Kinnara- Buddhist CreatureCreature · Hybrid"Celestial Musicians"
Also known as: Kinnari, Kinnarī, Kinnaree, Jinnaluo, 紧那罗, and किन्नर
Description
Half-human, half-bird, the Kinnaras live in the deep Himalayan forests and fill the Buddha's assemblies with music no human voice could match. They mate for life. When one falls, the other stays, singing, until the gods themselves intervene.
Mythology & Lore
Forest Dwellers
The Kinnaras are human from the waist up and bird from the waist below. Their Sanskrit name asks the question their appearance provokes: "What sort of person?" They dwell in the Himalayan forests and are one of the eight classes of beings who protect the Dharma. In the Mahasamaya Sutta, when every order of spirit gathers in the Mahavana grove to see the Buddha, the Kinnaras come playing music that rings through the trees.
The Chandakinnara Jataka
In Jataka 485, the Bodhisattva was born as Chandakinnara, a Kinnara king living with his wife deep in the Himalayas. A hunter's arrow struck him. He fell, and his wife refused to leave his side. She sang her grief aloud until Sakka, king of the devas, heard and came down to draw the poison from the wound. Chandakinnara woke to find her still beside him. In temple murals across South and Southeast Asia, this is the scene painters return to: the wife bent over the fallen husband, singing him back to life.
Celestial Musicians
Kinnaras play alongside the Gandharvas at the Buddha's assemblies, but their music carries a different quality. The Gandharvas perform. The Kinnaras worship. In the Lotus Sutra, four Kinnara kings attend with hundreds of thousands of retainers when the Buddha prepares to teach on Vulture Peak. Their instruments are lutes and drums, and their voices are something between a human song and a bird's call.
Relationships
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