[First, the original meaning of Sanskrit]
"relic", also translated as "relic" and "srila", originally meant body, body and bones. That is to say, in ancient Indian Sanskrit, this word can refer to the whole body or part of the body bones of the living or the dead, which is derived from it and represents some things related to the body, such as the figure of a person, the remains of the dead after cremation and so on.
[Second, it evolved into a human name]
As we all know, among the disciples who heard of the Buddha, Sharifutsu, the largest arhat and the "wisdom first", was also translated as Buddha relic. Why is this?
In this name, the meaning of "relic" is the same as Sanskrit, and "blessing" means son and son. Therefore, Sharifutsu's translation is pure Sanskrit transliteration, while the translation of Buddhist relics is semi-transliteration and semi-free translation. Then, the meaning of this big arhat name is equivalent to "relic". By the way, relic is his mother's name. So, why is he called this name, and why is his mother called relic (bone)? It turns out that there is an allusion here, and the following two versions are circulating:
[Version 1]
It turns out that the mother of this big arhat is the daughter of a Brahmin theorist in Shecheng, King Mogata. She was born with an extremely beautiful figure, which is rare in the world. She is a stunning beauty. Because of her excellent figure and no one else in her country, people all over the country call her a "relic girl"-that is, because she is a figure champion, people simply call her a "figure". Similar naming examples can be found in the cultural customs of various countries. For example, we ancients called the leader who advocated the use of fire "Yan Di", the woman who advocated weaving skills (later evolved into a goddess) called "Weaver Girl", and the man who advocated farming skills (later evolved into a male god) called "Cowherd". In this way, after the "relic girl" had a son, her son was named "the son of the relic", which was also translated as "relic" for short.
[Second Edition]
In ancient India, there was a bird called "relic bird", which literally translated into autumn heron and Kuzu. This bird has blue eyes and a beautiful song. Note that the word "relic" in this word is only similar in pronunciation to the word "relic" mentioned above, but it is actually another Sanskrit word. Due to the limitation of transliteration in Chinese translation, the translator misuses the same word to express sound. It turns out that the daughter of Brahman, the king of Mogata Kingdom, was born with beautiful blue eyes, like the bright eyes of a relic bird, hence the name. Later, her son was named after her mother, and she was called "Sharifutsu". However, because the two words "relic bird" and "relic stands for body and bone" are very similar in pronunciation, they are misinformed in the translation of Buddhist scriptures, and the relic of "relic bird" is misinformed as the relic representing body and bone; Perhaps it can be considered that this misinformation was even earlier than the introduction of Buddhism into China, but it was already produced when Buddhism spread in ancient Indian countries and western countries.
[Third, other evolution]
As mentioned earlier, the word "relic" derives some usages related to the body of the living or the dead because it represents the body and the flesh, for example, it can represent "the remains of the dead after cremation". So does the word "relic" represent human ashes in ancient India? It should be possible to infer this usage. However, in Buddhist scriptures, this word is usually not used to refer to mortal ashes, but refers to the crystals left after cremation by saints such as Buddha, Bodhisattva and Lohan, which are different in nature from mortal ashes or unfinished bones in ashes. An old gentleman here has always stubbornly believed that the Buddhist term "relic" is equivalent to ashes or unburned bones in ashes, and belongs to "only knowing one, not knowing the other" or "only knowing the second, not knowing the third". Because this old gentleman knows that the word relic has the meaning of bones, but he doesn't know that "relic" is mostly cremated, but its lightness and quality are different from that of the remains. Generally speaking, the relics are the bones and flesh of saints, which have undergone chemical changes under the blessing of their lifelong practice, and are no longer bones. In Buddhist scriptures, the word "relic" no longer represents ordinary ashes, but is translated as "spiritual bone", which refers to a sacred object; Even if the word evolves further, this relic does not necessarily come from the cremation site of the saint. According to legend, those who are destined can get it through sincere prayer and practice. Is there any basis for me to say this? There are classics and history books as evidence:
Yuan Zhong's "Flying Snow Record" said: "There are three colors of relics: white bone relics, black hair relics and red meat relics."
-If the relics only represent ashes (or unburned relics), what about red meat relics and black hair relics?
Guang Jin Ming Jing Sacrifice: "It's a relic, that is, infinite merit of six paramita." He also said, "People who make sacrifices are trained by abstinence wisdom and are hard to get. They are the best in Futian. "
The Merit Sutra of Bathing Buddha is divided into two parts: (1) Body relic, also known as body and bone relic, which was obtained after the cremation of the Buddha's body. (2) The relic, also known as the instrument, is the teaching method and discipline left by the Buddha, compared with the relic.
There are three 40-point remains in Fayuan Zhu Lin: (1) Bone remains, white. (2) The color of hair relic is black. (3) The meat relic is red.
The Tale of the Western Regions of Datang has been published for twelve years. Xuanzang came back from India and brought back 150 Tathagata relics.
The Biography of Song Monks contains a volume, and the I Ching in the Tang Dynasty brought back 300 relics from India.
During the Three Kingdoms period, a monk named Kang Senhui went to Jiangdong to meet Sun Quan, the prince of Wu. The king asked about the efficacy of Buddhism. He prayed for three or seven days and thought it was a relic. The king ordered his soldiers to hit it with a hammer anvil, which impressed him deeply. So he founded Jianchu Temple.
-the relics here are "touched" rather than cremated, and the quality is very hard. According to a friend, this "sense of relics" has also been seen in temples in modern Tibet.
"Ruyi Zhu Bao Golden Wheel Curse" says: "If there is no relic, it should be made of gold, silver, glass, water essence, agate, glass and multi-treasures." This is about the role of relics in tantric French. When it comes to no relics, it is replaced by all kinds of rare jewels. How can relics be equated with ordinary ashes?
After the death of the Buddha, the details of sharing the relics among the eight countries were recorded in the fourth volume of Long Agama: "At that time, in the last years of Bobo, Romanians wanted to share the relics and set up towers on their own land to support them, so they prepared four kinds of soldiers to go to the detention city. The messengers asked to share the relics. But the corpse king said that the Buddha was destroyed in this country, and domestic scholars had to support themselves, so they refused to share the relics. At the same time, four soldiers, Tibetans, Lamaga detainees, Piluti Brahmins, Kapilao liberators, Pishe emigrants, King Aji and King Mojeto, are preparing to cross the constant water. Brahman was asked to share the sacred object, and the detained king refused to share it for the same reason, so the kings wanted to hold it.