Apart from its role as a text for protection that shows the Buddha’s power to bring eclipses to an end, it is noteworthy that linguistic expressions relating to Indian views on eclipses can be heard in regions far beyond the influence of Buddhism. In present-day Turkey, for instance, Jens Peter Laut has shown the connection between Old Turkish Buddhist culture from Central Asia with Modern Turkish expressions such as “the moon was seized,” meaning that the moon is eclipsed. This same expression is found in The Sūtra of the Moon (1) and the Pali Candimasutta, though here in The Sūtra of the Moon (2) we find the expression that the moon “was covered.”