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The lute carried by Pañcasikha; it
belonged originally to Māra.
When Māra, after wasting seven years trying in vain to discover some
shortcoming in the Buddha - six years before the
Enlightenment and one year after it - left the
Buddha in disgust and weariness, the lute which he
carried slung on his shoulder slipped and fell. Sakka
picked it up and gave it to Paññcasikha. It was so powerful that when plucked
with the fingers the lovely music produced echoed on for four months
(SnA..ii.393f).
The vīnā was three gāvutas in length (BuA.239) and had fifty trestles
(AA.i.72). The Sumangala Vilāsinī (DA.iii.699) describes it at length. It was
pale yellow, like a ripe beluva fruit. Its base (pokkhara) was of gold, its stem
of sapphire its strings of silver, and its knots (vethikā) of coral.
The vīnā was probably so called partly because its base was made of a bilva-fruit,
instead of the usual gourd, and partly because of its color.

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