【BBC紀錄片】佛教寶地 第19期:柬埔寨的吳哥窟

Buddhism continued to spread throughout theMediaeval period.

佛教在中世紀繼續傳播。

Come the 13th century and Buddhism wasflourishing in the Khmer Kingdom...modern-dayCambodia.

到了13世紀，佛教已在高棉帝國，即今天的柬埔寨非常興盛。

The temple complexes here at Angkor are our fifthwonder.

位于吳哥的這座寺廟建筑群就是我們要拜訪的第五處圣地。

Angkor Wat began life as the sacred palace complex of a Khmer Emperor who,

最初，吳哥窟是為高棉皇帝而興建的圣殿群。

in fact, favoured Hinduism over Buddhist ideas.

然而事實上，這位皇帝熱衷印度教勝過佛教。

These aren't just buildings, but have a grand ambition.

這些不僅僅是建筑群，還蘊含了宏大的雄心。

The whole complex is said to be a symbolic representation of Hindu cosmology.

據說，整座廟宇群都是印度教宇宙觀的符號象征。

The original temple honoured the Hindu god Vishnu and incarnates the centre of the physicaland spiritual universe, a mythical mountain.

起初，寺廟是用來供奉印度教主神毗濕奴的。它將物質與精神世界的中心具象為一座存在于神話中的山(須彌山)。

A series of five rectangular walls represent other mountains and the moats here evoke thecosmic ocean.

五層矩形的圍墻代表須彌山的五座山峰，護城河則代表環繞須彌山的無垠海洋。

This place reeks of a combination of earthly and divine power, and of the close-knitrelationship between gods and kings.

這里彌漫著凡間君權與天界神權結合的意蘊，以及天神與君王的緊密聯系。

And, of course, it was a belief in that relationship that inspired the creation of this complex inthe first place.

當然，一開始正是對這種聯系的信仰賦予了興建這座寺廟群的靈感。

But for some people it was just too exclusive, too strictly hierarchical...and Buddhismoffered a solution.

但對某些人來說，這里過于疏離排他，等級制度也過于嚴格。于是佛教提供了解決方法。

It was the Khmer Emperor Jayavarman VII who converted to Buddhism and his regime markeda clear dividing line with the old Hindu past.

真臘國王阇耶跋摩七世改奉(大乘)佛教為國教，他的統治與之前的印度教下的統治有著明顯區別。