Buddhist legend, Davis retelling
Dragon of the Golden Lotus
The Buddha hears a saying while travelling from Mount Dan-doku and discovers its speaker is an ugly dragon below a precipice. He asks it for further wisdom despite its angry appearance. The dragon's hunger makes the final saying conditional upon an offering, bringing the encounter to its dramatic turning point.
Also known as Buddha's Dragon Encounter · Dragon in the Golden Lotus legend
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In the sources
Wisdom from an unsettling speaker
TraditionalThe dragon voices a saying about outward appearance and natural disposition. The Buddha is pleased by it and approaches the creature to ask how it learned such wisdom.
A final saying made conditional
TraditionalThe dragon states that the final truth is especially precious and demands food before revealing it. Davis describes the requested food as human flesh, which the Buddha answers with an offer of his own body.
Context & interpretation
The entry covers this one dragon encounter in Davis's adaptation, not all Buddhist dragons or a zoological species. Davis's origin comparisons remain his editorial claims, and his English sayings are not treated as a definitive doctrinal formula. The illustration depicts the narrative, not an independently witnessed meeting.
Original passages
Source 1
Myths and Legends of Japan
an extremely ugly dragon gazing up at him with angry eyes.Open this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Chapter IV, printed p. 80
Read directly from the active prepared scan; line breaks and spacing normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0052-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0052-E001-P0092
- Original scan leaf
- 108
- Recorded leaf number
- 108
- Current Reader position
- 91
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Myths and Legends of Japan
he could not reveal it until his hunger had been appeased.Open this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Chapter IV, printed p. 81
Read directly from the active prepared scan; line breaks and spacing normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0052-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0052-E001-P0094
- Original scan leaf
- 111
- Recorded leaf number
- 111
- Current Reader position
- 93
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
