New Year - Mucalinda

[ 新年明けましておめでとうございます！ HAPPY NEW YEAR DEVIANTART!!! Since 2013 is the year of the snake, we decided to do a Mucalinda painting. Mucalinda is a Naga King -- the ruler of a mythic snake race in Hindu mythology. One night, while Siddhartha Gaotama sat under the bodhi tree meditating, a typhoon began to rage. The Naga King, worried that this might disrupt the future Buddha's meditation, wrapped his body around Siddhartha to keep him warm, and spread the cowl of his seven heads to shield Siddhartha from the wind and rain. After Siddhartha had awakened, he thanked Mucalinda with the following words:

"Blissful is detachment for one who is content,
For one who has learned Dhamma and who sees;
Blissful is non-affliction in the world,
Restraint towards living creatures;

Blissful is passionlessness in the world,
The overcoming of sensual desires;
But the abolition of the conceit "I am" —
That is truly the supreme bliss."

May we all be Mucalindas to each other in 2013! Have a great year! --ed. ]

Original Sumi-e. From Jan. 2013. Sumi ink on shikishi board.