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17. Namdimitra, also known as Mahakasyapa
called in Chinese Xianglong Luohan, or "The Dragon Subduing Arhat."
It is said that a certain Namdimitra was knowledgeable in the truths which the Buddha taught, and therefore feared nothing in this world, for he understood the nature of everything.
In a certain place a wicked dragon was troubling people. Namdimitra fearlessly confronted the beast and, after a great battle, tamed it. Indeed, the dragon conceded that it was powerless before a person who had mastered the powers taught by the Buddha.
This is why he is called “The Arhat Who Mastered a Dragon,” and it is why in art Namdimitra is shown with a dragon, sometimes riding it, although in the painting here we apparently see them negotiating an earlier phase of their relationship.
.
In a certain place a wicked dragon was troubling people. Namdimitra fearlessly confronted the beast and, after a great battle, tamed it. Indeed, the dragon conceded that it was powerless before a person who had mastered the powers taught by the Buddha.
This is why he is called “The Arhat Who Mastered a Dragon,” and it is why in art Namdimitra is shown with a dragon, sometimes riding it, although in the painting here we apparently see them negotiating an earlier phase of their relationship.
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