纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 068湿婆与雪山女神像（2）

 

This week we're looking at the world around seven hundred years ago, and how different religious traditions tried, through objects, to bring people directly into contact with the divine. In this programme we're in Orissa, a densely¹ populated rice-producing state in north-east India, on the Bay of Bengal. Around 1300, it was a prosperous, sophisticated Hindu kingdom, which built thousands, literally² thousands, of magnificent temples. This was the great period of Orissan religious architecture, and the buildings that were most admired were the ones that had the most extravagant³ ornamentation.

Most of these temples were dedicated⁴ to the god Shiva. For the people of Orissa, Shiva - one of the three central deities⁵ of Hinduism, the god of paradoxes⁶, the god who forever creates and destroys - was the lord of their land. In Shiva all opposites are reconciled, and this programme's object, a sculpture, comes from one of the many Orissa Shiva temples.

它来自印度东北部孟加拉湾的奥里萨邦，该邦人口稠密，盛产水稻。1300年前后，它是一个社会发达、经济繁荣的印度教小国，境内修建了数千座宏伟的寺庙。那是奥里萨宗教建筑的鼎盛时期，装饰花样越繁复精美越受人称道。寺庙中供奉最多的是湿婆神，因为对奥里萨人而言，湿婆是国家的保护神。他同时也是印度教三大主神之一，本身便充满矛盾，既负责创造，又热衷毁灭，是印度人家园的主宰。所有的矛盾都在他身上得以调和。

1 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 extravagant   

adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的

参考例句：

• They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
• He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

5 deities   

n.神，女神( deity的名词复数 )；神祗；神灵；神明

参考例句：

• Zeus and Aphrodite were ancient Greek deities. 宙斯和阿佛洛狄是古希腊的神。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Taoist Wang hesitated occasionally about these transactions for fearof offending the deities. 道士也有过犹豫，怕这样会得罪了神。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文

6 paradoxes   

n.似非而是的隽语，看似矛盾而实际却可能正确的说法( paradox的名词复数 )；用于语言文学中的上述隽语；有矛盾特点的人[事物，情况]

参考例句：

• Contradictions and paradoxes arose in increasing numbers. 矛盾和悖论越来越多。 来自辞典例句
• As far as these paradoxes are concerned, the garden definitely a heterotopia. 就这些吊诡性而言，花园无疑地是个异质空间。 来自互联网