Mahâ-Parinibbâna-Suttanta: The Book of the Great Decease

MAHÂ-PARINIBBÂNA-SUTTANTA. p. xxx p. xxxi INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. IN translating this Sutta I have followed the text published by my friend the late Mr. Childers, first in the journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, and afterwards separately. In the former the text appeared in two instalments, the first two sheets, with many various readings in the footnotes, in the volume for 1874; and the remainder, with much fewer various readings, in the volume for 1876. The reprinted text omits most of the various readings in the first two sheets, and differs therefore slightly in the paging. The letters D, S, Y, and Z, mentioned in the notes, refer to MSS. sent to Mr. Childers from Ceylon by myself, Subhûti Unnânse, Yâtramulle Unnânse, and Mudliar de Zoysa respectively. The MS. mentioned as P (in the first two sheets quoted only in the separate edition) is, no doubt, the Dîgha Nikâya MS. of the Phayre collection in the India Office Library. The other four are now I believe in the British Museum. The Hon. George Turnour of the Ceylon Civil Service published an analysis of this work in the journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society for 1839; but as he unfortunately skips, or only summarises, most of the difficult passages, his work, though a most valuable contribution for the time, now more than half a century ago, has not been of much service for the present purpose. Of much greater value was Buddhaghosa's commentary contained in the Sumangala Vilâsinî[1]; but the great fifth-century commentator

[1. I have used the copy made for Turnour, and now in the India Office Collection.] p. xxxii wrote of course for Buddhists, and not for foreign scholars; and his edifying notes and long exegetical expansions of the text (quite in the style of Matthew Henry) often fail to throw light on the very points which are most interesting, and most doubtful, to European readers. The Mâlâlankâra-vatthu, a late Pâli work by a Burmese author of the eighteenth century[1], is based, in that part of it relating to the last days of the Buddha, almost exclusively on the Book of the Great Decease, and on Buddhaghosa's commentary upon it. Bishop Bigandet's translation into English of a Burmese translation of this work, well known under the title of 'The Life or Legend of Gaudama the Budha of the Burmese,' affords evidence therefore of the traditional explanations of the text. In the course either of the original author's recasting, or of the double translation, so many changes have taken place, that its evidence is frequently ambiguous and not always quite trustworthy: but with due caution, it may be used as a second commentary. ------------------------ The exact meaning which was originally intended by the title of the book is open to doubt. 'Great-Decease-Book' may as well mean 'the Great Book of the Decease,' as 'the Book of the Great Decease.' This book is in fact longer than any other in the collection, and the epithet 'Great' is often opposed in titles to a 'Short' Sutta of (otherwise) the same name[2]. But the epithet is also frequently intended, without doubt, to qualify the immediately succeeding word in the title[3]; and, though the phrase 'Great Decease,' as applied to the death of the Buddha, has not been found elsewhere, it is, I think, meant to do so here '.

[1. See 'The Life or Legend,' &c., third edition, vol. ii. p. 149. The date there given (1134 of the Burmese era = 1773 A.D.) is evidently the date of the original work, and not of the translation. Nothing is said in the book itself or in Bishop Bigandet's notes of the name of the author, or of the name or date of the Burmese translator. 2. There are several such pairs in the Magghimâ Nikâya; and the Mahâ-Satippaitthâna-Sutta in the Dîgha is the same as the Satipatthâna-Sutta in the Magghima. 3. E.g. in the Mahâ-padhâna-Sutta and Mahâ-sudassana-Sutta. 4. Childers seems to have been of the same opinion, vide Dict. I, 268.] p. xxxiii The division of the Book into chapters, or rather Portions for Recitation, is found in the MSS.; the division of these chapters into sections has been made by myself. It will be noticed that a very large number of the sections have already been traced, chiefly by Dr. Morris and myself, in various other parts of the Pâli Pitakas: whole paragraphs or episodes, quite independent of the repetitions and stock phrases above referred to, recurring in two or more places. The question then arises whether (1) the Book of the Great Decease is the borrower, whether (2) it is the original source, or whether (3) these passages were taken over, both into it, and into the other places where they recur, from earlier sources. It will readily be understood that, in the present state of our knowledge, or rather ignorance, of the Pâli Pitakas, this question cannot as yet be answered with any certainty. But a few observations may even now be made.

Generally speaking the third of the above possible explanations is not only more probable in itself, but is confirmed by parallel instances in literatures developed under similar conditions, both in the valley of the Ganges and in the basin of the Mediterranean. It is quite possible that while some books--such as the Mahâ-vagga, the Kulla-vagga, and the Dîgha Nikâya-usually owe their resemblances to older sources now lost or absorbed; others--such as the Samyutta and the Anguttara--are always in such cases simply borrowers from sources still existing. At the time when our Book of the Great Decease was put into its present shape, and still more so when a Book of the Great Decease was first drawn up, there may well have been some reliable tradition as to the events that took place, and as to the subjects of his various discourses, on the Buddha's last journey. He had then been a public Teacher for forty-five years; and his system of doctrine, which is really, on the whole, a very simple one, had already been long ago elaborated, and applied in numerous discourses to almost every conceivable variety of circumstances. What he then said would most naturally be, as it is represented to have been, a final recapitulation of the most p. xxxiv important and characteristic tenets of his religion. But these are, of course, precisely those subjects which are most fully and most frequently dealt with in other parts of the Pâli Pitakas. No record of his actual words could have been preserved. It is quite evident that the speeches placed in the Teacher's mouth, though formulated in the first person, in direct narrative, are only intended to be summaries, and very short summaries, of what was said on these occasions. Now if corresponding summaries of his previous teaching had been handed down in the Order, and were in constant use among them, at the time when the Book of the Great Decease was put together, it would be a safe and easy method to insert such previously existing summaries in the historical account as having been spoken at the places where the Teacher was traditionally believed to have spoken on the corresponding doctrines. In the historical book the simple summaries would sufficiently answer every purpose; but when each particular matter became the subject of a separate book or division of a book, the same summaries would be included, but would be amplified and elucidated. And this is in fact the relation in which several of the recurring passages, as found in the Book of the Great Decease, stand to the same passages when found elsewhere.

On the other hand, some of the recurring passages do not consist of such summaries, but are actual episodes in the history. As an instance of these we may take the long extract at the end of the first, and the beginning of the second chapter (I, 20-II, 3, and again II, 16-II, 24), which is found also in the Mahâ-vagga. The words are (nearly[1]) identical in both places, but in the Book of the Great Decease the account occurs in its proper place in the middle of a connected narrative, whereas in the Mahâ-vagga, a treatise on the Rules and Regulations of the Order, it seems strangely out of place. So the passage, also a long one, with which the Book of the Great [1. On the difference see the note at II, 16. It affects only a few localising phrases in a narrative occupying (in the translation) thirteen pages.] p. xxxv Decease commences (on the Seven Conditions of Welfare), seems to have been actually borrowed by the Anguttara Nikâya from our work. The question of these summaries and parallel passages cannot be adequately treated by a discussion of the instances found in any one particular book. It must be considered as a whole, and quite apart from the allied question of the 'stock phrases' above alluded to, in a discussion of all the instances that can be found in the Pâli Pitakas. For this purpose tabulated statements are essential, and as a mere beginning such a statement is here annexed (including the passages, marked with an asterisk, which have every appearance of belonging to the same category).

BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. OTHER BOOKS. Chap. I (34 sections) §§ 1-10 Anguttara (Sutta-nipâta). §11 " (Kha-nipâta). §§ 16,17 Dîgha (Sampasâdaniya) and Samyutta (Satippatthâna-vagga). §§20-34 Mahâ-vagga VI, 28. §§ 1, 2, 3 Mahâ-vagga VI, 29. Chap. II (35 sections) §§ 13,14, 15 Dîgha (Satipatthâna). Magghima " Samyutta " Vibhanga " §§ 16-24 Mahâ-vagga VI, 30. §§ 27-35 Samyutta (Satippatthâna-vagga). Chap. III (66 sections) §§ 1-10 Samyutta (Iddhipâda-vagga). Anguttara (Attha-nipâta). § 11-20 Anguttara (Attha-nipâta). §§ 21-23* ? Eight Assemblies. §§ 24-32 Anguttara (Attha-nipâta). §§ 33 Anguttara (Attha-nipâta). Chap. IV (58 sections) §§ 2, 3 Anguttara (Katuka-nipâta). §§ 7-11* " " p. xxxvi Chap. V (69 sections) § 10 Anguttara (Duka-nipâta). §§ 16-22 " (Katuka-nipâta). §§ 27-31 " " §36 Samyutta (Satippatthâna-vagga). §§ 41-44 Dîgha (Mahâ-sudassana-Sutta). § 60 Kulla-vagga V, 8, 1. § 63 Mahâ-vagga I, 38, 1. § 68 Kulla-vagga XI, I, 15. Chap. VI (62 sections) § 16 Dîgha (Mahâ-sudassana-Sutta). §§ 36-41 Kulla-vagga XI, I, 1. ------------------------ No Sanskrit work has yet been discovered giving an account of the last days of Gotama; but there arc several Chinese works. which seem to be related to ours. Of one especially, named the Fo Pan-ni-pan King (apparently Buddha-Parinibbâna-Sutta, but such an expression is unknown in Pâli), Mr. Beal says[2]: 'This appears to be the same as the Sûtra known in the South.... It was translated into Chinese by a Shaman called Fa-tsu, of the Western Tsin dynasty, circa 200 A.D.'

'This appears to be the same as the Sûtra known in the South.... It was translated into Chinese by a Shaman called Fa-tsu, of the Western Tsin dynasty, circa 200 A.D.' I do not understand this date. The Western Tsin dynasty is placed by Mr. Beal himself on the fly-leaf of the Catalogue at 265-313 A.D. And whether the book referred to is really the same work as the Book of the Great Decease seems to me to be very doubtful. At p. 160 of his 'Catena of Buddhist Scriptures from the Chinese' Mr. Beal says, that another Chinese work 'known as the Mahâ Parinirvâna Sûtra' 'is evidently the same as the Mahâ Parinibbâna Sutta of Ceylon,' but it is quite evident from the extracts which he gives that it is an entirely different and much later work. On this book there would seem further to be a translated commentary, Ta Pan-ni-pan King Lo, mentioned [1. Omitted by Po-fa-tsu. See below, p. xxxviii. 2. Catalogue of Buddhist Chinese Books in the India Office Library, p. 95.] p. xxxvii at p. 100 of the same Catalogue, and there assigned to Chang-an of the Tsin dynasty (589-619 A.D.). At pp. 12-13 of the same Catalogue we find no less than seven other works, and an eighth on p. 77, not indeed identified with the Book of the Great Decease, but bearing titles which Mr. Beal represents in Sanskrit as Mahâparinirvâna Sûtra. They purport to be translated respectively-- A. D. 1. By Dharmaraksha of the Northern Liang dynasty

By Dharmaraksha of the Northern Liang dynasty 502-555 2. By Dharmaraksha " " " 3. By Fa Hian and Buddhabhadra of the Eastern Tsin dynasty 317-419 4. By Gñânabhadra and others of the Eastern Tang dynasty 620-904 5. By Dharmagupta and others of the Western Tsin dynasty 265-313 6. By Fa Hian of the Eastern Tsin dynasty 317-419 7. Unknown. 8. By Dharmabodhi of the Former Wei dynasty Indian author, Vasubandhu. circa 200 Whether Nos. 1 and 2, and again 3 and 6 are the same is not stated; and in the Indian Antiquary for 1875 Mr. Beal gives an account of another undated work, as existing in the India Office Collection, bearing a different title from any of the above, but which he also translates as Mahâparinibbâna Sutta. It purports to be the very oldest of the Vaipulya Sûtras, whereas the book quoted in the Catena is there said to be 'one of the latest of the expanded Sûtras.' 'The general outline,' says Mr. Beal[1], 'is this. Buddha, on a certain occasion, proceeded to Kinsinagara (sic), and entering a grove of Sâla trees, there reposed. He received a gift of food from Chanda, an artisan of the neighbouring town. After partaking of the food he was seized with illness. He discoursed through the night with his disciples, and disputed with certain heretical teachers. At early dawn he turned on his right side with his head to the north, and died. The Sâla trees bent down to form a canopy over his head. The account then proceeds to relate

[1. Indian Antiquary, vol. iv. p. 90.] p. xxxviii the circumstances of his cremation, and the subsequent disputes, between the Mallas and others, for his ashes.' There is a curious echo here of some of the sections translated below; though each particular item of the summary is really in contradiction with the corresponding part of the Pâli book. There is perhaps another Chinese work on the death of Buddha, of the existence of which I have been informed, through the kind intervention of Professor Max Müller, by Mr. Kasawara. It was translated by Po-fa-tsu between 290 and 306 A. D. It seems to be the same as the first mentioned above, but it contains a good deal of matter not found in the Mahâ-parinibbâna-Sutta (notably an account of the Râgagaha Council, the mention of which is so conspicuously absent from the Pâli work); and it omits many of the sections found in the Pâli. Mr. Kasawara has been kind enough to send me the following details regarding those omissions, and they are of peculiar interest as compared with the table given above[1]: Chapters in the Pâli Sections wanting in Chinese. 1st Chapter 15-18. 3rd Chapter 21-42. 4th Chapter 53-56. 5th Chapter 4-6; 16-23; 27-31; 48-51. 6th Chapter 27; 48-50. There is no evidence to show that any of the above works are translations of our Sutta, or in any sense the same work. No reliance, in fact, can be placed upon the mere similarity of title in order to show that a Chinese work and an Indian one are really the same: and I regret that attempts should have been made to fix the date of Indian works by the fact that Chinese translations bearing similar titles are said to have been made in a certain period. But the above-mentioned works on the Great Decease will, when published, throw valuable light on the traditions of different, though no doubt later, schools of Buddhist thought; and a detailed comparison would probably throw a very interesting light on the way in which

[1. On p. xxxvi.] p. xxxix religious legends of this kind vary and grow; and the existence of these Chinese translations affords ground for the hope that we may some day discover an earlier Sanskrit work on the same subject[1]. ------------------------ The cremation ceremonies described in the sixth chapter are not without interest. It would be natural enough that Gotama should have been buried without any of those ritualistic forms the usefulness of which he denied, and without any appeal to gods whose power over men he ignored. But the tone of the narrative makes it at least possible that there was not really anything unusual in the method of his cremation; and that the elaborate rites prescribed in the Brâhmanical books for use at a funeral[2] were not, in practice, observed in the case of the death of any person other than a wealthy Brâhman, or some layman of rank who was a devoted adherent of the Brâhmans. In the same way we find that in those countries where the more ancient form of Buddhism still prevails, there are a few simple forms to be used in the case of the cremation of a distinguished Bhikkhu or Upâsaka; but in ordinary cases bodies are buried without any ceremony. So in Ceylon, Robert Knox--whose rare and curious work, one of the most trustworthy books of travels extant, deserves more notice than it has received, and who was a captive there for many years before the natives were influenced by any contact with Europeans--says[3],

So in Ceylon, Robert Knox--whose rare and curious work, one of the most trustworthy books of travels extant, deserves more notice than it has received, and who was a captive there for many years before the natives were influenced by any contact with Europeans--says[3], 'It may not be unacceptable to relate how they burn their dead. As for persons of inferior quality, they are interred in some convenient places in the woods (there being no set places for burial), carried thither by two or three of their friends, and buried without any more ado. They lay them on their backs, with their heads to the West, and their feet to the East, as we do. Then these people go and wash: for they are unclean by handling the dead. [1. I have not been able to trace any reference to either of these Chinese works in Mr. Edkins's 'Chinese Buddhism.' 2. See Max Müller in Z. D. M. G., vol. ix. 3. 'Knox's 'Historical Relation of Ceylon,' Part III, Chap. xi.] p. xl 'But persons of greater quality are burned, and that with ceremony. When they are dead they lay them out, and put a cloth over their privy parts; and then wash the body, by taking half a dozen pitchers of water and pouring upon it. Then they cover him with a linen cloth, and so carry him forth to burning. This is when they burn the body speedily. But otherwise they cut down a tree that may be proper for their purpose, and hollow it like a hog-trough, and put the body, being disembowelled and embalmed, into it, filling up all about with pepper, and so let it lie in the house until it be the king's command to carry it out to the burning. For that they dare not do without the king's order if the person deceased be a courtier. Sometimes the king gives no order in a great while; it may be not at all: therefore, in such cases, that the body may not take up house-room or annoy them, they dig a hole in the floor of their house, and put hollowed tree and all in, and cover it. If afterwards the king commands to burn the body, they take it up again, in obedience to the king-otherwise there it lies.

'Their order for burning is this: if the body be not thus put into a trough or hollow tree, it is laid upon one of his bedsteads, which is a great honour among them. This bedstead with the body on it, or hollowed tree with the body in it, is fastened with poles, and carried upon men's shoulders unto the place of burning, which is some eminent place in the fields, or highways, or where else they please. There they lay it upon a pile of wood some two or three feet high;--then they pile up more wood upon the corpse, lying thus on the bedstead or in the trough. Over all they have a kind of canopy built (if he be a person of very high quality), covered at top, hung about with painted cloth, and bunches of cocoa-nuts, and green boughs; and so fire is put to it. After all is burnt to ashes, they sweep together the ashes into the manner of a sugar-loaf, and hedge the place round from wild beasts breaking in, and they will sow herbs there. Thus I saw the king's uncle, the chief tirinanx[1] (who was, as it were, the chief primate of all the [1. Knox's way of spelling Terunnânsê, that is, Thera.] p. xli nation), burned upon a high place, that the blaze might be seen a great way[1].' I myself saw an Unnânsê burned very much in this way near the Weyangoda Court-house; and there is a long account in the native newspaper, the Lak-riwi-kirana (Ceylon Sunbeam), of the 12th March, 1870, Of the cremation of a Weda-râla, or native doctor. Bishop Bigandet relates in a note in his 'Life or Legend of Gautama' the corresponding ceremonies still in use in Burma, of which he has been a witness[2]; but cremation is apparently as seldom resorted to in Burma as it is in Ceylon.

The unceremonious mode of burying the dead referred to by Knox is not adopted in the more settled districts on the sea coast. When at Galle I enquired into the funeral customs there prevalent, with the following result[3]: A few hours after a man has died, the relations wash the corpse, shave it; and, having clothed it with a strip of clean white cloth, place it on a bedstead covered with white cloth, and under a canopy (wiyana) also of white cloth. They then place two lamps, one to burn at the head, and the other at the foot of the corpse, and use perfumes. A coffin is then prepared, covered with black cloth; and the body is placed on the coffin, and is then sprinkled over with lavender or rose-water. The women meanwhile bow backwards and forwards with their hands behind their heads, uttering loud wailings over the deceased. Then the male relatives carry the coffin to the grave, which is dug in one of their own cocoa-nut topes near by, and over which is raised a more or less elaborate canopy or arch of cloths and evergreens (gedi-ge), adorned with the tender leaves and flowers of the cocoa-nut. Along the path also from the house to the grave young cocoa-nut leaves and flowers are sometimes hung, and the pathway itself is often spread with clean white cloths. The tom-tom beaters go first; and the dull monotonous [1. In the older editions of Knox there is a curious engraving of a body being thus burnt.

[1. In the older editions of Knox there is a curious engraving of a body being thus burnt. 2. Third edition, vol. ii. pp. 78, 79. 3. See the Ceylon Friend for 1870, pp. 109 and following.] p. xlii sound of their instruments of music is appropriate enough. Then follow some Buddhist mendicants, in number according to the wealth or influence of the deceased, and walking under a portable canopy of white cloth. Then the coffin is carried by the nearest male relatives, and followed by other male relatives and relations--no females, even the widowed mother of an only son, taking part in this last sad procession. Three times the coffin is carried round the grave: then it is placed on two sticks placed across the mouth of the pit; and one end of a roll of white cloth is placed on the coffin, the other end being held by all the Unnânsês (Bhikkhus) whilst the people repeat three times in Pâli the well-known formula of the Refuges (the simple Nicene Creed of the Buddhists): 'I take my refuge in the Buddha, I take my refuge in the Dhamma, I take my refuge in the Order[1].' Then the priests respond, thrice repeating in Pâli the well-known verse discussed below[2]: 'How transient are all component things! Their nature's to be born and die; Coming, they go; and then is best, When each has ceased, and all is rest!' Then the Unnânsês let go the roll of white cloth, and whilst water is poured from a goblet into a cup placed on a plate until the cup is full to the brim[3], they again chaunt three times in Pâli the following verses:--

Then the Unnânsês let go the roll of white cloth, and whilst water is poured from a goblet into a cup placed on a plate until the cup is full to the brim[3], they again chaunt three times in Pâli the following verses:-- [1. Buddham saranam gakkhâmi Dhammam saranam gakkhâmi Samgham saranam gakkhâmi. 2. Anikkâ vata samkhârâ uppâdavaya-dhammino Uppaggitvâ nirugghanti tesam vûpasamo sukho. See 'Book of the Great Decease,' VI, 16, and the 'Legend of the Great King of Glory,' II, 42. 3. This ceremony is called Pæm wadanawâ.] 'As rivers, when they fill, must flow, And reach, and fill the distant main; p. xliii So surely what is given here Will reach and bless the spirits there! If you on earth will gladly give Departed ghosts will gladly live! As water poured on mountain tops Must soon descend, and reach the plain; So surely what is given here Will reach and bless the sprits there[1]!' The relations then place the coffin. in the grave, and each throws in a handful of earth. The Unnânsês then go away, taking the roll or rolls of cloth, one end of which was placed upon the coffin. The grave is filled in. Two lights, one at the head of it, and one at the foot, are left burning. And then the friends and relations return to the house. The funeral now being over, is followed by a feast; for though nothing may be cooked in a house or hut in which there is a corpse, yet plenty of food has been brought in from neighbouring tenements by the relations of the deceased.

The funeral now being over, is followed by a feast; for though nothing may be cooked in a house or hut in which there is a corpse, yet plenty of food has been brought in from neighbouring tenements by the relations of the deceased. There is, however, yet another very curious ceremony to be gone through. Three or seven days--whichever, according to the rules of astrology, is a lucky day--after the deceased person died, an Unnânsê is duly invited to the house in which the deceased died. He arrives in the evening; reads bana (that is, the Word, passages from the sacred books) throughout the night; and in the morning is presented with a roll of white cloth, and is asked to partake of food, chiefly of course curries, of those different kinds of which the deceased had been most particularly fond. [1. Yathâ vârivahâ pûrâ paripûrenti sâgaram Evam eva ito dinnam petânam upakappati. Ito dinnena yâpenti petâ kâlakatâ tahim. Unname udakam vattam yathâ ninnam pavattati Evam, eva ito dinnam petânam upakappati. These verses occur in the Tirokudda-Sutta of the Khuddaka-Pâtha, but in a different order.] p. xliv This ceremony is called Mataka Dânaya, (Gift for the Dead), and the previous feast is called Mataka Bhatta (Feast in honour of the Dead): the two combined taking the place of an ancient rite observed in pagan, pre-Buddhistic, times, and then also called Mataka Bhatta, in which offerings were made to the Petas; that is, to the manes, or departed ghosts, of ancestors and near relations. Such offerings are of course forbidden to Buddhists[1], and it is a very instructive instance of a survival in belief, of the effect of the natural reluctance to make much change in the mode of paying the customary funeral respect to deceased friends, that the kind of food supposed to be most appreciated by the dead should still be used in the Buddhist funeral rites.

Another part of the ceremony, that part where one end of a roll of cloth is placed on the coffin while the other end is held by all the assembled Unnânsês[2], is a fragment of ritualistic symbolism which deserves attention. The members of the Buddhist Order of Mendicants were enjoined to avoid all personal decoration of any kind; and to attire themselves in cloths of no value, such as might be gathered from a dust heap (Pamsu-kûla), or even from a cemetery. This was a principle to be followed, not a literal rule to be observed; and therefore from the first presents of strips of plain white cotton cloth, first torn in pieces to deprive them of any commercial value, then pieced together again and dyed a dull orange colour to call to mind the colour of old worn out linen, were the material from which the mendicants' clothing was actually made. But the duty of contempt for dress (called Pamsu-kûlikanga, from the dust heap) was never lost sight of, and advantage was taken of the gifts given by the faithful at funerals to impress this duty upon the minds of the assembled Bhikkhus. Nothing is known of any religious ceremony having been performed by the early Buddhists in India, whether the person deceased was a layman, or even a member of the [1. Compare the Mataka-Bhatta-Gâtaka (No. 18), translated in 'Buddhist Birth Stories,' vol. i. pp. 226 and following. 2. Seep. xlii.] p. xlv Order. The Vinaya Pitaka, which enters at so great length into all the details of the daily life of the recluses, has no rules regarding the mode of treating the body of a deceased Bhikkhu. It was probably burnt, and very much in the manner described in the last chapter of our Sutta--that is to say, it was reverently carried out to some convenient spot, and there simply cremated on a funeral pyre without any religious ritual, a small tope being more often than not erected over the ashes. Though funerals are, naturally, not unfrequently mentioned in the historical books, and in the Birth Stories, there is nowhere any reference to a recognised mode of performing any religious ceremony[1].

------------------------ The date of the Great Decease is not quite certain. The dwellers in the valley of the Ganges, for many generations after Gotama's death, were a happy people, who had no need of dates; and it was only long afterwards, and in Ceylon, that the great event became used as the starting-point for chronological calculations, as the Buddhist era. The earliest use of the Buddha's Parinibbâna as such an era is in an Inscription of King Nissanka Malla's, of the twelfth century A.D., published by me in the journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1875. Both in the historical records of Ceylon, and in those passages of the Purânas which are the nearest approach to historical records in India, the chronology is usually based on the lists of kings, just as it is in the Old Testament. Only by adding together the lengths of the reigns of the intermediate kings is it possible to calculate the length of the time that is said to have elapsed between any two given events. If these lists of kings had been accurately kept from [1. Compare Mahâvamsa, pp. 4, 125; 129,199, 223-225, and Chap. 39, verse 28; Gâtaka I, 166, 181, 402; II, 6; Dasaratha Gâtaka, pp. 1, 21, 22, 26, &c.; Dhammapada Commentary, pp. 94, 205, 206, 222, 359; Hatthavana-galla-vihâra-vamsa, Chap. IX; Hardy, 'Eastern Monachism,' pp. 322-324. 2. The words Saddham, Uddhadehikam, and Nivâpo, given in Childers, refer to pagan rites.

2. The words Saddham, Uddhadehikam, and Nivâpo, given in Childers, refer to pagan rites. 3. On funerals among Buddhists in Japan, see Miss Bird's 'Unbeaten Tracks,' vol. i.] p. xlvi Gotama's time to the time when the existing chronicles were compiled, we should be able, if we could fix the date of any one of the kings, to calculate the date of the Buddha's death. This last we can do; for the date of Kandragupta, and the date of his grandson Asoka, can be independently fixed within a few years by the aid of the Greek historians. But unfortunately the earlier parts of the otherwise reliable Ceylon chronicles are, like the earlier parts of Livy's otherwise reliable history of Rome, full of inconsistencies, and impossibilities. According to the Râga-paramparâ, or line of kings, in the Ceylon chronicles, the date of the Great Decease would be 543 B.C., which is arrived at by adding to the date 161 B.C. (from which the reliable portion of the history begins) two periods of 146 and 236 years. The first purports to give the time which elapsed between 161 B.C. and the great Buddhist church Council held under Asoka, and in the eighteenth year of his reign, at Patna; and the second to give the interval between that Council and the Buddha's death. It would result from the first calculation that the date of Asoka's coronation would be 325 B.C. (146 + 161 + 18). But we know that this must contain a blunder or blunders, as the date of Asoka's coronation can be fixed, as above stated, with absolute certainty within a year or two either way of 267 B.C.

It would result from the first calculation that the date of Asoka's coronation would be 325 B.C. (146 + 161 + 18). But we know that this must contain a blunder or blunders, as the date of Asoka's coronation can be fixed, as above stated, with absolute certainty within a year or two either way of 267 B.C. Would it then be sound criticism to accept the other, earlier, period of 236 years found in those chronicles--a period which we cannot test by Greek chronology--and by simply adding the Ceylon calculation of 236 years to the European date for the eighteenth year of Asoka (that in circa 249 B.C.) to conclude that the Buddha died in or about 485 B.C.? I cannot think so. The further we go back the greater does the probability of error become, not less. The most superficial examination of the details of this earlier period shows too, that they are unreliable; and what reliance would it be wise to place upon the total, apart from the details, when we find it mentioned for the first time in p. xlvii a work, the Dîpavamsa, written eight centuries after the date it is proposed to fix? If further proof were needed, we have it in the fact that the Dîpavamsa actually contains the details of another calculation--based not on the lists of kings (Râga-paramparâ), but on a list of Theras (Thera-paramparâ) stretching back from Asoka's time to the time of the great Teacher--which contradicts this calculation of 236 years.

If further proof were needed, we have it in the fact that the Dîpavamsa actually contains the details of another calculation--based not on the lists of kings (Râga-paramparâ), but on a list of Theras (Thera-paramparâ) stretching back from Asoka's time to the time of the great Teacher--which contradicts this calculation of 236 years. The Thera-paramparâ gives the name of the member of the Buddhist Order of Mendicants, that is, the Thera, who ordained Mahinda (the son of Asoka), then the name of the Thera who ordained that Thera, and so on. There are only five of them from Upâli, who was ordained sixteen years after Buddha's death, down to Mahinda inclusive. This would account not for 236, but only for about 150 years. For let the reader take the case of any clergyman in the present day. The Bishop who ordains him would have been ordained thirty or forty years before; and four such intervals would fill out, not 236 years, but about a century and a half; and a similar argument applies with reasonable certainty to the case in point. An examination of the details of the List of Theras confirms this conclusion strongly on every essential point. An examination also of the List of Kings shows that the period of 236 years is wrong by being too long. The shorter period of 150 years between Asoka and the Great Decease agrees much better with what we know of the literary history of Buddhism during that interval. And it also agrees with the tradition of the northern Buddhists as preserved by Hiouen Thsang, and in Kashmir and Tibet[1]. In the 'Questions of Milinda' also--a work of unknown date, preserved only in its Pâli form, but

[1. Julien's translation of Hiouen Thsang, 'Mémoires sur les contrées occidentales,' vol. i. p. 172; Kahlana's Râga-taranginî, Book I; and Csoma Körösi in 'Asiatic Researches; vol. xx. pp. 92, 297. They place the Great Decease 400 years before Kanishka, whose Council was held shortly after the commencement of our era.] p. xlviii possibly derived from a northern Buddhist Sanskrit work--the date of the Buddha's death is fixed at five hundred years before the time of Milinda[1], who certainly reigned about a century after Christ. I am, therefore, of opinion that the hitherto accepted date of the Buddha's death should be modified accordingly. This would make the date of the Great Decease about 420-400 B.C. (very possibly a year or two later), and the date of Gotama's birth therefore eighty years earlier, or in round numbers about 500 B.C. I have discussed the whole question at full length in my 'Ancient Coins and Measures of Ceylon,' written in amplification of a paper read in 1874 before the Royal Asiatic Society; and to that work I must refer any reader, who may take interest in these chronological discussions, for ampler details. I have been able here to present only a summary of an argument which is in so far of little importance, inasmuch as the rectification which I have ventured to propose only differs by a little more than half a century from the earliest date which can in any case be suggested as approximately correct (that is about 485 B.C.). The date 543 B.C., still unfortunately accepted outside the circle of students of Buddhism[2], is now acknowledged to be too early by all scholars who have seriously considered the subject.

[1. Trenckner, p. 3. Mr. Trenckner says in his preface that Buddhaghosa quotes this work, but unfortunately he does not give any reference. See the note below on our Sutta, Chap. VI, § 3. 2. See, for instance, Max Duncker, 'History of Antiquity,' vol. iv. p. 364. On the dated Edict, ascribed by some to Asoka, see my note loc. cit., and Oldenberg, 'Introd. to the Mahâ-vagga,' p. xxxviii.] p. 1 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. MAHÂ-PARINIBBÂNA-SUTTA. CHAPTER I. 1[1]. Thus have I heard. The Blessed One was once dwelling in Râgagaha, on the hill called the Vulture's Peak. Now at that time Agâtasattu, the son of the queen-consort of Videha origin[2], the king of Magadha, was desirous of attacking the Vaggians; and he said to himself, 'I will root out these Vaggians, [1. Sections 1-10, inclusive, recur in the Vaggi Vagga of the Sutta Nipâta in the Anguttara Nikâya; and there is a curiously incorrect version of § 3 in the Fa Kheu Pi Hu, translated from the Chinese by Mr. Beal, under the title of 'The Dhammapada from the Buddhist Canon,' pp. 165, 166. 2. Agâtasattu Vedehiputto. The first word is not a personal name, but an official epithet, 'he against whom there has arisen no (worthy or equal) foe;' the second gives us the maiden family, or tribal (not personal) name of his mother. Persons of distinction are scarcely ever mentioned by name in Indian Buddhist books, a rule applying more especially to kings, but extended not unfrequently to private persons. Thus Upatissa, the earnest and thoughtful disciple whom the Buddha himself declared to be 'the second founder of the kingdom of righteousness,' is referred to either as Dhamma-senâpati or as Sâriputta; epithets of corresponding origin to those in the text. By the Gains Agâtasattu is called Kûnika or Konika, which again is probably not the name given to him at the rice-eating (the ceremony corresponding to infant baptism), but a nickname acquired in after life.]

p. 2 mighty and powerful[1] though they be, I will destroy these Vaggians, I will bring these Vaggians to utter ruin!' 2. So he spake to the Brâhman Vassakâra, the prime-minister of Magadha, and said: 'Come now, O Brâhman, do you go to the Blessed One, and bow down in adoration at his feet on my behalf, and enquire in my name whether he is free from illness and suffering, and in the enjoyment of case and comfort, and vigorous health. Then tell him that Agâtasattu, son of the Vedehi, the king of Magadha, in his eagerness to attack the Vaggians, has resolved, "I will root out these Vaggians, mighty and powerful though they be, I will destroy these Vaggians, I will bring these Vaggians to utter ruin!" And bear carefully in mind whatever the Blessed One may predict, and repeat it to me. For the Buddhas speak nothing untrue!' 3. Then the Brâhman Vassakâra, hearkened to the words of the king, saying, 'Be it as you say.' And ordering a number of magnificent carriages to be made ready, he mounted one of them, left Râgagaha with his train, and went to the Vulture's Peak, riding as far as the ground was passable for carriages, [1. Evammahiddhike evammahânubhâve. There is nothing supernatural about the iddhi here referred to. Etena tesan samagga-bhâvan kathesi says the commentator simply: thus referring the former adjective to the power of union, as he does the second to the power derived from practice in military tactics (hatthisippâdîhi). The epithets are, indeed, most commonly applied to the supernatural powers of Devatâs, Nâgas, and other fairy-like beings; but they are also used, sometimes in the simple sense of this passage, and sometimes in the other sense, of Buddhas and of other Arahats. See M. P. S. 12, 43; M. Sud. S. 49-53; Gât. I, 34, 35, 39, 41.]

p. 3 and then alighting and proceeding on foot to the place where the Blessed One was. On arriving there he exchanged with the Blessed One the greetings and compliments of friendship and civility, sat down respectfully by his side [and then delivered to him the message even as the king had commanded[1]]. 4. Now at that time the venerable Ânanda was standing behind the Blessed One, and fanning him. And the Blessed One said to him: 'Have you heard, Ânanda, that the Vaggians hold full and frequent public assemblies?' 'Lord, so I have heard,' replied he. 'So long, Ânanda,' rejoined the Blessed One, 'as the Vaggians hold these full and frequent public assemblies; so long may they be expected not to decline, but to prosper.' [And in like manner questioning Ânanda, and receiving a similar reply, the Blessed One declared as follows the other conditions which would ensure the welfare of the Vaggian confederacy[2].] 'So long, Ânanda, as the Vaggians meet together in concord, and rise in concord, and carry out their undertakings in concord--so long as they enact nothing not already established, abrogate nothing that has been already enacted, and act in accordance with the ancient institutions of the Vaggians as established in former days--so long as they honour and esteem and revere and support the Vaggian elders, and hold it a point of duty to hearken to their words--so long as no women or girls

[1. § 2 repeated. 2. In the text there is a question, answer, and reply with each clause.] p. 4 belonging to their clans are detained among them by force or abduction--so long as they honour and esteem and revere and support the Vaggian shrines[1] in town or country, and allow not the proper offerings and rites, as formerly given and performed, to fall into desuetude--so long as the rightful protection, defence, and support shall be fully provided for the Arahats among them, so that Arahats from a distance may enter the realm, and the Arahats therein may live at case--so long may the Vaggians be expected not to decline, but to prosper.' 5. Then the Blessed One addressed Vassakâra the Brâhman, and said: 'When I was once staying, O Brâhman, at Vesâli at the Sârandada Temple[1], I taught the Vaggians these conditions of welfare; and so long as those conditions shall continue to exist among the Vaggians, so long as the Vaggians shall be well instructed in those conditions, so long may we expect them not to decline, but to prosper.' 'We may expect then,' answered the Brâhman, 'the welfare and not the decline of the Vaggians when they are possessed of any one of these conditions of welfare, how much more so when they are possessed of all the seven. So, Gotama, the Vaggians cannot be overcome by the king of Magadha; that is, not in battle, without diplomacy or breaking up their alliance[3]. And now, Gotama, we must go; we are busy, and have much to do.'

[1. Ketiyâni, which Sum. Vil. explains as Yakkha-ketiyâni. 2. The commentator adds that this was a vihâra erected on the site of a former temple of the Yakkha Sârandada. 3. 'Overcome' is literally 'done' (akaraniyâ), but the word evidently has a similar sense to that which 'done' occasionally has {footnote p. 5} in colloquial English. The Sum. Vil. (fol. tî) says akaraniyâ, akatabbâ agahetabbâ: yadidan, nipâta-mattan: yuddhassâti, karanatthe sâmi-vakanan, abhimukhena yuddhena gahetun na sakkâ ti attho. Upalâpanâ, which I have only met with here, must mean 'humbug, cajolery, diplomacy;' see the use of the verb upa-lâpeti, at Mahâ Vagga V, 2, 21; Gât. II, 266, 267; Pât. in the 70th Pâk. Sum. Vil. explains it, at some length, as making an alliance, by gifts, with hostile intent, which comes to much the same thing. The root I think is lî.] p. 5 'Whatever you think most fitting, O Brâhman,' was the reply. And the Brâhman Vassakâra, delighted and pleased with the words of the Blessed One, rose from his seat, and went his way. 6. Now soon after he had gone the Blessed One addressed the venerable Ânanda, and said: 'Go now, Ânanda, and assemble in the Service Hall such of the Brethren[1] as live in the neighbourhood of Râgagaha.' [1. The word translated 'brethren' throughout is in the original bhikkhû, a word most difficult to render adequately by any word which would not, to Christians and in Europe, connote something different from the Buddhist idea. A bhikkhu, literally 'beggar,' was a disciple who had joined Gotama's order; but the word refers to their renunciation of worldly things, rather than to their consequent mendicancy; and they did not really beg in our modern sense of the word. Hardy has 'priests;' I have elsewhere used ( monks' and sometimes 'beggars' and 'members of the order.' This last is, I think, the best rendering; but it is too long for constant repetition, as in this passage, and too complex to be a really good version of bhikkhu. The members of the order were not priests, for they had no priestly powers. They were not monks, for they took no vow of obedience, and could leave the order (and constantly did so and do so still) whenever they chose. They were not beggars, for they had none of the mental and moral qualities associated with that word. 'Brethren' connotes very much the position in which they stood to one another; but I wish there were a better word to use in rendering bhikkhu.]

p. 6 And he did so; and returned to the Blessed One, and informed him, saying: 'The company of the Brethren, Lord, is assembled, let the Blessed One do as seemeth to him fit.' And the Blessed One arose, and went to the Service Hall; and when he was seated, he addressed the Brethren, and said: 'I will teach you, O mendicants, seven conditions of the welfare of a community. Listen well and attend, and I will speak.' 'Even so, Lord,' said the Brethren, in assent, to the Blessed One; and he spake as follows: 'So long, O mendicants, as the brethren meet together in full and frequent assemblies--so long as they meet together in concord, and rise in concord, and carry out in concord the duties of the order--so long as the brethren shall establish nothing that has not been already prescribed, and abrogate nothing that has been already established, and act in accordance with the rules of the order as now laid down--so long as the brethren honour and esteem and revere and support the elders of experience and long standing, the fathers and leaders of the order, and hold it a point of duty to hearken to their words--so long as the brethren fall not under the influence of that craving which, springing up within them, would give rise to renewed existence[1]--so long as the brethren delight in a life of solitude--so long as the brethren so train their minds[2] that good and holy men shall come to them, and those who have come shall dwell at case

[1. 'Ponobhavikâ' punabbhava-dâyikâ. (S. V. fol. tû.) 2. 'Pakkattam yeva satim upatthâpessantî' ti attano abbhantare satim upatthâpessanti. (S. V. fol. tû.)] p. 7 --so long may the brethren be expected, not to decline, but to prosper. So long as these seven conditions shall continue to exist among the brethren, so long as they are well-instructed in these conditions, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper.' 7. 'Other seven conditions of welfare will I teach you, O brethren. Listen well, and attend, and I will speak.' And on their expressing their assent, he spake as follows: 'So long as the brethren shall not engage in, or be fond of, or be connected with business--so long as the brethren shall not be in the habit of or be fond of, or be partakers in idle talk--so long as the brethren shall not be addicted to, or be fond of, or indulge in slothfulness--so long as the brethren shall not frequent, or be fond of, or indulge in society--so long as the brethren shall neither have, nor fall under the influence of, sinful desires--so long as the brethren shall not become the friends, companions, or intimates of sinners--so long as the brethren shall not come to a stop on their way [to Nirvâna[1]] because they [1. 'Oramattakenâ' ti avaramattakena appamattakena. 'Antarâ' ti arahattam appatvâ 'va etth' antare. 'Vosânan' ti .... osakkanam idam vuttam hoti. Yâva sîla-pârisuddhi-mattena vâ vipassanâ-mattena vâ sotâpanna-bhâva-mattena vâ sakadâgami-bhâva-mattena vâ anâgâmi-bhâva-mattena vâ 'vosânam' na 'âpaggissanti' nâma 'vuddhi yeva bhikkhûnam pâtikamkhâ no parihâni.' S. V.(fol. tri). This is an interesting analogue to Philippians iii. 13: 'I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark,' &c. See also below, Chap. V, § 68.]

p. 8 have attained to any lesser thing--so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper. 'So long as these conditions shall continue to exist among the brethren, so long as they are instructed in these conditions, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper.' 8. 'Other seven conditions of welfare will I teach you, O brethren. Listen well, and attend, and I will speak.' And on their expressing their assent, he spake as follows: 'So long as the brethren shall be full of faith, modest in heart, afraid of sin[1], full of learning, strong in energy, active in mind, and full of wisdom, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper. 'So long as these conditions shall continue to exist among the brethren, so long as they are instructed in these conditions, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper.' 9. 'Other seven conditions of welfare will I teach you, O brethren. Listen well, and attend, and I will speak.' And on their expressing their assent, he spake as follows: [1. The exact distinction between hiri and ottappa is here explained by Buddhaghosa as follows: 'Hirimanâ' ti pâpa-gigukkhana-lakkhanâya hiriyâ yuttakittâ. 'Ottâpî' ti pâpato, bhaya-lakkhanena ottappena samannâgatâ: that is, loathing sin as contrasted with fear of sin. But this is rather a gloss than an exact and exclusive definition. Ahirikâ is shamelessness, anotappam forwardness. At Gât. I, 207 we find hiri described as subjective, and ottappa as objective, modesty of heart as contrasted with decency in outward behaviour.]

p. 9 'So long as the brethren shall exercise themselves in the sevenfold higher wisdom, that is to say, in mental activity, search after truth, energy, joy, peace, earnest contemplation, and equanimity of mind, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper. 'So long as these conditions shall continue to exist among the brethren, so long as they are instructed in these conditions, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper.' 10. 'Other seven conditions of welfare will I teach you, O brethren. Listen well, and attend, and I will speak.' And on their expressing their assent, he spake as follows: 'So long as the brethren shall exercise themselves in the sevenfold perception due to earnest thought, that is to say, the perception of impermanency, of non-individuality[1], of corruption, of the danger of sin, of sanctification, of purity of heart, of Nirvâna, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper. 'So long as these conditions shall continue to exist among the brethren, so long as they are instructed in these conditions, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper.' 11. 'Six conditions of welfare will I teach you, O brethren. Listen well, and attend, and I will speak.' And on their expressing their assent, he spake as follows: [1. For a further explanation of the meaning of anattam see Gotama's second discourse in the Mahâ Vagga I, 6: 38-47. Buddhaghosa makes no special comment here on either of the seven perceptions.]

[1. For a further explanation of the meaning of anattam see Gotama's second discourse in the Mahâ Vagga I, 6: 38-47. Buddhaghosa makes no special comment here on either of the seven perceptions.] p. 10 'So long as the brethren shall persevere in kindness of action, speech, and thought amongst the saints, both in public and in private--so long as they shall divide without partiality, and share in common with the upright and the holy, all such things as they receive in accordance with the just provisions of the order, down even to the mere contents of a begging bowl--so long as the brethren shall live among the saints in the practice, both in public and in private, of those virtues which (unbroken, intact, unspotted, unblemished) are productive of freedom[1], and praised by the wise; which are untarnished by the desire of future life, or by the belief in the efficacy of outward acts[2]; and which are conducive to high and holy thoughts--so long as the brethren shall live among the saints, cherishing, both in public and in private, that noble and saving faith which leads to the complete destruction of the sorrow of him who acts according to it--so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper. 'So long as these six conditions shall continue to [1. Buddhaghosa takes this in a spiritual sense, 'tâni pan' etâni (sîlâni) tanhâ-dâsavyato moketvâ bhugissa-bhâva-karanato bhugissâni:' that is, 'These virtues are bhugissâni because they bring one to the state of a free man by delivering him from the slavery of craving.'

[1. Buddhaghosa takes this in a spiritual sense, 'tâni pan' etâni (sîlâni) tanhâ-dâsavyato moketvâ bhugissa-bhâva-karanato bhugissâni:' that is, 'These virtues are bhugissâni because they bring one to the state of a free man by delivering him from the slavery of craving.' 2. 'Tanhâ-ditthîhi aparâmatthattâ, idam nâma tvam âpannapubbo ti kenaki paramatthum asakkuneyyattâ ka, 'aparâmatthâni' (S. V. fol. 116), that is, 'These virtues are called aparâmatthâni' because they are untarnished by craving or delusion, and because no one can say of him who practises them, "you have been already guilty of such and such a sin."' Craving is here the hope of a future life in heaven, and delusion the belief in the efficacy of rites and ceremonies (the two nissayas) which are condemned as unworthy inducements to virtue.] p. 11 exist among the brethren so long as they are instructed in these six conditions, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper.' ------------------------ 12. And whilst the Blessed One stayed there at Râgagaha on the Vulture's Peak he held that comprehensive religious talk with the brethren on the nature of upright conduct, and of earnest contemplation, and of intelligence. 'Great is the fruit, great the advantage of earnest contemplation when set round with upright conduct. Great is the fruit, great the advantage of intellect when set round with earnest contemplation. The mind set round with intelligence is freed from the great evils, that is to say, from sensuality, from individuality, from delusion, and from ignorance[1].'

[1. This paragraph is spoken of as if it were a well-known summary, and it is constantly repeated below. The word I have rendered 'earnest contemplation' is samâdhi, which occupies in the Pâli Pitakas very much the same position as faith does in the New Testament; and this section shows that the relative importance of samâdhi, paññâ, and sîla played a part in early Buddhism just as the distinction between faith, reason, and works did afterwards in Western theology. It would be difficult to find a passage in which the Buddhist view of the relation of these conflicting ideas is stated with greater beauty of thought, or equal succinctness of form. 2. The expression 'set round with' is in Pâli paribhâvita, which Dr. Morris holds to be etymologically exactly parallel to our phrase 'perfected by,' on the ground that facio is a causal of the Latin representative of the Sanskrit root bhû. In the Ketokhila Sutta of the Magghima Nikâya eggs are said to be paribhâvitâni by a brooding hen. Buddhaghosa says simply sîla-paribhâvito ti âdesu yamhi sîle thatvâ magga-samâdhim nibbattenti so tena sîlena paribhâvito. 'The samâdhi belonging to the (Noble Eightfold) Path is said to be paribhâvito by that virtue, in which they (that is, the converted) are steadfast whilst they practise the samâdhi.'] p. 12 13. Now when the Blessed One had sojourned at Râgagaha as long as he pleased, he addressed the venerable Ânanda, and said: 'Come, Ânanda, let us go to Ambalatthikâ.'

13. Now when the Blessed One had sojourned at Râgagaha as long as he pleased, he addressed the venerable Ânanda, and said: 'Come, Ânanda, let us go to Ambalatthikâ.' 'So be it, Lord!' said Ânanda in assent, and the Blessed One, with a large company of the brethren, proceeded to Ambalatthikâ. 14. There the Blessed One stayed in the king's house and held that comprehensive religious talk with the brethren on the nature of upright conduct, and of earnest contemplation, and of intelligence. 'Great is the fruit, great the advantage of earnest contemplation when set round with upright conduct. Great is the fruit, great the advantage of intellect when set round with earnest contemplation. The mind set round with intelligence is freed from the great evils, that is to say, from sensuality, from individuality, from delusion, and from ignorance.' ------------------------ 15. Now when the Blessed One had stayed as long as was convenient at Ambalatthikâ, he addressed the venerable Ânanda, and said: 'Come, Ânanda, let us go on to Nâlandâ.' 'So be it, Lord!' said Ânanda, in assent, to the Blessed One. Then the Blessed One proceeded, with a great company of the brethren, to Nâlandâ; and there, at Nâlandâ, the Blessed One stayed in the Pâvârika mango grove. 16. [1]Now the venerable Sâriputta came to the [1. This conversation is given at length in the Sampasâdaniya Sutta of the Dîgha Nikâya, and also in the Satipatthâna Vagga of the Samyutta Nikâya. I have compressed mere repetitions at the places marked with [ ] where the preceding clauses are, in the text, repeated in full.]

[1. This conversation is given at length in the Sampasâdaniya Sutta of the Dîgha Nikâya, and also in the Satipatthâna Vagga of the Samyutta Nikâya. I have compressed mere repetitions at the places marked with [ ] where the preceding clauses are, in the text, repeated in full.] p. 13 place where the Blessed One was, and having saluted him, took his seat respectfully at his side, and said: 'Lord! such faith have I in the Blessed One, that methinks there never has been, nor will there be, nor is there now any other, whether Samana or Brâhman, who is greater and wiser than the Blessed One, that is to say, as regards the higher wisdom.' 'Grand and bold are the words of thy mouth, Sâriputta: verily, thou hast burst forth into a song of ecstasy! of course then thou hast known all the Blessed Ones who in the long ages of the past have been Arahat Buddhas, comprehending their minds with yours, and aware what their conduct was, what their doctrine, what their wisdom, what their mode of life, and what salvation they attained to?' 'Not so, O Lord!' 'Of course then thou hast perceived all the Blessed Ones who in the long ages of the future shall be Arahat Buddhas comprehending [in the same manner their whole minds with yours]?' Not so, O Lord!' But at least then, O Sâriputta, thou knowest me as the Arahat Buddha now alive, and hast penetrated my mind [in the manner I have mentioned]!' 'Not even that, O Lord!'

'Not even that, O Lord!' 'You see then, Sâriputta, that you know not the hearts of the Arahat Buddhas of the past and of the future. Why therefore are your words so grand and bold? Why do you burst forth into such a song of ecstasy?' 17. 'O Lord! I have not the knowledge of the hearts of the Arahat Buddhas that have been, and are to come, and now are. I only know the lineage p. 14 of the faith. just, Lord, as a king might have a border city, strong in its foundations, strong in its ramparts and toranas, and with one gate alone; and the king might have a watchman there, clever, expert, and wise, to stop all strangers and admit only friends. And he, on going over the approaches all round the city, might not so observe all the joints and crevices in the ramparts of that city as to know where even a cat could get out. That might well be. Yet all living things of larger size that entered or left the city, would have to do so by that gate. Thus only is it, Lord, that I know the lineage of the faith. I know that the Arahat Buddhas of the past, putting away all lust, ill-will, sloth, pride, and doubt; knowing all those mental faults which make men weak; training their minds in the four kinds of mental activity; thoroughly exercising themselves in the sevenfold higher wisdom, received the full fruition of Enlightenment. And I know that the Arahat Buddhas of the times to come will [do the same]. And I know that the Blessed One, the Arahat Buddha of to-day, has [done so] now[1].'

------------------------ 18. There in the Pavârika mango grove the Blessed One held that comprehensive religious talk [1. The tertium quid of the comparison is the completeness of the knowledge. Sâriputta acknowledges that he was wrong in jumping to the wide conclusion that his own lord and master was the wisest of all the teachers of the different religious systems that were known to him. So far--after the cross-examination by the Buddha--he admits that his knowledge does not reach. But he maintains that he does know that which is, to him, after all the main thing, namely, that all the Buddhas must have passed through the process here laid down as leading up to Buddhahood. The Pâli of 'the full fruition of Enlightenment' is anuttaram sammâsambodhim, which might be rendered 'Supreme Buddhahood.'] p. 15 with the brethren on the nature of upright conduct, and of earnest contemplation, and of intelligence. 'Great is the fruit, great the advantage of earnest contemplation when set round with upright conduct. Great is the fruit, great the advantage of intellect when set round with earnest contemplation. The mind set round with intelligence is freed from the great evils, that is to say, from sensuality, from individuality, from delusion, and from ignorance.' ------------------------ 19. Now when the Blessed One had stayed as long as was convenient at Nâlandâ, he addressed the venerable Ânanda, and said: 'Come, Ânanda, let us go on to Pâtaligâma.'

19. Now when the Blessed One had stayed as long as was convenient at Nâlandâ, he addressed the venerable Ânanda, and said: 'Come, Ânanda, let us go on to Pâtaligâma.' 'So be it, Lord!' said Ânanda, in assent, to the Blessed One. Then the Blessed One proceeded, with a great company of the brethren, to Pâtaligâma. 20. [1] Now the disciples at Pâtaligâma heard of his arrival there, and they went to the place where he was, took their seats respectfully beside him, and invited him to their village rest house. And the Blessed One signified, by silence, his consent. 21. Then the Pâtaligâma disciples seeing that he had accepted the invitation, rose from their seats, and went away to the rest house, bowing to the Blessed One and keeping him on their right as they past him[2]. On arriving there they made the rest [1. From this sentence down to the end of the verses at Chap. II, § 3, is, with a few unimportant variations, word for word the same as Mahâ Vagga VI, 28, 1, to VI, 29, 2. 2. It would be very rude to have left him otherwise. So in Europe a similar custom is carried still further, persons leaving the royal presence being expected to go out backwards.] p. 16 house fit in every way for occupation[1], placed seats in it, set up a water-pot, and fixed an oil lamp. Then they returned to the Blessed One, and bowing, stood beside him, and said: 'All things are ready, Lord! It is time for you to do what you deem most fit.'

house fit in every way for occupation[1], placed seats in it, set up a water-pot, and fixed an oil lamp. Then they returned to the Blessed One, and bowing, stood beside him, and said: 'All things are ready, Lord! It is time for you to do what you deem most fit.' 22. And the Blessed One robed himself, took his bowl and other things, went with the brethren to the rest house, washed his feet, entered the hall, and took his seat against the centre pillar, with his face towards the east. And the brethren also, after washing their feet, entered the hall, and took their seats round the Blessed One, against the western wall, and facing the cast. And the Pâtaligâma disciples too, after washing their feet, entered the hall, and took their seats opposite the Blessed One, against the eastern wall, and facing towards the west. 23. [2] Then the Blessed One addressed the Pâtaligâma disciples, and said: 'Fivefold, O householders, is the loss of the wrong-doer through his want of rectitude. In the first place the wrong-doer, devoid of rectitude, falls into great poverty through sloth; in the next place his evil repute gets noised abroad; thirdly, whatever society he enters--whether of Brâhmans, nobles, heads of houses, or Samanas-- [1. With reference to Oldenberg's note at Mahâ Vagga, p. 384, it may be mentioned that Buddhaghosa says here, 'sabba-santharin' ti yathâ sabbam santhatam yeva. (S. V. fol. te.)