Apalāla

What it is

Apalāla is a nāga in Buddhist mythology: a water-dwelling serpent being, and specifically a nāga king. The story sets him near the Swat River, in country that now falls within Peshawar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Buddhist tradition holds that the Buddha converted him. The episode is a familiar subject in Buddhist storytelling and visual art, and it appears across the Theravāda, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna traditions. Buddhist parents are described as telling the tale to their children, so that the children learn that happiness is found in the Buddhist faith.

Where it comes from

The Pali title Apalāladamana refers to Apalāla's conversion. That narrative is not part of the Pali Canon as it stands, though his name appears there with other beings who honour the Buddha. The Samantapāsādikā counts the story among teachings that the Three Councils did not include. Knowledge of it in Sri Lanka is inferred from a scene inside the Mahāthūpa's relic chamber. The Divyāvadāna places the conversion shortly before the Buddha's death. The Swat River setting is in what is now Pakistan.

How it is done

The story is passed on by telling. Buddhist parents tell it to their children, and the telling is shaped as moral instruction: the child is meant to learn that happiness lies in Buddhist faith. The narrative turns on the Buddha's conversion of Apalāla, a powerful nāga king. In art, the same episode is shown as a scene, and the Mahāthūpa example places it in a Buddhist monument.

What it is for

The tale serves as teaching for children in Buddhist families, with happiness in the Buddhist faith as its stated lesson. It also presents the Buddha's authority over a nāga king, and in Buddhist art it gives viewers a recognizable episode. Its use is instructive and illustrative rather than procedural. The conversion is the centre of the story, and the Pali title Apalāladamana names that event.

Who does it

Buddhist parents are the tellers named in the story, passing it to their children at home. The Buddha is the central figure in the narrative, and Apalāla is the being he converts. The story also belongs to monastic learning: the Samantapāsādikā and the Divyāvadāna preserve it in text, and the Mahāthūpa scene places it in a monastic monument. Its carriers are therefore household storytellers and Buddhist textual and visual traditions.

Peoples and places

The setting is the Swat River area, now in Peshawar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The story was known in Sri Lanka, where a scene from it was depicted at the Mahāthūpa. The Buddhist traditions named are Theravāda, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna. The figure also has names in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Tibetan and Vietnamese Buddhist usage, which shows the tale moving through several Buddhist language communities.

What people believe

In the Buddhist world of the story, nāgas are water-dwelling beings, and some are kings. Apalāla is one of these serpent rulers. The narrative assumes that such a being can encounter the Buddha and accept his teaching. The change from nāga king to convert is the heart of the tale. Children are meant to take from it that happiness is found in Buddhist faith. The figure is honoured as a nāgarāja in Theravāda, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna contexts.

How scholars and sceptics see it

Textual study notes that the conversion story is absent from the Pali Canon even though Apalāla's name appears there among beings who honour the Buddha. The Samantapāsādikā places the tale outside the Three Councils. The Mahāthūpa scene is taken as evidence that Sri Lankan Buddhists knew it. The Divyāvadāna dates the conversion to shortly before the Buddha's death. These are questions of transmission, textual inclusion and dating.

Compare and confuse

Apalāla is a nāga king, so the figure belongs with the wider nāgas and nāgarājas of Buddhist lore. The same being is named in several Buddhist languages: Chinese Ābōluóluó Lóngwáng, Japanese Apara Ryū-Ō, Korean Apalala Yongwang, Thai Phayanak Apalala, Tibetan Klu'i rgyal po sog ma med pa and Vietnamese Long Vương Ưu Bát La. These are language forms of one figure.

Today

The story is carried in Buddhist teaching and art. Buddhist parents are described as telling it to children, and the conversion remains a subject in Buddhist visual traditions. The Mahāthūpa scene is an early witness to its place in Sri Lankan Buddhist art. The name also continues in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Tibetan and Vietnamese Buddhist usage.

Questions people ask about Apalāla

Good reading and sources

• Apalala on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data