『根本說一切有部毘奈耶雜事』의 勝鬘(Mallikā) 이야기를 통해 본 여성의 이미지 분석

Abstract

Malli or Mallikā is one of still very popular female names in India. As in the other Indian religious traditions, in the Buddhist tradition also, a woman named Mallikā appears. This paper deals with Mallikā story of the Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya Kṣudrakavastu where it performs not only the structural and sociohistorical analysis but also highlights the Mūlasarvāstivādins' view of women in this story. Mallikā’s episode presents the Mūlasarāvstivādins’ rich literary imagination as an Indian version of the Cinderella story. This is an example of the combination between Buddhism, Indo-european mythology and local tradition. The Mallikā story represents the strong desire for social upgrade from the lower class of Indian society. The episode of Mallikā and Varṣikā represents the social situation of that time: the harmony between wives and their paying respect to their husband were regarded as essential to the family. The analysis of this episode reveals that women are content with a passive status in a male dominant society. This reflects the inclinations of the avadānas of the MSV to reconcile with social custom. Mallikā’s giving birth to Virūḍhaka is the beginning of the main episode of the Śākyas’ massacre by Virūḍhaka. Here arises the question: why did the Mūlasarāvstivādins connect Mallikā, symbol of good deeds, and Virūḍhaka, symbol of bad deeds? The MSVKv does not provide any karmic explanation. Just like the slave-girl who gives birth to Pūrṇa and is never mentioned again in the Pūrṇāvadāna, another avadāna of the MSV, following the birth of Virūḍhaka, Mallikā is briefly mentioned in the scene of the meeting with Prasenajit after she was driven from the palace. Through a similar process, the slave-girl gives birth to Pūrṇa who becomes a disciple of the Buddha whereas Mallikā’s son, Virūḍhaka takes part in a massacre. This is the Mūlasarāvstivādins’ method of creating stories. They do not consider the karmic relation between the protagonists and their mothers. Mallikā, a doer of good deeds through past and present, is even ousted from the palace by her own son. This also reflects the Mūlasarvāstivādin’ view of women which could not but be influenced by the social realities of their time when women were subordinate to men. In many cases, women are secondary characters who only introduce the male protagonists and as shown in the table 6 and the past story of Mallikā, they are often described as worldly obstacles to the male protagonists’ enlightenment.