Buddhism, in Its Connexion with Brahmanism and Hinduism, and in Its Contrast with Christianity

LECTURE XIV. Sacred Places.

It was only to be expected, that Buddhism, closely connected as it was with Brahmanism and Hinduism, and yet in some respects opposed to those systems, should have certain sacred places and hallowed regions, some of which were identical with those of Brahmanism and Hinduism, and some peculiarly its own.

In the Maha-parinibbana-sutta (V. 16-22, Rhys Davids), we have the following declaration:—

‘There are four places which the believing man should visit as a pilgrim with feelings of reverence and awe. The place at which he can say, “Here the Tathagata (one of the names of Buddha, see p. 23) was born.” The place at which he can say, “Here the Tathagata attained to perfect insight and enlightenment.” The place at which he can say, “Here the Law was first preached by the Tathagata.” The place at which he can say, “Here the Tathagata passed finally away in that utter passing away which leaves nothing whatever behind” (see p. 142, note, and p. 477).
‘And they who die, while with believing heart they journey on such pilgrimages, shall be reborn, in the happy realms of heaven.’

The Chinese traveller, Fa-hien, names the same four sacred places (Chap. xxxi.), and says that the situation of the four great Stupas (see p. 504) has been fixed, namely, (1) where the Buddha was born, (2) where he attained wisdom, (3) where he began to turn the wheel of his Law, (4) where he attained Pari-nirva?a (p. 142). Compare engraving of sculpture opposite p. 477.

Elsewhere Fa-hien mentions two other sacred spots—the place where the Buddha discomfited the advocates of erroneous doctrines[189], and the place where he descended after ascending to the Trayastri??a heaven (see p. 414 of this volume), to preach the Law to his mother (Legge’s Fa-hien, 68).

These places are all situated within the area of the sacred land of Buddhism (see map opposite p. 21);—that is to say, the land which was the scene of the Buddha’s itineration for forty-five years—a region about 300 miles long, by nearly 200 broad, lying in Gangetic India, within the modern provinces of Oudh and Behar (Bihar for Vihara), or the ancient kingdoms of Kosala and Magadha, and having ?ravasti and Buddha-Gaya for its limit towards the north and south respectively.

It will be interesting to note a few particulars in regard to these and other sacred spots scattered throughout this region, in the following order:—Kapila-vastu, Buddha-Gaya, Sarnath near Benares, Raja-g?iha, ?ravasti (often written ?ravasti), Vai?ali, Kau?ambi, Nalanda, Sa?ka?ya, Sake?a (Ajudhya), Kanya-kubja (Kanauj), Pa?ali-putra (Patna), Kesariya, Ku?i-nagara. The map opposite p. 21 will make these clear.

To begin with the Buddha’s birth-place (see p. 21).

Kapila-vastu.

Kapila-vastu (in Pali, Kapila-vatthu) was long searched for by archÆologists in vain, but is now identified by General Sir A. Cunningham and Mr. Carlleyle with Bhuila, a village surrounded by buried brickwork in the Basti district under the Nepal mountains, about twenty-five miles north-east from Faizabad, twelve north-west from Basti, and one hundred and twenty north of Benares. Both Fa-hien (Legge, 67) and Hiouen Thsang describe the neighbouring Lumbini (Lava?i) garden, where the Buddha was born from the right side of his mother (see p. 23, and engraving opposite p. 477). They also mention the Arrow-fountain where Gautama contended with others of his tribe in a shooting-match. The legend is (p. 24) that he gained the victory by shooting an arrow which passed through the target, buried itself in the ground, and caused a clear spring of water to flow forth (Legge, 65-67; Beal, ii. 23, 24). This name ?ara-Kupa, ‘arrow-fountain,’ has now been corrupted into Sar-Kuia (or Sar-Kuhiya), and the spot has been identified (Cunningham’s ‘Reports of Survey,’ xii. 188).

It might have been expected that so sacred a place as Kapila-vastu—the birth-place of Buddha and the scene of his education and youthful exploits—would have been a favourite place of pilgrimage for Buddhists through all time; but we learn from the two Chinese travellers, that even in their day (from the fourth to the seventh century) the whole neighbourhood was a desert and the town in ruins (Beal, i. 50; ii. 14). The reason probably is that Hinduism gained the ascendancy over Buddhism in certain localities, and that when this happened the Brahmans took pains to obliterate all traces of the rival creed. In later times Muhammadan invasions contributed to the same result.

Buddha-Gaya.

This was the place where the Buddha obtained perfect knowledge and enlightenment after his sexennial course of fasting and meditation (see p. 31 of this volume). It is situated six or seven miles from the town of Gaya, and about sixty miles from Patna and Bankipur. It is of all Buddhist sacred places the most sacred, and abounds in profoundly interesting memorials of early Buddhism.

Of course it was only to be expected that memorial structures intended to mark important epochs in the life of the extinct Buddha, and calculated to foster feelings of reverence in the minds of his followers, should have been erected at this and various other holy spots of ground consecrated by the presence and acts of Gautama on great occasions. And of all such Buddhist monuments the ancient pyramidal temple at Buddha-Gaya, which I visited in 1876 and 1884, is the most striking and full of interest. Probably a monument of some kind was erected there not very long after the Buddha’s death, and Hiouen Thsang (see p. 399) mentions the temple built there by A?oka. The temple which I saw on the occasion of my first visit was probably not built till the middle of the second century, but was erected on the foundation of A?oka’s temple, the ruins of which are traceable under the present one[190]. The materials consist of bluish bricks, plastered with lime. Hiouen Thsang states that in his time it had eleven stories and an altitude of about 165 feet. It also had niches in each story, with a golden statue of Buddha in each niche. The whole was crowned with the representation of an Amalaka fruit (Emblic myrobalan) in gilt copper (Cunningham’s Report, i. 5). The Burmese probably restored the temple between 1035 and 1078 A.D. Though falling into decay in 1876, its appearance struck me as exceedingly imposing,—even more so than that of the grand pyramidal towers, built over the entrances to the great South Indian temples[191]. The annexed engraving of this ancient monument as it appeared in 1880, before its restoration, is from a photograph by Mr. Beglar, taken on the spot, and enlarged by Mr. Austen.

ANCIENT BUDDHIST TEMPLE AT BUDDHA-GAYA, AS IT APPEARED IN 1880.

Erected about the middle of the second century over the ruins of A?oka’s temple, at the spot where Gautama attained Buddhahood.

The original object of its erection seems to have been simply and solely to serve as a monument, and not as a Dagaba or receptacle for relics. Very soon, however, monuments of this kind were made to enshrine images, and were used as temples and places of worship. On inquiry I found that the ancient image or images of Buddha, which once occupied the shrine in the ancient Buddha-Gaya temple, had been destroyed or carried off at different times[192], and that another stone image, believed to have been carved in the eighth century, had been recently substituted for it. It is remarkable that during the process of restoring the so-called ‘diamond throne,’ on which the statues were placed, a mass of fragments of coral, sapphire, cornelian, crystal, ruby, pearl, ivory, and gold, but no diamond, was found compacted or cemented together in front of it[193].

At the back of the raised terrace which surrounded the ancient temple was a Pipal or sacred fig-tree, fabled to be the very tree under which Gautama sat during his course of profound meditation ending in Buddhahood (see p. 31). Its vitality was on the wane, for its decaying branches drooped over the parapet as if they sought, like those of a neighbouring Banyan tree, to gain new life by rooting themselves in the ground beneath. Some Buddhist pilgrims happened, at the moment of my visit, to be worshipping at the temple, deputed by the King of Burma to present offerings. I observed that they had brought packets of gold-leaf, and had gilded the stone steps that surrounded the tree. Having performed this act of homage, they sat near muttering their prayer-formularies. No doubt they believed it to be the very Bodhi-tree of Gautama’s time, the stem of which had been miraculously preserved, though, had it been really so, the stem would have been about twenty-three centuries old. Considering the well-known properties of the Pipal tree, it is possible that the worshippers were, after all, paying honour to the descendant of the original tree, the fact, no doubt, being that as each tree began to decay a new one was produced, by the dropping of seeds into the old roots and the springing up of fresh scions. Probably most of the sacred trees in the neighbourhood of Buddhist temples throughout India, Ceylon, and Burma were originally raised from seeds brought from the ancient Buddha-Gaya tree.

ANCIENT BUDDHIST TEMPLE AT BUDDHA-GAYA, AS RESTORED IN 1884.

It is a received tradition that a shoot from this tree was taken by the Missionary Mahendra, son of A?oka, in the third century B.C. to Ceylon, and planted at Anuradha-pura, where its descendant still flourishes.

When I again visited Buddha-Gaya in 1884, I found that the old pyramidal temple had been restored according (as is conjectured) to Hiouen Thsang’s description of the Vihara of his day.

It is said that the late Burmese government, not very long ago, spent about thirty thousand rupees in building a wall round the temple and making excavations with a view to its restoration. Then our government, about 1881 or 1882, undertook the work, and I believe at least a lakh of rupees has been spent in completing it. I give a representation of the restored temple (as it appeared in 1884), from a photograph taken by Mr. Beglar, and enlarged by Mr. Austen. Its present height is 176 feet, as it has several tiers of the usual umbrella-like ornament, tapering to a point at the summit[194].

The reconstruction of the temple led of course to the removal of the sacred Bodhi-tree, but an effort was made to preserve the tree by transplanting it to a neighbouring garden. No sooner was this done than parties of pilgrims from Burma and Ceylon, in their pious desire to maintain the vitality of the venerated tree, covered the stem with gold-leaf, and, bringing Eau de Cologne and other scents, poured them over the roots, at the same time manuring them with the contents of boxes of sardines steeped in oil, choice biscuits, and other delicacies. Of course, the result was the speedy destruction of the tree, root and branch. To compensate for its loss, a new Pipal tree was planted behind the restored temple by Sir A. Cunningham in 1885. Another near the temple appeared to be in a flourishing condition in 1884, and I observed that both Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims met together there as worshippers of the same sacred object.

The idol-shrine, under the principal tower of the restored temple, consists of a small vaulted stone-chamber lighted only by the door. My first act, on arriving at Gaya in 1884, was to descend to this interesting spot. At the further end is the principal statue of Buddha, seated, in the ‘witness-attitude’ (see p. 480)—on an altar-like throne having five pilasters, and supposed to represent the original Bodhi-ma??a. The pedestal of the statue is ornamented with diamond-shaped carvings, and sculptures of two elephants and two lions[195].

Inside the shrine, at the moment of my visit, were five Burmese pilgrims from Mandelay. They were apparently monks, as all were habited in yellow dresses. Each man bowed down before the image, with hands joined in reverence, occasionally touching the ground with his forehead, and going through a course of prayer-repetition by help of a rosary. After worshipping for some time, they deposited a quantity of offerings, of a somewhat miscellaneous description, in front of the image. I noticed among other things, rice, fruit, vegetables, flowers of the Bel-tree, tin boxes filled with sardines, Huntley and Palmer’s biscuits, bottles of the genuine Maria Farina’s Eau de Cologne for watering the sacred-trees, and a large number of packets of gold-leaf. I left the shrine for two or three hours, and on returning found that the pilgrims had crowned their act of worship by gilding the image with the contents of these packets, reserving a supply for covering the other images in the vicinity of the temple. The cost of the whole process must have been considerable.

At the back of the great Buddha-Gaya temple, I found a stone tablet for offerings, recently brought and fixed horizontally in the ground by another pilgrim who was from Colombo in Ceylon. It bore an inscription indicating that the slab had been placed there as a votive offering by a person calling himself Gu?a-ratna Muddali Raja of Kolamba-pur. The date carved on it (Buddha-vasse 2427) shows that the Buddhists of Ceylon are no believers in the researches of modern scholars. They still reckon from B.C. 543 for the supposed Nirva?a of Buddha.

At a little distance in front of the great Temple, but on the right side, are the two smaller temples called Tara-devi and Vagi?vari. In the latter is a circular stone with nine circles of complicated ornaments. This is called a Vajrasana, from the thunderbolt ornament in the second circle, but it is not the true Bodhi-ma??a.

I may mention here that a portion of the original A?oka stone-railing, with an inscription, lotus-ornaments and carvings, was discovered in a fair state of preservation by Sir A. Cunningham, and is now to be seen in situ. The Buddha’s walking place was unearthed by Mr. Beglar. The massive new brick railing which now encloses the temple has been well constructed after an ancient pattern, and ornamented with numerous carvings representing scenes in the lives of the Buddha (p. 111). The paved quadrangle sets the whole off to great advantage. Indeed, the present appearance of the square and the sacred area of ground adjoining—strewn with ruins of the Stupas erected by A?oka and others—and according to the legend by the gods Indra and Brahma—is one of the most striking sights in all India, and must be seen to be appreciated.

In truth, Buddha-Gaya is a kind of Buddhist Jerusalem, abounding in associations of thrilling interest, not only to the followers of Buddha, but to all who see in that spot the central focus whence radiated a system which for centuries has permeated the religious thought of the most populous regions of Eastern Asia, and influenced the creed of a majority of the human race.

Another remarkable characteristic of this spot is that it was converted into a kind of Buddhist Necropolis, teeming with the remains of generations of the Buddha’s adherents contained in relic-receptacles called Stupas (pp. 503-506), some of which have been brought to light, while countless others still remain to be unearthed.

The fact was that immense numbers of pilgrims from all parts of India and the outlying countries once thronged in crowds to Buddha-Gaya, and nearly every pilgrim brought with him a Stupa or relic-shrine of some kind, according to his means, and deposited it as a votive offering in this hallowed region, either with the object of acquiring religious merit for himself, or of promoting the welfare of the deceased in other states of being. Often it was inscribed with the usual Buddhist formula, Ye Dharma, etc. (see p. 104), and sometimes bore a date and the name of the reigning king. Generally the votive Stupa contained the relics of deceased relatives—perhaps the ashes of a father or mother, or pieces of bone, or a small fragment of a single bone placed in an earthen vessel or casket of some other material, and buried in the interior of the Stupa.

Relics, however, were not always forthcoming, and so the votive Stupas were frequently mere cenotaphs or models in clay or stone of actual Stupas erected in other places. Often they were beautifully carved and ornamented with rows on rows of images of the Buddha. I obtained some beautiful specimens for the Indian Institute at Oxford, a drawing of one of which will be given (see p. 505). Layers on layers of these have been exhumed during the process of the excavations. They are of every variety of size, from three inches to several feet high, and of every variety of material, from terra cotta and clay turned on a potter’s wheel to elaborately sculptured brick and stone. All the upper layers are now gone (those made of clay and pottery having naturally crumbled to pieces), but the lowest are still in situ, and furnish specimens of all ages from the second century to the tenth or twelfth. I noticed hundreds lying about on the ground in 1884.

A sacred tank, mentioned by Hiouen Thsang, is situated three or four hundred yards to the left of the Buddha-Gaya temple. I found, on visiting it, that this hallowed pool is quite as much venerated by Hindus as by pilgrims from Buddhist countries.

Indeed, I was much struck by the evidence which Buddha-Gaya affords of the inter-relationship between Buddhism and Hinduism—especially that form of the latter called Vaish?avism. For instance, on one side of the temple I noticed the tombs of the Mahants, or Heads of the neighbouring Hindu monastery, who are buried there in a sitting posture. Near these again are shrines of the five Pa??ava heroes (who take the place of the five Buddhas), and a shrine containing the supposed impression of the two feet of Vish?u. The upper portion of a small Buddhist Stupa has been sawn off and inverted[196], and Vish?u’s footsteps carved on the smooth surface. This certainly symbolizes in a remarkable manner the merging of Buddhism in Vaish?avism, and bears out Dr. Sachau’s assertion that in Alberuni’s time Vish?u-worship was dominant in India.

Then, again, on the right of the entrance to the principal temple is a raised platform of earth, on which are images of Vish?u, ?iva, Parvati, and Ga?e?a. Here I saw a ?raddha ceremony[197], in the act of being performed by some Hindus—just arrived from the neighbouring town of Gaya. They were repeating their mantras, offering their Pi??as, and putting the finishing stroke to the funeral services (previously performed by them at the Vish?u-pad temple at Gaya), under the shadow of a Pipal tree, held as sacred by them as by Buddhists.

To give an exhaustive account of the objects crowded together at this fountain-head of Buddhism would be impossible. The following abbreviated version of the Rev. S. Beal’s translation (ii. 115) of Hiouen Thsang’s description, throws great light on the state of Buddhism in the seventh century:—

Going south-west from Mount Pragbodhi, we came to the Bodhi-tree. It is surrounded by a brick wall, and is about 500 paces round. Within the wall the sacred traces touch one another in all directions. In one place there are Stupas, in another place Viharas. In the middle of the enclosure is the Bodhi-tree, under which is the diamond throne called Bodhi-ma??a. On this the Buddha sat and attained the holy path of perfect wisdom. When the earth is shaken, this spot alone is unmoved. In old days, when Buddha was alive, the Bodhi-tree—which is a Pippala or sacred fig-tree—was several hundred feet high. Although it has often been injured by cutting, it is still forty or fifty feet high. The leaves never wither either in winter or summer, but always remain shining and glistening, except on every successive Nirva?a-day, when the leaves fade, and then in a moment revive as before. On this day thousands and ten thousands assemble from different quarters, and bathe the roots with scented water and perfumed milk. King A?oka, before he was converted, tried to destroy the tree by force, and after him king Sa?a?ka tried again, but the roots sprang up as full of life as ever.
To the east of the Bodhi-tree, there is a Vihara about 160 or 170 feet high, built of blue tiles covered with chunam; all the niches in the different stories holding golden figures. The four sides of the building are covered with ornamental work. The whole is surmounted by a gilded copper Amalaka fruit. To the right and left of the gate are niches; in the left is a figure of Avalokite?vara Bodhi-sattva and in the right a figure of Maitreya. On the site of the present Vihara, A?oka at first built a small Vihara. Afterwards a Brahman, who became a convert to Buddhism, reconstructed it on a larger scale.
To the north of the Bodhi-tree is the place where Buddha walked up and down, about 70 paces or so long. When he had obtained enlightenment, he remained perfectly quiet for seven days. Then rising, he walked up and down during seven days to the north of the tree. Not far to the south of the tree is a Stupa about 100 feet high, built by King A?oka. To the east of the tree is the place (marked by two Stupas) where Mara tempted Gautama to become a Universal Monarch. To the north-west is a Vihara in which is an image of Ka?yapa Buddha, noted for its miraculous qualities. Occasionally it emits a glorious light, and the old records say, that if a man, actuated by sincere faith, walks round it seven times, he obtains the power of knowing the place and condition of his previous births. Outside the south gate is a large tank, about 700 paces round, the water of which is clear and pure as a mirror. To the east of this is the lake of the Snake-king, Mucalinda. On the west bank is a small Vihara. Formerly, when Tathagata acquired complete enlightenment, he sat here for seven days in perfect composure, and ecstatic contemplation, while Mucalinda protected him with his folds wound seven times round his body. (Compare the frontispiece.)
By the side of the river, not far off, is the place where Buddha received the rice-milk, and where two merchants offered some wheat-flour and honey from their travelling-store (p. 40 of this volume).
Near this a Stupa marks the spot where the four Kings presented Buddha with four golden dishes. The Lord declined such costly offerings. Then the four Kings, casting away the golden vessels, offered silver ones; and afterwards vessels of crystal, lapis-lazuli, cornelian, amber, ruby, and so on in succession; but the Lord of the World would accept none of them. Lastly, the four Kings offered stone vessels.
Near this spot the Buddha worked various wonders to convert those who were capable of conversion. For example, it was here that the Buddha overcame the fiery snake-demon (see p. 46 of this volume). In the middle of the night the Naga vomited forth fire and smoke, and the chamber seemed to be filled with fiery flames; but the Buddha having forced the fiery dragon into his alms-bowl, came forth next day holding it in his hand, and showed it to the unbelievers.

To the south of Mucalinda’s tank is a Stupa, which indicates the spot where Ka?yapa, having embarked in a boat to save Buddha during an inundation, saw the Lord of the World walking on the water as on land.

Sarnath near Benares.

The city of Benares (Banaras, properly Vara?asi) is the most sacred place of Brahmanism[198], and is certainly the second most holy place of Buddhism. For it was from this centre that the stream of Buddhist teaching first flowed, and in the days of A?oka and of his immediate successors, Buddhism must have vied with Brahmanism in the number of its shrines and sacred objects collected there.

We have already seen that memorial Stupas and temples, not intended to contain relics, were reared at various holy spots of ground, consecrated by the presence of Gautama on special occasions. The immense ruined Stupa—once a tower-like monument—at a spot now called Sarnath (Sara?ga-nath[199]), three or four miles from the modern city of Benares, is a memorial of this kind. It is all that remains of the celebrated structure erected at the spot in the M?iga-dava or deer-park, once called Isi-patana (for Sansk?it ?ishi-patana), where Gautama first turned the wheel of the Law (Dharma-cakra)—that is, where he preached his first sermon (p. 42). It was to this place that Buddhist pilgrims once flocked, and here vast numbers of votive relic-shrines and Stupas were deposited, as at Buddha-Gaya.

I visited this ancient ruin, in company with the late Mr. Sherring, in 1876, and enjoyed the advantage of his guidance in inspecting it, as well as all that remains of the monastic buildings and other adjacent ruins, including the octagonal tower called Chaukandi, about half a mile distant. In his book on Benares, Mr. Sherring has followed General Sir A. Cunningham, who describes the principal monument—now of a bee-hive shape, and called Dhamek[200]—as 93 feet in diameter at the base, 292 feet in circumference, and 128 feet above the general level of the soil. The lower part—to a height of 43 feet—is built of stone, and all the upper part of bricks. There are eight projecting faces with empty niches, which once held statues.

An old man who was in charge of the ruins when we examined them, lighted a candle, and took us into the horizontal tunnel-like gallery which the General had excavated some years before, in the hope that relics or memorials of some kind might be found buried in the interior. A shaft or well had been previously sunk from the summit, and at the depth of 10½ feet a slab was discovered, inscribed with the well-known Buddhist formula ‘Ye dharma,’ etc. (p. 104); but the search for relics proved unsuccessful. The Stupa, in fact, turned out to be merely memorial, like that at Buddha-Gaya.

Probably some monumental Stupa existed here from the earliest times, and certainly from A?oka’s time. The present Stupa was seen by Hiouen Thsang, who has described it in rather a confused manner (Beal, ii. 45). Hence it must be as old as about the ninth century. Fa-hien saw a Stupa of some kind there in the fifth century (p. 387).

About fifty yards from the Stupa, Sir A. Cunningham found the interesting sculpture given at p. 477.

Raja-g?iha.

Raja-g?iha (Pali, Raja-gaha) is the modern Raj-gir. The old city had the epithet Giri-vraja, ‘surrounded by hills[201].’ It was the first metropolis or mother-city of Buddhism, and the original capital of the powerful kingdom of Magadha, when under the rule of the Kings Bimbi-sara (p. 48) and his son Ajata-?atru, who were contemporaries and friends of Gautama, and converted by him to Buddhism[202]. The sacred character of the place is attested by the ruins of vast numbers of Buddhist Stupas and Viharas which once existed here. Unhappily Brahmans and Musalmans have used the materials for their temples, tombs, and mosques.

It was here that Gautama first studied under the Brahmans A?ara and Uddaka (p. 29), and here he first imbibed the philosophical ideas which afterwards coloured his teaching. It is not surprising, therefore, that at a later period of his career he was fond of returning to Raja-g?iha for retirement during Vassa; his two favourite resorts[203] being the Bambu grove (Ve?u-vana, p. 48) and the hill called Vulture-peak (G?idhra-ku?a, Legge’s Fa-hien, 81, 83), both in the neighbourhood of the city.

It was here, too, that several interesting incidents in the life of Buddha occurred. For example, it was here in a cavern that the Buddha often meditated. It was here that he often preached and taught; and it was here, or in the neighbourhood of the city, that the god ?akra (Indra) once appeared to Buddha, bringing a musician from heaven to entertain him, and afterwards testing his knowledge by forty-two questions. These the god traced with his finger on the rock, and the impression of them, according to Fa-hien, was to be seen there in his time, and a monastery was built on the spot. With reference to this legend we may note that the answers to the forty-two questions are supposed to be contained in a celebrated Tibetan work called the ‘Forty-two points on which the Buddha gave instruction[204]’, the importance of which is proved by its being translated into several languages.

It was in this neighbourhood, too, that Buddha’s two chief disciples—?ariputra and Maudgalyayana (Pali, Moggallana, p. 47)—had their noted meeting with A?vajit (Pali, Assaji), already mentioned (p. 104). Here, also, a Jaina ascetic made a pit of fire and poisoned the rice, and then invited Buddha to eat. Lastly, it was here that many of Deva-datta’s plots against the Buddha’s life (see p. 52) were carried on. The story of these is so interesting that I abridge it from the Sacred Books of the East (vol. xx. p. 238):—

Now at that time the Venerable One was seated preaching the Law and surrounded by a great multitude, including the king and his retinue. And Deva-datta rose from his seat, and said, ‘The Venerable One is now aged, he has accomplished a long journey, and his term of life is nearly run. Let the Venerable One now dwell at ease and give up the Sa?gha to me, I will be its leader.’ Then said the Buddha, ‘I would not give over the Sa?gha, even to Sariputta and Moggallana; how much less then to so evil-living a person as you.’
Then Deva-datta thought: ‘The Venerable One denies me before the king, and calls me “evil-living,” and exalts Sariputta and Moggallana.’ With these thoughts in his mind he departed, angry and displeased, and went to Ajata-sattu and said, ‘Do you, prince, kill your father, and become Raja; and I will kill the Venerable One and become the Buddha.’ And prince Ajata-sattu, taking a dagger, entered his royal father’s chamber. And the Raja Bimbi-sara said, ‘Why do you want to kill me, O prince? if you want the kingdom, let it be thine.’ And he handed it over to Ajata-sattu. Then Deva-datta said, ‘Give orders, O king, to your men, that I may deprive the Samana Gotama of life.’ And Ajata-sattu did so. Then sixteen men were sent to kill Gotama. They went, and returned and said, ‘We cannot kill him. Great is the power of the Venerable One.’
Next Deva-datta climbed up the Vulture’s Peak, and hurled down a mighty rock on the Venerable One. But two mountain peaks came together and stopped that rock. [Fa-hien says that it hurt one of his toes. Legge, p. 83.] Now at that time there was at Raja-g?iha an elephant named Nalagiri, fierce and a man-slayer. And Deva-datta caused the elephant to be let loose against Gotama. But the Venerable One infused a sense of love into the elephant. And the elephant extended his trunk and took up the dust from off the feet of the Venerable One and sprinkled it over his own head, and retired bowing backwards, gazing upon the Venerable One.

It may be noted here that the hell to which Deva-datta was condemned for his attempts upon the Buddha’s life, is thus described by Burmese authorities:—

The impious Deva-datta, a cousin and brother-in-law of the Buddha, suffers terrible punishment in Hell. His feet are sunk ankle-deep in burning marl. His head is incased with a red hot metal cap down to the lobe of the ears. Two large red-hot bars transfix him from back to front, two horizontally from right to left, and one impales him from head to foot. (Shway Yoe’s ‘Burman,’ i. 121.)

It should be mentioned in connexion with Raja-g?iha that Ajata-?atru built a grand Stupa there, over a portion of the Buddha’s ashes, soon after his cremation.

Another fact which enhances the interest of this place is the propinquity of the celebrated Satta-pa??i cave (p. 55), where the Buddhist brotherhood first assembled after their leader’s death.

?ravasti.

?ravasti (Pali, Savatthi), sometimes spelt ?ravasti, has been identified by General Cunningham with a place now called Sahet-Mahet, about fifty-eight miles north of Ajudhya in Oudh. The town is said to derive its name from the fact that it was built by a certain King ?ravasta. Other native authorities derive it from a ?ishi named Savattha, who is said to have resided there. It was certainly the ancient capital of Kosala (Oudh), and was ruled over by King Prasena-jit (Pali, Pasenadi), who was Gautama’s contemporary. Moreover, it was the Buddha’s favourite place of retreat[205] during the rainy seasons (p. 48 of this volume), about half of his Vassas having been spent there[206] in the Jeta-vana monastery built for him by the wealthy merchant Anatha-pi??ika (Anepidu), sometimes called Su-datta.

Doubtless on this account ?ravasti was once much resorted to by the Buddha’s followers, and ultimately became an important seat of Buddhist learning.

The celebrated monastery, the ruins of which still exist, was erected in the garden (vana) of Prince Jeta, who parted with the land to Su-datta on condition that he would cover it with gold coins. This was done, till eighteen krores of coins had been spread out like a pavement on the ground. Both Fa-hien and Hiouen Thsang mention this incident, and the former states that the monastery was seven stories high[207]. The pavement of coins is represented in one of the sculptures belonging to the Stupa of Bharhut (Cunningham, pp. 84-87), as well as on one of the pillars of A?oka’s railing at Buddha-Gaya.

?ravasti was the place where, according to Fa-hien, the first sandal-wood image of Buddha was set up in a monastery by King Prasena-jit (see p. 471)[208]. A colossal erect figure of the Buddha was found here in a temple excavated by Sir A. Cunningham, but this was of stone.

With regard to the celebrated sandal-wood image, Fa-hien (p. 57) relates a strange legend of its preservation by a miracle:—

‘The kings and people of the countries around vied with one another in their offerings (to the image). Hanging up about it silken canopies, scattering flowers, burning incense, and lighting lamps. It happened that a rat, carrying in its mouth the wick of a lamp, set one of the canopies on fire, which caught the Vihara, and the seven stories were all consumed. The kings and people were all very sad, supposing that the sandal-wood image had been burned; but lo! when a small Vihara to the east was opened, there was seen the original image!’

Fa-hien goes on to describe another miracle:—

‘To the north-west of the Vihara there is a grove called “The getting of Eyes.” Formerly there were five hundred blind men, who lived here; Buddha preached his Law to them, and they all got back their eyesight. Full of joy they stuck their staves in the earth, and did reverence. The staves immediately began to grow, and formed a grove’ (Legge, pp. 58, 59).

Hiouen Thsang states that in his time the towns and monasteries about ?ravasti were mostly in ruins. He, too, gives an interesting account of a miraculous incident which occurred there:—

To the north-east of the Jeta-vana garden is the place where the Buddha washed a sick Monk, who lived apart by himself in a solitary place. The Lord of the World seeing him inquired, ‘What is your affliction?’ He answered, ‘In former days, my disposition being a careless one, I never looked on any sick man with pity, and now when I am sick, no one looks on me.’ Thereupon the Buddha said to him, ‘My son! I will look on you,’ and touching him with his hand, he healed the sickness. Then leading him forth, he washed his body, and gave him new clothes, and said, ‘From this time forward be diligent and exert yourself.’ Hearing this, the penitent monk, moved by gratitude and filled with joy, followed the Buddha and became his disciple. (Founded on Beal, ii. 5, abridged.)

Vai?ali.

Vai?ali (in Pali Vesali, now Besarh) lies twenty miles north of Haji-pur, on the left bank of the Ganges, and twenty-seven north-east of Patna. This town (the city of the Licchavis) is celebrated as the scene of the second Council (p. 57). Near it, at a place called Bakhra, is a celebrated ancient pillar surmounted by a lion (see Cunningham, i. 59). Vai?ali, however, is chiefly noted as one of the places where Gautama often preached and taught, and where he stopped on his way to Kusinara, the place of his death. His usual residence was in a Vihara, described by Fa-hien as double-galleried, and in a garden presented to him by the courtesan Amba-pali, whom he converted and induced to live a virtuous life. He also resided for the fifth year of his teaching in a building called the Ku?agara[209] hall.

Hiouen Thsang speaks of the town and of the objects of interest round it thus (Beal, ii. 66-75):—

Both heretics and believers are found here living together. There are several hundred monasteries (Sa?gharamas) which are mostly dilapidated. There are also several Deva temples, occupied by sectaries of different kinds. The followers of the Nirgranthas (i. e. of the Jains) are very numerous.
To the north is a Stupa which indicates the place where Tathagata stopped and took leave of the Licchavis, on his way to Ku?i-nagara to die. Wishing him to quit the world, Mara (compare p. 41) came to Buddha and said, ‘You have now dwelt sufficiently long in the world. Those whom you have saved from the circling streams of transmigration are as numerous as the sand.’ The Buddha replied, ‘No, those who are saved are as the grains of dust on my nail; those who are not saved are like the grains of dust on the whole earth. Nevertheless, after three months I shall die.’ Mara hearing this was rejoiced, and departed.
Both within and without the city of Vai?ali and all round it, the sacred vestiges are so numerous, that it would be difficult to recount them all. To the north-west is a Stupa at the spot where Buddha dwelt when he recited the history of his former birth (Jataka) as a Cakra-vartin or Universal Monarch (compare p. 423) possessed of the seven treasures. To the south-east is a great Stupa, marking the place where the convocation of the seven hundred sages and saints was held, one hundred and ten years after the Nirva?a of Buddha, to compel the monks who had broken the laws of Buddha to obey them.

It appears that the Licchavis of Vai?ali obtained a large quantity of the relics of the Buddha’s body, and built a Stupa over them.

According to Fa-hien they also erected a Stupa over half the relics of the burnt body of Ananda (see p. 47 of this volume), the other being deposited near Raja-g?iha. His narrative runs as follows:—

When Ananda was going from Magadha to Vai?ali, wishing his Pari-nirva?a to take place there, king Ajata-?atru heard of his intention, and set out with his retinue to follow him.
The Licchavis, too, when they heard that Ananda was coming to their city, went out to meet him. In this way both parties arrived together at the river, and Ananda, thinking to himself that he ought to please both, burnt his own body in the middle of the river, and thus attained Pari-nirva?a in a fiery ecstasy of Samadhi. Then his body was divided into two, so that each got one half as a sacred relic (Legge, pp. 75-77).

Kau?ambi.

Kau?ambi (in Pali Kosambi), now Kosam[210], on the river Jumna, about thirty miles from Allahabad, was once a place hallowed by many Brahmanical associations, and is mentioned in the Ramaya?a. It was the capital of the Kau?amba country, and is said to have been founded by Ku?amba, tenth in descent from Pururavas. Without doubt it was one of the most ancient cities of India. It was also the city of King Udayana, whose story is alluded to by the greatest of all Sanskrit poets, Kali-dasa, in his ‘Cloud-Messenger[211].’ Furthermore, Kau?ambi is the city in which the scene of the Sansk?it drama Ratnavali was laid[212].

The Buddha resided there in the sixth and ninth years of his Buddhahood, and probably visited the place at other times. This was the chief cause of its reputation in connexion with Buddhism. But it also derived its sacred character from the fact that it contained the celebrated sandal-wood image[213] of the Buddha, believed to have been carved during his life-time, by a sculptor sent by Moggallana (see last line, p. 414) at King Udayana’s request, to the Trayastri??a heaven, when the Buddha was there preaching the Law to his mother (see p. 207).

In a village near at hand Sir A. Cunningham (i. 308) found two sculptured pillars, and the pedestal of a statue inscribed with the ‘Ye dharma’ formula (see p. 104). A great monolith was also discovered there. In Fa-hien’s time a Vihara existed at the spot where the Buddha had explained the Law (Legge, p. 96). Hiouen Thsang mentions that a lofty Stupa, 200 feet high, was erected by A?oka near at hand.

There was also a cavern in which the Buddha had left his shadow impressed on the rock. He also speaks of ten monasteries all in ruins.

Nalanda[214] was the greatest seat of Buddhist learning in India. It has been identified by Sir A. Cunningham with the village of Baragaon, about seven miles north of Raja-g?iha, about thirty miles south-east of the modern Patna, and about forty miles from Buddha-Gaya. Sir Alexander states that Baragaon possesses immense ruins and more numerous specimens of sculpture than any other place visited by him. According to Hiouen Thsang, the Buddha preached the Law there for three months. The vast extent and importance of the monastery (Sa?gharama) or monasteries at Nalanda have been already alluded to (p. 169). Fa-hien, however, does not mention them, which seems to indicate that they were built subsequently to A.D. 425. Hiouen Thsang, who travelled in the seventh century, is said to have resided there for five years as a student. Ten thousand monks, renowned for their learning, lived and studied in six magnificent buildings. The following is an extract from the later Chinese traveller’s description of it (Beal, ii. 70):—

The monks of Nalanda, to the number of several thousands, are men of the highest ability. Their conduct is pure and unblamable, although the rules of the monastery are severe. The day is not sufficient for asking and answering profound questions. From morning till night the monks engage in discussion; the old and the young mutually helping one another. Those who cannot discuss questions out of the Tripi?aka are little esteemed, and are obliged to hide themselves for shame. Hence learned men from different cities come here in multitudes to settle their doubts; and thence the streams of their wisdom spread far and wide. For this reason some persons usurp the name of Nalanda students, and in going to and fro receive honour in consequence.
If men from other quarters desire to enter and take part in the discussions, the keeper of the gate proposes some hard questions; those who are unable to answer have to retire. One must have studied deeply both old and new books, before gaining admission. Those students who come as strangers, have to show their ability by hard discussion; those who fail compared with those who succeed are as seven or eight to ten.

Sa?ka?ya.

Sa?ka?ya, now called Sa?kisa, about fifty miles north-west of Kanouj, was identified by Sir A. Cunningham in 1842. It was evidently once a large town with many remarkable monuments, and ought to be reckoned among the most sacred places of Buddhism. Hiouen Thsang describes it under the name Kie-pi-tha (Kapitha).

It is said that the Buddha’s mother died seven days after his birth (see p. 24 of this volume), and was thus deprived of the advantage of hearing the Law from her son’s lips. To compensate her for this loss, the Buddha ascended by his own supernatural power in three steps to the Trayastri??a heaven of Indra (p. 207), to which his mother had been transported, and there recited the Law for three months for her benefit. His return to earth seems to have been a more difficult matter; for his descent was not effected without the help of a ladder with three parallel flights of steps, made for him by the god Indra.

Fa-hien describes this miraculous incident in the following manner (Legge, 48, abridged):—

Sa?ka?ya is the place where Buddha came down after ascending to the Trayastri??a heaven, and there preaching his Law for three months for his mother’s benefit. Buddha had ascended there by his supernatural power, without the knowledge of his disciples; but seven days before his return, Anuruddha, by his own supernatural vision, saw him in heaven, and requested Moggallana (see p. 47 of this volume) to ascend to Indra’s heaven to inquire after ‘the World-honoured one.’ Moggallana did so, and returned with the information that in seven days the Buddha would return. Then the kings of eight countries with their people, not having seen Buddha for a long time, were all eagerly looking up for him to return. But the female mendicant Utpala[215] thought in her heart, ‘To-day, the kings, with their ministers and people, are all going to meet Buddha. I am but a woman; how shall I succeed in being the first to see him?’ Then Buddha, by his supernatural power, changed her into the appearance of a Universal Emperor, so that she was the foremost of all to meet and to do reverence to him.
At his descent three flights of steps were created. Buddha descended on the middle flight, composed of the seven precious substances; Maha-Brahma, king of the Brahma heavens (see p. 211 of this volume), came down by a flight of silver steps on the right side, and ?akra (Indra), lord of the thirty-three divinities (p. 207), descended by steps of gold on the left side, holding a canopy made of the seven precious substances. An innumerable multitude of gods followed. No sooner had the Buddha come down than all three flights disappeared in the ground, except seven steps, which continued to be visible.
Afterwards King A?oka, being eager to ascertain where their ends rested, sent men to find out by digging. They dug down till they reached a yellow spring, but could not discover the bottom of the steps. Hence the king felt an increase of devotion, and built a Vihara over the steps, with a standing image of Buddha sixteen cubits high. Behind the Vihara he erected a stone pillar, about fifty cubits high, with a lion on the top of it. A dispute arose between some heretics and the Buddhist monks about the ownership of the place, and the former agreed to give up their claim if any supernatural sign occurred; upon which the lion on the column gave a great roar.

Fa-hien adds that a Stupa was erected on the spot where Buddha descended; another where the female mendicant caught the first sight of Buddha at his descent.

The basement of King A?oka’s pillar was found by General Cunningham in 1876. On a previous occasion he discovered the capital of the ancient pillar surmounted by an elephant, which may have been mistaken by Fa-hien for a lion (see Cunningham, i. 274).

Hiouen Thsang, in his account of the three ladders (Beal, i. 202), says that they were arranged side by side from north to south, so that those who descended might have their faces to the east, and that the flight by which Indra descended was of crystal (not of gold), while that used by Brahma was of silver, and the Buddha’s steps were of gold (or of the seven precious substances, of which gold was one). This indicated the superiority of Buddha over the two gods who accompanied him.

In harmony with these ideas Indra and Brahma are sometimes represented in Buddhistic sculptures standing one on each side of the Buddha, and protecting him. They were also present at his birth (see p. 483 and engraving opposite p. 477).

Hiouen Thsang adds that some centuries before his time the ladders still existed in their original position; but, when he visited the spot, they had sunk into the earth, and disappeared. Sa?ka?ya, however, was still much frequented. A magnificent image of the Buddha was preserved in a large monastery there, and 1000 priests were studying the doctrines of the Sammatiya, a school of the Hina-yana, in four monasteries. Furthermore, many ‘myriads’ of pious laymen lived in the neighbourhood.

The story of Buddha’s descent from heaven by help of golden steps is commonly believed both in Ceylon and Burma to the present day. The legend, as current in Ceylon, is given by Spence Hardy (Manual, p. 311).

It appears that when Buddha was about to return to earth from the god Indra’s heaven, the god reflected that, although Buddha had ascended in three steps, his descent ought to be celebrated ‘with special honours.’ He therefore caused a ladder of gold to extend from the Mountain Meru (see p. 206 of the present Lectures) to Sa?ka?ya, 80,000 Yojanas[216] in length. The steps were alternately of gold, silver, coral, ruby, emerald and other gems. At the right side of the ladder he created another, also of gold, by which Indra, blowing the conch, descended, accompanied by his own gods; and on the left another ladder of silver, by which Brahma and the Brahma gods (p. 210) descended, holding umbrellas over the Buddha. The three flights of steps appeared to the people of the earth like three rainbows. When Buddha commenced his descent all the worlds were illuminated by the light from his body.

With this extravagant myth—believed in as a historical fact by most Buddhists—we may contrast the simple narrative of Jacob’s dream in Genesis xxviii.

Nevertheless the legend is curious, and I was greatly pleased by discovering in the Indian Section of the South Kensington Museum, a small bronze model of the triple ladder, lately dug up at Moulmein. Mr. Purdon Clarke, C.I.E., the present Keeper, kindly had the model photographed, and presented me with a drawing of it. This I have had engraved, and here give.

It will be observed that an image of the Buddha is represented above the ladder, as if seated in Indra’s heaven, and as if engaged in the act of teaching there; while the earth is typically represented below in the shape of a square platform, with four small Buddhist temples, one at each of the four quarters of the compass (compare p. 85).

A ruder representation of the ladder occurs in the sculptures of the Bharhut Stupa (Cunningham, p. 92). The General found an imperfect representation of it carved in soap-stone at Sa?kisa in 1876 (Report, xi. 26).

Saketa.

Saketa is a name of the ancient city Ayodhya (now Ajudhya) described in Valmiki’s great epic the Ramayan?a, and believed to have been founded by Manu, the progenitor of the human race. This renowned city, which was a great centre of Brahmanism, was also, no doubt, at one time a considerable centre of Buddhism. At all events, the identification of certain Buddhist sites there has been made clear by Sir A. Cunningham, who considers Saketa to be the same as the Pi-so-kia (Vi?akha) of Hiouen Thsang and the Sha-che or Sha-khe of Fa-hien. The former found twenty monasteries there, and 3000 priests studying the Little Vehicle according to the Sammatiya school; also fifty Deva temples and very many heretics.

In one of the monasteries resided the Arhat Deva-?arma, who wrote a treatise called the VijÑana-kaya-?astra in defence of the doctrine of the non-existence of any Ego or personal self. A Stupa, 200 feet high, was built by A?oka in the place where Buddha is supposed to have preached and taught during six years.

Both Fa-hien and Hiouen Thsang mention the legend that he one day threw on the ground a twig he had used to clean his teeth (danta-kash?ha), which sprouted and grew into a miraculous tree seven cubits high, at which height it always remained. The Brahmans became jealous of the miracle and sometimes cut the tree down, sometimes uprooted it, but it always grew again and remained at the same height. Here also is the place where the four Buddhas (p. 400) walked and sat (Legge, pp. 54, 55; Beal, i. 240).

Kanya-kubja (Kanouj).

Kanya-kubja[217] is the Sansk?it name for the ancient city of Kanouj; (often spelt Kanoj), once the capital of Northern India, and said to be the oldest city in India, next to Ayodhya.

When Hiouen Thsang visited this place it was the capital of the celebrated monarch Harsha-vardhana, also called ?iladitya (see p. 167 of this volume), whose kingdom extended from Kashmir to Assam and from the river Narbada to Nepal. When he carried off a tooth-relic of the Buddha from Kashmir, his procession back to his capital was attended by a large number of tributary kings. Hiouen Thsang, in describing the piety of this great monarch, says of him, that ‘he sought to plant the tree of religious merit to such an extent that he forgot to sleep and to eat.’ He goes on to state as follows:—

King ?iladitya forbade the slaughter of any living thing as food on pain of death. He built several thousand Stupas, each about 100 feet high. Then in all the highways of the towns and villages throughout India he erected hospices, and stationed physicians there with medicines for travellers and the poor persons round about. On all spots where there were holy traces of Buddha, he built monasteries. Once in five years he held the great assembly called Moksha. Then every year he assembled the monks, and bestowed on them the four kinds of alms (food, drink, medicine, clothing). He ordered them to carry on discussions, and himself judged of their arguments. He rewarded the good and punished the wicked. He promoted the men of talent, and degraded evil men. Wherever he moved he dwelt in a travelling-palace, and provided choice meats for men of all sorts of religion. Of these the Buddhist priests would be perhaps a thousand; the Brahmans five hundred[218]. He divided each day into three portions. During the first he occupied himself on matters of government; during the second he practised himself in religious devotion (Beal, i. 214).

Notwithstanding Hiouen Thsang’s description of various Stupas, monasteries and monuments seen by him, General Sir A. Cunningham was not able to identify any of the existing ruins in the neighbourhood of Kanouj, ‘so completely has almost every trace of Hindu occupation been obliterated by the Musalmans’ (Report, i. 284).

Fa-hien mentions a Stupa near the town, built on the spot where the Buddha preached a discourse on ‘the bitterness and vanity of life,’ comparing it to ‘a bubble or foam on water’ (Legge, 54).

Pa?ali-putra.

Pa?ali-putra (now Patna) seems to have existed as a village at a very early period. Its ancient name was Kusuma-pura. It was enlarged and practically founded about the time of the Buddha’s death by Ajata-?atru[219], who did not, however, remove there from his own capital city Raja-g?iha. One of his successors, the great King A?oka, the well-known patron of Buddhism (p. 66), converted Pa?ali-putra into the metropolis of the kingdom of Magadha, and it thenceforward became an important centre of Buddhism. Sir A. Cunningham states that it continued flourishing as the capital of the great Gupta kingdom during the fourth and fifth centuries of the Christian era.

Fa-hien relates a tradition that King A?oka’s palace in the city was built by genii (spirits), who brought great rocks and constructed chambers by heaping them together. He describes a monastery belonging to the Great Vehicle, and a temple belonging to the Little Vehicle, in the neighbourhood of the city, and gives an account of a Buddhist procession of four-wheeled cars and images which took place once a year. Each car was twenty-two feet or more high, and had five stories, with niches on four sides, in which were placed images of the Buddha and the Bodhi-sattvas, along with images of the gods (devas). They were made to look like moving pagodas (or Dagabas). The Hindus, as we know, have similar car-processions to this day, when the images of K?ish?a are dragged through the streets of towns and villages.

Fa-hien mentions the interesting fact that the nobles of the country had founded hospitals in the city to which destitute, crippled, and diseased persons might repair, and receive advice, food, and medicines suited to their cases, gratuitously. He adds that A?oka, wishing to build 84,000 Stupas[220] in place of the eight originally constructed over the Buddha’s ashes, built the first Stupa and a pillar near Pa?ali-putra.

Near it he says was an impression of the Buddha’s foot, over which a temple with a door towards the north had been erected (Legge, pp. 77-80; Beal, i. lv-lviii). The position of the Stupa and column has been discovered by Sir A. Cunningham (xi. 157, 158).

Kesariya.

Kesariya is a large village about thirty miles distant from Vai?ali (Besarh). It is chiefly remarkable for a mound of ruined brick-work, 62 feet in height, supporting a solid brick Stupa (nearly 68½ feet in diameter), which is also partly in ruins. The people call it the Stupa of the Cakravarti (Universal Monarch) Ve?a, father of King P?ithu. In Manu, VII. 41; IX. 66, 67, King Ve?a is described as an arrogant monarch who resisted the authority of the Brahmans. Probably he favoured the Buddhists. At any rate the Buddhists assert that the remarkable Stupa at this place was built to mark the spot where Gautama Buddha preached a discourse, in which he described one of his previous births as a Cakravarti king.

Not far from the Stupa a small mound has been excavated, and the head and shoulders of a colossal statue of Buddha brought to light (Cunningham, i. 67).

Ku?i-nagara.

Ku?i-nagara (in Pali Kusi-nara) was the place where the Buddha died, or—to speak more correctly—passed away in Pari-nirva?a (see pp. 48, 49, 140). It was long searched for in vain, but has recently been identified by Sir A. Cunningham with the modern Kasia, eighty miles east of Kapila-vastu, and 120 miles N.N.E. of Benares.

Neither Fa-hien nor Hiouen Thsang say much about Ku?i-nagara, except that it was deserted and had few inhabitants; but the latter’s allusion to the Buddha’s passing away out of the world at this place, and his account of the subsequent assembling of the first council at Raja-g?iha by order of the great Ka?yapa (pp. 47, 55), is so interesting and curious that I here give an abstract of his narrative, based on Mr. Beal’s translation (ii. 161):—

Once when the great Ka?yapa was seated in meditation, suddenly a bright light burst forth, and the earth shook. Then, exerting his faculty of supernatural vision, he saw the Lord Buddha passing away into Pari-nirva?a between two trees. Forthwith he ordered his followers to accompany him to the city of Ku?i-nagara. On the way there they met a Brahman, who, on being asked whence he came, replied, ‘From Ku?i-nagara, where I saw your master entering into Nirva?a. A vast multitude of heavenly beings were around him.’
Ka?yapa having heard these words said, ‘The sun of wisdom has extinguished his rays. The world is now in darkness. The illustrious guide—the King of the Law—has left us; the whole world is empty and afflicted. Men and gods are left without a guide.’ Accordingly, he proceeded to the two trees, and looking on Buddha, offered worship. But certain careless monks said one to another, with satisfaction, ‘Tathagata has gone to rest. This is good for us; for now, if we transgress, who is there to reprove us?’ Then Ka?yapa was deeply moved, and resolved to secure obedience to the teaching of Buddha.

Addressing the assembled multitude, he said, ‘We ought to collect the Law. Those who have kept it without failure, whose powers of discrimination are clear, such persons may form the assembly. Those who are only learners must depart to their homes.’
On this they went away, and only 999 men were left, including Ananda. But the great Ka?yapa excluded Ananda as being yet a learner. Addressing him, he said, ‘You are not yet free from defect; you, too, must leave the assembly. You were a personal attendant on Buddha, you loved him much, and are, therefore, not free from the ties of affection.’
So Ananda retired to a desert place. Wearied out, he desired to lie down. Scarcely had his head reached the pillow, when lo! he obtained the condition of an Arhat. Then he returned to the door of the assembly. But Ka?yapa said to him, ‘Have you got rid of all ties? If so, prove it; exercise your spiritual power and enter without the door being opened.’ Then Ananda entered through the key-hole, and having paid reverence to the assembled monks, sat down.

This power of reducing the body to the size of an atom, so as to be able to pass through so minute an aperture as a key-hole, was one of the supernatural faculties supposed to belong to perfected saints or Arhats (compare pp. 133, 245 of these Lectures).

The consideration of Buddhist Sacred Places might lead us on to various hallowed spots in other Buddhist countries, for example, Anuradha-pura, Adam’s Peak and Kelani in Ceylon; the site of the great pagoda at Rangoon, and of that near Mandalay in Burma; the site of the Buddha’s foot-print (Phra Bat) in Siam; the snows of Kinchinjunga in Sikkim; the city of Lhassa and its monasteries in Tibet; Kuren in Mongolia; but all these, and other places, have either been incidentally mentioned in previous Lectures or will be more fully noticed hereafter.

Clyx.com