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"Грешница" А.К. Толстого и "Сумагадха-авадана": мотив "неузнавания" Учителя
The article is devoted to a comparative analysis of Aleksey Tolstoy’s poem “The Sinner” and the Buddhist moral tale known as “Sumāgadhā-avadāna” (with a focus on the version by the 11th-century Kashmiri poet Ksemendra). The basis for the comparison is the key motif of “nonrecognition” of the Teacher (Jesus Christ in Tolstoy’s work, Buddha in the avadāna), who is mistaken for his disciple or disciples by characters who have not yet attained true knowledge and are captivated by external beauty. The article discusses the nature of this noted similarity: whether it results from borrowing from one religious tradition to another, mutual borrowing from a third tradition, or independent emergence of the motif. In the context of the latter version, the article briefly lists characteristics of Christianity and Buddhism that might have contributed to the emergence of the “non-recognition” motif in each of the two traditions.