The lute carried by Pańcasikha (q.v.); it belonged originally to Mára.

When Mára, 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 Pańńcasikha. It was so powerful that when plucked with the fingers the lovely music produced echoed on for four months (SNA.ii.393f).

The víná was three gávutas in length (BuA.239) and had fifty trestles (AA.i.72). The Sumangala Vilásiní (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 (vethiká) of coral.

The víná was probably so called partly because its base was made of a bilva-fruit, instead of the usual gourd, and partly because of its colour.


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