Sarpir-maṇḍa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids sarpir-maṇḍa |
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| Chinese name | |||||||
| Chinese | 醍醐 | ||||||
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| Korean name | |||||||
| Hangul | 제호 | ||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||
| Hiragana | だいご | ||||||
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Sarpir-maṇḍa (Sanskrit: सर्पिर्मण्ड) was a type of dairy product, from five stages of milk described in Hinduism and Buddhist texts.
As in Buddhist texts
Buddhist texts including Nirvana Sutra describes five stages of milk as an analogy to stages of purification of spirit:
| Sanskrit | Chinese translation | English translation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | क्षीर kṣīra | 乳 | milk |
| 2 | दधि dadhi | 酪 | curd or sour milk |
| 3 | नवनीत navanīta | 生酥 | butter |
| 4 | सर्पिस् sarpis | 熟酥 | |
| 5 | सर्पिर्मण्ड sarpir-maṇḍa | 醍醐 |
乳變為酪，酪為生酥，生酥為熟酥，熟酥為醍醐，醍醐為第一。
– 『長阿含經』
Milk yields curd; curd yields butter; butter yields sarpis; sarpis yields sarpir-maṇḍa; sarpir-maṇḍa is the best.
Sarpir-maṇḍa was most probably the early form of ghee.
In East Asia
In Chinese Buddhist texts, sarpir-maṇḍa was translated to tíhú. (醍醐) The entry for tíhú in Compendium of Materia Medica (1578) quotes various references, the earliest of which was written in 5th century Liu Song dynasty.
The word 醍醐 is pronounced daigo in Japan. The word has been used in Daigo Temple, Emperor Daigo, (who has been named after the temple,) and the word daigo-mi (醍醐味), which means a superb flavor.
The Japanese Dairy Association claims that Emperor Daigo encouraged the production of so, daigo, and other cheese-like products during this reign in the 10th century.
