Buddhist relics; cremated remains of a holy person
Specifically refers to the bone fragments or crystalline remains left after cremation of a Buddha or bodhisattva, venerated in Buddhism.
Buddhist relics are enshrined in this temple.
grain of rice; cooked rice
Only with reading しゃり
Used especially in sushi contexts to refer to the seasoned rice. Reading restricted to しゃり.
See also: しゃり
The sushi rice is delicious.
The sushi chef is carefully shaping the rice into balls.
The relics of the Buddha are enshrined in this tower.
After the cremation, beautiful relics appeared in the urn.
米 is the everyday, general word for rice, while 舎利 is sushi-shop jargon for the seasoned rice used to make nigiri.
ご飯 is the ordinary word for cooked rice, whereas 舎利 is specialized vocabulary used mainly by sushi chefs.
Standard kanji spelling for both Buddhist relics and rice grains. High news frequency.
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially for the rice sense.
From Sanskrit śarīra, meaning body or bodily relics, via Chinese. The rice sense likely derives from the resemblance of rice grains to the small crystalline relics.