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Sacred Books of the Buddhists
Volume III

Dīgha Nikāya

Dialogues of the Buddha
Part II

Sutta 16

Mahā-Parinibbāna Suttantaɱ

The Book of the Great Decease

Translated from the Pali by T.W. Rhys Davids

Public Domain

Originally published under the patronage of
His Majesty King Chulālankarana,
King of Siam
by The Pali Text Society, Oxford

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[71]

Introduction

The general conclusions we have to draw as to the gradual growth of the various books in the Buddhist canon have been stated in Chapter X of ‘Buddhist India.’ To work out the details of it will be greatly facilitated by tabular statements of the differences and resemblances found in the various books, whether in matters of form or of ideas. The following table gives a list of all such passages in this book as have, so far, been traced elsewhere. Others will, no doubt, be discovered; but those here given will throw some light on the method of construction followed in the book. Only parallel passages are given, passages in which some other book has at least a paragraph or more couched in identical, or almost identical, words.

A glance at column three, giving the pages of the text, shows a remarkable result. There are ninety-six pages of Pali text, beginning on p. 72. With a few gaps – pp. 92, 3; 113-15; 117-21; 130-3; 137-40; 148-50; 153; i58-60; 164-7 (nine in number)-the whole text is found, in nearly identical words, elsewhere. The gaps, filled with matter found only in the Book of the Great Decease, amount altogether to about 32 or 33 pages, that is to about one-third of the whole. That proportion would be reduced if we were to include passages of similar tendency, or passages of shorter length.

Secondly; the parallel passages are found, without exception, in those books which belong to the oldest portion of the canon. In ‘Buddhist India,’ p. 188, there is a table showing, in groups, the probable relative order in time of the Buddhist literature down to the time of Asoka.

All these passages belong to the two earliest groups; all are found in books included in groups 4-6; not one occurs in any of the books included in the later groups – groups 7, 8, 9, and 10. So far as it goes, therefore, the present table is in harmony with the order suggested in the table referred to.

Thirdly; the slight differences, the more important of which

[72]

Book of the Great Decease	Other Old Pāli Books
1	Chap. I	§§1-10	pp. 72-80	A. IV, 16-24
2		16, 17	81-83	D. XXVIII and S. V, 159-161
3		20-34	84-89	Ud. Viii, 6 and Vin. I, 226
4	II	2, 3	90, 91	S. V, 431; Vin. I, 231 and Netti 166
5		12, 13	94, 95	S. IV, 211
6		14-19	95-98	Vin. I, 231-233[it1]
7		22-26	98-101	S. V, 152-154, §26, ib. 164, 5
8	III	1-20	102-109	A. IV, 308-313
9		1-10	102-107	S. V, 259-263 and Ud. VI, 1
10		21-23	109, 110	A. IV, 30 (nearly = M. I. 72)
11		24-32	110, 111	A. IV, 305 and 348; M. II, 13, 14
12		33	111, 112	D. II, 70, 71; A. IV, 306 and 349
13		43	116	Quoted KV. 559
14	IV	2, 3	122, 123	A. II, 1, 2 and A. IV, 105 (quoted KV. 115)[it2]
15		7-11	123-126	A. II, 167-170
16		13-25	126-129	Ud. VIII, 5
17		39-43	134-136	Ud. VIII, 5
18	V	11	141-142	D. II, 161
19		12	142-143	A. II, 245, 6
20		15	144	S. V, 16 (nearly)
21		16	145, 146	A. II, 132
22		17, 18	146, 147	D. II, 169, 170
23		27	151	Quoted KV. 601
24		28	152	D. I, 176; M. I, 391, 494; S. II, 21; Vin. I, 69, 71
25	VI	5	154,5	A. II, 79, 80
26		7-10	155-158	S. I, 157-159[it3]
27		9	156	A. IV, 410 ff.
28		10	157	Th. I, 905, 1046; A. I, 236
29		17	161	D. II, 141, 2
30		19-20	162, 163	Vin. II, 284, 5[it4]
31		27	167 (end of text)

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^[it1] Differs as to locus in quo.

^[it2] Differs as to appliction.

^[it3] Differs as to order of sentences.

^[it4] Differs as to order of sentences.

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[73]

are noted in the table, are very suggestive. No. 26 is the episode of the stanzas uttered at the moment of the Buddha’s death. The Saɱyutta gives it in the Brahma-Saɱyutta because the first verse is attributed to Brahmā. The last two verses are there put into the mouths of Ānanda and Anuruddha respectively, perhaps because Anuruddha’s verse forms a more fitting conclusion. In the Dīgha Ānanda’s comes last, either in deprecation of Ānanda (which is scarcely probable), or for the reason given in the note to the translation.

In No. 14 we have four lines of verse, and the prose introductory to them, ascribed in the Dīgha to the Buddha, ascribed in the Anguttara to a former teacher whose story is there told by the Buddha. That previous teacher, though not a Buddha, is highly praised in the story; the epithet applied to him in the verses (satthā) is quite in the right place in that connexion; and the verses when spoken by the Buddha of another teacher, are quite appropriate. On the other hand, when put as the Dīgha puts them, into the mouth of the Buddha as spoken of himself, they are not in the best of taste, and sound forced. There can, I think, be no doubt but that the application of these verses to Sunetta the Teacher was the original one, and that the little poem was only later applied to the Buddha himself. But it does not follow in the least that the Anguttara is older than the Dīgha. For, as is shown by the references in the table, the Anguttara itself contains, in an earlier part of the work, the later application of these verses. There it gives the episode, word for word, as it occurs in the Dīgha. The two passages cannot be of the same age. It is not possible that the same story was told originally of two different people. But the two collections (Nikāyas) may very, well have been put together, from older materials of varying age, at the same time.

No. 30 is the episode of the explosion of ill-will on the part of Subhadda. There is a slight but very suggestive difference here between the two texts, one found in our Suttanta the other in the Pañcasatika Khandaka of the Vinaya. For convenience of comparison the two versions of this episode are here reprinted side by side.

Dīgha

Vinaya

Now at that time the venerable Mahā Kassapa was journeying along the high road from Pāvā to Kusinārā with a great company of the brethren, with about five hundred of the brethren. And the venerable Mahā Kassapa left the high road, and sat himself down at the foot of a certain tree.Just at that time a certain ascetic who had picked up a Mandārava flower in Kusinārā was coming along the high road to Pāvā. Now the venerable Mahā Kassapa saw the ascetic coming in the distance, and on seeing him he said to that ascetic:’O friend! surely thou knowest our Master?”Yea, friend! I know him. This day the Samaṇa Gotama has been dead a week. That is how I obtained this Mandārava flower.’On that of those of the brethren who not yet free from the passions, some stretched out their arms and wept, and some fell headlong on the ground, and some reeled to and fro in anguish at the thought:’Too soon has the Exalted One died! Too soon has the Happy One passed away! Too soon has the Light gone out in the world!’ But those of the brethren who were free from the passions (the Arahants) bore their grief self-possessed and composed at the thought:’Impermanent are all component things! How is it possible that (they should not be dissolved?).’Now at that time a brother named Subhadda, who had been received into the Order in his old age, was seated in that company. And Subhadda, the recruit in his old age, said to those brethren:’Enough, Sirs! Weep not, neither lament! We are well rid of the great Samaṇa. We used to be annoyed by being told: “This beseems you, this beseems you not.” But now we shall be able [75] to do whatever we like; and what we do not like, that we shall not do!’But the venerable Mahā Kassapa exhorted the brethren:’Enough, my brethren! Weep not, neither lament! Has not the Exalted One formerly declared this, that it is in the very nature of all things near and dear unto us that we must divide ourselves from them, leave them, sever ourselves from them? How then, brethren, can this be possible – whereas anything whatever born, brought into being, and organized contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution – how then can this be possible that such a being should not be dissolved? No such condition can exist!’

Now the venerable Mahā Kassapa addressed the Bhikkhus and said: ‘Once I was journeying along the high road from Pāvā to Kusinārā with a great company of the brethren, with about five [74] hundred of the brethren. And I left the high road and sat myself down at the foot of a certain tree.Just at that time a certain ascetic who had picked up a Mandārava flower in Kusinārā was coming along the high road to Pāvā. Now I saw that ascetic coming in the distance, and on seeing him I said to that ascetic:’O friend! surely thou knowest our Master?”Yea, friend! I know him. This day the Samaṇa Gotama has been dead a week. That is how I obtained this Mandārava flower.’On that, Sirs, of those of the brethren who were not yet free from the passions, some stretched out their arms and wept, and some fell headlong on the ground, and some reeled to and fro in anguish at the thought:’Too soon has the Exalted One died! Too soon has the Happy One passed away! Too soon has the Light gone out in the world!’But those of the brethren who were free from the passions (the Arahants) bore their grief self-possessed and composed at the thought:’Impermanent are all component things! How is it possible that (they should not be dissolved?).’Then I, Sirs, spoke thus to the Bhikkhus:’Enough, my brethren, weep not, neither lament! Has not the Exalted One, Sirs, formerly declared this, that it is in the very nature of all things near and dear to us that we must divide ourselves from them, leave them, sever ourselves from them. How, then, can this be possible – whereas anything whatever born, brought into being, and organized contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution – how then can this be possible that such a being should not be dissolved? No such condition can exist!’Now at that time, Sirs, a brother named Subhadda, who had been received into the Order in his old age, was seated in that company. And Subhadda, Sirs, the recruit in his old age, said to those brethren:’Enough, Sirs! Weep not, neither lament! We are well rid of the great Samaṇa. We used to be annoyed by being told: “This beseems you, this beseems you not.” But now we shall be able to do whatever we like; and what we do not like that we shall not do.’

A glance at the above columns shows that the two texts are identical except in two particulars. The Dīgha gives the episode in narrative form, whereas the Vinaya puts it into the mouth of Kassapa himself. And secondly, whereas the Dīgha puts Kassapa’s speech after the outburst of Subhadda, the Vinaya puts it before – that is, the last two paragraphs in the Dīgha are transposed in the Vinaya.

Professor Oldenberg, who was the first to point out (more than thirty years ago)^[i1] the parallelism between the two texts, acutely suggests that the change is due to the position occupied by this episode in the Vinaya. It is there used as introduction to the account of the Council at Rājagaha held, according to the tradition, to counteract such sentiments as were expressed in Subhadda’s outburst. It was considered more appropriate, therefore, that in that connexion, Subhadda’s words should come last, to lead up to what follows. The whole of the story is accordingly taken from our Suttanta. But the last paragraphs are transposed, and the whole is put into the mouth of Kassapa, on whose advice the Council is stated to have been convened.

This seems a very probable explanation of the transposition, and of the existence of two slightly different accounts of the [76] episode. If we accept it – and I think we should^[i2] – we have to face the further question: Why was the episode inserted in the Dīgha? It is given there in the middle of the account of the cremation of the Buddha at Kusinārā. It has very little to do either with what precedes, or with what follows it; and is said to have taken place away from Kusinārā. The outburst itself was of little importance in the long story of the Buddha’s last days; and (in the older order as preserved in the Dīgha) is immediately overwhelmed by Mahā Kassapa’s apt quotation from the Master’s words. Have we not here a very similar motive, acting on either the same or very similar minds? Is it not precisely the part played by this anecdote in the traditional account of the First Council that led the compilers of the Dīgha to find a place for it in the Book of the Great Decease? They might so easily have left it out. As it stands it only breaks in upon the narrative. And, apart from the tradition about the First Council, it had no importance.

There has been much discussion both for and against the authenticity of this First Council. Is this really necessary? Oldenberg’s analysis of the comparative date of the different parts of the Vinaya has shown conclusively that the record, as we have it, is later than the Council of Vesālī, that is at least a hundred years later than the meeting whose proceedings it purports to record. What can be the value of so late a record? It may be objected to this that though the extant record is late the tradition may be older. No one can prove that it was not. But this would not help matters at all. We must then point out that the details as given are, as one might expect, quite inaccurate.^[i3]

Space will only allow of one example being taken.

It is well known that all the ancient sacred literatures of the world have grown up gradually, and are a mosaic of earlier [77] and later material. The Buddhist Piṭakas form no exception. As regards the Nikāyas I have shown this elsewhere in considerable detail.^[i4] Now the record, as we have it, presupposes the existence, already at the time of the Buddha’s death, of the Five Nikāyas in their present arrangement!

It follows that both on general principles of comparative criticism, and on consideration of a particular instance in this special case, the details given us in the Vinaya about the First Council cannot be trusted. But it does not follow, as a matter of certainty, that there was no Council at all. It is quite possible, and even probable, that the Order held a ‘General Chapter,’ as we should call it, soon after the Buddha’s death. They kept no proper minutes of the meeting. We may conjecture what happened at it, but it would be only conjecture. And we must continue patiently, from the incidental references in the books themselves, to formulate a probable theory as to the method in which the literature gradually sprang up. The record handed down to us in the Vinaya is authentic enough; but only in the only way in which any such record can be considered authentic, that is, as evidence of beliefs held at the date at which it was composed.

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[78]

Chapter I

[1][stor][than][bs][wrrn] Thus have I heard.

The Exalted One was once dwelling in Rājagaha,
on the hill called the Vulture’s Peak.

Now at that time Ajātasattu,
the son of the queen-consort of the Videha clan^[1]
the king of Magadha,
had made up his mind to attack the Vajjians;
and he said to himself:

“I will strike at these Vajjians,
mighty and powerful^[2] though they be,
I will root out these Vajjians,
I will destroy these Vajjians,
I will bring these Vajjians to utter ruin!”

2. So he spake to the brahmin Vassakāra
(the Rain­maker),
prime-minister of Magadha,
and said:

[79] “Come now, brahmin,
do you go to the Exalted One,
and bow down in adoration at his feet
on my behalf,
and inquire in my name
whether he is free from illness and suffering,
and in the enjoyment of ease
and comfort
and vigorous health.

Then tell him that Ajātasattu, son of the Vedehī,
the king of Magadha,
in his eagerness to attack the Vajjians,
has resolved:

‘I will strike at these Vajjians,
mighty and powerful though they be,
I will root out these Vajjians,
I will destroy these Vajjians,
I will bring these Vajjians to utter ruin!’

And bear carefully in mind
whatever the Exalted One may predict,
and repeat it to me.

For the Buddhas speak nothing untrue!”

3. Then the brahmin Vassakāra,
the Rain­maker,
hearkened to the words of the king,
saying:

“Be it as you say.”

And ordering a number of state carriages to be made ready,
he mounted one of them,
left Rājagaha with his train,
and went to the Vulture’s Peak,
riding as far as the ground was passable for carriages
and then alighting
and proceeding on foot
to the place where the Exalted One was.

On arriving there
he exchanged with the Exalted One
the greetings and compliments of politeness and courtesy,
sat down respectfully by his side
and then sitting respectfully by his side
he spoke thus to the Exalted One:^[3]

“Ajātasattu, son of the Vedehī,
the king of Magadha,
bows down in adoration at the Exalted One’s feet,
and inquires whether he is free from illness and suffering,
and in the enjoyment of ease
and comfort
and vigorous health.

He says that in his eagerness to attack the Vajjians,
he has resolved:

‘I will strike at these Vajjians,
mighty and powerful though they be,
I will root out these Vajjians,
I will destroy these Vajjians,
I will bring these Vajjians to utter ruin!'”

■

4. Now at that time
the venerable Ānanda was standing behind the Exalted One,
and fanning him.

And the Blessed One said to him:

“Have you heard, Ānanda,
that the Vajjians foregather often
and frequent the public meetings
of their clan?”

“Lord, so I have heard,” replied he.

“So long, Ānanda,” rejoined the Blessed One,
“as the Vajjians foregather thus often,
and frequent the public meetings
of their clan;
so long may they be expected not to decline,
but to prosper.

■

[80] Have you heard, Ānanda,^[4][ed1]
that the Vajjians meet together in concord,
and rise in concord,
and carry out their undertakings in concord?”

“Lord, so I have heard,” replied he.

“So long, Ānanda,
as the Vajjians meet together in concord,
and rise in concord,
and carry out their undertakings in concord;
so long may they be expected not to decline,
but to prosper.

■

Have you heard, Ānanda,
that the Vajjians enact nothing not already established,
abrogate nothing that has been already enacted,
and act in accordance
with the ancient institutions of the Vajjians,
as established in former days?”

“Lord, so I have heard,” replied he.

“So long, Ānanda,
as the Vajjians enact nothing not already established,
abrogate nothing that has been already enacted,
and act in accordance
with the ancient institutions of the Vajjians,
as established in former days;
so long may they be expected not to decline,
but to prosper.

■

Have you heard, Ānanda,
that the Vajjians honour
and esteem
and revere
and support the Vajjian elders,
and hold it a point of duty
to hearken to their words?”

“Lord, so I have heard,” replied he.

“So long, Ānanda,
as the Vajjians honour
and esteem
and revere
and support the Vajjian elders,
and hold it a point of duty
to hearken to their words;
so long may they be expected not to decline,
but to prosper.

■

Have you heard, Ānanda,
that no women or girls belonging to their clans
are detained among them
by force or abduction?”

“Lord, so I have heard,” replied he.

“So long, Ānanda,
as no women or girls belonging to their clans
are detained among them
by force or abduction;
so long may they be expected not to decline,
but to prosper.

■

Have you heard, Ānanda,
that the Vajjians honour
and esteem
and revere
and support the Vajjian shrines^[5]
in town or country,
and allow not the proper offerings and rites,
as formerly given and performed,
to fall into desuetude?”

“Lord, so I have heard,” replied he.

“So long, Ānanda,
as the Vajjians honour
and esteem
and revere
and support the Vajjian shrines
in town or country,
and allow not the proper offerings and rites,
as formerly given and performed,
to fall into desuetude;
so long may they be expected not to decline,
but to prosper.

■

Have you heard, Ānanda,
that rightfu1 protection,
defence,
and support shall be fully provided
for the Arahants among them,
so that Arahants from a distance
may enter the realm,
and the Arahants therein
may live at ease?”

“Lord, so I have heard,” replied he.

“So long, Ānanda,
as rightfu1 protection,
defence,
and support shall be fully provided
for the Arahants among them,
so that Arahants from a distance
may enter the realm,
and the Arahants therein
may live at ease;
so long may they be expected not to decline,
but to prosper.”

§

5. Then the Exalted One addressed Vassakāra the brahmin and said:

“When I was once staying, 0 brahmin,
at Vesāli, at the Sarandada Shrine,^[6]
I taught the Vajjians these conditions of welfare;
and so long as these conditions
shall continue to exist among the Vajjians,
so long as the Vajjians
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 brahmin,
“the welfare
and not the decline
of the Vajjians
when they are possessed of any one
of these conditions of welfare,
how much more so
when they are possessed of all [81] the seven.

So, Gotama, the Vajjians cannot be overcome
by the king of Magadha;
that is not in battle,
without diplomacy
or breaking up their alliance.^[7]

And now, Gotama, we must go;
we are busy and have much to do.”

“Whatever you think most fitting, 0 brahmin,”
was the reply.

And the brahmin Vassakāra,
the Rain­maker,
delighted and pleased with the words of the Exalted One,
rose from his seat,
and went his way.

6. Now soon after he had gone
the Exalted One addressed the venerable Ānanda,
and said:

“Go now, Ānanda,
and assemble in the Service Hall
such of the brethren^[8]
as live in the neighbourhood of Rājagaha.”

And he did so;
and returned to the Exalted One,
and informed him,
saying:

“The company of the brethren, lord,
is assembled,
let the Exalted One do as seemeth to him fit.”

And the Exalted One arose,
and went to the Service [82] Hall;
and when he was seated,
he addressed the brethren,
and said:

“I will teach you, 0 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 Exalted One;
and he spake as follows:

“So long, 0 mendicants,
as the brethren foregather oft,
and frequent the formal meetings of their Order ­
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 –
so long as the brethren delight
in a life of solitude –
so long as the brethren
so train their minds in self-possession
that good men among their fellow-disciples
shall come to them,
and those who have come
shall dwell at ease –
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 well­instructed 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, 0 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
[83] 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,
wrong desires^[9] –
so long as the brethren
shall not become the friends,
companions,
or intimates
of evil­doers –
so long as the brethren
shall not come to a stop on their way
(to Nirvana in Arahantship^[10])
because they 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, 0 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 wrong doing,^[11]
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 [84] 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, 0 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 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, 0 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 realization of the ideas
of the impermanency of all phenomena,
bodily or mental,
the absence
[in them of any abiding principle]
of any ‘soul,’
of corruption,
of the danger of wrong thoughts,
of the necessity of getting rid of them,
of purity of heart,
of Nirvana –
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, 0 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 persevere in kindness
[85] of action,
speech,
and thought
towards their fellow­disciples,
both in public and in private –
so long as they shall divide
without partiality,
and share in common
with their upright companions,
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,^[12]
and praised by the wise;
which are untarnished
[by the desire of future life,
or by the belief in the efficacy of outward acts]^[13]
and which are conducive
to concentration of heart –
so long as the brethren
shall live among the saints,
cherishing,
both in public and in private,
that noble and saving insight
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 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. Now it was while the Exalted One
was staying there at Rājagaha
on the Vulture’s Peak
that he held that comprehensive religious talk
with the brethren, saying:

“Such and such is upright conduct” is not what he said! it is an editorial summary. But what were the details?

 — p.p.

“Such and such is upright conduct;
such and such is earnest contemplation;
such and such is intelli- [86] gence.

Great becomes the fruit,
great the advantage
of earnest contemplation,
when it is set round
with upright conduct.

Great becomes the fruit,
great the advantage
of intellect
when it is set round
with earnest contemplation.

The mind set round with intelligence
is set quite free
from the Intoxications,
that is to say,
from the Intoxication of Sensuality,
from the Intoxication of Becoming,
from the Intoxication of Delusion,
from the Intoxication of Ignorance.”^[14]

13. Now when the Exalted One
had sojourned at Rājagaha
as long as he thought fit,
he addressed the venerable Ānanda,
and said: –

“Come, Ānanda,
let us go to Ambalaṭṭhikā.”

“So be it, lord!”
said Ānanda in assent,
and the Exalted One,
with a large company of the brethren,
proceeded to Ambalaṭṭhikā.

14. There the Exalted One stayed
in the king’s house
and held that comprehensive religious talk
with the brethren,
saying: –

“Such and such is upright conduct;
such and such is earnest contemplation;
such and such is intelligence.

Great becomes the fruit,
great the advantage
of earnest contemplation,
when it is set round
with upright conduct.

Great [87] the advantage
of intellect
when it is set round
with earnest contemplation.

The mind set round with intelligence
is set quite free
from the Intoxications,
that is to say,
from the Intoxication of Sensuality,
from the Intoxication of Becoming,
from the Intoxication of Delusion,
from the Intoxication of Ignorance.”

15. Now when the Exalted One
had sojourned at Ambalaṭṭhikā
long as he thought fit,
he addressed the venerable Ānanda,
and said: –

“Come, Ānanda,
let us go on to Nālandā.”^[15]

“So be it, lord!”
said Ānanda, in assent,
to the Exalted One.

Then the Exalted One proceeded,
with a great company of the brethren,
to Nālandā;
and there, at Nālandā,
the Exalted One stayed
in the Pāvārika mango grove.

16. ^[16]Now the venerable Sāriputta came to the place
where the Exalted One was,
and having saluted him,
took his seat respectfully at his side,
and said: ­

“Lord! such faith have I
in the Exalted One,
that methinks there never has been,
nor will there be,
nor is there now
any other,
whether wanderer or brahmin,
who is greater and wiser
than the Exalted One,
that is to say,
as regards the higher wisdom.”

“Grand and bold
are the words of thy mouth, Sāriputta:
verily, thou hast burst forth
into a song of ecstasy!

Of course then
thou hast known all the Exalted Ones
who in the long ages of the past
have been Able, Awakened Ones,^[17]
comprehending their [88] minds with yours,
and aware what their conduct was,
what their wisdom,
what their mode of life,
and what the emancipation they attained to?”

“Not so, 0 lord!”

“Of course then thou hast perceived
all the Exalted Ones
who in the long ages of the future
shall be Able Awakened Ones
comprehending their minds with yours,
and aware what their conduct was,
what their wisdom,
what their mode of life,
and what the emancipation they attained to?”

“Not so, 0 lord!”

“But at least then, 0 Sāriputta,
thou knowest me
as the Able Awakened One now alive,
and hast penetrated my mind with yours,
and aware what my conduct was,
what my wisdom,
what my mode of life,
and what the emancipation I attained to?”

“Not even that, 0 lord!”

“You see then, Sāriputta,
that you know not the hearts
of the Able Awakened Ones
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. “0 lord! I have not the knowledge
of the hearts of the Able Awakened Ones
that have been,
and are to come,
and now are.

I only know the lineage of the faith.

Just, lord, as a king
might have a border city,
strong in its foundations,
strong in its ramparts and towers,
and with only one gate;
and the king might have a watchman there,
clever, expert, and wise,
to stop all strangers
and admit only men well known.

And he, on patrolling in his sentry walks
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.

He might well be satisfied to know
that all living things of larger size
that entered or left the city,
would have to do so
[89] by that gate.

Thus only is it, lord,
that I know the lineage of the faith.

I know that the Able Awakened Ones of the past,
putting away all hankering after the world,
ill-will,
sloth,
worry
and perplexity –
those five Hinclrances,
mental faults
which make the understanding 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 Able Awakened Ones of the times to come
will put away all hankering after the world,
ill-will,
sloth,
worry
and perplexity –
those five Hinclrances,
mental faults
which make the understanding weak; ­
training their minds
in the four kinds of mental activity;
thoroughly exercising themselves
in the sevenfold higher wisdom,
will receive the full fruition of Enlightenment.

And I know that the Exalted One,
the Able Awakened One of to-day,
has put away all hankering after the world,
ill-will,
sloth,
worry
and perplexity –
those five Hinclrances,
mental faults
which make the understanding weak; ­
training his mind
in the four kinds of mental activity;
thoroughly exercising himself
in the sevenfold higher wisdom,
received the full fruition of Enlightenment now.”^[18]

18. There too
at Nālandā
in the Pāvārika mango grove
the Exalted One held that comprehen­sive religious talk
with the brethren, saying: –

“Such and such is upright conduct;
such and such is earnest contemplation;
such and such is intelligence.

Great becomes the fruit,
great the advantage
of earnest contemplation,
when it is set round
with upright conduct.

Great the advantage
of intellect
when it is set round
with earnest contemplation.

The mind set round with intelligence
is set quite free
from the Intoxications,
that is to say,
from the Intoxication of Sensuality,
from the Intoxication of Be [90] coming,
from the Intoxication of Delusion,
from the Intoxication of Ignorance.”

■

19. Now when the Exalted One had sojourned
as long as he thought fit at Nālandā,
he addressed the venerable Ānanda,
and said: –

“Come, Ānanda,
let us go on to Pāṭaligāma.”

“So be it, lord!”
said Ānanda, in assent,
to the Exalted One.

Then the Exalted One proceeded,
with a great com­pany of the brethren,
to Pāṭaligāma.

20. Now the disciples at Pāṭaligāma
heard of his arrival there,
and they went on to the place where he was,
took their seats respectfully beside him,
and invited him to their village rest-house.

And the Exalted One signified,
by silence,
his consent.

21. Then the Pāṭaligāma disciples
seeing that he had accepted the invitation,
rose from their seats,
and went away to the rest-house,
bowing to the Exalted One
and keeping him on their right
as they passed him.

On arriving there
they strewed all the rest-house
with fresh sand,
placed seats in it,
set up a water-pot,
and fixed an oil lamp.

Then they returned to the Exalted One,
and saluting him they stood beside him,
and told him what they had done and said: –

“It is time for you
to do what you deem most fit.”

22. And the Exalted 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 Exalted One,
against the western wall,
and facing the east.

And the Pāṭaligāma disciples too,
after washing their feet,
entered the hall,
and took their seats opposite the Exalted One,
against the eastern wall,
and facing towards the west.

23. Then the Exalted One
addressed the Pāṭaligāma disciples,
and said: –

“Fivefold. 0 householders,
is the loss of the wrong-doer
through his want of rectitude.

In the first place
the wrong-doer,
devoid of rectitude,
[91] falls into great poverty
through sloth;
in the next place
his evil repute gets noised abroad;
thirdly,
whatever society he enters –
whether of nobles,
brahmins,
heads of houses,
or men of a religious order –
he enters shyly
and confused;
fourthly,
he is full of anxiety
when he dies;
and lastly,
on the dissolution of the body,
after death,
he is reborn into some unhappy state
of suffering or woe.^[19]

This, 0 householders,
is the five­fold loss of the evil-doer!

■

24. Fivefold, 0 householders,
is the gain
of the well-doer
through his practice of rectitude.

In the first place
the well-doer,
strong in rectitude,
acquires great wealth
through his industry;
in the next place,
good reports of him
are spread abroad;
thirdly,
what­ever society he enters –
whether of nobles,
brahmins,
heads of houses,
or members of a religious order –
he enters confident
and self-possessed;
fourthly,
he dies without anxiety;
and lastly,
on the dissolution of the body,
after death,
he is reborn
into some happy state in heaven.

This, 0 householders,
is the fivefold gain
of the well-doer.”

25. When the Exalted One
had thus taught the lay disciples at Pāṭaligāma,
and incited them,
and roused them,
and gladdened them,
far into the night
with religious discourse,
he dismissed them,
saying: ­

“The night is far spent, 0 householders.

It is time for you
to do what you deem most fit.”

“Even so, lord!”
answered the disciples of Pāṭaligāma,
and they rose from their seats,
and bowing to the Exalted One,
and keeping him on their right hand
as they passed him,
they departed thence.

§

And the Exalted One,
not long after the disciples [92] of Pāṭaligāma
had departed thence,
entered into his private chamber.^[20]

26. At that time Sunidha and Vassakāra,
the chief ministers of Magadha,
were building a fortress at Pāṭaligāma
to repel the Vajjians,
and there were a number of fairies
who haunted in thousands
the plots of ground there.

Now, wherever ground is so occupied
by powerful fairies,
they bend the hearts
of the most powerful kings and ministers
to build dwelling-places there,
wherever ground is so occupied
by fairies of middling power,
they bend the hearts of middling kings and ministers
to build dwelling-places there,
wherever ground is so occupied
by fairies of inferior power,
they bend the hearts of inferior kings and ministers
to build dwelling-places there.^[21]

27. And the Blessed One,
with great and clear vision,
surpassing that of ordinary men,
saw thousands of those fairies
haunting Pāṭaligāma.

And he rose up very early in the morning,
and said to Ānanda: –

“Who is it then, Ānanda,
who is building a fortress
at Pāṭaligāma?”

“Sunidha and Vassakāra, lord,
the chief ministers of Magadha,
are building a fortress there
to keep back the Vajjians.”

28. “They act, Ānanda,
as if they had consulted
with the Tāvatiɱsa angels.

I Ānanda
with great and clear vision,
surpassing that of ordinary men,
see thousands of fairies
who haunt plots of ground there.

Now, wherever ground is so occupied
by powerful fairies,
they bend the hearts
of the most powerful kings and ministers
to build dwelling-places there,
wherever ground is so occupied
by fairies of middling power,
they bend the hearts
of middling kings and ministers to build dwelling-places there,
wherever ground is so occupied
by fairies of inferior power,
they bend the hearts of inferior kings and ministers
to build dwelling-places there.

And as far, Ānanda,
as Aryan people resort,
as far as merchants travel,
this will become the chief city, Pāṭaliputta,
a centre for the interchange
of all kinds of wares.

But three dangers
will hang over Pāṭaliputta,
that of fire,
that of water,
and that of dissension among friends.”^[22]

[93] 29. Now Sunidha and Vassakāra,
the chief ministers of Magadha,
proceeded to the place
where the Exalted One was.

And when they had come there
they exchanged with the Exalted One
the greetings and compliments of politeness and courtesy,
and stood there respectfully on one side.

And, so standing,
Sunidha and Vassakāra,
the chief ministers of Magadha,
spake thus to the Exalted One: ­

“May the venerable Gotama do us the honour
of taking his meal,
together with the company of the brethren,
at our house to-day.”

And the Exalted One signified,
by silence,
his consent.

30. Then when Sunidha and Vassakāra,
the chief ministers of Magadha,
perceived that he had given his consent,
they returned to the place where they dwelt.

And on arriving there,
they prepared sweet dishes
of boiled rice,
and cakes;
and informed the Exalted One,
saying: ­

“The hour of food has come, 0 Gotama,
and all is ready.”

And the Exalted One robed himself early,
took his bowl with him,
and repaired, with the brethren,
to the dwelling-place of Sunidha and Vassakāra
and sat down on the seat prepared for him.

And with their own hands
they set the sweet rice and the cakes
before the brethren
with the Buddha at their head,
and waited on them
till they had had enough.

And when the Exalted One
had finished eating his meal,
the ministers brought a low seat,
and sat down respectfully at his side.

31. And when they were thus seated
the Exalted One gave thanks in these verses: ­

‘Wheresoe’er the prudent man shall take up his abode
[94]
Let him support the brethren there, good men of self-control,
And give the merit of his gifts to the deities who haunt the spot^[23][ed2]
Revered, they will revere him: honoured, they honour him again;
Are gracious to him as a mother to her own, her only son.
And the man who has the grace of the gods, good fortune he beholds.’

32. And when he had thanked the ministers in these verses
he rose from his seat and departed thence.

And they followed him as he went, saying,

“The gate the Samana Gotama goes out by to-day
shall be called Gotama’s gate,
and the ferry at which he crosses the river
shall be called Gotama’s ferry.”

And the gate he went out at
was called Gotama’s gate.

33. But the Exalted One went on to the river.

And at that time the river Ganges
was brimful and over­flowing;
and wishing to cross to the opposite bank,
some began to seek for boats,
some for rafts of wood,
whilst some made rafts of basket-work.

Then the Exalted One
as instantaneously as a strong man
would stretch forth his arm,
or draw it back again
when he had stretched it forth,
vanished from this side of the river,
and stood on the further bank
with the company of the brethren.

34. And the Exalted One beheld
the people who wished to cross to the opposite bank
looking some of them for boats
and some of them for rafts of wood,
and some of them for rafts of basket-work;
and as he beheld them
he brake forth at that time
into this song:

[95] “They who have crossed the ocean drear
Making a solid path across the pools –
Whilst the vain world ties its basket rafts ­
These are the wise, these are the saved indeed!’^[24]

End of the First Portion for Recitation.

[96]

Chapter II.

1. Now the Exalted One addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

“Come, Ānanda, let us go on to Koṭigāma”

“So be it, lord!”
said Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

The Exalted One proceeded
with a great company of the brethren
to Koṭigāma;
and there he stayed in the village itself.^[25]

2. And at that place
the Exalted One addressed the brethren,
and said:

“It is through not understanding and grasping
four Aryan Truths, 0 brethren,
that we have had to run so long,
to wander so long
in this weary path of transmigration,
both you and I!

And what are these four?

The Aryan truth about sorrow;
the Aryan truth about the cause of sorrow;
the Aryan truth about the cessation of sorrow;
and the Aryan truth about the path
that leads to that cessation.

But when these Aryan truths
are grasped and known
the craving for future life
is rooted out,
that which leads to renewed becoming
is destroyed,
and then there is no more birth!”^[26]

3. Thus spake the Exalted One;
and when the Happy One had thus spoken,
then again the Teacher said:

“By not seeing the Aryan Truths as they really are,
Long is the path that is traversed through many a birth:
[97] When these are grasped, the cause of rebirth is removed,
The root of sorrow uprooted, and then there is no more birth.”

§

4. There too, while staying at Koṭigāma,
the Exalted One held that comprehensive religious talk
with the brethren,
saying:

“Such and such is upright conduct;
such and such is earnest contemplation;
such and such is intelligence.

Great becomes the fruit,
great the advantage of earnest contemplation,
when it is set round with upright conduct.

Great the advantage of intellect
when it is set round with earnest contemplation.

The mind set round with intelligence
is set quite free from the Intoxications,
that is to say,
from the Intoxication of Sensuality,
from the Intoxication of Becoming,
from the Intoxication of Delusion,
from the Intoxication of Ignorance.”

■

5. Now when the Exalted One had remained
as long as he thought fit at Koṭigāma,
he addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

“Come, Ānanda, let us go on to the Nādikas.”

“So be it, lord!”
said Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

And the Exalted One proceeded to the Nādikas
with a great company of the brethren;
and there at Nādika,
the Exalted One stayed in the Brick Hal1.^[27]

[98] 6. And the venerable Ānanda
went to the Exalted One
and paid him reverence
and took his seat beside him.

And when he was seated,
he addressed the Exalted One,
and said:

“The brother named Sāḷha
has died at Nādika, lord.

Where has he been reborn,
and what is his destiny?

The sister named Nandā
has died, lord, at Nādika.

Where is she reborn,
and what is her destiny?’

The lay disciple Sudatta
has died, lord, at Nādika.

Where is he reborn,
and what is his destiny?’

The devout lady Sugata
has died, lord, at Nādika.

Where is she reborn,
and what is her destiny?’

The lay disciple Kakudha
has died, lord, at Nādika.

Where is he reborn,
and what is his destiny?’

The lay disciple Kālinga
has died, lord, at Nādika.

Where is he reborn,
and what is his destiny?’

The lay disciple Nikaṭa
has died, lord, at Nādika.

Where is he reborn,
and what is his destiny?’

The lay disciple Kaṭissabha
has died, lord, at Nādika.

Where is he reborn,
and what is his destiny?’

The lay disciple Tuṭṭha
has died, lord, at Nādika.

Where is he reborn,
and what is his destiny?’

The lay disciple Santuṭṭha
has died, lord, at Nādika.

Where is he reborn,
and what is his destiny?’

The lay disciple Bhadda
has died, lord, at Nādika.

Where is he reborn,
and what is his destiny?’

The lay disciple Subhadda
has died, lord, at Nādika.

Where is he reborn,
and what is his destiny?”

■

7. “The brother named Sāḷha, Ānanda,
by the destruction of the Intoxications
has by himself,
and in this world,
known
and realized
and attained
to Arahantship,
to emancipation of heart
and to emancipation of mind.

The sister named Nandā, Ānanda, has,
by the complete destruction of the five bonds
that bind people to these lower worlds of lust,
become an inheritor of the highest heavens,
there to pass entirely away,
thence never to return.

The devout Sudatta, Ānanda,
by the complete destruction of the three bonds,
and by the reduction to a minimum of
lust,
ill-will,
and stupidity,
has become a Sakadāgāmin,
who on his first return to this world
will make an end of sorrow.

The devout Sugata, Ānanda,
by the complete destruction of the three bonds,
has become converted,
is no longer liable to be reborn
in a state of suffering,
and is assured of hereafter
attaining to the enlightenment
[of Arahantship].^[28]

The devout Kakudha, Ānanda,
by the complete destruction of the five bonds
that bind people to these lower worlds of lust,
has become an inheritor of the highest heavens,
there to pass entirely away,
thence never to return.

The devout Kālinga, Ānanda,
by the complete destruction of the five bonds
that bind people to these lower worlds of lust,
has become an inheritor of the highest heavens,
there to pass entirely away.

The devout Nikaṭa, Ānanda,
by the complete destruction of the five bonds
that bind people to these lower worlds of lust,
has become an inheritor of the highest heavens,
there to pass entirely away.

[99] The devout Kaṭissabha, Ānanda,
by the complete destruction of the five bonds
that bind people to these lower worlds of lust,
has become an inheritor of the highest heavens,
there to pass entirely away.

The devout Tuṭṭha, Ānanda,
by the complete destruction of the five bonds
that bind people to these lower worlds of lust,
has become an inheritor of the highest heavens,
there to pass entirely away.

The devout Santuṭṭha, Ānanda,
by the complete destruction of the five bonds
that bind people to these lower worlds of lust,
has become an inheritor of the highest heavens,
there to pass entirely away.

The devout Bhadda, Ānanda,
by the complete destruction of the five bonds
that bind people to these lower worlds of lust,
has become an inheritor of the highest heavens,
there to pass entirely away.

The devout Subhadda, Ānanda,
by the complete destruction of the five bonds
that bind people to these lower worlds of lust,
has become an inheritor of the highest heavens,
there to pass entirely away.

More than fifty devout men in Nādika, Ānanda,
by the complete destruction of the five bonds
that bind people to these lower worlds of lust,
have become inheritors of the highest heavens,
there to pass entirely away.

More than ninety devout men in Nādika,
who have died, Ānanda,
have by the complete destruction of the three bonds,
and by the reduction of lust,
ill-will
and stupidity,
become Sakadāgāmins,
who on their first return to this world
will make an end of sorrow.

More than five hundred devout men of Nādika
who have died, Ānanda,
have by the complete destruction of the three bonds
become converted,
are no longer liable to be reborn
in a state of suffering,
and are assured of hereafter
attaining the enlightenment
[of Arahantship].

8. Now there is nothing strange in this, Ānanda,
that a human being should die;
but that as each one does so
you should come to me,
and inquire about them in this manner,
that is wearisome to me.

I will, therefore,
teach you a way of truth,
called the Mirror of Truth,
which if a disciple of the noble ones possess
he may, if he should so desire,
himself predict of himself:

‘Purgatory is destroyed for me,
and rebirth as an animal,
or a ghost,
or in any place of woe.

I am converted,
I am no longer liable to be reborn
in a state of suffering,
and am assured of hereafter
attaining to the enlightenment
[of Arahantship].’

9. What then, Ānanda,
is this Mirror of Truth?

[It is the consciousness that]
the disciple of the Arahants
is in this world
possessed of faith in the Buddha ­
believing the Exalted One to be the Arahant,
the Fully-enlightened One,
Wise,
Upright,
Happy,
World­knowing,
Supreme,
the Bridler of men’s wayward hearts,
the Teacher of gods and men,
the Exalted and Awakened One.

And that he [the disciple]
is possessed of faith in the Truth –
believing the Truth to have been proclaimed by the Exalted One,
of advantage in this world,
passing not away,
welcoming all,
leading to salvation,
and to be attained to by the wise,
each one for himself.

And that he [the disciple]
is possessed of faith in the Order –
believing the multitude of the disciples of the Exalted One
who are walking in the [100] four stages
of the noble eightfold path,
the righteous,
the upright,
the just,
the law-abiding –
believing this church of the Exalted One
to be worthy of honour,
of hospitality,
of gifts,
and of reverence;
to be the supreme sowing ground
of merit for the world

And that he [the disciple]^[ed3]
is possessed of the virtues beloved by the good,
virtues unbroken,
intact,
unspotted,
unblemished,
virtues which make men truly free,
virtues which are praised by the wise,
are untarnished by the desire of future life
or by the belief in the efficacy of outward acts,
and are conducive to concentration of heart.^[29]

This, Ānanda, is the way,
the Mirror of Truth,
which if a disciple of the noble ones possess
he may, if he should so desire,
himself predict of himself:

‘Purgatory is destroyed for me,
and rebirth as an animal,
or a ghost,
or in any place of woe.

I am converted,
I am no longer liable to be reborn
in a state of suffering,
and am assured of hereafter
attaining to the enlightenment
[of Arahantship].'”

■

10. There, too, at the Brick Hall at Nādika
the Exalted One held that comprehensive religious talk
with the brethren,
saying:

“Such and such is upright conduct;
such and such is earnest contemplation;
such and such is intelligence.

Great becomes the fruit,
great the advantage of earnest contemplation,
when it is set round with upright conduct.

Great the advantage of intellect
when it is set round with earnest contemplation.

The mind set round with intelligence
is set quite free from the Intoxications,
that is to say,
from the Intoxication of Sensuality,
from the Intoxication of Becoming,
from the Intoxication of Delusion,
from the Intoxication of Ignorance.’

§

11. Now when the Exalted One
had remained as long as he wished at Nādika,
he addressed Ānanda and said:

“Come, Ānanda let us go on to Vesāli.”

[101] “So be it, lord!”
said Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

Then the Exalted One proceeded,
with a great company of the brethren,
to Vesāli;
and there at Vesāli the Exalted One stayed at Ambapāli’s grove.

12. Now there the Exalted One addressed the brethren,
and said:

“Let a brother, 0 mendicants,
be mindful and self-possessed;
this is our instruction to you.^[30]

And how does a brother become mindful?

Herein, 0 mendicants,
a brother continues as to the body,
so to look upon the body
that he remains strenuous,
self-possessed,
and mindful,
having overcome both the hankering
and the dejection
common in the world.

Herein, 0 mendicants, a brother
continues as to the feelings,
so to look upon the feelings
that he remains strenuous,
self-possessed,
and mindful,
having overcome both the hankering
and the dejection
common in the world.

Herein, 0 mendicants, a brother
continues as to moods,
so to look upon moods
that he remains strenuous,
self-possessed,
and mindful,
having overcome both the hankering
and the dejection
common in the world.

Herein, 0 mendicants, a brother
continues as to ideas,
so to look upon ideas
that he remains strenuous,
self-possessed,
and mindful,
having overcome both the hankering
and the dejection
common in the world.

13. And how does a brother become self-possessed?

He acts, 0 mendicants,
in full presence of mind
whatever he may do,
in going out or coming in,
in looking forward or in looking round,
in bending in his arm or in stretching it forth,
in wearing his robes or in carrying his bowl,
in eating or drinking,
in masticating or swallowing,
in obeying the calls of nature,
in walking or standing or sitting,
in sleeping or waking,
in talking and in being silent.

Thus let a brother, 0 mendicants,
be mindful and self-possessed;
this is our instruction to you.”^[31]

[102] 14. ^[32]Now the courtezan Ambapāli heard
that the Exalted One had arrived at Vesāli,
and was staying there
at her mango grove.

And ordering a number of state vehicles
to be made ready,
she mounted one of them,
and went forth with her train from Vesāli
towards her garden.

She went in the carriage
as far as the ground was passable for carriages;
there she alighted;
and she proceeded on foot
to the place where the Exalted One was,
and took her seat respectfully on one side.

And when she was thus seated
the Exalted One instructed,
aroused,
incited,
and gladdened her
with religious discourse.

Then she –
instructed,
aroused,
incited,
and gladdened
with his words –
addressed the Exalted One and said:

“May the Exalted One do me the honour
of taking his meal,
together with the brethren,
at my house to­morrow?”

And the Exalted One gave,
by silence,
his consent.

Then when Ambapāli the courtezan
saw that the Exalted One had consented,
she rose from her seat
and bowed down before him,
and keeping him on her right hand as she passed him,
she departed thence.

[103] 15. Now the Licchavis of Vesāli
heard that the Exalted One had arrived at Vesāli,
and was staying at Ambapāli’s grove.

And ordering a number of state carriages
to be made ready,
they each mounted one of them
and went forth with their train from Vesāli.

Some of them were dark,
dark in colour,
and wearing dark clothes and ornaments:
some of them were fair,
fair in colour,
and wearing light clothes and ornaments:
some of them were red,
ruddy in colour,
and wearing red clothes and ornaments:
some of them were white,
pale in colour,
and wearing white clothes and ornaments.

16. And Ambapāli drove up against the young Licchavis,
axle to axle,
wheel to wheel,
and yoke to yoke,
and the Licchavis said to Ambapāli the courtezan:

“How is it, Ambapāli,
that thou drivest up against us thus?”

“My lords, I have just invited the Exalted One
and his brethren
for their morrow’s meal,”
said she.

“Ambapāli! give up this meal to us
for a hundred thousand,”
said they.

“My lords, were you to offer all Vesāli
with its subject territory,
I would not give up so honourable a feast!”

Then the Licchavis cast up their hands,
exclaiming:

“We are outdone
by this mango girl!

We are out­reached
by this mango girl!”^[33]

And they went on to Ambapāli’s grove.

17. When the Exalted One saw the Licchavis
approaching in the distance,
he addressed the brethren,
and said:

“0 brethren, let those of the brethren
who have never seen the Tāvatiɱsa gods,
gaze upon this company of the Licchavis,
behold this company of the Licchavis,
compare this company of the Licchavis ­
for they are even as a company of Tāvatiɱsa gods.”^[34]

[104] 18. And when they had ridden
as far as the ground was passable for carriages,
the Licchavis alighted there,
and then went on foot
to the place where the Exalted One was,
and took their seats respectfully by his side.

And when they were thus seated
the Exalted One instructed
and roused
and incited
and gladdened them
with religious discourse.^[35]

Then they –
instructed
and roused
and incited
and gladdened
with his words –
addressed the Exalted One,
and said:

“May the Exalted One do us the honour
of taking his meal,
together with the brethren,
at our house to-morrow?”

“0 Licchavis, I have promised to dine to-morrow
with Ambapāli the courtezan,”
was the reply.

Then the Licchavis cast up their hands, exclaiming:

“We are outdone
by this mango girl!

We are out­reached
by this mango girl!”

And expressing their thanks and approval
of the words of the Exalted One,
they rose from their seats
and bowed down before the Exalted One,
and keeping him on their right hand
as they passed him,
they departed thence.

19. And at the end of the night
Ambapāli the courtezan
made ready in her mansion
sweet rice and cakes,
and announced the time to the Exalted One,
saying:

“The hour, lord, has come,
and the meal is ready!”

And the Exalted One
who had dressed himself early in the morning,
took his bowl,
and his robe,
and went with the brethren
to the place where Ambapāli’s mansion was:
and when he had come there
he seated himself on the seat prepared for him.

And Ambapāli [105] the courtezan
set the sweet rice and cakes
before the Order,
with the Buddha at their head,
and waited upon them
till they refused any more.

And when the Blessed One
had quite finished his meal,
and had cleansed the bowl and his hands,
the courtezan had a low stool brought,
and sat down at his side,
and addressed the Exalted One,
and said:

“Lord, I present this pleasaunce
to the order of mendicants,
of which the Buddha is the chief.”

And the Exalted One accepted the gift;
and after instructing,
and rousing,
and inciting,
and gladdening her
with religious discourse,
he rose from his seat
and departed thence.^[36]

20. While at Ambapāli’s mango grove
the Exalted One held that comprehensive religious talk
with the brethren,
saying:

“Such and such is upright conduct;
such and such is earnest contemplation;
such and such is intelligence.

Great becomes the fruit,
great the advantage of earnest contemplation,
when it is set round with upright conduct.

Great the advantage of intellect
when it is set round with earnest contemplation.

The mind set round with intelligence
is set quite free from the Intoxications,
that is to say,
from the Intoxication of Sensuality,
from the Intoxication of Becoming,
from the Intoxication of Delusion,
from the Intoxication of Ignorance.”

§

21. Now when the Exalted One
had remained so long as he wished at Ambapāli’s grove,
he addressed Ānanda,
and said:

“Come, Ānanda, let us go on to Beluva.”^[37]

[106] “So be it. lord.” said Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

Then the Exalted One proceeded,
with a great company of the brethren, to Beluva,
and there the Exalted One stayed in the village itself.

22. Now the Exalted One there addressed the brethren,
and said:

“0 mendicants, do you take up your abode
round about Vesāli,
each according to the place
where his friends,
acquaintances,
and intimates may live,
for the retreat in the rainy season
[for vassa].

I shall enter upon the rainy season
here at Beluva.”

“So be it, lord!”
said those brethren, in assent,
to the Exalted One.

And they entered upon the rainy season
round about Vesāli,
each according to the place
where his friends,
acquaintances,
and intimates lived:
whilst the Exalted One stayed
even there at Beluva.

23. Now when the Exalted One
had thus entered upon the rainy season,
there fell upon him a dire sickness,
and sharp pains came upon him,
even unto death.

But the Exalted One,
mindful and self-possessed,
bore them without complaint.

Then this thought occurred to the Exalted One:

“It would not be right
for me to pass away
without addressing the disciples,
without taking leave of the Order.

Let me now,
by a strong effort of the will,
bend this sickness down again,
and keep my hold on life
till the allotted time be come.”^[38]

And the Exalted One,
by a strong effort of the will,
bent that sickness down again,
and kept his hold on life
till the time he fixed upon should come.

And the sickness abated upon him.

24. Now very soon after
the Blessed One began to recover.

And when he had quite got rid of the sickness,
he came out from his lodging,
and sat down in the shadow thereof
on a seat spread out there.

And [107] the venerable Ānanda
went to the place where the Exalted One was,
and saluted him,
and took a seat respectfully on one side,
and addressed the Exalted One,
and said:

“I have beheld, lord,
how the Exalted One was in health,
and I have beheld
how the Exalted One had to suffer.

And though at the sight
of the sickness of the Exalted One
my body became weak as a creeper,
and the horizon became dim to me,
and my faculties were no longer clear,^[39]
yet notwithstanding
I took some little comfort
from the thought that the Exalted One
would not pass away
until at least he had left instructions
as touching the Order.”

25. “What, then, Ānanda?

Does the Order expect that of me?

I have preached the truth
without making any distinction
between exoteric and esoteric doctrine;
for in respect of the truths, Ānanda,
the Tathāgata has no such thing
as the closed fist of a teacher,
who keeps some things back.^[40]

Surely, Ānanda,
should there be any one
who harbours the thought,
‘It is I who will lead the brotherhood,’
or,
‘The Order is dependent upon me,’
it is he who should lay down instructions
in any matter concerning the Order.

Now the Tathāgata, Ānanda, thinks not
that it is he who should lead the brotherhood,
or that the Order is dependent upon him.

Why then should he leave instructions
in any matter concerning the Order?

I too, 0 Ānanda, am now grown old,
and full of years,
my journey is drawing to its close,
I have reached my sum of days.

I am turning eighty years of age;
and just as a worn-out cart, Ānanda,
can be kept going only with the help of thongs,
so, methinks, the body of the Tathāgata
can only be kept going
by bandaging it up.^[41]

It is only, Ānanda when the Tathāgata,
by [108] ceasing to attend to any outward thing,
becomes plunged
by the cessation of any separate sensation
in that concentration of heart
which is concerned with no material object –
it is only then
that the body of the Tathāgata is at ease.^[42]

26. ^[43]Therefore, 0 Ānanda,
be ye lamps unto your­selves.

Be ye a refuge to yourselves.

Betake yourselves to no external refuge.

Hold fast to the Truth as a lamp.

Hold fast as a refuge to the Truth.

Look not for refuge
to any one besides yourselves.

And how, Ānanda, is a brother
to be a lamp unto himself,
a refuge to himself,
betaking himself
to no external refuge,
holding fast to the Truth as a lamp,
holding fast as a refuge to the Truth,
looking not for refuge to any one besides himself?

Herein, 0 mendicants,
a brother continues as to the body,
so to look upon the body
that he remains strenuous,
self-possessed,
and mindful,
having overcome both the hankering
and the dejection
common in the world.

Herein, 0 mendicants,
a brother continues as to the feelings,
so to look upon the feelings
that he remains strenuous,
self-possessed,
and mindful,
having overcome both the hankering
and the dejection
common in the world.

Herein, 0 mendicants,
a brother continues as to moods,
so to look upon moods
that he remains strenuous,
self-possessed,
and mindful,
having overcome both the hankering
and the dejection common in the world.

Herein, 0 mendicants,
a brother continues as to ideas,
so to look upon ideas
that he remains strenuous,
self-possessed,
and mindful,
having overcome both the hankering
and the dejection
common in the world.

And whosoever, Ānanda,
either now
or after I am dead,
shall be a lamp unto themselves,
and a refuge unto themselves,
shall betake themselves to no external refuge,
but holding fast to the Truth as [109] their lamp,
and holding fast as their refuge to the Truth,
shall look not for refuge
to anyone besides themselves –
it is they, Ānanda,
among my bhikkhus,
who shall reach the very topmost height! –
but they must be anxious to learn.” ^[44]

End of the Second Portion for Recitation.

[110]

Chapter III

1.^[45] Now the Exalted One robed himself early in the morning,
and taking his bowl in the robe,
went into Vesāli for alms.

When, after he had returned
from the round for alms,
he had finished eating the rice,
he addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

“Take up the mat, Ānanda;
I will go and spend the day
at the Chapala Shrine.”

“So be it, lord!”
said the venerable Ānanda, in assent,
to the Exalted One.

And taking up the mat
he followed step for step
behind the Exalted One.

2. So the Exalted One proceeded
to the Chapala Shrine,
and when he had come there
he sat down on the mat spread out for him,
and the venerable Ānanda took his seat
respectfully beside him.

Then the Exalted One addressed the venerable Ānanda,
and said:

“How delightful a spot, Ānanda, is Vesāli,
and how charming the Udena Shrine,
and the Gotamaka Shrine,
and the Shrine of the Seven Mangoes
and the Shrine of Many Sons,
and the Sarandada Shrine,
and the Chapala Shrine!^[46]

3. Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded
and ascended to the very heights
of the four paths to Iddhi,^[47]
and so mastered them
as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a [111] basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon
or for that portion of the aeon
which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded
and ascended to the very heights
of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them
as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon
which has yet to run.”

4. But even though a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given by the Exalted One,
the venerable Ānanda was incapable
of comprehending them;
and he besought not the Exalted One,
saying:

“Vouchsafe, lord,
to remain during the aeon!

Live on through the aeon, 0 Happy One!

for the good
and the happiness
of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good
and the gain
and the weal
of gods and men!”

So far was his heart
possessed by the Evil One.^[48]

5. A second time
the Exalted One addressed the venerable Ānanda,
and said:

“How delightful a spot, Ānanda, is Vesāli,
and how charming the Udena Shrine,
and the Gotamaka Shrine,
and the Shrine of the Seven Mangoes
and the Shrine of Many Sons,
and the Sarandada Shrine,
and the Chapala Shrine!

Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded
and ascended to the very heights
of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them
as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth
for an aeon
or for that portion of the aeon
which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded
and ascended to the very heights
of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them
as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon
which has yet to run.”

But even though a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given by the Exalted One,
the venerable Ānanda was incapable
of comprehending them;
and he besought not the Exalted One, saying:

“Vouchsafe, lord,
to remain during the aeon!

Live on through the aeon, 0 Happy One!

for the good and the happiness
of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good
and the gain
and the weal
of gods and men!”

So far was his heart
possessed by the Evil One.

A third time
the Exalted One addressed the venerable Ānanda,
and said:

“How delightful a spot, Ānanda, is Vesāli,
and how charming the Udena Shrine,
and the Gotamaka Shrine,
and the Shrine of the Seven Mangoes
and the Shrine of Many Sons,
and the Sarandada Shrine,
and the Chapala Shrine!

Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded
and ascended to the very heights
of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them
as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth
for an aeon
or for that portion of the aeon
which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded
and ascended to the very heights
of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them
as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon
which has yet to run.”

But even though a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given by the Exalted One,
the venerable Ānanda was incapable
of comprehending them;
and he besought not the Exalted One,
saying:

“Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon!

Live on through the aeon, 0 Happy One!

for the good and the happiness
of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good
and the gain
and the weal
of gods and men!”

So far was his heart
possessed by the Evil One.

■

6. Then the Exalted One addressed the vener- [112] able Ānanda,
and said:

“You may leave me, Ānanda,
awhile,
and do whatsoever
now seemeth to thee fit.”

“So be it, lord!”
said the venerable Ānanda, in assent,
to the Exalted One,
and passing him on the right
sat down at the foot of a certain tree
not far off thence.

7. Now not long after the venerable Ānanda had been gone,
Māra, the Evil One, approached the Exalted One
and stood beside him.

And so standing there,
he addressed the Exalted One in these words:

“Pass away now, lord;
let the Exalted One now die.

■

Now is the time for the Exalted One
to pass away –
even according to the word
which the Exalted One spoke
when he said:^[49]

‘I shall not die, 0 Evil One!
until the brethren of the Order,^[50]
shall have become true hearers,
wise and well trained,
ready and learned,
carrying the doctrinal books in their memory,
masters of the lesser corollaries
that follow from the larger doctrine,
correct in life,
walking according to the precepts –
until they, having thus themselves learned the doctrine,
shall be able to tell others of it,
preach it,
make it known,
establish it,
open it,
minutely explain it
and make it clear –
until they,
when others start vain doctrine
easy to be refuted by the truth,
shall be able in refuting it,
to spread the wonder-working^[51] truth abroad!’

8. And now, lord, the brethren of the order
have become true hearers,
wise and well trained,
ready and learned,
carrying the doctrinal books in their memory,
masters of the lesser corollaries
that follow from the larger doctrine,
correct in life,
walking according to the precepts –
and they, having thus themselves learned the doctrine,
are able to tell others of it,
preach it,
make it known,
establish it,
open it,
minutely explain it
and make it clear –
and they,
when others start vain doctrine
easy to be refuted by the truth,
are able in refuting it,
to spread the wonder-working truth abroad!

Pass away now therefore, lord;
let the Exalted One now die!

■

The time has come
for the Exalted One to pass away ­
even according to the word
which the Exalted One spoke when he said:-

‘I shall not die, 0 Evil One!
until this pure religion of mine
shall have become successful,
prosperous,
wide-spread,
and popular in all its full extent –
until, in a word,
it shall have been well proclaimed among men!’

And now, lord, this pure religion of thine
has become successful,
prosperous,
wide-spread,
and popular in all its full extent –
in a word, it has been well proclaimed among men!

Pass away now, lord;
let the Exalted One now die.

Now is the time for the Exalted One to pass away.

Pass away now, lord;
let the Exalted One now die.

■

Now is the time
for the Exalted One to pass away –
even according to the word
which the Exalted One spoke when he said:-

‘I shall not die, 0 Evil One!
until the sisters of the Order,
shall have become true hearers,
wise and well trained,
ready and learned,
carrying the doctrinal books in their memory,
masters of the lesser corollaries
that follow from the larger doctrine,
correct in life,
walking according to the precepts –
until they, having thus themselves learned the doctrine,
shall be able to tell others of it,
preach it,
make it known,
establish it,
open it,
minutely explain it
and make it clear –
until they,
when others start vain doctrine
easy to be refuted by the truth,
shall be able in refuting it,
to spread the wonder-working truth abroad!’

And now, lord, the sisters of the order
have become true hearers,
wise and well trained,
ready and learned,
carrying the doctrinal books in their memory,
masters of the lesser corollaries
that follow from the larger doctrine,
correct in life,
walking according to the precepts –
and they, having thus themselves learned the doctrine,
are able to tell others of it,
preach it,
make it known,
establish it,
open it,
minutely explain it
and make it clear –
and they,
when others start vain doctrine
easy to be refuted by the truth,
are able in refuting it,
to spread the wonder-working truth abroad!

■

The time has come
for the Exalted One to pass away ­
even according to the word
which the Exalted One spoke when he said:-

‘I shall not die, 0 Evil One!
until this pure religion of mine
shall have become successful,
prosperous,
wide-spread,
and popular in all its full extent –
until, in a word,
it shall have been well proclaimed among men!’

And now, lord, this pure religion of thine
has become successful,
prosperous,
wide-spread,
and popular in all its full extent –
in a word, it has been well proclaimed among men!

Pass away now, lord;
let the Exalted One now die.

Now is the time
for the Exalted One to pass away.

Pass away now, lord;
let the Exalted One now die.

■

Now is the time
for the Exalted One to pass away –
even according to the word
which the Exalted One spoke when he said:-

‘I shall not die, 0 Evil One!
until the male lay-disciples of the Order,
shall have become true hearers,
wise and well trained,
ready and learned,
carrying the doctrinal books in their memory,
masters of the lesser corollaries
that follow from the larger doctrine,
correct in life,
walking according to the precepts –
until they, having thus themselves learned the doctrine,
shall be able to tell others of it,
preach it,
make it known,
establish it,
open it,
minutely explain it
and make it clear –
until they,
when others start vain doctrine
easy to be refuted by the truth,
shall be able in refuting it,
to spread the wonder-working truth abroad!’

And now, lord, the male lay-disciples of the order have become true hearers,
wise and well trained,
ready and learned,
carrying the doctrinal books in their memory,
masters of the lesser corollaries
that follow from the larger doctrine,
correct in life,
walking according to the precepts –
and they, having thus themselves learned the doctrine,
are able to tell others of it,
preach it,
make it known,
establish it,
open it,
minutely explain it
and make it clear –
and they,
when others start vain doctrine
easy to be refuted by the truth,
are able in refuting it,
to spread the wonder-working truth abroad!

The time has come
for the Exalted One to pass away ­
even according to the word
which the Exalted One spoke when he said:-

‘I shall not die, 0 Evil One!
until this pure religion of mine
shall have become successful,
prosperous,
wide-spread,
and popular in all its full extent –
until, in a word,
it shall have been well proclaimed among men!’

And now, lord, this pure religion of thine
has become successful,
prosperous,
wide-spread,
and popular in all its full extent –
in a word, it has been well proclaimed among men!

Pass away now, lord;
let the Exalted One now die.

Now is the time
for the Exalted One to pass away.

Pass away now, lord;
let the Exalted One now die.

■

Now is the time
for the Exalted One to pass away –
even according to the word
which the Exalted One spoke when he said:-

‘I shall not die, 0 Evil One!
until the female lay-disciples of the Order,
shall have become true hearers,
wise and well trained,
ready and learned,
carrying the doctrinal books in their memory,
masters of the lesser corollaries that follow from the larger doctrine,
correct in life,
walking according to the precepts –
until they, having thus themselves learned the doctrine,
shall be able to tell others of it,
preach it,
make it known,
establish it,
open it,
minutely explain it
and make it clear –
until they,
when others start vain doctrine
easy to be refuted by the truth,
shall be able in refuting it,
to spread the wonder-working truth abroad!’

And now, lord, the female lay-disciples of the order have become true hearers,
wise and well trained,
ready and learned,
carrying the doctrinal books in their memory,
masters of the lesser corollaries
that follow from the larger doctrine,
correct in life,
walking according to the precepts –
and they, having thus themselves learned the doctrine,
are able to tell others of it,
preach it,
make it known,
establish it,
open it,
minutely explain it
and make it clear –
and they,
when others start vain doctrine
easy to be refuted by the truth,
are able in refuting it,
to spread the wonder-working truth abroad!

■

The time has come for the Exalted One to pass away ­
[113] even according to the word which the Exalted One spoke when he said:-

‘I shall not die, 0 Evil One!
until this pure religion of mine
shall have become successful,
prosperous,
wide-spread,
and popular in all its full extent –
until, in a word,
it shall have been well proclaimed among men!’

And now, lord, this pure religion of thine
has become successful,
prosperous,
wide-spread,
and popular in all its full extent –
in a word, it has been well proclaimed among men!

Pass away now, lord;
let the Exalted One now die.

Now is the time
for the Exalted One to pass away.

■

9. And when he had thus spoken,
the Exalted One addressed Māra,
the Evil One,
and said:

“0 Evil One!
make thyself happy,
the death of the Tathāgata
shall take place before long.

At the end of three months
from this time
the Tathāgata will pass away.”

10. Thus the Exalted One
while at the Shrine of Chapala
deliberately and consciously rejected
the rest of his natural term of life.^[52]

And on his so rejecting it
there arose a mighty earthquake,
awful and terrible,
and the thunders of heaven burst forth.

And when the Exalted One beheld this,
he broke out at that time
into this hymn of exultation:

“His sum of life the sage renounced,
The cause of life immeasurable or small;
With inward joy and calm, he broke,
Like coat of mail, his life’s own cause!”^[53]‘

11.^[54] Now the following thought
occurred to the [114] venerable Ānanda:

“Wonderful indeed
and marvellous is it
that this mighty earthquake should arise,
awful and terrible,
and that the thunders of heaven
should burst forth!

What may be the proximate,
what the remote cause
of the appearance of this earthquake?”

12. Then the venerable Ānanda went up to the place where the Blessed One was,
and did obeisance to the Exalted One,
and seated himself respectfully at one side,
and said:

“Wonderful indeed and marvellous is it
that this mighty earthquake should arise,
awful and terrible,
and that the thunders of heaven should burst forth!

What may be the proximate,
what the remote cause
of the appearance of this earthquake?”

§

13. “Eight are the proximate,
eight the remote causes, Ānanda,
for the appearance of a mighty earthquake.

What are the eight?

This great earth, Ānanda,
is established on water,
the water on wind,
and the wind rests upon space.

And at such a time, Ānanda,
as the mighty winds blow,
the Waters are shaken
by the mighty winds as they blow,
and by the moving water
the earth is shaken.

These are the first causes,
proximate and remote,
of the appearance of a mighty earthquake.^[55]

■

14. ‘Again, Ānanda, a recluse or a brahmin
of great [intellectual] power,
and who has the feelings [115] of his heart
well under his control;
or a god or fairy (devatā^[56])
of great might and power, –
when such a one
by intense meditation on the idea
of the minutest portion of earth
and on the idea
of the widest expanse of water
[has succeeded in realizing
the comparative value of things]
he can make this earth move
and tremble
and be shaken violently.^[57]

These are the second causes,
proximate and remote,
of the appearance of a mighty earthquake.

■

[116] Again, Ānanda, when a Bodhisatta
consciously and deliberately leaves
his [temporary] form in the heaven of delight
and descends into his mother’s womb,
then is this earth made to quake
and tremble
and is shaken violently.

These are the third causes,
proximate and remote,
of the appearance of a mighty earthquake^[58]

■

16. Again, Ānanda, when a Bodhisatta
deliberately and consciously
quits his mother’s womb,
then the earth quakes
and trembles
and is shaken violently.

This is the fourth cause,
proximate and remote,
of the appearance of a mighty earthquake.

■

17. ‘Again, Ānanda, when a Tathāgata
arrives at the supreme and perfect enlightenment,
then this earth quakes
and trembles
and is shaken violently.

This is the fifth cause,
proximate and remote,
of the appearance of a mighty earthquake.

■

18. Again, Ānanda, when a Tathāgata
founds the sublime kingdom of righteousness,
then this earth quakes
and trembles
and is shaken violently.

This is the sixth cause,
proximate and remote,
of the appearance of a mighty earthquake.

■

19. Again, Ānanda, when a Tathāgata
consciously and deliberately
rejects the remainder of his life,
then this earth quakes
and trembles
and is shaken violently.

[117] This is the seventh cause,
proximate and remote,
of the appearance of a mighty earthquake.

■

20.’Again, Ānanda, when a Tathāgata
passes entirely away
in that utter passing away
in which nothing whatever is left behind,
then this earth quakes
and trembles
and is shaken violently.

This is the eighth cause,
proximate and remote,
of the appearance of a mighty earthquake.’

§

21. Now of eight kinds, Ānanda,
are these assemblies.

Which are the eight?

Assemblies of nobles,
brahmins,
householders
and wanderers,
and of the angel hosts of the Guardian Kings,
of the Great Thirty-Three,
of the Māras,
and of the Brahmās.

22. Now I call to mind, Ānanda, how
when I used to enter into an assembly
of many hundred^[59] nobles,
before I had seated myself there
or talked to them
or started a conversation with them,
I used to become in colour
like unto their colour,
and in voice
like unto their voice.

Then with religious discourse
I used to instruct
and incite,
and quicken them,
and fill them with gladness.

But they knew me not when I spoke,
and would say:

‘Who may this be
who thus speaks?
a man or a god?’

Then having instructed,
incited,
quickened,
and gladdened them with religious discourse,
I would vanish away.

But they knew me not
even when I vanished away:
and would say:

‘Who may this be
who has thus vanished away?
a man or a god?’

■

23. Now I call to mind, Ānanda, how
when I used to enter into an assembly
of many hundred brahmins,
before I had seated myself there
or talked to them
or started a conversation with them,
I used to become in colour
like unto their colour,
and in voice
like unto their voice.

Then with religious discourse
I used to instruct
and incite,
and quicken them,
and fill them with gladness.

But they knew me not when I spoke,
and would say:

‘Who may this be
who thus speaks?
a man or a god?’

Then having instructed,
incited,
quickened,
and gladdened them with religious discourse,
I would vanish away.

But they knew me not
even when I vanished away:
and would say:

‘Who may this be
who has thus vanished away?
a man or a god?’

■

Now I call to mind, Ānanda, how
when I used to enter into an assembly
of many hundred householders,
before I had seated myself there
or talked to them
or started a conversation with them,
I used to become in colour
like unto their colour,
and in voice
like unto their voice.

Then with religious discourse
I used to instruct
and incite,
and quicken them,
and fill them with gladness.

But they knew me not when I spoke,
and would say:

‘Who may this be
who thus speaks?
a man or a god?’

Then having instructed,
incited,
quickened,
and gladdened them with religious discourse,
I would vanish away.

But they knew me not
even when I vanished away:
and would say:

‘Who may this be
who has thus vanished away?
a man or a god?’

■

Now I call to mind, Ānanda, how
when I used to enter into an assembly
of many hundred wanderers,
before I had seated myself there
or talked to them
or started a conversation with them,
I used to become in colour
like unto their colour,
and in voice
like unto their voice.

Then with religious discourse
I used to instruct
and incite,
and quicken them,
and fill them with gladness.

But they knew me not
when I spoke,
and would say:

‘Who may this be
who thus speaks?
a man or a god?’

Then having instructed,
incited,
quickened,
and gladdened them with religious discourse,
I would vanish away.

But they knew me not
even when I vanished away:
and would say:

‘Who may this be
who has thus vanished away?
a man or a god?’

■

Now I call to mind, Ānanda, how
when I used to enter into an assembly
of many hundred of the angel hosts
of the Guardian Kings,
before I had seated myself there
or talked to them
or started a conversation with them,
I used to become in colour
like unto their colour,
and in voice
like unto their voice.

Then with religious discourse
I used to instruct
and incite,
and quicken them,
and fill them with gladness.

But they knew me not
when I spoke,
and would say:

‘Who may this be
who thus speaks?
a man or a god?’

Then having instructed,
incited,
quickened,
and gladdened them with religious discourse,
I would vanish away.

But they knew me not
even when I vanished away:
and would say:

‘Who may this be
who has thus vanished away?
a man or a god?’

■

Now I call to mind, Ānanda, how
when I used to enter into an assembly
of many hundred of the Great Thirty-Three,
before I had seated myself there
or talked to them
or started a conversation with them,
I used to become in colour
like unto their colour,
and in voice
like unto their voice.

Then with religious discourse
I used to instruct
and incite,
and quicken them,
and fill them with gladness.

But they knew me not
when I spoke,
and would say:

‘Who may this be
who thus speaks?
a man or a god?’

Then having instructed,
incited,
quickened,
and gladdened them with religious discourse,
I would vanish away.

But they knew me not
even when I vanished away:
and would say:

‘Who may this be
who has thus vanished away?
a man or a god?’

■

‘Now I call to mind, Ānanda, how
when I used to enter into an assembly
of many hundred of the Māras,
before I had seated myself there
or talked to them
or started a conversation with them,
I used to become in colour
like unto their colour,
and in voice
like unto their voice.

Then with religious discourse
I used to instruct and incite,
and quicken them,
and fill them with gladness.

But they knew me not
when I spoke,
and would say:

‘Who may this be
who thus speaks?
a man or a god?’

Then having instructed,
incited,
quickened,
and gladdened them with religious discourse,
I would vanish away.

But they knew me not
even when I vanished away:
and would say:

‘Who may this be
who has thus vanished away?
a man or a god?’

■

Now I call to mind, Ānanda, how
when I used to enter into an assembly
of many hundred of the Brahmās,
before I had seated myself there
or talked to them
or started a conversation with them,
I used to become in colour
like unto their colour,
and in voice
like unto their voice.

Then with religious discourse
I used to instruct
and incite,
and quicken them,
and fill them with gladness.

But they knew me not when I spoke,
and would say:

‘Who may this be who thus speaks?
a man or a god?’

Then having instructed,
incited,
quickened,
and gladdened them with religious discourse,
I would vanish away.

But they knew me not
even when I vanished away:
and would say:

‘Who may this be
who has thus vanished away?
a man or a god?’

Now these, Ānanda, are the eight assemblies.

§

[118] 24. Now these, Ānanda, are the eight
positions of Mastery
[over the delusion arising from
the apparent permanence of external things].^[60]

What are the eight?

25. When a man having subjectively
the idea of form
sees forms external to himself
which are finite,
and pleasant or unpleasant to the sight,
and having mastered them,
is conscious that he knows and sees ­
this is the first position of mastery.

26. ‘When a man having subjectively the idea of form sees externally forms which are boundless,
and pleasant or unpleasant to the sight,
and having mastered them,
is conscious that he knows and sees –
this is the second position of mastery.

27. ‘When a man without the subjective idea of form sees forms external to himself which are finite,
and pleasant or unpleasant to the sight,
and having mastered them,
is conscious that he knows and sees –
this is the third position of mastery.

28. ‘When a man without the subjective idea of form sees externally forms external to himself which are boundless,
and pleasant or unpleasant to the sight,
and having mastered them,
is conscious that he knows and sees –
this is the fourth position of mastery.

29. ‘When a man without the subjective idea of form sees externally forms external to himself that are blue,
blue in colour,
blue in appearance,
and reflecting blue, –
just, for instance, as the flax blossom is blue in colour,
blue in appearance,
and reflecting blue;
or, again, [119] as that fine muslin of Benares,
of delicate finish on both sides,
is blue in colour,
blue in appearance,
and reflecting blue, –
when a man without the subjective idea of form sees externally forms which,
just in that way,
are blue,
blue in colour,
blue in appearance,
and reflecting blue,
and having mastered them,
is conscious that he knows and sees –
that is the fifth position of mastery.’

30. ‘When a man without the subjective idea of form sees externally forms external to himself that are blue,
yellow in colour,
yellow in appearance,
and reflecting yellow, –
just, for instance, as the Kanikara flower is yellow in colour,
yellow in appearance,
and reflecting yellow;
or, again, as that fine muslin of Benares,
of delicate finish on both sides,
is yellow in colour,
yellow in appearance,
and reflecting yellow, –
when a man without the subjective idea of form sees externally forms which,
just in that way,
are yellow,
yellow in colour,
yellow in appearance,
and reflecting yellow,
and having mastered them,
is conscious that he knows and sees –
that is the sixth position of mastery.’

31. ‘When a man without the subjective idea of form sees externally forms external to himself that are blue,
red in colour,
red in appearance,
and reflecting red, –
just, for instance, as the Bandhu-givaka flower is red in colour,
red in appearance,
and reflecting red;
or, again, as that fine muslin of Benares,
of delicate finish on both sides,
is red in colour,
red in appearance,
and reflecting red, –
when a man without the subjective idea of form sees externally forms which,
just in that way,
are red,
red in colour,
red in appearance,
and reflecting red,
and having mastered them,
is conscious that he knows and sees –
that is the seventh position of mastery.’

32. ‘When a man without the subjective idea of form sees externally forms external to himself that are blue,
white in colour,
white in appearance,
and reflecting white, –
just, for instance, as the morning star is white in colour,
white in appearance,
and reflecting white;
or, again, as that fine muslin of Benares,
of delicate finish on both sides,
is white in colour,
white in appearance,
and reflecting white, –
when a man without the subjective idea of form sees externally forms which,
just in that way,
are white,
white in colour,
white in appearance,
and reflecting white,
and having mastered them,
is conscious that he knows and sees –
that is the seventh position of mastery.’

---

33.^[61] ‘Now these stages of Deliverance, Ānanda
[from the hindrance to thought arising from the sensations and ideas due to external forms],
are eight in number.

Which are the eight?

‘A man possessed of form sees forms –
this is the first stage of deliverance.

‘Unaware of his own form,
he sees forms external to himself –
this is the second stage of deliverance.

‘With the thought
“it is well,”
he becomes intent ­
this is the third stage of deliverance.

‘By passing quite beyond all idea of form,
by putting an end to all idea of sensory impact^[62],
by paying no attention to the idea of multiformity,
he, thinking
“it is all infinite space,”
reaches [mentally] and remains in the state of mind in which the idea of the infinity of space is the only idea that is present –
this is the fourth stage of deliverance.

‘By passing quite beyond all idea of space being the infinite basis,
he, thinking
“it is all infinite reason,”
[120] reaches [mentally] and remains in the state of mind to which the infinity of reason is alone present –
this is the fifth stage of deliverance.

‘By passing quite beyond the consciousness of the infinity of reason,
he, thinking
“nothing at all exists,”
reaches [mentally] and remains in the state of mind to which nothing at all is specially present –
this is the sixth stage of deliverance.

‘By passing quite beyond all idea of nothingness he reaches [mentally] and remains in the state of mind to which neither ideas nor the absence of ideas are specially present –
this is the seventh stage of deliverance.

‘By passing quite beyond the state of “neither ideas nor the absence of ideas” he reaches [mentally] and remains in the state of mind in which both sensations and ideas have ceased to be –
this is the eighth stage of deliverance.

‘Now these, Ānanda, are the eight stages of Deliverance.’

34. ‘On one occasion, Ānanda,
I was resting under the goatherd’s Nigrodha tree on the bank of the river Nerañjarā immediately after having reached the great enlightenment.

Then Māra, the Evil One, came, Ānanda,
to the place where I was,
and standing beside me he addressed me in the words: –

“Pass away now, lord, from existence!

Let the Exalted One now die!

Now is the time for the Exalted One to pass away!”

35. ‘And when he had thus spoken, Ānanda,
I addressed Māra, the Evil One, and said:

“I shall not pass away, 0 Evil One!
until not only the brethren and sisters of the Order,
but also the lay-disciples of either sex
shall have become true hearers,
wise and well trained,
ready and learned,
carrying the doctrinal books in their memory,
masters of the lesser corollaries that follow from the larger doctrine,
correct in life,
walking according to the precepts –
until they, having thus themselves learned the doctrine,
shall be able to tell others of it,
preach it,
make it known,
establish it,
open it,
minutely explain it
and make it clear –
until [121] they, when others start vain doctrine easy to be refuted by the truth,
shall be able in refuting it
to spread the wonder-working truth abroad!

I shall not die until this pure religion of mine shall have become successful,
prosperous,
wide-spread,
and popular in all its full extent –
until, in a word,
it shall have been well pro­claimed among men!”

36. ‘And now again to-day, Ānanda, at Chāpāla’s Shrine Māra, the Evil One,
came to the place where I was,
and standing beside me addressed me saying:

“Pass away now, lord, from existence!

Let the Exalted One now die!

Now is the time for the Exalted One to pass away!”

37. ‘And when he had thus spoken, Ānanda,
I answered him and said: –

“Make thyself happy,
the passing away of the Tathāgata shall take place before long.

At the end of three months from this time the Tathāgata will pass away!”

And now again,^[ed4] Ānanda, the Tathāgata has to-day at Chāpāla’s Shrine consciously and deliberately re­jected the rest of his al1otted term of life.’

38. And when he had thus spoken the venerable Ānanda addressed the Exalted One, and said:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

“Enough now, Ānanda, beseech not the Tathāgata!’
was the reply.

‘The time for making such request is past.

39. And again, the second time, the venerable Ānanda besought the Exalted One:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

And a second time:
‘Enough now, Ānanda, beseech not the Tathāgata!’
was the reply.

And again, the third time, the venerable Ānanda besought the Exalted One:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

And a third time:
‘Enough now, Ānanda, beseech not the Tathāgata!’
was the reply.

‘Hast thou faith, Ānanda, in the wisdom of the Tathāgata?’

‘Even so, lord!’

‘Now why, then, Ānanda, dost thou trouble the Tathāgata even until the third time?’

40. ‘From his own mouth have I heard from the Exalted One,
from his own mouth have I received [122] this saying:

‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

‘Hast thou faith, Ānanda?’

‘Even so, lord!’

‘Then, 0 Ānanda,
thine is the fault,
thine is the offence –
in that when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

41. ‘On one occasion, Ānanda,
I was dwelling at Rājagaha, on the hill called the Vulture’s Peak.

Now there, Ānanda, I spoke to thee, and said:

“How pleasant a spot, Ānanda, is Rājagaha;
how pleasant is this Vulture’s Peak.

‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for [123] that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

But even when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

■

42-43. ‘On one occasion, Ānanda, I was dwelling at that same Rājagaha
in the Banyan Grove –

Now there, Ānanda, I spoke to thee, and said:

“How pleasant a spot, Ānanda, is Rājagaha;
how pleasant is this Banyan Grove.

‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

But even when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

■

On one occasion I was dwelling at that same Rājagaha at the Robbers’ Cliff.

Now there, Ānanda, I spoke to thee, and said:

“How pleasant a spot, Ānanda, is Rājagaha;
how pleasant is this Robbers’ Cliff.

‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

But even when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

■

On one occasion I was dwelling Rājagaha in the Satta­panni cave on the slope of Mount Vebhāra.

Now there, Ānanda, I spoke to thee, and said:

“How pleasant a spot, Ānanda, is Rājagaha;
how pleasant is this Satta­panni cave on the slope of Mount Vebhāra.

Now there, Ānanda, I spoke to thee, and said:

‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

But even when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

■

On one occasion I was dwelling at that same Rājagaha at the Black Rock on the slope of Mount Isigili.

Now there, Ānanda, I spoke to thee, and said:

“How pleasant a spot, Ānanda, is Rājagaha;
how pleasant is this Black Rock on the slope of Mount Isigili.

‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

But even when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

■

On one occasion I was dwelling at that same Rājagaha in the Sītavana Grove in the mountain cave Sappasoṇḍika.

Now there, Ānanda, I spoke to thee, and said:

“How pleasant a spot, Ānanda, is Rājagaha;
how pleasant is this Sītavana Grove in the mountain cave Sappasoṇḍika.

‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

But even when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

■

On one occasion I was dwelling at that same Rājagaha in the Tapoda Grove.

Now there, Ānanda, I spoke to thee, and said:

“How pleasant a spot, Ānanda, is Rājagaha;
how pleasant is this Tapoda Grove.

‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

But even when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

■

On one occasion I was dwelling at that same Rājagaha in the Bambu Grove in the Squirrels’ Feeding Ground.

Now there, Ānanda, I spoke to thee, and said:

“How pleasant a spot, Ānanda, is Rājagaha;
how pleasant is this Bambu Grove in the Squirrels’ Feeding Ground.

‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

But even when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

■

On one occasion I was dwelling at that same Rājagaha in Jīvaka’s Mango Grove.

Now there, Ānanda, I spoke to thee, and said:

“How pleasant a spot, Ānanda, is Rājagaha;
how pleasant is this Jīvaka’s Mango Grove.

‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

But even when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

■

On one occasion I was dwelling at that same Rājagaha in the Deer Forest at Maddakucchi.

Now there, Ānanda, I spoke to thee, and said:

“How pleasant a spot, Ānanda, is Rājagaha;
how pleasant is this Deer Forest at Maddakucchi.

44. [124] ‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

But even when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

■

45. On one occasion I was dwelling at Vesāli at the Udena Shrine.

Now there, Ānanda, I spoke to thee, and said:

“How pleasant a spot, Ānanda, is Vesāli;
how pleasant is this Udena Shrine.

‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

But even when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus [125] given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

■

46. On one occasion I was dwelling at Vesāli at the Gotamaka Shrine.

Now there, Ānanda, I spoke to thee, and said:

“How pleasant a spot, Ānanda, is Vesāli;
how pleasant is this Gotamaka Shrine.

‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

But even when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

■

On one occasion I was dwelling at Vesāli at the Shrine of the Seven Mangoes.

Now there, Ānanda, I spoke to thee, and said:

“How pleasant a spot, Ānanda, is Vesāli;
how pleasant is this Shrine of the Seven Mangoes.

‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

But even when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

■

On one occasion I was dwelling at Vesāli at the Bahuputta Shrine.

Now there, Ānanda, I spoke to thee, and said:

“How pleasant a spot, Ānanda, is Vesāli;
how pleasant is this Bahuputta Shrine.

‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

But even when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

■

On one occasion I was dwelling at Vesāli at the Sarandada Shrine.

Now there, Ānanda, I spoke to thee, and said:

“How pleasant a spot, Ānanda, is Vesāli;
how pleasant is this Sarandada Shrine.

‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

But even when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

■

47. ‘And now to-day, Ānanda, at the Chāpāla Shrine, I spoke to thee, and said:

“How delightful a spot, Ānanda, is Vesāli,
how charming the Uelena Shrine
and the Gotamaka Shrine
and the Shrine of the Seven Mangoes,
and the Shrine of Many Sons,
and the Sarapdada Shrine,
and the Chāpalā Shrine.

‘Ānanda, whosoever has developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
he, should he desire it,
could remain in the same birth for an aeon or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.

Now the Tathāgata has thoroughly developed,
practised,
dwelt on,
expanded and ascended to the very heights of the four paths to Iddhi,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as a vehicle,
and as a basis,
and he could, therefore,
should he desire it,
live on yet for an aeon,
or for that portion of the aeon which has yet to run.’

But even when a suggestion so evident
and a hint so clear
were thus given thee by the Tathāgata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them,
and thou besoughtest not the Tathāgata, saying:

‘Vouchsafe, lord, to remain during [126] the aeon:
live on through the kalpa, 0 Exalted One!
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
for the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

If thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathāgata,
the Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time,
but the third time he would have granted it.

Thine, therefore, 0 Ānanda, is the fault,
thine is the offence!

---

48. ‘But now, Ānanda, have I not formerly declared to you that it is in the very nature of all things,
near and dear unto us,
that we must divide ourselves from them,
leave them,
sever ourselves from them?

How, then, Ānanda, can this be possible –
whereas anything whatever born,
brought into being,
and organized,
contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution –
how then can this be possible that such a being should not be dissolved?

No such condition can exist!

And that which, Ānanda, has been relinquished,
cast away,
renounced,
rejected,
and abandoned by the Tathāgata –
the remaining sum of life surrendered by him –
verily with regard to that the word has gone forth from the Tathāgata, saying:

“The passing away of the Tathāgata shall take place before long.

At the end of three months from this time the Tathāgata will die!”

That the Tathāgata for the sake of living should repent him again of that saying ­
this can no wise be!^[63]

Come, Ānanda, let us go to the Kūṭāgara Hall,
to the Mahāvana.’

[127] ‘Even so, lord!’
said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

49. Then the Exalted One proceeded,
and Ānanda with him,
to the Mahāvana,
to the Kūṭāgara Hall:
and when he had arrived there he addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

‘Go now, Ānanda, and assemble in the Service Hall such of the brethren as reside in the neighbourhood of Vesāāli.’

‘Even so, lord!’
said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

And when he had assembled in the Service Hall such of the brethren as resided in the neighbourhood of Vesāli,
he went to the Exalted One and saluted him and stood beside him.

And standing beside him,
he addressed the Exalted One, and said:

‘Lord! the assembly of the brethren has met together.

Let the Exalted One do even as seemeth to him fit.’

50. Then the Exalted One proceeded to the Service Hall,
and sat down there on the mat spread out for him.

And when he was seated the Exalted One addressed the brethren, and said:

‘Therefore, 0 brethren –
ye to whom the truths I have perceived have been made known by me ­
having thoroughly made yourselves masters of them,
practise them,
meditate upon them,
and spread them abroad;
in order that pure religion thay last long and be perpetuated,
in order that it may continue to be for the good and happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
to the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!

‘Which then, 0 brethren, are the truths which, when I had perceived,
I made known to you,
which when you have mastered it behoves you to practise,
meditate upon,
and spread abroad,
in order that pure religion may last long and be perpetuated,
in order that it may continue to be for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
to the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men?

[128]‘They are these:

The four earnest meditations,
The fourfold great struggle against evil,
The four roads to saintship
The five moral powers
The five organs of spiritual sense
The seven kinds of wisdom
and The Aryan eightfold path.

These, 0 brethren, are the truths which,
when I had perceived,
I made known to you,
which when you have mastered it behoves you to practise,
meditate upon,
and spread abroad,
in order that pure religion may last long and be perpetuated,
in order that it may continue to be for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes,
out of pity for the world,
to the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men!’

5I. And the Exalted One exhorted the brethren, and said:

‘Behold now, 0 brethren,
I exhort you, saying:

“All component things must grow old.

Work out your salvation with diligence.

The final extinction of the Tathāgata will take place before long.

At the end of three months from this time the Tathāgata will die!”

‘My age is now full ripe,
my life draws to its close:
I leave you,
I depart,
relying on myself alone!

Be earnest then, 0 brethren,
holy,
full of thought!

Be steadfast in resolve!

Keep watch o’er your own hearts!

Who wearies not,
but holds fast to this truth and law^[64],
Shall cross this sea of life,
shall make an end of grief.’

End of the Third Portion for Recitation.^[65]

[131]

Chapter IV

1. Now the Exalted One early in the morning robed himself,
and taking his bowl,
entered Vesāli for alms;
and when he had passed through Vesāli,
and had eaten his meal and was returning from his alms­seeking he gazed at Vesāli with an elephant look^[66]and addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

‘ This will be the last time, Ānanda,
that the Tathāgata will behold Vesāli.

Come, Ānanda,
let us go on to Bhaṇḍa-gāma.’

‘Even so, lord!’
said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

And the Exalted One proceeded with a great company of the brethren to Bhaṇḍa-gāma;
and there the Exalted One stayed in the village itself.

2. There the Exalted One addressed the brethren, and said:

‘It is through not understanding and grasping four truths^[67], 0 brethren,
that we have had to run so long,
to wander so long in this weary path of transmigration –
both you and I.

‘And what are these four?

The noble conduct of life,
the noble earnestness in meditation,
the noble kind of wisdom,
and the noble salvation of freedom.

But when noble conduct is realized and known,
when noble meditation is realized and known,
when noble wisdom is realized and known,
when noble freedom is realized and known –
then is the craving for future life rooted out,
that which leads to renewed existence is destroyed,
and there is no more birth.’

[132] 3. Thus spake the Exalted One;
and when the Happy One had thus spoken,
then again the Teacher said^[68]:

Righteousness, earnest thought, wisdom, and freedom sublime –
These are the truths realized by Gotama, far ­ renowned.
Knowing them, he, the knower, proclaimed the truth to the brethren.
The master with eye divine, the quencher of griefs, is at peace.’^[69]

4. There too, while staying at Bhaṇḍa-gāma,
the Exalted One held that comprehensive religious talk with the brethren, saying:

‘Such and such is upright conduct;
such and such is earnest contemplation;
such and such is intelligence.

Great becomes the fruit,
great the advantage of earnest contemplation,
when it is set round with upright conduct.

Great the advantage of intellect
when it is set round with earnest contemplation.

The [133] mind set round with intelligence is set quite free from the Intoxications,
that is to say,
from the Intoxication of Sensuality,
from the Intoxication of Becoming,
from the Intoxication of Delusion,
from the Intoxication of Ignorance.’

5. Now when the Exalted One had remained at Bhaṇḍa-gāma as long as he desired,
he addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

‘Come, Ānanda, let us go to Hatthi-gāma.’

‘Even so, lord!’
said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

And the Exalted One proceeded with a great company of the brethren to Hatthi-gāma;
and there the Exalted One stayed in the village itself.

There the Exalted One addressed the brethren, and said:

‘It is through not understanding and grasping four truths, 0 brethren,
that we have had to run so long,
to wander so long in this weary path of transmigration –
both you and I.

‘And what are these four?

The noble conduct of life,
the noble earnestness in meditation,
the noble kind of wisdom,
and the noble salvation of freedom.

But when noble conduct is realized and known,
when noble meditation is realized and known,
when noble wisdom is realized and known,
when noble freedom is realized and known –
then is the craving for future life rooted out,
that which leads to renewed existence is destroyed,
and there is no more birth.’

Thus spake the Exalted One;
and when the Happy One had thus spoken,
then again the Teacher said:

Righteousness, earnest thought, wisdom, and freedom sublime –
These are the truths realized by Gotama, far ­ renowned.
Knowing them, he, the knower, proclaimed the truth to the brethren.
The master with eye divine, the quencher of griefs, is at peace.’

There too, while staying at Hatthi-gāma,
the Exalted One held that comprehensive religious talk with the brethren, saying:

‘Such and such is upright conduct;
such and such is earnest contemplation;
such and such is intelligence.

Great becomes the fruit,
great the advantage of earnest contemplation,
when it is set round with upright conduct.

Great the advantage of intellect
when it is set round with earnest contemplation.

The mind set round with intelligence is set quite free from the Intoxications,
that is to say,
from the Intoxication of Sensuality,
from the Intoxication of Becoming,
from the Intoxication of Delusion,
from the Intoxication of Ignorance.’

6. Now when the Exalted One had remained at Hatthi-gāma as long as he desired,
he addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

‘Come, Ānanda, let us go to Amba-gāma.’

‘Even so, lord!’
said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

And the Exalted One proceeded with a great company of the brethren to Amba-gāma;
and there the Exalted One stayed in the village itself.

There the Exalted One addressed the brethren, and said:

‘It is through not understanding and grasping four truths, 0 brethren,
that we have had to run so long,
to wander so long in this weary path of transmigration –
both you and I.

‘And what are these four?

The noble conduct of life,
the noble earnestness in meditation,
the noble kind of wisdom,
and the noble salvation of freedom.

But when noble conduct is realized and known,
when noble meditation is realized and known,
when noble wisdom is realized and known,
when noble freedom is realized and known –
then is the craving for future life rooted out,
that which leads to renewed existence is destroyed,
and there is no more birth.’

Thus spake the Exalted One;
and when the Happy One had thus spoken,
then again the Teacher said:

Righteousness, earnest thought, wisdom, and freedom sublime –
These are the truths realized by Gotama, far ­ renowned.
Knowing them, he, the knower, proclaimed the truth to the brethren.
The master with eye divine, the quencher of griefs, is at peace.’

There too, while staying at Amba-gāma,
the Exalted One held that comprehensive religious talk with the brethren, saying:

‘Such and such is upright conduct;
such and such is earnest contemplation;
such and such is intelligence.

Great becomes the fruit,
great the advantage of earnest contemplation,
when it is set round with upright conduct.

Great the advantage of intellect
when it is set round with earnest contemplation.

The mind set round with intelligence is set quite free from the Intoxications,
that is to say,
from the Intoxication of Sensuality,
from the Intoxication of Becoming,
from the Intoxication of Delusion,
from the Intoxication of Ignorance.’

Now when the Exalted One had remained at Amba-gāma as long as he desired,
he addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

‘Come, Ānanda, let us go to Jambu-gāma.’

‘Even so, lord!’
said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

And the Exalted One proceeded with a great company of the brethren to Jambu-gāma;
and there the Exalted One stayed in the village itself.

There the Exalted One addressed the brethren, and said:

‘It is through not understanding and grasping four truths, 0 brethren,
that we have had to run so long,
to wander so long in this weary path of transmigration –
both you and I.

‘And what are these four?

The noble conduct of life,
the noble earnestness in meditation,
the noble kind of wisdom,
and the noble salvation of freedom.

But when noble conduct is realized and known,
when noble meditation is realized and known,
when noble wisdom is realized and known,
when noble freedom is realized and known –
then is the craving for future life rooted out,
that which leads to renewed existence is destroyed,
and there is no more birth.’

Thus spake the Exalted One;
and when the Happy One had thus spoken,
then again the Teacher said:

Righteousness, earnest thought, wisdom, and freedom sublime –
These are the truths realized by Gotama, far ­ renowned.
Knowing them, he, the knower, proclaimed the truth to the brethren.
The master with eye divine, the quencher of griefs, is at peace.’

There too, while staying at Jambu-gāma,
the Exalted One held that comprehensive religious talk with the brethren, saying:

‘Such and such is upright conduct;
such and such is earnest contemplation;
such and such is intelligence.

Great becomes the fruit,
great the advantage of earnest contemplation,
when it is set round with upright conduct.

Great the advantage of intellect
when it is set round with earnest contemplation.

The mind set round with intelligence is set quite free from the Intoxications,
that is to say,
from the Intoxication of Sensuality,
from the Intoxication of Becoming,
from the Intoxication of Delusion,
from the Intoxication of Ignorance.’

Now when the Exalted One had remained at Jambu-gāma as long as he desired,
he addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

‘Come, Ānanda, let us go to Bhoga-nagara.’

‘Even so, lord!’
said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

7. Now there at Bhoga-nagara the Exalted One stayed at the Ānanda Shrine.

There the Exalted One addressed the brethren and said:

‘I will teach you, 0 brethren,
these four Great Authorities^[70]

Listen thereto,
and give good heed,
and I will speak.”

‘Even so, lord!’
said the brethren, in assent^[71], to the Exalted One,
and the Exalted One spoke as follows:

8. ‘In the first place, brethren,
a brother may say thus:

“From the mouth of the Exalted One himself [134] have I heard,
from his own mouth have I received it.

This is the truth,
this the law,
this the teaching of the Master.”

The word spoken, brethren, by that brother should neither be received with praise nor treated with scorn.

Without praise and without scorn every word and syllable should be carefully understood and then put beside the Suttas
[the stock paragraphs learnt by heart in the community]
and compared with the Vinaya
[the rules of the Order]^[72]

If when so compared they do not harmonize with the Suttas,
and do not fit in with the rules of the Order,
then you may come to the conclusion:

“Verily, this is not the word of the Exalted One,
and has been wrongly grasped by that brother.”

Therefore, brethren, you should reject it.

But if they harmonize with the Suttas
and fit in with the rules of the Order,
then you may come to the conclusion:

“Verily, this is the word of the Exalted One,
and has been well grasped by that brother.”

This, brethren, you should receive as the first Great Authority.

■

9. ‘Again, brethren, a brother may say thus:

“In such and such a dwelling-place there is a company of the brethren with their elders and leaders.

From the mouth of that company have I heard,
face to face have I received it.

This is the truth,
this the law,
this the teaching of the Master.”

The word spoken, brethren, by that company of the brethren should neither be received with praise nor treated with scorn.

Without praise and without scorn every word and syllable should be carefully understood and then put beside the Suttas
and compared with the rules of the Order.

If when so compared they do not harmonize with the Suttas,
and do not fit in with the rules of the Order,
then you may come to the conclusion:

“Verily, this is not the word of the Exalted One,
and has been wrongly grasped by that company of the brethren.”

Therefore, brethren, you should reject it.

But if they harmonize [135] with the Suttas
and fit in with the rules of the Order,
then you may come to the conclusion:

“Verily, this is the word of the Exalted One,
and has been well grasped by that company of the brethren.”

This, brethren, you should receive as the second Great Authority.

■

10. ‘Again, brethren, a brother may say thus:

“In such and such a dwelling-place there are dwelling many elders of the Order,
deeply read,
holding the faith as handed down by tradition,
versed in the truths,
versed in the regulations of the Order,
versed in the summaries of the doctrines and the law.

From the mouth of those elders have I heard,
from their mouth have I received it.

This is the truth,
this the law,
this the teaching of the Master.”

The word spoken, brethren, by those elders should neither be received with praise nor treated with scorn.

Without praise and without scorn every word and syllable should be carefully understood and then put beside the Suttas
and compared with the rules of the Order.

If when so compared they do not harmonize with the Suttas,
and do not fit in with the rules of the Order,
then you may come to the conclusion:

“Verily, this is not the word of the Exalted One,
and has been wrongly grasped by those elders.”

Therefore, brethren, you should reject it.

But if they harmonize with the Suttas
and fit in with the rules of the Order,
then you may come to the conclusion:

“Verily, this is the word of the Exalted One,
and has been well grasped by those elders.”

This, brethren, you should receive as the third Great Authority.

■

11. ‘Again, brethren, a brother may say thus:

“In such and such a dwelling-place there is a brother,
deeply read,
holding the faith as handed down by tradition,
versed in the truths,
versed in the regulations of the Order,
versed in the summaries of the doctrines and the law.

From the mouth of that brother have I heard,
from their mouth have I received it.

This is the truth,
this the law,
this the teaching of the Master.”

The word spoken, brethren, by that [136] brother should neither be received with praise nor treated with scorn.

Without praise and without scorn every word and syllable should be carefully understood and then put beside the Suttas
and compared with the rules of the Order.

If when so compared they do not harmonize with the Suttas,
and do not fit in with the rules of the Order,
then you may come to the conclusion:

“Verily, this is not the word of the Exalted One,
and has been wrongly grasped by that brother.”

Therefore, brethren, you should reject it.

But if they harmonize with the Suttas
and fit in with the rules of the Order,
then you may come to the conclusion:

“Verily, this is the word of the Exalted One,
and has been well grasped by that brother.”

This, brethren, you should receive as the fourth Great Authority.

‘These, brethren, are the Four Great Authorities.’

12. There too, the Exalted One held that comprehensive religious talk with the brethren, saying:

‘Such and such is upright conduct;
such and such is earnest contemplation;
such and such is intelligence.

Great becomes the fruit,
great the advantage of earnest contemplation,
when it is set round with upright conduct.

Great the advantage of intellect
when it is set round with earnest contemplation.

The mind set round with intelligence is set quite free from the Intoxications,
that is to say,
from the Intoxication of Sensuality,
from the Intoxication of Becoming,
from the Intoxication of Delusion,
from the Intoxication of Ignorance.’

13. Now when the Exalted One had remained as long as he desired at Bhoga-gama, he addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

‘Come, Ānanda, let us go on to Pāvā.’

‘Even so, lord!’ said the venerable Ānanda, in assent to the Exalted One.

And the Exalted One proceeded with a great company of the brethren to Pāvā.

[137] And there at Pāvā the Exalted One stayed at the Mango Grove of Chunda,
who was by family a smith.

14. Now Chunda, the worker in metals,
heard that the Exalted One had come to Pāvā,
and was staying there in his Mango Grove.

And Chunda, the worker in metals, went to the place where the Exalted One was,
and saluting him took his seat respectfully on one side.

And when he was thus seated,
the Exalted One instructed,
aroused,
incited,
and gladdened him with religious discourse.

15. Then he, instructed, aroused, incited, and gladdened by the religious discourse,
addressed the Exalted One, and said:

‘May the Exalted One do me the honour of taking his meal together with the brethren,
at my house to-morrow?’

And the Exalted One signified, by silence, his consent.

16. Then seeing that the Exalted One had consented, Chunda, the worker in metals,
rose from his seat and bowed down before the Exalted One,
and keeping him on his right hand as he passed him,
departed thence.

17. Now at the end of the night, Chunda, the worker in metals,
made ready in his dwelling-place sweet rice and cakes,
and a quantity of truffles^[73]

And he [138] announced the hour to the Exalted One, saying:

‘The hour, lord, has come,
and the meal is ready.’

18. And the Exalted One robed himself early in the morning,
and taking his bowl,
went with the brethren to the dwelling-place of Chunda, the worker in metals.

When he had come thither he seated himself on the seat prepared for him.

And when he was seated he addressed Chunda, the worker in metals, and said:

‘As to the truffles you have made ready,
serve me with them, Chunda:
and as to the other food,
the sweet rice and cakes,
serve the brethren with it.’

‘Even so, lord!’

said Chunda, the worker in metals, in assent, to the Blessed One.

And the truffles he had made ready he served to the Exalted One;
whilst the other food,
the sweet rice and cakes,
he served to the members of the Order.

19. Now the Exalted One addressed Chunda, the worker in metals, and said:

‘Whatever truffles, Chunda, are left over to thee,
those bury in a hole.

I see no one, Chunda, on earth nor in Māra’s heaven,
nor in Brahma’s heaven,
no one among Samaṇas and Brāhmaṇas,
among gods, and men,
by whom, when he has eaten it,
that food can be properly assimilated,
save by a Tathāgata.’

‘Even so, lord!’ said Chunda, the worker in metals, in assent, to the Exalted One.

And whatever truffles remained over those he buried in a hole.

And he went to the place where the Exalted One was;
and when he had come there,
took his seat respectfully on one side.

And when he was seated,
the Exalted One instructed and aroused and incited and gladdened Chunda, the worker in metals
with religious discourse.

And the Exalted One then rose from his seat and departed thence.

20. Now when the Exalted One had eaten the rice prepared by Chunda, the worker in metals,
there fell upon him a dire sickness,
the disease of dysentery,
and sharp pain came upon him,
even unto death.

But the Exalted One, mindful and self-possessed,
bore it without complaint.

[139] And the Exalted One addressed the venerable Ānanda and said:

‘Come. Ānanda, let us go on to Kusinārā.’

‘Even so, lord!’ said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

‘When he had eaten Chunda’s food,
The copper-smith’s – thus have I heard ­
He bore with fortitude the pain.
The sharp pain even unto death!

When he had eaten, from the truffles in the food
There fell upon the teacher sickness dire.
Then after nature was relieved the Exalted One announced and said:
‘I now am going on to Kusinārā.’^[74]

21. Now the Exalted One went aside from the path to the foot of a certain tree;
and when he had con1e there he addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

‘Fold, I pray you, Ānanda, the robe” in four;
and spread it out for me.

I am weary, Ānanda, and must rest awhile!’

‘Even so, lord!’ said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One,
and spread out the robe folded fourfold.

22. And the Exalted One seated himself on the seat prepared for him;
and when he was seated,
he addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

‘Fetch me, I pray you, Ānanda,
some water.

I am thirsty, Ānanda, and would drink.’

When he had thus spoken, the venerable Ānanda said to the Exalted One:

‘But just now, lord, about five hundred carts have gone over.

That water stirred up by the wheels has become shallow and flows fouled and turbid.

This river Kakuṭṭha, lord,
not far off,
is clear and pleasant,
cool and transparent,
easy to [140] get down into,
and delightful.

There the Exalted One may both drink the water,
and cool his limbs.’

23. Again the second time the Exalted One addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

‘Fetch me, I pray you, Ānanda,
some water.

I am thirsty, Ānanda, and would drink.’

And again the second time the venerable Ānanda said to the Exalted One:

‘But just now, lord, about five hundred carts have gone over.

That water stirred up by the wheels has become shallow and flows fouled and turbid.

This river Kakuṭṭha, lord,
not far off,
is clear and pleasant,
cool and transparent,
easy to get down into,
and delightful.

There the Exalted One may both drink the water,
and cool his limbs.’

24. Again the third time the Exalted One addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

‘Fetch me, I pray you, Ānanda,
some water.

I am thirsty, Ānanda, and would drink.’

‘Even so, lord!’ said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One:
and taking a bowl he went down to the streamlet.

And lo! the streamlet which,
stirred up by the wheels,
was but just now become shallow,
and was flowing fouled and turbid,
had begun, when the venerable Ānanda came up to it,
to flow clear and bright and free from all turbidity.

25. Then Ānanda thought:

‘How wonderful, how marvellous is the great might and power of the Tathāgata!^[75]

For this streamlet which,
stirred up by the wheels,
was but just now become shallow and was flowing foul and turbid,
now, as I come up to it,
is flowing clear and bright and free from all turbidity.’

And taking water in the bowl he returned towards the Exalted One;
and when he had come where the Exalted One was he said to him:

How wonderful, [141] how marvellous is the great might and power of the Tathāgata!

For this streamlet which,
stirred up by the wheels,
was but just now become shallow and was flowing foul and turbid,
now, as I come up to it,
is flowing clear and bright and free from all turbidity.

Let the Exalted One drink the water!

Let the Happy One drink the water!’

Then the Exalted One drank of the water.

---

26. Now at that time a man named Pukkusa^[76],
a young Mallian,
a disciple of Aḷāra Kālāma’s, was passing along the high road from Kusinārā to Pāvā.

And Pukkusa, the young Mallian,
saw the Exalted One seated at the foot of a tree.

On seeing him, he went up to the place where the Exalted One was,
and when he had come there he saluted the Exalted One,
and took his rest respectfully on one side.

And when he was seated Pukkusa, the young Mallian,
said to the Exalted One:

‘How wonderful a thing it is, lord!
and how marvellous,
that those who have gone forth out of the world should pass their time in a state of mind so calm!

27. ‘Formerly, lord, Aḷāra Kālāma was once walking along the high road;
and leaving the road he sat himself down under a certain tree to rest during the heat of the day.

Now, lord, five hundred carts passed by one after the other,
each close to Aḷāra Kālāma.

And a certain man,
who was following close behind that caravan of carts,
went up to the place where Aḷāra Kālāma was,
and when he was come there he spake as follows to Aḷāra Kālāma:

‘”But, lord, did you see those five hundred carts go by?”‘

“No, indeed, I saw them not.”

[142] ‘”But, lord, did you hear the sound of them?”

‘”No, indeed, sir, I heard not their sound?”

‘”But, lord, were you then asleep?”

‘”No, sir, I was not asleep?”

‘”But, lord, were you then conscious?”

‘”Even so, sir?”

‘”So that you, lord, though you were both conscious and awake,
neither saw,
nor heard the sound of five hundred carts passing by,
one after the other,
and each close to you.

Why, lord, even your robe was sprinkled over with the dust of them!”

‘”It is even so, sir.”‘

‘Then thought that man:

“How wonderful a thing is it,
and how marvellous,
that those who have gone forth out of the world should pass their time in a state of mind so calm!

So much so that a man though being both conscious and awake,
neither sees,
nor hears the sound of five hundred carts passing by,
one after the other,
and each close to him.”

‘And after giving utterance to his deep faith in Aḷāra Kālāma,
he departed thence.’

28. ‘Now what think you, Pukkusa,
which is the more difficult thing either to do or to meet with –
that a man, being conscious and awake,
should neither see,
nor hear the sound of five hundred carts passing by,
one after the other,
close to him, –
or that a man, being conscious and awake,
should neither see,
nor hear the sound thereof when the falling rain goes on beating and splashing,
and the lightnings are flashing forth,
and the thunderbolts are crashing?’

29.

‘What in comparison, lord,
can these five hundred carts do,
or six or seven or eight or nine or ten hundred,
yea, even hundreds and thousands of carts?

That certainly is more difficult,
both to do and to meet with,
that a man, being conscious and awake,
should neither see,
nor hear the sound thereof when the falling rain goes on beating and splashing,
and the lightnings are flashing forth,
and the thunderbolts are crashing.’

30. ‘Now on one occasion, Pukkusa,
I was dwelling [143] at Ātumā,
and was at the Threshing-floor.

And at that time the falling rain began to beat and to splash,
and the lightnings to flash forth,
and the thunderbolts to crash;
and two peasants, brothers,
and four oxen were killed.

Then, Pukkusa,a great multitude of people went forth from Ātumā,
and went up to the place where the two peasants, brothers,
and the four oxen, lay killed.’

31. ‘Now at that time, Pukkusa,
I had gone forth from the Threshing-floor,
and was walking up and down thinking at the entrance to the Threshing-floor.

And a certain man came, Pukkusa,
out of that great multitude of people,
up to the place where I was;
and when he came up he saluted me,
and took his place respectfully on one side.

And as he stood there, Pukkusa,
I said to the man:

32. ‘”Why then, sir, is this great multitude of people assembled together?”‘

‘”But just now, the falling rain began to beat and to splash,
and the lightnings to flash forth,
and the thunderbolts to crash;
and two peasants, brothers, were killed,
and four oxen.

Therefore is this great multitude of people gathered together.

But where, lord, were you?”‘

‘”I, sir, have been here all the while.”‘

‘”But, lord, did you see it?”‘

‘”I, sir, saw nothing.”‘

‘”But; lord, did you hear it?”‘

‘”I, sir, heard nothing.”‘

‘”Were you then, lord, asleep?”‘

‘”I, sir, was not asleep.”‘

‘”Were you then conscious, lord?”‘

‘”Even so, sir.”‘

‘”So that you, lord, being conscious and awake,
neither saw,
nor heard the sound thereof when the falling rain went on beating and splashing,
and the lightnings were flashing forth,
and the thunderbolts were crashing.”‘

‘”That is so, sir.”

33. ‘Then, Pukkusa, the thought occurred to that man:

[144] ‘”How wonderful a thing is it,
and marvellous,
that those who have gone forth out of the world should pass their time in a state of mind so calm! –

so that a man, being conscious and awake,
neither sees,
nor hears the sound thereof when the falling rain is beating and splashing,
and the lightnings are flashing forth,
and the thunderbolts are crashing.”

And after giving utterance to his deep faith in me,
he departed from me
[with the customary demonstrations of respect].’

34. And when he had thus spoken, Pukkusa, the young Mallian,
addressed the Blessed One in these words:

‘Now I, lord, as to the faith that I had in Aḷāra Kālāma,
that I winnow away as in a mighty wind,
and wash it away as in a swiftly running stream.

Most excellent, lord, are the words of thy mouth,
most excellent!

Just as if a man were to set up that which is thrown down,
or were to reveal that which is hidden away,
or were to point out the right road to him who has gone astray,
or were to bring a lamp into the darkness,
so that those who have eyes can see external forms –
just even so, lord,
has the truth been made known to me,
in many a figure,
by the Exalted One.

And I, even I, betake myself, lord,
to the Exalted One as my refuge,
to the Truth,
and to the Brotherhood.

May the Exalted One accept me as a disciple,
as a true believer,
from this day forth,
as long as life endures!’^[77]

35. Now Pukkusa, the young Mallian,
addressed a certain man and said:

‘Fetch me, I pray you, my good man,
a pair of robes of cloth of gold,
burnished and ready for wear.’

‘So be it, sir!’
said that man, in assent, to Pukkusa, the young Mallian;
and he brought a pair of robes of cloth of gold,
burnished and ready for wear.

[145] And the Mallian Pukkusa presented the pair of robes of cloth of gold,
burnished and ready for wear, to the Exalted One, saying:

‘Lord, this pair of robes of burnished cloth of gold is ready for wear.

May the Exalted One show me favour and accept it at my hands!’

‘In that case, Pukkusa, robe me in one,
and Ānanda in one.’

‘Even so, lord!’ said Pukkusa, in assent, to the Exalted One;
and in one he robed the Exalted One,
and in one, Ānanda.

36. Then the Exalted One instructed and aroused and incited and gladdened Pukkusa, the young Mallian,
with religious discourse.

And Pukkusa, the young Mallian,

when he had been instructed and aroused and incited and gladdened by the Exalted One with religious discourse,
arose from his seat,
and bowed down before the Exalted One;
and keeping him on his right hand as he passed him,
departed thence.

37. Now not long after the Mallian Pukkusa had gone,
the venerable Ānanda placed that pair of robes of cloth of gold,
burnished and ready for wear,
on the body of the Exalted One;
and when it was so placed on the body of the Exalted One
it appeared to have lost its splendour!”^[78]

And the venerable Ānanda said to the Exalted One:

‘How wonderful a thing is it, lord,
and how marvellous,
that the colour of the skin of the Exalted One should [146] be so clear,
so exceeding bright!

For when I placed even this pair of robes of burnished cloth of gold and ready for wear on the body of the Exalted One,
lo! it seemed as if }t had lost its splendour!’

‘It is even so, Ānanda.

There are two occasions, Ānanda, on which the colour of the skin of a Tathāgata becomes clear and exceeding bright.

What are the two?

‘On the night, Ānanda, on which a Tathāgata attains to the supreme and perfect insight,
and on the night in which he passes finally away in that utter passing away which leaves nothing whatever to remain –
on these two occasions the colour of the skin of the Tathāgata becomes clear and exceeding bright.

38. ‘And now this day, Ānanda,
at the third watch of the night,
in the Upavattana of Kusinārā,
in the Sāla Grove of the Mallians,
between the twin Sāla trees,
the utter passing away of the Tathāgata will take place.

Come, Ānanda!

Let us go on to the river Kakutthā.’

‘Even so, lord!’ said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

The pair of robes of cloth of gold,
All burnished, Pukkusa had brought,
Clad on with them the Master then
Shone forth in colour like to gold!^[79]

39. Now the Exalted One with a great company of the brethren went on to the river Kakutthā;
and when he had come there,
he went down into the water,
and bathed,
and drank.

And coming up out agatn on the other side he went on to the Mango Grove.

[147] And when he was come there he addressed the venerable Chundaka, and said:

‘Fold, I pray you, Chundaka, a robe in four and spread it out.

I am weary, Chundaka, and would lie down.’

‘Even so, lord!’ said the venerable Chundaka, in assent, to the Exalted One.

And he folded a robe in four,
and spread it out.

40. And the Exalted One laid himself down on his right side,
with one foot resting on the other;
and calm and self-possessed he meditated,
intending to rise up again in clue time.

And the venerable Chundaka seated himself there in front of the Exalted One.

41. The Buddha to Kakutthā’s river came,
Whose clear and pleasant waters limpid flow.
He plunged beneath the stream wearied and worn,
The Buddha without equal in the world!
When he had bathed and drunk, the teacher then
Crossed o’er, the brethren thronging round his steps:
The Blessed Master, preaching the while the truth,
The Mighty Sage came to the Mango Grove.
There spake he to the brother Chundaka: ­
Spread me the fourfold robe out as a couch.’
Urged by the Holy One, he quickly spread
The fourfold robe in order on the ground.
The Master laid him clown, wearied and worn;
And there, before him, Chunda took his seat.

42. And the Exalted One addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

‘Now it may happen. Ānanda,
that some one should stir up remorse in Chunda the smith,
by saying:

“This is evil to thee, Chunda,
and loss to thee in that when the Tathāgata had eaten his last meal from thy provision,
then he died.”

Any such remorse, Ānanda, in Chunda the smith should be checked by saying:

“This is good to thee, Chunda,
and gain to thee,
in that when the Tathāgata had eaten his last meal from thy provision,
then he died.

From the very mouth of the Exalted One, Chunda,
have I heard, [148] from his own mouth have I received this saying:

‘These two offerings of food are of equal fruit,
and of equal profit,
and of much greater fruit
and much greater profit
than any other –
and which are the two?

The offering of food which,
when a Tathāgata has eaten,
he attains to supreme and perfect insight;
and the offering of food which,
when a Tathāgata has eaten,
he passes away by that utter passing away in which nothing whatever remains behind –
these two offerings of food are of equal fruit and of equal profit,
and of much greater fruit and much greater profit than any others.

There has been laid up by Chunda the smith a karma
redounding to length of life,
redounding to good birth,
redounding to good fortune,
redounding to good fame,
redounding to the inheritance of heaven,
and of sovereign power.'”

In this way, Ānanda. should be checked
any remorse in Chunda the smith.’^[80]

43. Then the Exalted One, perceiving how the matter stood,
uttered on that occasion this hymn of exultation:

‘To him who gives shall virtue be increased;
In him who curbs himself, no anger can arise;
The righteous man casts off all evil ways,
And by the rooting out of lust, and bitterness,
And all infatuation, is at peace!’

End of the Fourth Portion for Recitation,
containing The Episode of Aḷāra.

[149]

Chapter V

1. Now the Exalted One addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

‘Come. Ānanda, let us go on to the Sāla Grove of the Mallas,
the Upavattana of Kusinārā,
on the further side of the river Hiranyavati.’

‘Even so, lord!’
said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

And the Exalted One proceeded with a great company of the brethren to the Sāla Grove of the Mallas, the Upavattana of Kusinārā, on the further side of the river Hiranyavati:
and when he had come there he addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

Spread over for me, I pray you, Ānanda,
the couch with its head to the north,
between the twin Sāla trees.^[81]

I am weary, Ānanda, and would lie down.’

‘Even so, lord!’
said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

And he spread a covering over the couch with its head to the north,
between the twin Sāla trees.

And the Exalted One laid himself down on his right side,
with one leg resting on the other;
and he was mindful and self-possessed.

2. Now at that time the twin Sāla trees were all one mass of bloom with flowers out of season;
and [150] all over the body of the Tathāgata^[82] these dropped and sprinkled and scattered themselves,
out of reverence for the successor of the Buddhas of old.

And heavenly Mandārava flowers, too,
and heavenly sandalwood powder came falling from the sky,
and all over the body of the Tathāgata they descended and sprinkled and scattered themselves,
out of reverence for the successor of the Buddhas of old.

And heavenly music was sounded in the sky,
out of reverence for the successor of the Buddhas of old.

And heavenly songs came wafted from the skies,
out of reverence for the successor of the Buddhas of old!

3. Then the Exalted One addressed the venerable Ānanda and said:

‘The twin Sāla trees are all one mass of bloom with flowers out of season;
all over the body of the Tathāgata these drop and sprinkle and scatter themselves,
out of reverence for the successor of the Buddhas of old.

And heavenly Mandārava flowers, too,
and heavenly sandalwood powder come falling from the sky,
and all over the body of the Tathāgata they descended and sprinkled and scattered themselves,
out of reverence for the successor of the Buddhas of old.

And heavenly music sounds in the sky,
out of reverence for the successor of the Buddhas of old.

And heavenly songs come wafted from the skies,
out of reverence for the successor of the Buddhas of old!

‘Now it is not thus, Ānanda,
that the Tathāgata is rightly honoured,
reverenced,
venerated,
held sacred or revered.

But the brother or the sister,
the devout man or the devout woman,
who continually fulfils all the greater and the lesser duties,
who is correct in life,
walking according to the precepts –
it is he who rightly honours,
reverences,
venerates,
holds sacred,
and reveres the Tathāgata with the worthiest homage.

[151] Therefore, 0 Ānanda, be ye constant in the fulfilment of the greater and of the lesser duties,
and be ye correct in life,
walking according to the precepts;
and thus Ānanda, should it be taught.’

4. Now at that time the venerable Upavaṇā was standing in front of the Exalted One,
fanning him.

And the Exalted One was not pleased with Upavaṇā,
and he said to him:

‘Stand aside, 0 brother,
stand not in front of me!’

Then this thought sprang up in the mind of the venerable Ānanda:

‘This venerable Upavaṇā had long been in close personal attendance and service on the Exalted One.

And now, at the last moment,
the Exalted One is not pleased with Upavaṇā,
and has said to him:

“Stand aside, 0 brother,
stand not in front of me!

“What may be the cause and what the reason that the Exalted One is not pleased with Upavaṇā,
and speaks thus with him?’

5. And the venerable Ānanda said to the Exalted One:

‘This venerable Upavaṇā has long been in c1ose personal attendance and service on the Exalted One.

And now, at the last moment,
the Exalted One is not pleased with Upavaṇā,
and has said to him:

“Stand aside, 0 brother,
stand not in front of me!”

What may be the cause and what the reason that the Exalted One is not pleased with Upavaṇā,
and speaks thus with him?’

‘In great numbers, Ānanda,
are the gods of the ten world-systems assembled together to behold the Tathāgata.

For twelve leagues, Ānanda,
around the Sāla Grove of the Mallas,
the Upavattana of Kusinārā,
there is no spot in size
even as the pricking of the point of the tip of a hair
which is not pervaded by powerful spirits.^[83]

And the spirits, Ānanda, are mur­ [152] muring, and say:

‘From afar have we come to behold the Tathāgata.

Few and far between are the Tathāgatas, the Arahant Buddhas who appear in the world:
and now to-day,
in the last watch of the night,
the death of a Tathāgata will take place;
and this eminent brother stands in front of the Tathāgata,
concealing him,
and in his last hour we are prevented from beholding the Tathāgata”;
thus, Ānanda, do the spirits murmur.’

6. ‘But of what kind of spirits is the Exalted One thinking?'”

‘There are spirits, Ānanda, in the sky,
but of worldly mind,
who dishevel their hair and weep,
who stretch forth their arms and weep,
who fall prostrate on the ground,
and roll to and fro in anguish at the thought:

“Too soon will the Exalted One die!

Too soon will the Exalted One pass away!

Full soon will the Light of the world vanish away!” ‘^[84]

There are spirits, too, Ānanda,
on the earth,
and of worldly mind,
who tear their hair and weep,
who stretch forth their arms and weep,
who fall pros- [153] trate on the ground,
and roll to and fro in anguish at the thought:

“Too soon will the Exalted One die!

Too soon will the Exalted One pass away!

Full soon will the Eye of the world disappear from sight.”

‘But the spirits who are free from passion bear it,
calm and self-possessed,
mindful of the saying which begins:

“Impermanent indeed are all component things.

How then is it possible
[whereas anything whatever, when born, brought into being, and organized,
contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution ­
how then is it possible
that such a being should not be dissolved?

No such condition can exist!”^[85]]

7. ‘In times past, lord, the brethren, when they had spent the rainy season in different districts,
used to come to see the Tathāgata,
and we used to receive those very reverend brethren to audience,
and to wait upon the Exalted One.

But, lord, after the end of the Exalted One,
we shall not be able to receive those very reverend brethren to audience,
and to wait upon the Exalted One.’

8. ‘There are these four places, Ānanda,
which the believing clansman should visit with feelings of reverence.

Which are the four?

‘The place, Ānanda, at which the believing man can say:

“Here the Tathāgata was born!”

is a spot to be visited with feelings of reverence.

‘The place, Ānanda, at which the believing man can say:

“Here the Tathāgata attained to the supreme and perfect insight!”

is a spot to be visited with feelings of reverence.

‘The place, Ānanda, at which the believing man can say:

“Here was the kingdom of righteousness set on foot by the Tathāgata!”

is a spot to be visited with feelings of reverence.

‘The place, Ānanda, at which the believing man can say:

“Here the Tathāgata passed finally away in that utter passing away which leaves nothing whatever to [154] remain behind!”

is a spot to be visited with feelings of reverence.

These are the four places, Ānanda,
which the believing clansman should visit with feelings of reverence.

‘And there will come, Ānanda,
to such spots,
believers,
brethren and sisters of the Order,
or devout men and devout women,
and will say:

“Here was the Tathāgata born!”
or

“Here did the Tathāgata attain to the supreme and perfect insight!”

or,

“Here was the kingdom of righteousness set on foot by the Tathāgata!”

or,

“Here the Tathāgata passed away in that utter passing away which leaves nothing what­ever to remain behind!”

‘And they, Ānanda, who shall die while they,
with believing heart,
are journeying on such pilgrimage,
shall be reborn after death,
when the body shall dissolve,
in the happy realms of heaven.’

---

9. ‘How are we to conduct ourselves, lord, with regard to womankind?’

‘As not seeing them, Ānanda.’

‘But if we should see them, what are we to do?’

‘No talking, Ānanda.’

‘But if they should speak to us, lord, what are we to do?’

‘Keep wide awake, Ānanda.’

---

10. ‘What are we to do, lord, with the remains of the Tathāgata?’

‘Hinder not yourselves, Ānanda, by honouring the remains of the Tathāgata.

Be zealous, I beseech you, Ānanda,
in your own behalf!

Devote yourselves to your own good!

Be earnest,
be zealous,
be intent on your own good!

There are wise men, Ānanda, among the nobles,
among the brahmins,
among the heads of houses,
who are firm believers in the Tathāgata;
and they will do due honour to the remains of the Tathāgata.

[155] 11. ^[86]‘But what should be clone, lord,
with the remains of the Tathāgata?’

‘As men treat the remains of a king of kings,
so, Ānanda, should they treat the remains of a Tathāgata.

‘And how, lord, do they treat the remains of a king of kings^[87]?’

‘They wrap the body of a king of kings, Ānanda,
in a new cloth.

When that is done
they wrap it in carded cotton wool.^[88]

When that is done
they wrap it in a new cloth,
and so on till they have wrapped the body in five hundred successive layers of both kinds.

Then they place the body in an oil vessel of iron,
and cover that close up with another oil vessel of iron.^[89]

They then build a funeral pyre of all kinds [156] of perfume,
and burn the body of the king of kings.

And then at the four cross roads they erect a cairn^[90] to the king of kings.

This, Ānanda, is the way in which they treat the remains of a king of kings.

‘And as they treat the remains of a king of kings,
so, Ānanda, should they treat the remains of the Tathāgata.

At the four cross roads a cairn should be erected to the Tathāgata.

And whosoever shall there place garlands or perfumes or paint,
or make salutation there,
or become in its presence calm in heart –
that shall long be to them for a profit and a joy.’

12. ‘The men, Ānanda, worthy of a cairn,
are four in number.

Which are the four?

‘A Tathāgata,
an Able Awakened One, is worthy of a cairn.

One awakened for himself alone
is worthy of a cairn^[90]

A true hearer of the Tathāgata is :worthy of a cairn.

A king of kings is worthy of a cairn.

‘And on account of what circumstance, Ānanda,
is a Tathāgata, an Able Awakened One, worthy of a cairn?

‘At the thought, Ānanda:

“This is the cairn of that Exalted One,
of that Able Awakened One,”
the hearts of many shall be made calm and happy;
and since they there had calmed and satisfied their hearts
they will be reborn after death,
when the body has dissolved,
in the happy realms of heaven.

It is on account of this circumstance, Ānanda,
that a Tathāgata, an Able Awakened One, is worthy of a cairn.

[157] ‘And on account of what circumstance, Ānanda, is one awakened for himself alone^[91] worthy of a cairn?

‘At the thought, Ānanda:

“This is the cairn of that Exalted One awakened for himself alone”
the hearts of many shall be made calm and happy;
and since they there had calmed and satisfied their hearts
they will be reborn after death,
when the body has dissolved,
in the happy realms of heaven.

It is on account of this circumstance, Ānanda, that one awakened for himself alone is worthy of a cairn.

‘And on account of what circumstance, Ānanda,
is a true hearer of the Exalted One, the Able Awakened One, worthy of a ca)rn?

‘At the thought, Ānanda:

“This is the cairn of that true hearer of the Exalted Able Awakened One,”
the hearts of many shall be made calm and happy;
and since they there had calmed and satisfied their hearts
they will be reborn after death,
when the body has dissolved,
in the happy realms of heaven.

It is on account of this circumstance, Ānanda,
that a true hearer of the Exalted One,
the Able Awakened One,
is worthy of a cairn.

‘And on account of what circumstance, Ānanda,
is a king of kings worthy of a cairn?

‘At the thought, Ānanda:

“This is the cairn of that righteous king who ruled in righteousness,”
the hearts of many shall be made calm and happy;
and since they there had calmed and satisfied their hearts
they will be reborn after death,
when the body has dissolved,
in the happy realms of heaven.

It is on account of this circumstance, Ānanda,
that a king of kings is worthy of a cairn.

‘These four,Ānanda, are the persons worthy of a cairn.’

---

13. ‘Now the venerable Ānanda went into the Vihāra,^[92] and stood leaning against the lintel of the [158] door,
and weeping at the thought:

‘Alas! I remain still but a learner,
one who has yet to work out his own perfection.^[93]

And the Master is about to pass away from me –
he who is so kind!’

Now the Exalted One called the brethren, and said:

‘Where then. brethren, is Ānanda?’

‘The venerable Ānanda, lord, has gone into the Vihāra, and stands leaning against the lintel of the door,
and weeping at the thought:
“Alas! I remain still but a learner, one who has yet to work out his own perfection. And the Master is about to pass away from me – he who is so kind!”‘

And the Exalted One called a certain brother, and said:

‘Go now, brother, and call Ānanda in my name, and say:

“Brother Ānanda, the Master calls for thee”‘

‘Even so, lord!’
said that brother, in assent, to the Exalted One.

And he went up to the place where the venerable Ānanda was:
and when he had come there,
he said to the venerable Ānanda:

‘Brother Ānanda, the Master calls for thee.’

‘Very well. brother,’ said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to that brother.

And he went up to the place where the Exalted One was,
and when he had come there,
he bowed down before the Exalted One,
and took his seat respectfully on one side.

14. Then the Exalted One said to the venerable Ānanda,
as he sat there by his side:

‘Enough, Ānanda!

Do not let yourself be troubled;
do not weep!

Have I not already,
on former occasions,
told you that it is in the very nature of all things [159] most near and dear unto us that we must divide ourselves from them,
leave them,
sever ourselves from them?

How, then, Ānanda, can this be possible ­
whereas anything whatever born,
brought into being,
and organized,
contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution –
how, then, can this be possible,
that such a being should not be dissolved?

No such condition can exist!

For a long time, Ānanda, have you been very near to me by acts of love,
kind and good,
that never varies,^[94]
and is beyond all measure.

For a long time, Ānanda, have you been very near to me by words of love,
kind and good,
that never varies,
and is beyond all measure.

For a long time, Ānanda, have you been very near to me by thoughts of love,
kind and good, that never varies,
and is beyond all measure.

You have done well, Ānanda!

Be earnest in effort,
and you too shall soon be free from the Intoxications –
[of sensuality, and individuality, and delusion, and ignorance.]!’^[95]

15. Then the Exalted One addressed the brethren, and said:

‘Whosoever, brethren, have been Able Awakened Ones through the long ages of the past,
they also had servitors just as devoted to those Exalted Ones as Ānanda has been to me.

‘He is a clever man, brethren, is Ānanda,
and wise.^[96]

He knows when it is the right time
for the brethren
or for the sisters of the Order,
for devout men
and devout women,
for a king,
or for a king’s ministers,
or for other teachers
or for their disciples,
to come and visit the Tathāgata.

16. ‘Brethren, there are these four wonderful and marvellous qualities in Ānanda.

Which are the four?

[160] ‘If, brethren, a number of the brethren of the Order should come to visit Ānanda,
they are filled with joy on beholding him;
and if Ānanda should then preach the truth to them,
they are filled with joy at the discourse;
while the company of brethren is ill at ease, brethren,
when Ānanda is silent.

‘If, brethren, a number of the sisters of the Order should come to visit Ānanda,
they are filled with joy on beholding him;
and if Ānanda should then preach the truth to them,
they are filled with joy at the discourse;
while the company of sisters is ill at ease, brethren,
when Ānanda is silent.

‘If, brethren, a number of devout men should come to visit Ānanda,
they are filled with joy on beholding him;
and if Ānanda should then preach the truth to them,
they are filled with joy at the discourse;
while the company of devout men is ill at ease, brethren,
when Ānanda is silent.

‘If, brethren, a number of devout women, should come to visit Ānanda,
they are filled with joy on beholding him;
and if Ānanda should then preach the truth to them,
they are filled with joy at the discourse;
while the company of devout women is ill at ease, brethren,
when Ānanda is silent.

Brethren, there are these four wonderful and marvellous qualities in a king of kings.

What are the four?

‘If, brethren, a number of nobles, should come to visit a king of kings,
they are filled with joy on beholding him;
and if the king of kings should then speak,
they are filled with joy at what is said;
while they are ill at ease, brethren, when the king of kings is silent.

‘If, brethren, a number of brahmins, should come to visit a king of kings,
they are filled with joy on beholding him;
and if the king of kings should then speak,
they are filled with joy at what is said;
while they are ill at ease, brethren, when the king of kings is silent.

‘If, brethren, a number of heads of houses, should come to visit a king of kings,
they are filled with joy on beholding him;
and if the king of kings should then speak,
they are filled with joy at what is said;
while they are ill at ease, brethren, when the king of kings is silent.

‘If, brethren, a number of members of a religious order should come to visit a king of kings,
they are filled with joy on beholding him;
and if the king of kings should then speak,
they are filled with joy at what is said;
while they are ill at ease, brethren, when the king of kings is silent.

‘Just so, brethren,” are the four wonderful and mar­vellous qualities in Ānanda.

‘If, brethren, a number of the brethren of the Order should come to visit Ānanda,
they are filled with joy on beholding him;
and if Ānanda should then preach the truth to them,
they are filled with joy at the discourse;
while the company of brethren is ill at ease, brethren,
when Ānanda is silent.

‘If, brethren, a number of the sisters of the Order should come to visit Ānanda,
they are filled with joy on beholding him;
and if Ānanda should then preach the truth to them,
they are filled with joy at the discourse;
while the company of sisters is ill at ease, brethren,
when Ānanda is silent.

‘If, brethren, a number of devout men should come to visit Ānanda,
they are filled with joy on beholding him;
and if Ānanda should then preach the truth to them,
they are filled with joy at the discourse;
while the company of devout men is ill at ease, brethren,
when Ānanda is silent.

‘If, brethren, a number of devout women, should come to visit Ānanda,
they are filled with joy on beholding him;
and if Ānanda should then preach the truth to them,
they are filled with joy at the discourse;
while the company of devout women is ill at ease, brethren,
when Ānanda is silent.

Now these, brethren, are the four wonderful and marvellous qualities that are in Ānanda.’

17. When he had thus spoken, ^[97]the venerable Ānanda said to the Exalted One:

[161] Let not the Exalted One die in this little wattle­and-daub town,
in this town in the midst of the jungle,
in this branch township.^[98]

For, lord, there are other great cities, such as Champa, Rājagaha, Sāvatthī, Sāketa, Kosambī, and Benares.

Let the Exalted One die in one of them.

There there are many wealthy nobles and brahmins and heads of houses,
believers in the Tathāgata,
who will pay due honour to the remains of the Tathāgata.’^[99]

‘Say not so, Ānanda!

Say not so, Ānanda,
that this is but a small wattle-and-daub town,
a town in the midst of the jungle,
a branch township.

18. ‘Long ago, Ānanda, there was a king, by name Mahā-Sudassana,
a king of kings,
a righteous man who ruled in righteousness,
Lord of the four quarters of the earth,
conqueror,
the protector of his people,
possessor of the seven royal treasures.

This Kusinārā, Ānanda,
was the royal city of King Mahā-Sudassana, under the name of Kusāvati,
and on the east and on the west it was twelve leagues in length,
and on the north and on the south it was seven leagues in breadth.

‘That royal city Kusāvati, Ānanda, was mighty and prosperous and full of people,
crowded with men,
and provided with all things for food.

Just, Ānanda, as the royal city of the gods, Aḷakamandā by name,
is mighty,
prosperous,
and full of people,
crowded with the gods,
and provided with all kinds of food,
so [162] Ānanda, was the royal city Kusāvati mighty and pros­perous,
full of people,
crowded with men,
and provided with all kinds of food.

Both by day and by night, Ānanda, the royal city Kusāvati resounded with the ten cries;
that is to say,
the noise of elephants,
and the noise of horses,
and the noise of chariots;
the sounds of the drum,
of the tabor,
and of the lute;
the sound of singing,
and the sounds of the cymbal
and of the gong;
and lastly, with the cry:

“Eat, drink, and be merry!”‘

---

19.’Go now, Ānanda, and enter into Kusinārā,
and inform the Mallas of Kusinārā, saying:

“This day, 0 Vāseṭṭhas,
in the last watch of the night,
the final passing away of the Tathāgata will take place.

Be favourable herein, 0 Vāseṭṭhas, be favourable.

Give no occasion to reproach yourselves hereafter, saying:

In our own village did the death of our Tathāgata take place,
and we took not the opportunity of visiting the Tathāgata in his last hours.’

“‘Even so, lord,’ said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One;
and he robed himself and taking his bowl,
entered into Kusinārā attended by another member of the order^[100]

20. Now at that time the Mallas of Kusinārā were assembled in the council hall on some [public] affair:^[101]

[163] And the venerable Ānanda went to the council hall of the Mallas of Kusinārā;
and when he had arrived there,
he informed them, saying:

‘This day, 0 Vāseṭṭhas, in the last watch of the night,
the final passing away of the Tathāgata will take place.

Be favourable herein, 0 Vāseṭṭhas,
be favourable.

Give no occasion to reproach yourselves hereafter, saying:

“In our own village did the death of our Tathāgata take place,
and we took not the opportunity of visiting the Tathāgata in his last hours.”‘

21. And when they had heard this saying of the venerable Ānanda,
the Mallas with their young men and maidens and their wives were grieved,
and sad,
and afflicted at heart.

And some of them wept,
dishevelling their hair,
and stretched forth their arms and wept,
fell prostrate on the ground,
and rolled to and fro in anguish at the thought:

‘Too soon will the Exalted One die!

Too soon will the Happy One pass away!

Full soon will the Light of the world vanish away!’

Then the Ma11as,
with their young men and maidens and their wives,
being grieved,
and sad,
and afflicted at heart,
went to the Sāla Grove of the Mallas,
to the Upavattana, and to the place where the venerable Ānanda was.

22. Then the venerable Ānanda thought:

‘If I allow the Ma11as of Kusinārā,
one by one,
to pay their respects to the Exalted One,
the whole of the Mallas of Kusinārā will not have been presented to the Exalted One until this night brightens up into the dawn.

Let me, now, cause the Mallas of Kusinārā to stand in groups,
each family in a group,
and so present them to the Exalted One, saying:

“Lord! a Malla of such and such a name,
with his children,
his wives,
his retinue,
and his friends,
humbly bows down at the feet of the Exalted One.'”

And the venerable Ānanda caused the Mallas of [164] Kusinārā to stand in groups,
each family in a group,
and so presented them to the Exalted One, and said:

‘Lord! a Malia of such and such a name,
with his children,
his wives,
his retinue,
and his friends,
humbly bows down at the feet of the Exalted One.’

And after this manner the venerable Ānanda presented all the Mallas of Kusinārā to the Exalted One in the first watch of the night.

---

23. Now at that time a Wanderer named Subhadda,
who was not a believer,
was dwelling at Kusinārā.

And the Wanderer Subhadda heard the news:

‘This very day, they say,
in the third watch of the night,
will take place the final passing away of the Samana Gotama.’

Then thought the Wanderer Subhadda:

‘This have I heard from fellow Wanderers old and well stricken in years,
teachers and disciples,
when they said:

“Sometimes and full seldom do Tathāgatas appear in the world,
the Able Awakened Ones.”

Yet this day,
in the last watch of the night,
the final passing away of the Samana Gotama will take place.

Now a certain feeling of uncertainty has sprung up in my mind;
and this faith have I in the Samana Gotama,
that he, methinks, is able so to present the truth that I may get rid of this feeling of uncertainty.’

24. Then the Wanderer Subhadda went to the Sāla Grove of the Mallas,
to the Upayattana of Kusinārā,
to the place where the venerable Ānanda was.

And when he had come there he said to the venerable Ānanda:

‘Thus have I heard from fellow Wanderers,
old and well stricken in years,
teachers and disciples,
when they said:

“Sometimes and full seldom do Tathāgatas appear in the world,
the Able Awakened Ones.”

Yet this day,
in the last watch of the night,
the final passing away of the Samana Gotama will take place.

Now a certain feeling of uncertainty has sprung up in my mind;
and this faith have I in the Samana Gotama,
that he, methinks, is able so to present the truth that I may get rid of this feeling of [165] uncertainty.’

0 that I, even I, Ānanda, might be allowed to see the Samana Gotama!’

And when he had thus spoken the venerable Ānanda said to the Wanderer Subhadda:

‘Enough! friend Subhadda.

Trouble not the Tathāgata.

The Exalted One is weary.’

And a second time the Wanderer Subhadda said:

‘Thus have I heard from fellow Wanderers,
old and well stricken in years,
teachers and disciples,
when they said:

“Sometimes and full seldom do Tathāgatas appear in the world,
the Able Awakened Ones.”

Yet this day,
in the last watch of the night,
the final passing away of the Samana Gotama will take place.

Now a certain feeling of uncertainty has sprung up in my mind;
and this faith have I in the Samana Gotama,
that he, methinks, is able so to present the truth that I may get rid of this feeling of uncertainty.’

0 that I, even I, Ānanda, might be allowed to see the Samana Gotama!’

And a second time the venerable Ānanda responded:

‘Enough! friend Subhadda.

Trouble not the Tathāgata.

The Exalted One is weary.’

And a third time the Wanderer Subhadda said:

‘Thus have I heard from fellow Wanderers,
old and well stricken in years,
teachers and disciples,
when they said:

“Sometimes and full seldom do Tathāgatas appear in the world,
the Able Awakened Ones.”

Yet this day,
in the last watch of the night,
the final passing away of the Samana Gotama will take place.

Now a certain feeling of uncertainty has sprung up in my mind;
and this faith have I in the Samana Gotama,
that he, methinks, is able so to present the truth that I may get rid of this feeling of uncertainty.’

0 that I, even I, Ānanda, might be allowed to see the Samana Gotama!’

And a third time the venerable Ānanda responded:

‘Enough! friend Subhadda.

Trouble not the Tathāgata.

25. Now the Exalted One overheard this conversation of the venerable Ānanda with the Wanderer Subhadda.

And the Exalted One called the venerable Ānanda, and said:

‘It is enough, Ānanda!

Do not keep out Subhadda.

Subhadda, Ānanda, may be allowed to see the Tathāgata.

Whatever Subhadda may ask of me,
he will ask from a desire for knowledge,
and not to annoy me.

And whatever I may say in answer to his questions,
that he will quickly understand.’

Then the venerable Ānanda said to Subhadda, the Wanderer:

‘Enter in, friend Subhadda;
for the Exalted One gives you leave.’

26. Then Subhadda, the Wanderer, went in to the place where the Exalted One was,
and saluted him courteously,
and after exchanging with him the compliments of esteem and of civility,
he took his seat on one side.

And when he was thus seated, Subhadda, the Wanderer, said to the Exalted One:

‘The leaders in religious life^[102] who are heads of companies of [166] disciples and students,
teachers of students,
well known,
renowned,
founders of schools of doctrine,
esteemed as good men by the multitude –
to wit: Pūraṇa Kassapa,
Makkhali of the cattle-pen,
Agita of the garment of hair,
Kakkāyana of the Pakudha tree,
Sañgaya the son of the Belaṭṭhi slave-girl,
and Nigaṇṭha of the Nātha clan –
have they all,
according to their own assertion,
thoroughly understood things?
or have they not?
or are there some of them who have understood,
and some who have not?’

‘Enough, Subhadda!

Let this matter rest whether they,
according to their own assertion,
have thoroughly understood things,
or whether they have not,
or whether some of them have understood
and some have not!

The truth, Subhadda, will I teach you.

Listen well to that,
and give ear attentively,
and I will speak!’

‘Even so, lord!’
said the Wanderer Subhadda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

27. And the Exalted One spake:

‘In whatsoever doctrine and discipline, Subhadda,
the Aryan eightfold path is not found,
neither in it is there found a man of true saintliness
of the first,
or of the second,
or of the third,
or of the fourth degree.

And in whatsoever doctrine and discipline, Subhadda,
the Aryan eightfold path is found,
in it is found the man of true saintliness of the first,
and the second,
and the third,
and the fourth degree.^[103]

Now in this doctrine and discipline, Subhadda,
is found the Aryan eightfold path,
and in it [167] too, are found, Subhadda, the men of true saintliness of all the four degrees.

Void are the systems of other teachers –
void of true saints.

And in this one, Subhadda, may the brethren live the Life that’s Right,
so that the world be not bereft of Arahants.^[104]

But twenty-nine was I when I renounced
The world, Subhadda, seeking after Good.
For fifty years and one year more, Subhadda,
Since I went out, a pilgrim have I been
Through the wide realm of System and of Law ­
Outside of that no victory can be won!^[105]

Yea, not of the first,
nor of the second,
nor of the third,
nor of the fourth degree.

Void are the systems of other teachers –
void of true saints.

But in this one, Subhadda,
may the brethren live the perfect life,
that the world be not bereft of Arahants.’

[168] And when he had thus spoken, Subhadda, the Wanderer, said to the Exalted One:

Most excellent, lord, are the words of thy mouth,
most excellent!

Just as if a man were to set up that which is thrown down,
or were to reveal that which is hidden away,
or were to point out the right road to him who has gone astray,
or were to bring a lamp into the darkness,
so that those who have eyes can see external forms –
just even so, lord,
has the truth been made known to me,
in many a figure,
by the Exalted One.

And I, even I, betake myself, lord,
to the Exalted One as my refuge,
to the Truth,
and to the Brotherhood.

I would fain be accepted as a probationer under the Exalted One,
as a full member in his Order.’

29. ‘Whosoever, Subhadda, has formerly been a follower of another doctrine,
and thereafter desires to be received into the higher or the lower grade in this doctrine and discipline,
he remains on probation for the space of four months;
and at the end of the four months,
the brethren, exalted in spirit,
receive him into the lower or into the higher grade of the order.

Nevertheless in this case I acknowledge the difference in persons.’

‘If, lord, whosoever has formerly been a follower of another doctrine,
and then desires to be received into the higher or the lower grade in this doctrine and discipline, –
if, in that case, such a person remains on probation for the space of four months;
and at the end of the four months,
the brethren, exalted in spirit,
receive him into the lower or into the higher grade of the Order –
I too, then, will remain on probation for the space of four months;
and at the end of the four months let the brethren,
exalted in spirit,
receive me into the lower or into the higher grade of the Order!’

But the Exalted One called the venerable Ānanda and said:

‘As it is, Ānanda, receive Subhadda into the Order!’

‘Even so. lord!’
said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to the Exalted One.

[169] And Subhadda, the Wanderer, said to the venerable Ānanda:

‘Great is your gain, friend Ānanda,
great is your good fortune, friend Ānanda,
in that you all have been sprinkled with the sprinkling of discipleship in this brotherhood at the hands of the Master himself!’

So Subhadda, the Wanderer, was received into the higher grade of the Order under the Exalted One;
and from immediately after his ordination the venerable Subhadda remained alone and separate,
earnest,
zealous,
and resolved.

And ere long he attained to that supreme goal of the higher life,^[106] for the sake of which the clansmen go out from all and every household gain and comfort to become houseless wanderers –
yea, that supreme goal did he, by himself,
and while yet in this visible world,
bring himself to the knowledge of,
and continue to realize,
and to see face to face!

And he became conscious that birth was at an end,
that the higher life had been fulfilled,
that all that should be done had been accomplished,
and that after this present life there would be no beyond!

So the venerable Subhadda became yet another among the Arahants;
and he was the last disciple whom the Exalted One himself converted.^[107]

End of the Hiraññavatiya portion,
being the Fifth Portion for Recitation.

[171]

Chapter VI

1. Now the Exalted One addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said:

‘It may be, Ānanda, that in some of you the thought may arise,
“The word of the master is ended,
we have no teacher more!”

But it is not thus, Ānanda, that you should regard it.

The Truths,
and the Rules of the Order,
which I have set forth and laid down for you all,
let them, after I am gone,
be the Teacher to you.’

2. ‘Ānanda! when I am gone address not one another in the way in which the brethren have heretofore addressed each other –
with the epithet that is, of “Avuso” (Friend).

A younger brother may be addressed by an elder with his name,
or his family name,
or the title “Friend.”

But an elder should be addressed by a younger brother as
“Sir”
or as
“Venerable Sir.”^[108]

3. ‘When I am gone, Ānanda, let the Order, if it should so wish,
abolish all the lesser and minor precepts.’^[109]

4. ‘When I am gone, Ānanda, let the higher penalty be imposed on brother Channa.’

‘But what, lord, is the higher penalty?’

‘Let Channa say whatever he may like, Ānanda,
the [172] brethren should neither speak to him,
nor exhort him,
nor admonish him.’^[110]

5. Then the Exalted One addressed the brethren, and said:

‘It may be, brethren, that there may be doubt or misgiving in the mind of some brother as to the Buddha,
or the doctrine,
or the path,
or the method.^[111]

Inquire, brethren, freely.

Do not have to reproach yourselves afterwards with the thought:

“Our teacher was face to face with us,
and we could not bring ourselves to inquire of the Exalted One when we were face to face with him.”‘

And when he had thus spoken the brethren were silent.

And again the second time the Exalted One addressed the brethren, and said:

‘It may be, brethren, that there may be doubt or misgiving in the mind of smne brother as to the Buddha,
or the doctrine,
or the path,
or the method.

Inquire, brethren, freely.

Do not have to reproach yourselves afterwards with the thought:

“Our teacher was face to face with us,
and we could not bring ourselves to inquire of the Exalted One when we were face to face with him.”‘

And a second time, when he had thus spoken the brethren were silent.

And again the third time the Exalted One addressed the brethren, and said:

‘It may be, brethren, that there may be doubt or misgiving in the mind of smne brother as to the Buddha,
or the doctrine,
or the path,
or the method.

Inquire, brethren, freely.

Do not have to reproach yourselves afterwards with the thought:

“Our teacher was face to face with us,
and we could not bring ourselves to inquire of the Exalted One when we were face to face with him.”‘

And even the third time the brethren were silent.

Then the Exalted One addressed the brethren, and said:

‘It may be, brethren, that you put no questions out of reverence for the teacher.

Let one friend communicate to another.’

And when he had thus spoken the brethren were silent.

6. And the venerable Ānanda said to the Exalted [173] One:

‘How wonderful a thing is it, lord, and how marvellous!

Verily, I believe that in this whole assembly of the brethren there is not one brother who has any doubt or misgiving as to the Buddha,
or the doctrine,
or the path,
or the method!’

‘It is out of the fullness of faith that thou hast spoken, Ānanda!

But, Ānanda, the Tathāgata knows for certain that in this whole assembly of the brethren there is not one brother who has any doubt or misgiving as to the Buddha,
or the doctrine,
or the path,
or the method!

For even the most backward, Ānanda,
of all these five hundred brethren has become converted,
is no longer liable to be born in a state of suffering,
and is assured of hereafter attaining to the Enlightenment
[of Arahantship].^[112]

---

7. Then the Exalted One addressed the brethren, and said:

“Behold now, brethren, I exhort you, saying:

‘Decay is inherent in all component things!
Work out your salvation with diligence!'”

This was the last word of the Tathāgata!

---

8. Then the Exalted One entered into the first stage of Rapture.^[113]

And rising out of the first stage he passed into the second.

And rising out of the second he passed into the third.

And rising out of the third stage he passed into the fourth.

And rising out of the fourth stage of Rapture,
he entered into the state of mind to which the infinity of space is alone present.^[114]

And passing out of the mere consciousness of the infinity of space
he entered into the state of mind to which the infinity of thought is alone present.

And passing out of the mere consciousness of the [174] infinity of thought
he entered into a state of mind to which nothing at all was specially present.

And passing out of the consciousness of no special object
he fell into a state between consciousness and unconsciousness.

And passing out of the state between consciousness and unconsciousness
he fell into a state in which the consciousness both of sensations and of ideas had wholly passed away.^[115]

Then the venerable Ānanda said to the venerable Anuruddha:

0 my lord, 0 Anuruddha, the Exalted 0ne is dead!’

‘Nay! brother Ānanda, the Exalted One is not dead.

He has entered into that state in which both sensations and ideas have ceased to be!’

9. Then the Exalted One passing out of the state in which both sensations and ideas have ceased to be,
entered into the state between consciousness and un­consciousness.

And passing out of the state between consciousness and unconsciousness
he entered into the state of mind to which nothing at all is specially present.

And passing out of the consciousness of no special object
he entered into the state of mind to which the infinity of thought is alone present.

And passing out of the mere consciousness of the infinity of thought
he entered into the state of mind to which the infinity of space is alone present.

And passing out of the mere consciousness of the infinity of space
he entered into the fourth stage of Rapture.

And passing out of the fourth stage
he entered into the third.

And passing out of the third stage
he entered into the second.

And passing out of the second
he entered into the first.

And passing out of the first stage of Rapture
he entered into the second.

And passing out of the second stage
he entered into the [175] third.

And passing out of the third stage
he entered into the fourth stage of Rapture.

And passing out of the last stage of Rapture
he immediately expired.

---

10. When the Exalted One died there arose,
at the moment of his passing out of existence,
a mighty earth­quake,
terrible and awe-inspiring:
and the thunders of heaven burst forth.

When the Exalted One died, Brahma Sahampati,
at the moment of his passing away from existence,
uttered this stanza:

They all, all beings that have life, shall lay
Aside their complex form – that aggregation
Of mental and material qualities,
That gives them, or in heaven or on earth,
Their fleeting individuality!
E’en as the teacher-being such a one,
Unequalled among all the men that are,
Successor of the prophets of old time,
Mighty by wisdom, and in insight clear –
Hath died!’^[116]

When the Exalted One died, Sakka,
the king of the gods,
at the moment of his passing away from existence,
uttered this stanza:

They’re transient all, each being’s parts and powers,
Growth is their very nature, and decay. [176]
They are produced, they are dissolved again:
To bring them all into subjection – that is bliss.’^[117]

When the Exalted One died, the venerable Anuruddha, at the moment of his passing away from existence,
uttered these stanzas:

When he who from all craving want was free,
Who to Nirvana’s tranquil state had reached,
When the great sage finished his span of life.
No gasping struggle vexed that steadfast heart!

All resolute, and with unshaken mind,
He calmly triumphed o’er the pain of death.
E’en as a bright flame dies away, so was
The last emancipation of his heart.’

[177] When the Exalted One died, the venerable Ānanda, at the moment of his passing away from existence,
uttered this stanza:

‘Then was there terror!
Then stood the hair on end!
When he endowed with every grace ­
The supreme Buddha-died!’^[118]

^[119]When the Exalted One died,
of those of the brethren who were not yet free from the passions,
some stretched out their arms and wept,
and some fell headlong on the ground,
rolling to and fro in anguish at the thought:

‘Too soon has the Exalted One died!

Too soon has the Happy One passed away!

Too soon has the Light gone out in the world!’

But those of the brethren who were free from the passions
[the Arahants]
bore their grief collected and composed at the thought:

‘Impermanent are all component things!

How is it possible –
whereas anything whatever born,
brought into being,
and organized,
contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution –
how then can this be possible that such a being should not be dissolved?’

11. Then the venerable Anuruddha exhorted the brethren, and said:

‘Enough, my brethren!

Weep not, neither lament!

Has not the Exalted One formerly declared this to us,
that it is in the very nature of all things near and dear unto us,
that we must divide ourselves from them,
leave them,
sever ourselves from them?

How then, brethren, can this be possible ­
that whereas anything whatever born,
brought into being,
and organized,
contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution –
how then can this be possible that such a being should not be dissolved?

No such [178] condition can exist!

Even the spirits, brethren, will reproach us.’^[120]

‘But of what kind of spirits, Sir,
is the venerable Anuruddha thinking?’

‘There are spirits, brother Ānanda,
in the sky,
but of worldly mind,
who dishevel their hair and weep,
and stretch forth their arms and weep,
fall prostrate on the ground,
and roll to and fro in anguish at the thought:

‘Too soon has the Exalted One died!

Too soon has the Happy One passed away!

Too soon has the Light gone out in the world!’

‘There are spirits, too, Ānanda,
on the earth,
and of worldly mind, who tear their hair and weep,
and stretch forth their arms and weep,
fall prostrate on the [179] ground,
and roll to and fro in anguish at the thought:

‘Too soon has the Exalted One died!

Too soon has the Happy One passed away!

Too soon has the Light gone out in the world!’

But the spirits who are free from passion
bear it, calm and self-possessed,
mindful of the saying which begins: –

“Impermanent indeed are all component things.

How then is it possible­
that whereas anything whatever born,
brought into being,
and organized,
contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution –
how then can this be possible that such a being should not be dissolved?

No such condition can exist!?”‘^[121]

---

12. Now the venerable Anuruddha and the venerable Ānanda spent the rest of that night in religious discourse.

Then the venerable Anuruddha said to the venerable Ānanda:

‘Go now, brother Ānanda, into Kusinārā and inform the Mallas of Kusinārā, saying:

The Exalted One, 0 Vāseṭṭhas, is dead;
do, then, whatever seemeth to you fit!”‘

‘Even so, lord!’
said the venerable Ānanda, in assent, to the venerable Anuruddha.

And having robed himself early in the morning,
he took his bowl,
and went into Kusinārā with one of the brethren as an attendant.

Now at that time the Mallas of Kusinārā were assembled in the council hall concerning that very matter.

And the venerable Ānanda went to the council hall of the Mallas of Kusinārā;
and when he had arrived there,
he informed them, saying:

‘The Blessed One, 0 Vāseṭṭhas, is dead;
do, then, whatever seemeth to you fit!’

And when they had heard this saying of the venerable Ānanda,
the Ma1las, with their young men and their maidens and their wives,
were grieved,
and sad,
and afflicted at heart.

And some of them wept, dishevelling their hair,
and some stretched forth their arms and wept,
falling prostrate on the ground,
and rolling to and fro in anguish at the thought:

‘Too soon has the Exalted One died!

Too soon has [180] the Happy One passed away!

Too soon has the Light gone out in the world!’

13. Then the Mallas of Kusinārā gave orders to their attendants, saying:

‘Gather together perfumes and garlands,
and all the music in Kusinārā!’

And the Mallas of Kusinārā took the perfumes and garlands,
and all the musical instruments,
and five hundred suits of apparel,
and went to the Upavattana,
to the Sāla Grove of the Mallas,
where the body of the Exalted One lay.

There they passed the day in paying honour,
reverence,
respect,
and homage to the remains of the Exalted One with dancing,
and hymns,
and music,
and with garlands and perfumes;
and in making canopies of their garments,
and preparing decoration wreaths to hang thereon.^[122]

Then the Mallas of Kusinārā thought:

‘It is much too late to burn the body of the Exalted One to-day.

Let us now perform the cremation to-morrow.’

And in paying honour,
reverence,
respect,
and homage to the remains of the Exalted One
with dancing,
and hymns,
and music,
and with garlands and perfumes;
and in making canopies of their garments,
and preparing decoration wreaths to hang thereon,
they passed the second day too,
and then the third day,
and the fourth,
and the fifth,
and the sixth day also.

14. Then on the seventh day the Mallas of Kusinārā thought:

[181] ‘Let us carry the body of the Exalted One,
by the south and outside,
to a spot on the south,
and outside of the city, –
paying it honour,
and reverence,
and respect,
and homage,
with dance,
and song,
and music,
with garlands and perfumes, –
and there, to the south of the city,
let us perform the cremation ceremony!’

And thereupon eight chieftains among the Mallas bathed their heads,
and clad themselves in new garments
with the intention of bearing the body of the Exalted One.

But, behold, they could not lift it up!

Then the Mallas of Kusinārā said to the venerable Anuruddha:

‘What, lord, can be the reason,
what can be the cause,
that eight chieftains of the Mallas
who have bathed their heads,
and clad themselves in new garments
with the intention of bearing the body of the Exalted One,
are unable to lift it up?’

It is because you, 0 Vāseṭṭhas, have one purpose,
and the spirits have another purpose.’

15. ‘But what, lord, is the purpose of the spirits?’

Your purpose, 0 Vāseṭṭhas, is this:

‘Let us carry the body of the Exalted One,
by the south and outside,
to a spot on the south,
and outside of the city, –
paying it honour,
and reverence,
and respect,
and homage,
with dance,
and song,
and music,
with garlands and perfumes, –
and there, to the south of the city,
let us perform the cremation ceremony!’

But the purpose of the spirits, Vāseṭṭhas, is this:

Let us carry the body of the Exalted One by the north
to the north of the city,
and entering the city by the north gate,
let us bring it through the midst of the city
into the midst thereof.

And going out again by the eastern gate, ­
paying honour,
and reverence,
and respect,
and homage to the body of the Exalted One,
with heavenly dance,
and song,
and music,
and garlands,
and perfumes, ­
let us carry it to the shrine of the Mallas called Makuṭa-bandhana,
to the east of the city,
and there 1et us perform the cremation ceremony.’

Even according to the purpose of the spirits,
so, lord, let it be.’

---

[182] 16. Then immediately all Kusinārā down even to the dust bins and rubbish heaps became strewn knee­deep with Mandārava flowers from heaven!
and while both the spirits from the skies,
and the Mallas of Kusinārā upon earth,
paid honour,
and reverence,
and respect,
and homage to the body of the Exalted One,
with dance,
and song,
and music,
with garlands,
and with perfumes,
they carried the body by the north
to the north of the city;
and entering the city by the north gate
they carried it through the midst of the city
into the midst thereof;
and going out again by the eastern gate
they carried it to the shrine of the Mallas,
called Makuṭa-bandhana; and there,
to the east of the city,
they laid down the body of the Exalted One.^[123]

17^[124] Then the Mallas of Kusinārā said to the venerable Ānanda:

‘What should be done, lord,
with the remains of the Tathāgata?’

‘As men treat the remains of a king of kings,
so, Vāseṭṭhas, should they treat the remains of a Tathāgata.’

‘And how, lord, do they treat the remains of a king of kings?’

‘They wrap the body of a king of kings, Vāseṭṭhas,
in a new cloth.

When that is done
they wrap it in carded cotton wool.

When that is done
they wrap it in a new cloth,
and so on till they have wrapped the body in five hundred successive layers of both kinds.

Then they place the body in an oil vessel of iron,
and cover that close up with another oil vessel of iron.

They then build a funeral pyre of all kinds of perfumes,
[183]and burn the body of the king of kings.

And then at the four cross roads they erect a cairn to the king of kings.

This, Vāseṭṭhas, is the way in which they treat the remains of a king of kings.

‘And as they treat the remains of a king of kings,
so, Ānanda, should they treat the remains of the Tathāgata.

At the four cross roads a cairn should be erected to the Tathāgata.

And whosoever shall there place garlands or perfumes or paint,
or make salutation there,
or become in its presence calm in heart –
that shall long be to them for a profit and a joy.’

18. Therefore the Mallas gave orders to their attendants, saying:

‘Gather together all the carded cotton wool of the Mallas!’

Then the Mallas of Kusinārā wrapped the body of the Exalted One in a new cloth.

And when that was done,
they wrapped it in carded cotton wool.

And when that was done,
they wrapped it in a new cloth –
and so on till they had wrapped the body of the Exalted One in five hundred layers of both kinds.

And then they placed the body in an oil vessel of iron,
and covered that close up with another oil vessel of iron.

And then they built a funeral pyre of all kinds of perfumes,
and upon it they placed the body of the Exalted One.

19. Now at that time the venerable Mahā Kassapa was journeying along the high road from Pāvā to Kusinārā with a great company of the brethren,
with about five hundred of the brethren.

And the venerable Mahā Kassapa left the high road,
and sat himself down at the foot of a certain tree.

Just at that time a certain naked ascetic^[125] who had picked up a Mandārava flower in Kusinārā
was coming along the high road to Pāvā.

Now the venerable Mahā Kassapa saw the naked ascetic coming in the distance;
and when he had seen him he said to that naked ascetic:

[184] ‘0 friend! surely thou knowest our Master?’

‘Yea, friend!

I know him.

This day the Samaṇa Gotama has been dead a week!

That is how I obtained this Mandārava flower.’

On that of those of the brethren who were not yet free from the passions,
some stretched out their arms and wept,
and some fell headlong on the ground,
and some reeled to and fro in anguish at the thought:

‘Too soon has the Exalted One died!

Too soon has the Happy One passed away!

Too soon has the Light gone out in the world!’

But those of the brethren who were free from the passions
[the Arahants]
bore their grief self-possessed and composed at the thought:-‘ Impermanent are all component things! How is it possible –
whereas anything whatever born,
brought into being,
and organized,
contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution –
how then can this be possible that such a being should not be dissolved?’

20. Now at that time a brother named Subhadda,
who had been received into the Order in his old age,
was seated in that company.^[126]

And Subhadda the recruit in his old age
said to those brethren:

‘Enough, sirs!

Weep not, neither lament!

We are well rid of the great Samaṇa.

We used to be annoyed by being told:

“This beseems you,
this beseems you not.”

But now we shall be able to do whatever we like;
and what we do not like,
that we shall not have to do!’

But the venerable Mahā Kassapa exhorted the brethren:

‘Enough, my brethren!

Weep not, neither lament!

Has not the Exalted One formerly declared this,
that it is in the very nature of all things near and dear unto us that we must divide ourselves [185] from them,
leave them,
sever ourselves frotn them?

How then, brethren can this be possible –
whereas anything whatever born,
brought into being,
and organized
contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution –
how then can this be possible
that such a being should not be dissolved?

No such condition can exist!’

---

21. Now just at that time four chieftains of the Mallas had bathed their heads and clad themselves in new garments with the intention of setting on fire the funeral pyre of the Exalted One.

But, behold, they were unable to set it alight!

Then the Mallas of Kusinārā said to the venerable Anuruddha:

‘What, lord, can be the reason,
and what the cause that four chieftains of the Mallas having bathed their heads and clad themselves in new garments with the intention of setting on fire the funeral pyre of the Exalted One
were unable to set it alight?

The purpose of the spirits, 0 Vāseṭṭhas, is different.’

‘But what, sir. is the purpose of the spirits?’

The purpose of the spirits, 0 Vāseṭṭhas, is this:

That venerable brother Mahā Kassapa is now journeying along the way from Pāvā to Kusinārā with a great company of the brethren,
with five hundred brethren.

The funeral pyre of the Exalted One shall not catch fire until the venerable Mahā Kassapa shall have been able reverently to salute the feet of the Exalted One.’

‘Even according to the purpose of the spirits so, sir, let it be!’

22. Then the venerable Mahā Kassapa went on to Makuṭa-bandhana of Kusinārā, to the shrine of the Mallas,
to the place where the funeral pyre of the Exalted One was.

And when he had come up to it he arranged his robe on one shoulder;
and after bowing down with clasped hands,
he thrice walked reverently round the pyre,
and then, uncovering the feet,
he bowed down in reverence at the feet of the Exalted One.

And those five hundred brethren arranged their robes on one shoulder;
and bowing down with clasped [186] hands,
they thrice walked reverently round the pyre,
and then bowed down in reverence at the feet of the Exalted One.

And when the homage of the venerable Mahā Kassapa and of those five hundred brethren was ended,
the funeral pyre of the Exalted One caught fire of itself.^[127]

23. Now as the body of the Exalted One burned itself away,
from the skin and the integument,
and the flesh,
and the nerves,
and the fluid of the joints,
neither soot nor ash was seen.

Only the bones remained behind.

Just as one sees no soot or ash when ghee or oil is burned;
so, as the body of the Exalted One burned itself away,
from the skin and the integument,
and the flesh,
and the nerves,
and the fluid of the joints,
neither soot nor ash was seen.

Only the bones remained behind.

And of those five hundred pieces of raiment the very innermost and outermost were both consumed.

And when the body of the Exalted One had been burnt up,
there came down streams of water from the sky and extinguished the funeral pyre of the Exalted One;
and there burst forth streams of water from the storehouse of the waters
[beneath the earth],
and extinguished the funeral pyre of the Exalted One.

The Mallas of Kusinārā also brought water scented [187] with all kinds of perfumes,
and extinguished the funeral pyre of the Exalted One’.^[128]

Then the Mallas of Kusinārā surrounded the bones of the Exalted One in their council hall with a lattice Work of spears,
and with a rampart of bows;
and there for seven days they paid honour,
and reverence,
and respect,
and homage to them with dance,
and song,
and music,
and with garlands
and perfumes.

24. Now the king of Magadha, Ajātasattu, the son of the queen of the Videha clan,
heard the news that the Exalted One had died at Kusinārā.

Then the king of Magadha, Ajātasattu, the son of the queen of the Videha clan,
sent a messenger to the Mallas, saying,

‘The Exalted One was a Kshatriya and so am I.

I am worthy to receive a portion of the relics of the Exalted One.

Over the remains of the Exalted One will I put up a sacred cairn,
and in their honour will I celebrate a feast!’

And the Licchavis of Vesāli heard the news that the Exalted One had died at Kusinārā.

And the Licchavis of Vesāli sent a messenger to the Mallas, saying:

‘The Exalted One was a Kshatriya and so are we.

We are worthy to receive a portion of the relics of the Exalted One.

Over the remains of the Exalted One will we put up a sacred cairn,
and in their honour will we celebrate a feast!’

And the Sakiyas of Kapilavatthu heard the news that the Exalted One had died at Kusinārā.

And the [188] Sakiyas of Kapilavatthu sent a messenger to the Mallas, saying:

‘The Exalted One was the pride of our race.

We are worthy to receive a portion of the relics of the Exalted One.

Over the remains of the Exalted One will we put up a sacred cairn,
and in their honour will we celebrate a feast!’

And the Bulis of Allakappa heard the news that the Exalted One had died at Kusinārā.

And the Bulis of Allakappa sent a messenger to the Mallas, saying:

‘The Exalted One was a Kshatriya and so are we.

We are worthy to receive a portion of the relics of the Exalted One.

Over the remains of the Exalted One will we put up a sacred cairn,
and in their honour will we celebrate a feast!’

And the Koliyas of Rāmagāma heard the news that the Exalted One had died at Kusinārā.

And the Koliyas of Rāmagāma sent a messenger to the Mallas, saying:

‘The Exalted One was a Kshatriya and so are we.

We are worthy to receive a portion of the relics of the Exalted One.

Over the remains of the Exalted One will we put up a sacred cairn,
and in their honour will we celebrate a feast!’

And the brahmin of Veṭhadīpa heard the news that the Exalted One had died at Kusinārā.

And the brahmin of Veṭhadīpa sent a messenger to the Mallas, saying:

‘The Exalted One was a Kshatriya,
and I am a brahmin.

I am worthy to receive a portion of the relics of the Exalted One.

Over the remains of the Exalted One will I put up a sacred cairn,
and in their honour will I celebrate a feast!’

And the Mallas of Pāvā heard the news that the Exalted One had died at Kusinārā.

Then the Mallas of Pāvā sent a messenger to the Mallas, saying:

‘The Exalted One was a Kshatriya and so are we.

We arc worthy to receive a portion of the relics of the Exalted One.

Over the remains of the Exalted One will we put up a sacred cairn,
and in their honour will we celebrate a feast!’

[189] 25. When they heard these things the Mallas of Kusinārā spoke to the assembled crowds, saying:

The Exalted One died in our village domain.

‘We will not give away any part of the remains of the Exalted One!’

When they had thus spoken, Doṇa the brahmin addressed the assembled crowds, and said:

‘Hear, gracious sirs, one single word from me.
Forbearance was our Buddha wont to teach.
Unseemly is it that over the division
Of the remains of him who was the best of beings
Strife should arise, and wounds, and war.
Let us all, sirs, with one accord unite
In friendly harmony to make eight portions.
Wide spread let cairns spring up in every land
That in the Light of the world mankind may trust!’

‘Do thou then, 0 brahmin, thyself divide the remains of the Exalted One equally into eight parts,
with fair division.’^[129]

‘Be it so, sirs!’ said Doṇa the brahmin, in assent, to the assembled brethren.

And he divided the remains of the Exalted One equally into eight parts,
with fair division.

And he said to them:

‘Give me, sirs, this vessel,
and I will set up over it a sacred cairn,
and in its honour will I establish a feast.’

And they gave the vessel to Doṇa the brahmin.

26. And the Moriyas of Pipphalivana heard the news that the Exalted One had died at Kusinārā.

Then the Moriyas of Pipphalivana sent a messenger to the Mallas, saying:

‘The Exalted One was a Kshatriya and so are we.

We are worthy to receive a portion of the relics of the Exalted One.

Over the remains of the Exalted One will we put up a sacred cairn,
and in their honour will we celebrate a feast!’

And when they heard the answer, saying:

‘There is [190] no portion of the remains of the Exalted One left over.

The remains of the Exalted One are all distributed,’
then they took away the embers.

27. So the king of Magadha, Ajātasattu, the son of the queen of the Videha clan,
made a cairn in Rājagaha over the remains of the Exalted One,
and celebrated a feast.

And the Licchavis of Vesāli made a cairn in Vesāli over the remains of the Exalted One,
and celebrated a feast.

And the Sākiyas of Kapilavatthu made a cairn in Kapilavatthu over the remains of the Exalted One,
and celebrated a feast.

And the Bulis of Allakappa made a cairn in Alia­kappa over the remains of the Exalted One,
and celebrated a feast.

And the Koliyas of Rāmagāma made a cairn in Rāmagāma over the remains of the Exalted One,
and celebrated a feast.

And Veṭhadīpaka the brahmin made a cairn in Veṭhadīpaka over the remains of the Exalted One,
and celebrated a feast.

And the Mallas of Pāvā made a cairn in Pāvā over the remains of the Exalted One,
and celebrated a feast.

And the Mallas of Kusinārā made a cairn in Kusinārā over the remains of the Exalted One,
and celebrated a feast.

And Doṇa the brahmin made a cairn over the vessel [in which the remains had been collected] and celebrated a feast.

And the Moriyas of Pipphalivana made a cairn over the embers, and celebrated a feast.

Thus were there eight cairns (Thupas) for the remains,
and one for the vessel,
and one for the embers.

This was how it used to be.^[130]

[191] 28. Eight measures of relics there were of him of the far-seeing eye,
Of the best of the best of men. In India seven are worshipped,
And one measure in Rāmagāma, by the kings of the serpent race.
One tooth, too, is honoured in heaven, and one in Gandhāra’s city,
One in the Kālinga realm, and one more by the Nāga race.
Through their glory the bountiful earth is made bright with offerings painless –
For with such are the Great Teacher’s relics best honoured by those who are honoured,
By gods and by Nāgas and kings, yea, thus by the noblest of hun1ans ­
Bow down with clasped hands!
Hard, hard is a Buddha to meet with through hundreds of ages!]

End of the Book of the Great Decease.

---

^[i1] Introduction to the Vinaya, xxvi-xxviii.

^[i2] It does not quite follow that the Vinaya is borrowing direct from the Dīgha. That may be so. But the Subhadda story may have been in existence before either Dīgha or Vinaya was put into its present shape. If so, it was doubtless current in the form now preserved by the Dīgha; and was changed by the compilers of the Vinaya. Both Oldenberg (loc. cit.) and Franke (J.P.T.S., 1908, 8-12) suppose the Vinaya to be borrowing from the Dīgha. It is quite possible that the two books – Dīgha and Vinaya – may have been put together, as we now have them, at the same time.

^[i3] It is admitted there were no reporters present. There were at the time of the Buddha’s death no mechanical means available for writing anything beyond the most meagre notes.

^[i4] ‘Dialogues,’ I, x-xx; ‘Buddhist India,’ 161-208.

---

^[1] Ajātasattu Vedehīputto. The first word is not a personal name but an official epithet, ‘he against whom there has arisen no (worthy or equal) foe’ (so already in the Rig Veda but Sum. I 31 different). The second gives us the maiden family, or tribal (not personal) name of his mother. Her name, according to a Tibetan authority quoted by Rockhill, ‘Life of the Buddha,’ p. 63, was Vāsavī.
Persons of distinction arc scarcely eyer mentioned by name in Indian Buddhist hooks, a rule applying more especially to kings, but extended not unfrequently to private persons. Thus Upatissa, the disciple whom the Buddha himself declared to be ‘the second founder of the kingdom of righteousness,’ is referred to either as Dhamma-senāpati or as Sāriputta; epithets of corresponding origin to those in the text. See above, Vol. 1, pp. 193-5.
By the Jains Ajātasattu is called Kūṇika or Koṇika, 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.

^[2] Evam mahiddihike evam mahānubhāve. There is nothing magical or supernatural about the iddhi here referred to. Etena tesaɱ samagga-bhāvaɱ 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 (hatthisippādīhi). See above, Vol. I, p. 273.

^[3] The wording of §2 is here repeated. [Ed.: included in this version.]

^[4] In the text there is a question, answer, and reply with each clause.

^[5] Cetiyāni, which Sum. VII. explains as Yakkha-cetiyāni.

^[6] The commentator adds that this was a vihara erected on the site of a former shrine of the Yakkha Sārandada. The teaching referred to is set out in full at A. IV, 16, but the persons taught are there called Licchavis.

^[7] ‘Overcome’ is literally ‘done’ (karaṇīya), but the word evidently has a similar sense to that which ‘done’ occasionally has in colloquial English. Upalāpana, which I have only met with here, must mean ‘humbug, cajolery, diplomacy;’ see the use of the verb upa-lāpeti, at S. I, 102; Vin. II, I 19; IV, 139; Jāt. II, 266, 267; IV, 56. Sum. VII. 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 lī.

^[8] The word translated ‘brethren’ throughout is in the original bhikkhu, 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.

I’ll blunder into this one. This is a misunderstanding. Wrong desire is to be eliminated, no question. But the Buddha teaches not only the elimination of wrong desire but also that of any desire whatsoever, including that for attaining Nibbāna. This is explained by the simile of desire to reach a goal. When the goal is attained, the desire is let go. So ‘good’ desire is both useful and to be abandoned by the seeker, but for the Arahant it is completely abandoned.

 — p.p.

^[9] The blundering misstatement that Buddhism teaches the suppression of desire (not of wrong desire) is still occasionally met with. The question is fully discussed in Mrs. Rhys Davids’s article on ‘The Will in Buddhism’ (J.R.A.S., 1898).

^[10] This is an interesting analogue to Philippians iii. I 3: – ‘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,’ etc. See also below, Chap. V, § 68.

^[11] The exact distinction between hiri and ottappa is here explained by Buddhaghosa as loathing sin as contrasted with fear of sin. But this is rather a gloss than an exact and exclusive definition. Ahirikā is shamelessness, anotappaɱ frowardness. At Jāt. I, 207 we find hiri described as subjective, and ottappa as objective, modesty of heart as contrasted with decency in outward behaviour. See further Mrs. Rhys Davids in ‘Buddhist Psychology,’ p. 20.

^[12] Buddhaghosa takes this in a spiritual sense. He says: – ‘These virtues are bhujissāni because they bring one to the state of a free man by delivering him from the slavery of craving.’

^[13] The commentator explains: – ‘These virtues are called aparāmaṭṭhāni 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 fault.” 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. At A. III, 132 these five qualities are ca1led phāsu-vihārā, states of bliss.

^[14] This paragraph is spoken of as if it were a well-known summary, and it is constantly repeated below. The word I have here rendered ‘earnest contemplation’ is samādhi, which occupies in the Five Nikāyas very much the same position as faith does in the New Testament; and this section shows that the relative importance of samādhi, paññā, and sīla 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. See further Rhys Davids’s ‘The Yogavacara’s Manual of Indian Mysticism,’ pp. xxv foll., and above, Vol. I, p. 156. Also E.W. West, ‘Pahlavi Texts,’ III, 37; Aṅguttara I, 233; Itivuttaka, No. 59.
The expression ‘set round with’ is in Pāli paribhāvita. In a constantly recurring simile (M. I, 104; S. III, 153) eggs are said to be paribhāvitāni by a brooding hen. In medicine the word means ‘charged with, impregnated with.’ See Jāt. I, 380; IV, 407; and compare Mil. 361, 382, 394. Comp. Bhag. Gītā III 38 for this simile.

^[15] Afterwards the seat of the famous Buddhist University for so many centuries the centre of learning in India.

^[16] The following conversation is also given at length in the Sampasadāniya Suttanta of the Dīgha Nikāya, and a third time in the Satipaṭṭhāna Saɱyutta of the Saɱyutta Nikāya (S. V, 159). It was evidently a very popular passage, and is quite possibly the one referred to in Asoka’s Bhabra Edict as the ‘Question of Upatissa,’ that is, of Sāriputta.

^[17] Arahant Buddhas. The meaning of these words must have been very present to the minds of those who used them at the time of the rise of what we call Buddhism; and there was little or no difference between the connotation of the two terms. As time went on the two were more and more differentiated, and hardened into technical terms. See Saɱyutta III, 65 on the difference between the two: and see Saɱyutta I, 233; III, 160; IV, 175 for very old explanations of Arahā, and Paṭisambhidā I, 172 for an ancient commentary on the meaning of Buddha.

RD does not see that Sāriputta said this with the full comprehension that he was not saying ‘wisest of all’ but ‘as wise as all’. And he was speaking only of Buddhas, not of teachers of other views. There is no distinction between Arahantship and Buddhahood in terms of ‘freedom of mind.’ The distinction between the Sammāsambuddha and the Arahant is that the Sammāsambuddha awakens himself without the help of another whereas the Arahant awakens himself with the aid of the Dhamma taught by the Sammāsambuddha.

tertium quid: “a third thing that is indefinite and undefined but is related to two definite or known things” – Lexico, Oxford U.

 — p.p.

^[18] The tertium quid of the comparison is the completeness of the knowledge. Sāriputta acknowledges that he was wrong in jumping to the wide conclusion that his 0wn 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 the Enlightenment of Arahantship.
All the details he gives are details, not of Buddhahood, but of Arahantship. He makes no distinction between the two states of attainment. This is most important for the history of that Buddhology, which, in after centuries, was the main factor in the downfall of Buddhism.

This defines ‘Hell’ in Christian technical terms unfamiliar to most people today [Thursday, December 24, 2015 5:30 AM]. ‘Hell’ as a term for an existence in great suffering will do.

 — p.p.

^[19] Four such states are mentioned, apāya, duggati, vinipāto, and nirayo, all of which are temporary states. The first three seem to be synonyms. The last is one of the four divisions into which the first is usually divided, and is often translated hell; but not being an eternal state, and not being dependent or consequent upon any judgement, it cannot be accurately so rendered. See p. 51.

^[20] Compare Vinaya III, 93.

^[21] The curious popular belief as to good and bad fairies haunting the sites of houses gave rise to a quack science, akin to astrology, called vatthu-vijjā, which Buddhaghosa explains here at some length, and which is frequently condemned elsewhere in the Five Nikāyas. See, for instance, I of the Mahā-sīlam, translated above, Vol. I, p. 18. The belief is turned to ridicule in the edifying legend, No. 40, in my ‘Buddhist Birth Stories,’ pp. 326-34.

^[22] This paragraph is of importance to the orthodox Buddhist as proving the Buddha’s power of prophecy and the authority of the Buddhist scriptures. To those who conclude that such a passage must have been written after the event that is prophesied (if any), it may be valuable evidence of the age both of the Vinaya and of this Mahā Parinibbāna Suttanta. See the note at ‘Vinaya Texts,’ II. 102.

^[23] Tāsaɱ dakkhiṇaɱ ādise. See Therī Gāthā 307, 311; Mil. 294.

^[24] That is, those who cross the ‘ocean drear’ of taṇhā, or craving; avoiding by means of the ‘dyke’ or causeway of the Aryan Path, the ‘pools’ or shallows of lust, and ignorance, and delusion (comp. Dhp. 91), whilst the vain world looks for salvation from rites, and ceremonies, and gods, – ‘these are the wise, these are the saved indeed!’

^[25] As will be observed from the similar passages that follow, there is a regular sequence of clauses in the set descriptions of the Buddha’s movements. The last clause should specify the particular grove or house where the Exalted One stayed; but it is also (in this and one or two other cases) inserted with due regularity even when it adds nothing positive to the sense.

^[26] Compare below, Chapter IV, §§ 2, 3; p. 131.

^[27] At first Nādika is (twice) spoken of in the plural number (a clan name); but then, thirdly, in the last clause, in the singular (a local name derived from the clan-name). Buddhaghosa explains this by saying that there were two villages of the same name on the shore of the same piece of water. The ‘Brick Hall’ was the public resting­place for travellers, and the name is noteworthy as almost all buildings were then of wood.
The expression used here is an idiomatic phrase descriptive of the arrival of travellers at a place: – ‘and there, at X. so and so stayed in Y.’ where X. is the name of the town or village, and Y. is the lodging­place the traveller occupies. (See just above in § 1 for a good instance.) The first name, the name X., is always the name of the town, and never an adjective in agreement with the second name. It seems simple enough; but even the best Sanskritists appear sometimes to be unfamiliar with the force of this Pāli idiom.

^[28] See Rhys Davids’s ‘Buddhism,’ pp. 108-10; above, Vol. I, pp. 190-2; below, at VI. 6, and in the translation of D. II, 201; also Divyāvadāna, pp. 533-4.

^[29] See above, I, 11.

^[30] Quoted Mil. 378.

^[31] This doctrine of being ‘mindful and self-possessed’ is one of the lessons most frequently inculcated in the Pāli Piṭakas, and is one of the ‘Seven Jewels of the Law.’ It is fully treated of in each of the Nikāyas, forming the subject of the Mahā Satippaṭṭhāna Suttanta in the Dīgha Nikāya, and the Satippaṭṭhāna Suttanta of the Majjhima Nikāya, and the Satippaṭṭhāna Saɱyutta of the Saɱyutta Nikāya, as well as of various passages in the Aṅguttara Nikāya, and of the Vibhaṅga. See above, Vol. I, pp. 80, 81; and the translation, below, of pp. 290 foll. of the text. The point is there discussed in detail.
Buddhaghosa has no comment here on the subject itself, reserving what he has to say for the comment on the Suttantas devoted entirely to it; but he observes in passing that the reason why the Exalted One laid stress, at this particular time and place, on the necessity of being ‘mindful and thoughtful,’ was because of the imminent approach of the beautiful courtezan in whose grove they were staying. The use of the phrase sati upaṭṭhāpetabbā below, Chap. V, 9 (text, p. 141), in reference to the way in which women should be treated, is quite in accordance with this explanation. But see the next note.

^[32] From this point down to the words ‘he rose from his seat,’ in II, 24 is, with a few unimportant variations, word for word the same as Vinaya, Vol. I, pp. 231-3. But the passage there follows immediately after the verses translated above, I. 34, so that the events here (in §§ 14-18) localized at Vesāli, are there localized at Koṭigāma. Our section II, 5 is then inserted between our sections II, 18 and II, 19; and our section II, 11 does not occur at all, the Exalted One only reaching Ambapāli’s grove when he goes there (as in our section II, 19) to partake of the meal to which he had been invited. Buddha­ghosa passes over this apparent discrepancy in silence.

^[33] Literally ‘by this woman.’ But I have tried to reproduce the evident word-play. ‘Ambapāli’ means mango grower, one who looks after mangoes.

^[34] The Tāvatiɱsa-devā are the gods in the heaven of the Great Thirty-Three, the principal deities of the Vedic Pantheon. See A. III, 239; Sum. I, 310; Mahāvastu I, 262.

^[35] The Malālaṅkāra-vatthu gives the substance of the discourse on this occasion. ‘The princes had come in their finest and richest dress; in their appearance they vied in beauty with the nats (or angels). But foreseeing the ruin and misery that was soon to come upon them all, the Buddha exhorted his disciples to entertain a thorough contempt for things that are dazzling to the eyes, but essentially perishable and unreal in their nature.’ – Bigandet, 2nd ed., p. 260.

No preference was given to her! She got there first. The Bishop reveals his lack of understanding of proper conduct by this thinking. Also, he does not think of the possibility that this was the source of the Gospel story.

 — p.p.

^[36] Bishop Bigandet says: ‘In recording the conversion of a courtezan named Apapalika, her liberality and gifts to Budha and his disciples, and the preference designedly given to her over princes and nobles, who, humanly speaking, seemed in every respect better entitled to attentions – one is almost reminded of the conversion of ‘a woman that was a sinner,’ mentioned in the Gospels (‘Legend of the Burmese Budha,’ 2nd ed., p. 258).

^[37] The Vinaya (I, 233) says they went to the Great Wood near Vesāli, that is, it skips the context here as far as III, 64. Our sections 27-35 are in the Saɱyutta V. 152-4.

^[38] Compare Divyāvadāna 203.

^[39] Compare A. III, 69.

^[40] Compare Jātaka II, 221, 250; Mil. 144.

^[41] Vegha-missakena, the meaning of which is not clear. The Malālaṅkarā-vatthu, as rendered by Bigandet, has ‘repairs.’ The Sumangala Vilāsinī agrees, but in such a way as to throw no light on the derivation of the word. In the Saɱyutta Nikāya (V, 153) the Burmese Phayre MS. reads vekhamissakena and another Burmese MS. vedha – but SS. all read vegha. The Siamese edition has veḷu. My Dīgha Nikāya confirms Childers’s reading, which no doubt correctly represents the uniform tradition of the Ceylon MSS. On the use of the word missaka at the end of a compound see Jātaka II, 8, 420, 433; and compare M. I, 82; Thera-gāthā 143; Mil. I 59; and the discussion in J.P.T.S., 1884. pp. 97-101.

Animitta. Without Signs. The Buddha has defined his state here in terms which combine the formula for attaining the Realm of Space [Ākasa], the Cessation of Perception and Sense-Experience, [Saññā-vedayita-nirodha] and the state of Signlessness and is calling that ‘serenity of heart (or center).’ [ceto-samādhi.] Signlessness means without disturbance emanating from sense-pleasures, existence, and blindness.

 — p.p.

^[42] This is very interesting as giving what is, no doubt, the original meaning of animitta as applied to ceto-samādhi. See my Yogavacara’s Manual of Indian Mysticism. p. xxvii.

^[43] This section recurs at S. V, 163, compare III, 42, and the example given at V, 221.

^[44] Buddhaghosa says:- ‘Tamatagge is for tamagge. The “t” in the middle is used for euphony. This word means, “These are the most pre-eminent, the very chief.” Having, as above stated, broken every bond of darkness (tama), those bhikkhus of mine, Ānanda, will be at the very top, in the highest condition. They will be at the very top of whom? Those bhikkhus who are willing to learn, and those who exercise themselves in the four ways of being mindful and thoughtful, they shall be at the top of all (the rest). Thus does he make Arahantship the three-peaked height of his discourse’ (compare on this last phrase Nibbānena desanākutam gaṇhāti, Jātaka I, 275, 393, 401; and see also I, 114). Uttama, the highest (scil. bhava, condition ), is used absolutely of Arahantship or Nirvana at Jātaka I, 96; Aggaphala occurs in the same sense at Jātaka I, 114; and even Phalagga at Mahāvaɱsa XV, 209. The last words, ‘but they must be anxious to learn,’ seem to me to be an afterthought. It is only those who are thoroughly determined to work out their own salvation, without looking for safety to any one else, even to the Buddha himself, who will, whilst in the world, enter into and experience Nirvana. But, of course, let there be no mistake, merely to reject the vain baubles of the current superstitious beliefs is not enough. There is plenty to learn and to acquire, of which enough discourse is elsewhere.

^[45] 1-20 recur in A. IV, 308 foll.; 1-10 in Udāna VI, 1. and S. V, 259 foll. Compare Divy., pp. 200-8.

^[46] Shrines of pre-Buddhistic worship. They were probably trees and barrows; but as no excavations have yet been made at Vesāli the point is uncertain. The Anglo-Indian use of the word Chetiya, as equivalent to our Temple, is quite wrong.

^[47] Iddhi. The four paths are: – (1) will, ( 2) effort, (3) thought, and (4) investigation, each united to earnest thought and the struggle against evil. On the Iddhi to be reached by them see above, Vol. I, pp. 272, 273; and the translator’s ‘Buddhism,’ pp. 174-7. The whole set of participles is used elsewhere of other conditions of mind. So, for instance, of universal love (mettā) at A. V, 342, quoted Jātaka II, 61, Mil. 198. An ancient commentary on them is preserved at Paṭis. I, 172.

^[48] Yathā tam Mārena pari-y-uṭṭhita-citto. Here tam is the indeclinable particle, yathā taɱ introducing an explanation. My MS. of the Dīgha Nikāya and the Turnour MS. of the Sumangala Vilāsinī read pari-v-uṭṭhita, and either spelling is correct. The fact is that the ‘y’ or ‘v’ in such cases is even less than euphonic; it is an assistance not to the speaker, but merely to the writer. Thus in the Sinhalese duwanawā, ‘to run,’ the spoken word is duanawā, and the ‘w’ is written only to avoid the awkward use in the middle of a written word of the initial sign for the sound ‘a’. That the speakers of Pili found no difficulty in pronouncing two vowels together is abundantly proved by numerous instances. The writers of Pāli, in those cases in which the second vowel begins a word, use without hesitation the initial sign; but in the middle of the word this would be so ungainly that they naturally prefer to insert a consonantal sign to to carry the vowel sign. The varying readings I have pointed out are a strong confirmation of the correctness of the pronunciation of modern native scholars (in this case pari-uṭṭhita); and we may the more readily adopt it as the question is not really one concerning the pronunciation of Pāli, but concerning the use which modern native copyists make of their own alphabet. I would pronounce therefore pari-utthita-citto. See Windisch, ‘Māara und Buddha,’ p. 40; M. I, 433-4; Vin. II, 289; IV: 94, 229.

^[49] The words here quoted were spoken by the Buddha, after he had been enjoying the first bliss of Nirvana, under the goatherd’s Nigrodha tree (see below, ch. III, § 34).

^[50] The whole paragraph is repeated, here and below, § 35, for each of these classes of persons. [Ed.: included in this version.]

^[51] Sappaṭihāriyaɱ dhammaɱ. (Comp. the opposite idea appaṭihīra-kataɱ bhāsitaɱ, D. I, 193, 239.) The two ideas are contrasted at KV. 561.

^[52] Āyu-saɱkhāraɱ ossaji. The difficult term Āyu-saɱkhāra must here have the meaning in which it is used at Majjhima I, pp. 295, 296; Saɱyutta II, 266; Jātaka IV, 215. He renounced those tendencies, potentialities, which in the ordinary course of things, would otherwise have led to the putting together of, the building up of, more life (that is, of course, in this birth. Any more life in a future birth he had already renounced when, under the Wisdom Tree, he attained Nirvana).

^[53] This verse is obscure and possibly corrupt. See Windisch, ‘Māra und Buddha,’ pp. 37, 72; Ud. VI, 1; S. V, 263; Div. 203.

This sutta is in answer to no such thing. This is a viewpoint dependent on RD’s own views. The doctrine would have been understood: The Body is not the Self of the Buddha. To prolong it’s life beyond it’s natural life-span would need to be done with an act which could only be done by way of desire or compassion. On his own the Buddha would let the body die naturally, it would take a request such as suggested to Ānanda for him to so work things that the body would live on past it’s natural lifespan.

 — p.p.

^[54] The narrative is now interrupted by the insertion of paragraphs which at first sight seem to be quite out of place. But the connexion, or want of connexion, between them and the main story is very suggestive as to the way in which the Suttanta was put together. The whole chapter is an answer to a possible objection, either from out­siders or from weaker members of the fold, that if the Buddha were really so great why did he die at all. The suggested answer is that he could have lived on if he had so wished; but he did not wish because he had certain kinds of power and insight and self-mastery which prevented him from doing so. For the purpose of this answer these paragraphs, already in existence among the Suttas current in the community, and dealing with these powers, are here repeated without any such connecting argument as we should find under similar circumstances, in a modern (written) book of apologetics. The argument suggested by them follows exactly the same lines as that in the Mahāli Suttanta, translated in the former volume (Number VI of the ‘Dialogues’).

^[55] Windisch, ‘Māra und Buddha,’ 61, adduces a number of interesting parallels, from European writers, to this curious old theory of earthquakes.

^[56] Devatā is a fairy, god, genius, or angel. I am at a loss how to render this word without conveying an erroneous impression to those not familiar with ancient ideas, and specially with ancient Indian ideas, of the spirit world. It includes gods of all sorts; tree and river nymphs; the kindly fairies or ghosts who haunt houses (see my ‘Buddhist Birth Stories,’ Tale 40); spirits in the ground (see above, I, 26); the angels who minister at the great renunciation, the temptation, and the death of the Buddha; the guardian angels who watch over men, and towns, and countries; and many other similar beings. ‘Celestial beings’ would be wholly inapplicable, for instance, to the creatures referred to in the curious passage above (I, 26). ‘Super­human being’ would be an inaccurate rendering; for all these light and airy shapes come below, and after, man in the Buddhist order of precedence. ‘Spirit’ being used of the soul inside the human body, and of the human soul after it has left the body, and figuratively of mental faculties – none of which are included under devatā – would suggest ideas inconsistent with that of the Pāli word. As there is therefore no appropriate general word I have chosen, for each passage where the expression occurs, the word used in English of the special class more particularly referred to in the passage of the text. Here all kinds of devatās being referred to, and there being no word in English for them all, I have ventured to put the word devatā into my version, and to trouble the reader with this note.

Matthew 21 18-22: “Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, “Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.” And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, “How soon is the fig tree withered away!” Jesus answered and said unto them, “Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, ‘Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea’; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
A quote we seldom hear in context where Jesus, in wrath, has destroyed the life of a living thing and promises his disciples the power to be able to act similarly!

^[57] Buddhaghosa here tells a long story how Saṅgharakkhita Sāmaṇera, the nephew of Nāga Thera, attained Arahantship on the day of his admission to the order; and at once proceeded to heaven, and standing on the pinnacle of the palace of the king of the gods, shook the whole place with his big toe; to the great consternation and annoyance of the exalted dwellers therein! There is no doubt a real truth in the idea that deep thought can shake the universe, and make the palaces of the gods to tremble, just as faith is said in Matthew xxi. 21 to be able to remove mountains, and cause them to be cast into the sea. But these figurative expressions have, in Buddhism, become a fruitful soil for the outgrowth of superstitions and misunderstandings. The train of early Buddhist speculation in this field has yet to be elucidated.

^[58] The Bodhisatta’s voluntary incarnation is looked upon by the Buddhists as a great act of renunciation, and curious legends have gathered about it. One is that on the night when she conceived his mother dreamt that a white elephant entered her side. The account will be found at length in my ‘Buddhist Birth Stories’ (pp. 62-4), and the earthquake is there mentioned in terms identical with those in the text. As I have pointed out in ‘Buddhism’ (p. 184), the white elephant legend is one of those hallowed sun stories by which half­converted Indians strove to embellish the life-story of the Teacher whose followers they had become. In the Lalita Vistara (Calc. ed. p. 63) the entrance of the elephant into Māyā precedes the dream; but though the ignorant may have therefore accepted it as a fact, it is of course only a figure of speech – and I venture to think from the Indian standpoint, a beautiful figure of speech – to express the incarnation of divine mildness and majesty in a human form. The use of such a figure is not confined to India. In one of the Apocryphal Gospels, the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the incarnation of the divine gentleness and love is expressed by saying that a dove from heaven ‘entered into’ the human form.

^[59] Windisch, ‘Māra und Buddha,’ p. 75, makes this number refer to the number of entrances, and quotes Itivuttaka, p. 15, in support. The Singhalese version (p. 758) is as above.

Childers, sub voce nirodha: There are nine Anupubba-nirodhas or “successive cessations, representing nine successive stages of Jhāna or mystic meditation. The first is the cessation of kama-saññā by the attainment of the 1st Jhāna, the second is the cesstion of vitakka-vicārā by the attainment of the 2nd Jhāna, the third is the cessation of pīti by the attainment of the 3rd Jhāna, the fourth is the cessation of assāsa-passāsā, viz. respiration, by the attainment of the 4th Jhāna, the fifth is the cerssation of rūpa-saññā, “consciousness of form,” by the attainment of ākās-ā-nañc’āyatanaɱ, the sixth is the cessation of ākās-ā-ñc’āyatana-saññā by the attainmeent of viññāṇ-a-ṇc’āyatanaɱ, the seventh is the cessation of viññāṇ-a-ṇc’āyatana-saññā by the attainment of ākiñcaññ’āyatanaɱ, the eighth is the cessation of ākiñcaññ’āyatana-saññā by the attainment of n’eva-saññā-nā-saññ’āyatanaɱ, the ninth is the cessation of saññā and vedanā by the attainment of saññā-vedayita-nirodho.

 — p.p.

^[60] This and the next paragraph are based upon the Buddhist belief as to the long-vexed question between the Indian schools who represented more or less closely the European Idealists and Realists. When cleared of the many repetitions inserted for the benefit of the repeaters or reciters, the fundamental idea seems to be that the great necessity is to get rid of the delusion that what one sees and feels is real and permanent. Nothing is real and permanent but character.
The so-called eight Positions of Mastery are merely an expansion of the first two of the following eight Stages of Deliverance, and the whole argument is also expressed in another form in the passage on the nine successive ‘Cessations,’ of which an abstract will be found in Childers, sub voce nirodha.

“…made somewhat fuller”. Unfortunately also introducing ideas not found in the Pali: e.g.: reaching [mentally] … remaining ‘in the state of mind in which the idea of the infinity of space is the only idea that is present.” Also, the idea is not ‘infinity’ but ‘endlessness’.

 — p.p.

^[61] These have already occurred in the Mahā Nidāna (p. 70 of the text). The English version here is made somewhat fuller.

^[62] On these technical terms see Mrs. Rhys Davids’s ‘Buddhist Psychology,’ pp. 72, 182, 204.

I will explain: The idea in the previous paragraphs was the statement that had Ānanda requested him to live, he would have done so, but that now that he has declared the renunciation of the remainder of his life it would make his renunciation a lie if he changed his mind. What the Tathāgata’s say is what they mean.

 — p.p.

^[63] I do not understand the connexion of ideas between this paragraph and the idea repeated with such tedious iteration in the preceding paragraphs. The two seem to be in marked contrast, if not in absolute contradiction. Perhaps we have here the older tradition; and certainly this paragraph is more in accordance with the general impression of the character, and with the other sayings, of Gotama as handed down in the Pāli Piṭakas.

^[64] Dhamma and vinaya. The Buddhist religion, as just summarized, and the regulations of the Order.

^[65] It is of great interest to notice what are the points upon which Gotama, in this last address to his disciples, and at the solemn time, when death was so near at hand, is reported to have lain such emphatic stress. Unfortunately we have only a fragment of the address, and, as it would seem from its commencement, only the closing fragment. This, however, is in the form of a summary, consisting of an enumeration of certain aggregates, the details of which must have been as familiar to the early Buddhists as the details of similar numerical terms-such as the ten commandments, the twelve tribes, the seven deadly sins, the four gospels, and so on – afterwards were to the Christians. This summary of the Buddha’s last address may fairly be taken as a summary of Buddhism, which thus appears to be simply a system of earnest self-culture and self-control.
The following are the details of the aggregate technical terms used in the above summary, but it will be understood that the English equivalents used give rather a general than an exact representation of the ideas expressed by the Pāli ones. To attempt more would demand a treatise rather than a note.

The four Earnest Meditations are:

1. Meditation on the body.
2. Meditation on the sensations.
3. Meditation on the ideas.
4. Meditation on reason and character.

The. fourfold Great Struggle against evil is divided into:

1. The struggle to prevent evil arising.
2. The struggle to put away evil states which have arisen.
3. The struggle to produce goodness not previously existing.
4. The struggle to increase goodness when it does exist.

The four Roads to Saintship are four means by which Iddhi (see above, § 3, note) is to be acquired. They are:

1. The will to acquire it united to earnest meditation and the struggle against evil.
2. The necessary exertion united to earnest meditation and the struggle against evil.
3. The necessary preparation of the heart united to earnest medita­tion and the struggle against evil.
4. Investigation united to earnest meditation and the struggle against evil.

The difference between the balāni and the indriyāni is that the former is subjective power as perceived and used by the individual where the latter are objective forces. They are said to be identical from one perspective, two separate things from another perspective as with a river divided by an island.

 — p.p.

The five moral powers (balāni) are said to be the same as the next class, called organs (indriyāni). It is no doubt most remarkable that, in a summary like this, two classes out of seven should be absolutely identical except in name. The difference of name is altogether too unimportant to account, by itself, for the distinction made. Either the currently accepted explanation of one of the two aggregate terms must be incorrect, or we must look for some explanation of the repetition other than the mere desire to record the double title. Is it impossible that the one class was split into two to bring the number of the classes up to the sacred number seven, corresponding to the seven Ratanas of a Cakkavatti?

The details of both classes are:

1. Faith.
2. Energy.
3. Thought.
4. Contemplation.
5. Wisdom.

Satta Saɱbojjhanga. Seven angles or dimensions of Self-Awakening. They are not separate ‘wisdoms’ but are the various branches of practice which must be developed for awakening. #4 is not only investigation of ‘Scripture’, but of all sorts of ‘things’ (dhamma).

 — p.p.

The seven kinds of Wisdom are:

1. Energy.
2. Thought.
3. Contemplation.
4. Investigation (of Scripture).
5. Joy.
6. Repose.
7. Serenity.

#5 is not livelihood, but lifestyle. It is living with the idea of letting go of what one perceives to be of a low style of life and accepting what remains as high lifestyle. RD has translated #8, samādhi, here as ‘rapture’ where above for his ‘kinds of Wisdom’ #6 he has translated it ‘Repose’. The problem is with #s 5 and 7 in that list, which should be ‘impassivity’ and ‘detachment’ respectively, so that in that list there is a progressive sequence: impassivity, serenity, detachment and in ‘the Eightfold Path’ the sequence goes from effort, setting up the mind, serenity. Serenity is then defined or supplemented with the idea of knowledge and detachment.

 — p.p.

The Aryan Eightfold Path consists of:

1. Right views.
2. High aims.
3. Right speech.
4. Upright conduct.
5. A harmless livelihood.
6. Perseverance in well-doing.
7. Intellectual activity.
8. Right rapture.

^[66] Nāgāpalokitaɱ Vesāliyaɱ apaloketvā. The Buddhas were accustomed, says Buddhaghosa, on looking backwards to turn the whole body round as an elephant does; because the bones in their neck were firmly fixed, more so than those of ordinary men!

^[67] Or Conditions (Dhamma). They must, of course, be carefully distinguished from the better known Four Noble Truths above, p. 96.

I suspect these verses were originally to be spoken by and credited to the repeater or story-teller, or ‘teacher’ to his audience/students.

 — p.p.

^[68] This is merely a stock phrase for introducing verses which repeat the idea of the preceding phrase (see above, paragraph 32). It is an instructive sign of the state of mind in which such records are put together, that these verses could be ascribed to Gotama himself with­out any feeling of the incongruity involved.

^[69] The last word, Parinibbuto, was misunderstood by Childers. It is used in the Nikāyas of living persons in the sense of set free (from evil), at peace. In one passage (M. I, 446) it is even used of a living horse. In all of these passages Childers’s rendering ‘extinguished, extinct, dead’ would be quite inexplicable. Such passages are Majjhima I, 45, 235, 251; II, 102; Thera-gāthā 5, 7, 8, 9, etc.; Sutta Nipāta 359, 758; Saɱyutta III, 26, 54; Itivuttaka 52, 56; Dhammapada 89. The same usage is still found in later books (Milinda 50; Jātaka IV, 303, 453). But, just as in the somewhat analogous Christian expression entered into rest, the word (still in its ordinary meaning as above) is once or twice used, figuratively, of Arahants who have died. They are at peace, set free. There is no word in the Buddhist phrase corresponding to the Christian ‘entered.’ The Buddhists never say entered into Nirvana of a deceased person. So far as I know the phrase occurs only once (Sutta Nipāta 514), and then it is used of a living person.

^[70] The meaning of mah-ā-padesa is not quite clear. Perhaps it should be rendered ‘true authorities.’ I have followed Buddhaghosa in taking apadesa as the last part of the compound. He says: – mahāpadesā ti mahā-okāse mahā-apadese vā. Buddhādayo mahante mahante apadisitva vuttāni mahākaranāni ti attho, ‘the causes (authorities) alleged when referring to Buddha and other great men.’ Mr. Samarasekara takes it as mahā-padesa.

^[71] I ought perhaps to have explained why I have ventured to differ from Childers in the rendering of the common word patisunāti. The root √ru seems to have meant ‘to sound’ before it meant ‘to hear’; and, whether this be so or not, pati-sunāti means not simply ‘to consent,’ but ‘to answer (assentingly).’ It has been pointed out to me that answer was formerly andswerian where swerian is probably not unrelated to the root svar, ‘to sound.’

^[72] Sutte otāretabbāni vinaye sandassetabbāni, where one would expect to find the word Piṭaka if it had been in use when this passage was first written or composed.

The much more likely story here is that, for those who are not afraid of magic, this meal was infused with great power by the gods and could only be digested by the Buddha because of his great powers. He was already ill and had renounced the remainder of his life so it was time and had nothing to do with the meal.

 — p.p.

^[73] Sūkara-maddava. See the note in my translation of the Milinda (1890), Vol. I, p. 244. Dr. Hoey informs me that the peasantry in these districts are still very fond of a bulbous root, a sort of truffle, found in the jungle, and called sūkara-kanda. Mr. K.E. Neumann, in his translation of the Majjhima (1896), p. xx, has collected several similar instances of truffle-like roots, or edible plants, having such names. The Sinhalese translation of the Dīgha (London and Colombo, 1905), p. 796, simply repeats the Pāli word. Buddhists do not attach much importance to the point. They have been mostly vegetarians, and are increasingly so. But their scheme of ethics works from within; and the Buddha expressly refused, in the case of Devadatta’s schism, to lay down any hard and fast rule as to abstinence from flesh as food. It is perhaps of importance that the food prepared by Chunda and eaten by the Buddha is called Bhatta (below, § 21): this is not used elsewhere of meat.

^[74] ‘It should be understood,’ says Buddhaghosa, ‘that these are verses by the Theras who held the council.’ And he repeats this at §§ 38, 41. These here seem to be two different versifications of the same legend.

^[75] This is a most unusual way of speaking of the Buddha. In the Suttantas believers are represented as addressing him as bhante, lord or sir (the same form as that used by junior members of the Order in addressing their seniors); and as speaking of him by the epithet Bhagavā the Exalted One. Unbelievers address him as bho Gotama, and speak of him as the Samaṇa Gotama.

^[76] The Pukkusas were one of the despised tribes. Compare M. II, 152; A. II, 85; PP. IV, 19; Jāt. IV, 205, 306; Lalita Vistara XXI, 17. But Buddhaghosa says Pukkusa must here be simply a name, as the Mallas were Khattiyas. He adds that this Pukkusa was the owner of the five hundred carts that had just passed by; and that Aḷāra Kālāma was called Aḷāra because he was Dīgha-pingalo, Kālāma being his family name.

^[77] This is a stock phrase constituting the final answer of a hitherto unconverted man at the end of one of those argumentative dialogues by which Gotama overcame opposition or expounded the truth. After a discussion of exalted themes it fits in very appropriately; here and elsewhere it is incongruous and strained. See below, V, 50.

^[78] To understand what is here represented to have happened one must understand the mode in which the Buddhist Wanderers wore their robes. There was no tailoring at all. The set of three robes was simply three lengths of cotton cloth about a yard wide. One piece, folded in half, was wrapped round the body. Another piece covered the limbs from the waist to the ankles. It was supported by a girdle and went three or four times round. The third piece was put on over this last, went twice round the legs) and then the rest of it was thrown over the left shoulder, and passed under the right arm across the body. See below, ch. V, § 19.
Pukkusa had placed the two lengths of cloth, shawl-wise, over the shoulders of the recipients. When he left them Ānanda assisted the Buddha to put them on as Nos. 1 and 3 of a set of robes.

He does not suspect the possibility of … influence.

 — p.p.

^[79] We have here the commencement of the legend which afterwards grew into an account of an actual ‘transfiguration’ of the Buddha. It is very curious that it should have taken place soon after the Buddha had announced to Ānanda his approaching death, and that in the Buddhist Sutta it should be connected so closely with that event; for a similar remark applies also to the Transfiguration mentioned in the Gospels.

^[80] Here, and above pp. 137-9, we have spelt the name of the smith, in English, as it is pronounced in Pāli, and should be pronounced in English.

^[81] According to the commentator ‘tradition says that there was a row of Sāla trees at the head (sīsa) of that couch, and another at its foot, one young Sāla tree being close to its head, and another close to its foot. The twin Sāla trees were so called because the two trees were equally grown in respect of the roots, trunks, branches, and leaves. There was a couch there in the park for the special use of the (periodically elected) chieftin of the Mallas, and it was this couch which the Exalted One asked Ānanda to make ready.’
There is no further explanation of the term uttara-sīsakaɱ, which may have been the name for a slab of wood or stone reserved on great occasions for the use of the leaders of the neighbouring republic, but available at other times for passers-by.

^[82] We have here the unusual case of the Buddha being called Tathāgata, not by himself, but by a third person, the compiler of the Suttanta. The paragraph is perhaps moulded by inadvertence on the next one. But see § 10. Compare the note above on IV, 25.

^[83] Buddhaghosa explains that even twenty to sixty angels or gods (devatāyo) could stand āragga-koṭi-nittūdana- (MS. nittaddana-) matte pi, ‘on a point pricked by the extreme point of a gimlet,’ without inconveniencing one another (aññam aññam avyābādhenti). It is most curious to find this exact analogy to the notorious discussion as to how many angels could stand on the point of a needle in a commentary written at just that period of Buddhist history which corresponds to the Middle Ages of Christendom. The passage in the text does not really imply or suggest any such doctrine, though the whole episode is so absurd that the author of the text could not have hesitated to say so, had such an idea been the common belief of the early Buddhists. With these sections should be compared the similar sections in Chapter VI, of which these are perhaps merely an echo.
There is no comment on nittūdana, but there can be little doubt that Childers’s conjectural reading is correct.

^[84] It is literally, ‘the Eye in the world will vanish away,’ where Eye is of course used figuratively of that by the aid of which spiritual truths can be perceived, corresponding exactly to the similar use in Europe of the word Light. The Master is often called ‘He with the Eye,’ ‘He of the Spiritual Eye’ (see, for instance, the last verses in this Book), and here by a bold figure of speech he is called the Eye itself, which was shortly about to vanish away from the world, the means of spiritual insight which was no longer to be available for the common use of all men. But this is, it will be noticed, only the lament of the foolish and ignorant.

^[85] The words in brackets have been inserted from par. III, 48 above. See par. VI, 19 below.

^[86] This conversation occurs also below (VI, 17), and the older tradition probably had it only in that connexion.

^[87] King of kings is an adequate rendering of the ‘King of the Rolling Wheel,’ the wheels of whose chariot roll unhindered through the land; that is to say, a king whose power no other king can dispute, who is an acknowledged overlord. The idea, which is explained very fully in the next Suttanta, may have arisen with the rise of the Kosala power; but it may also be later. If we could trace its history it would afford us a guide to the date at which the Mahā Parinibbāna Suttanta assumed its present form.

^[88] Buddhaghosa explains this passage thus: – ‘As Benares cloth, by reason of its fineness of texture, does not take the oil, he therefore says: – “with vihata cotton wool,” that is, with cotton wool that has been well forced asunder.’ The technical use of the word, as applied to cotton wool, has only been found in this passage. It usually means ‘torn’ with grief.

^[89] Ayasāya tela-doṇiyā, where one would expect āyasāya, but my MS. of the Dīgha Nikāya confirms twice over here, and twice again below (VI, 33, 35) the reading given by Childers. Buddhaghosa says the word here means gold. Ayas was originally used for bronze, and only later for iron also, and at last exclusively of iron. As kaɱsa is already a common word for bronze in very early Buddhist Pāli texts. I think āyasa (not ayasa) would here mean ‘of iron.’ When Buddha­ghosa says it is here a name for gold, we can only conclude that iron had become, in his time, a metal which he might fairly consider too base for the purpose proposed. The whole process as described is not very intelligible; and one might suppose that ayasa after all had nothing to do with any metal, and was a technical term descriptive of some particular size or shape or colour of oil vessel. But it is frequently found in the MSS. when iron is clearly meant. Thus in the popular verse at Saɱyutta I, 77 on which a Jātaka is based (II, 140), which is inserted in the ‘Anthologies’ (Dhammapada 345, Khar. MS. No. 102), and twice quoted in the Netti (35, 153), the MSS. have both forms in spite of the metre favouring the long vowel. In this passage both Paññānanda’s Colombo edition of 1877, and Samarasekara’s version (Col. and Lond. 1905) have the short vowel only.

 

^[90] Thūpa. A solid mound or tumulus or barrow, in the midst of which the bones and ashes are to be placed. The dome of St. Paul’s as seen from the Thames Embankment gives a very good idea of one of the later of these Buddhist monumental mounds.

Pacceka-buddho. This is not precisely correct. The Pacceka-Buddhas are able to teach Dhamma as they understand it, but do not have the knowledge or training or charisma or inclination to teach and inspire great numbers of people.

 — p.p.

^[91] Pacceka-buddho. One who has attained to the supreme and perfect insight; but dies without proclaiming the truth to the world.

^[92] The expression that Ānanda went ‘into the Vihara’ at the end of a conversation represented as having taken place in the Sāla Grove, would seem to point to the fact that this episode originally stood in some other connexion. Buddhaghosa attempts to explain away the discrepancy by saying that Vihara here means Maṇḍala. As the spot was the place for the performance of the communal ceremonies of the clan there was most likely a Maṇḍala there, and there must, from the context below, § 25), have been also some small closed-in building, a hut or cottage. It is only this latter that could have been called a Vihāra.

^[93] Ānanda had entered the Noble Path, but had not yet reached the end of it. He had not attained to Nirvana.

^[94] Advayena, which Buddhaghosa explains as not being that kind of love which is now one thing and now another, or which varies in the presence or the absence of the object loved.

^[95] That is, you too shall become an Arahant, shall attain Nirvana in this life.

^[96] A word has here slipped out of the text, medhāvī should stand before jānāti.

^[97] From here down to the end of section 18 is found also, nearly word for word, in the beginning of the Mahā-Sudassana Suttanta, translated below.

^[98] Kuḍḍa-nagarake ti paṭirūpake sambādhe khuddakanagare. Uggangala-nagarake ti visama-nagarake (S. V, fol. thau) Kuḍḍa, if this explanation be right, seems to be merely an old and unusual form for kshudra, and the Burmese correction into khudda to be unnecessary: but I venture to think it is more likely to be = kuḍya, and to mean a wall built of mud and sticks, or what is called in India, of wattle and daub. When Buddhaghosa explains uggangala as ‘lawless,’ he is expressing his view that a town in the jungle is likely to be a heathen, pagan sort of place.

Childers: Mahāsālo: A man of great wealth and position, a magnate [मइ।श।ल]. The prominent characteristic of a mahāsāla being enormous wealth, the latter part of the compound came to be confounded with sāra, and the vṛitti on the 20th rule of Kaccāyana gives mahāsala as an example of the change of r into l.

 — p.p.

^[99] With reference to Childers’s note in his Dictionary on mahāsālā, with which every one must entirely agree, Buddhaghosa’s explanation of the word will be interesting as a proof (if proof be needed) that the Ceylon scholars are not always trustworthy. He says: – Khattiya­mahāsālā ti khattiya-mahāsārā, sārapattā mahākhattiyā. Eso nayo sabbatha.

^[100] Literally ‘Put on his under-garment, and taking his upper­garment and his bowl, etc.’ This sounds complicated; and why should he take his bowl? The Wanderers when at their lodging places on their travels lived (naturally in that beautiful climate) in undress-with only one robe on, the one from the waist to the feet. When they set out for the village on a visit, or on any ceremonious occasion, they put on the second robe, and (just as a European often carries his great-coat on his arm) carried the third with them. At some convenient spot near the village they would put this also on, and enter – so to speak – in full canonicals. And the bowl belonged to, formed part of, their official costume. See J. I, 55; III, 379; Sum. I, 45, 186; and the note above on Ch. IV, § 37, p. 145.

^[101] Kenakid eva karaṇīyena. Professor Pischel, in his edition of the Assalāyana Sutta (p. 1), prints this expression kenaki devakaraṇīyena, and translates it (p. 28), ‘for some religious purpose.’ It seems to me that he has been misled by the commentary, which really presupposes the more correct division.

^[102] Samaṇa-brāhmaṇa, which compound may possibly mean Samanas and Brāhmanas as it has usually been rendered, but I think not necessarily. Not one of those here specified were brahmins by birth, as is apparent from the Sumangala Vilāsinī on the Sāmañña­Phala Suttanta, §§ 3-7. Compare the use of Kshatriya-brahmano, a soldier priest,’ a Kshatriya who offered sacrifice; and of Brahmano, absolutely, as an epithet of an Arahant. In the use of the word samaṇa there seems to me to be a hopeless confusion between, a complete mingling of the meanings of, the two roots √ram and √am (which, in Pāli, would both become sam). It connotes both asceticism and inward peace, and might best be rendered ‘devotee,’ were it not for the intellectual inferiority implied by that word in our language. A Samaṇa-brahmin should therefore mean a man of any birth, who by his saintliness of life, by his renunciation of the world, and by his reputation as a religious thinker, had acquired the position of a quasi­brahmin and was looked up to by the people with as much respect as they looked up to a brahmin by birth. Compare further my ‘Buddhist Birth Stories.’ Vol. I, p. 260; and see J. I, 57, 187; M. I. 285-6, 400; II, 54; A. I, 180; III, 228.

^[103] On these degrees in the religious life, see M. I, 63; A. II, 238). They are described in my ‘Buddhism’ (21st ed., pp. 108 foll.).

^[104] Arahants are those who have reached Nirvana, the ‘supreme goal, the highest fruit’ of the Aryan Eightfold Path. To live ‘the Life that’s Right’ (sammā) is to live in the Noble Path, each of the eight divisions of which is to be sammā, round, right and perfect, normal and complete. To live right (sammā) is therefore to have:­ (1) Right views, free from superstition; (2) right aims, high and worthy of the intelligent and earnest man; (3) right speech, kindly, open, truthful; (4) right conduct, in all concerns of life; (5) right livelihood, bringing hurt or danger to no living thing; (6) right perseverance, in all the other seven; (7) right mindfulness, the watchful, active mind; (8) right contemplation, earnest thought on the deep mysteries of life. In each of these the word right is sammā, and the whole paragraph being on the Aryan Path, the allusion is certainly to this central doctrine of the Buddhist Dhamma.
Buddhaghosa says that bhikkhu sammā viharati, who, having himself entered the Aryan Path, leads his brother into it, and this is, no doubt, good Buddhism. But it is a practical application of the text, a theological exegesis, and not a philological explanation. Even so it seems to lay the stress too much on ‘bereft,’ and too little on ‘Arahants.’

^[105] Literally ‘There is no samaṇa.’ See note on § 26. I have followed, though with some doubt, Childers’s punctuation. Buddhaghosa refers padesa-vatti to samaṇo; and ito, not to padesa, but to magga, understood; and it is quite possible that this is the correct explanation. On samādhikāni see the comment at Jātaka II, 383: [⁵ samīdhītāni, B^d smadhikāni.] Watters, ‘On Yüan Chwāng,’ II, 33. and Ed. Hardy, ‘Buddhismus.’ p. 44. Both Paññananda and Samarasekhara render it as above.

^[106] That is, Nirvana. Compare Mangala Sutta 10. 11, and the Dhammapada, verses 180, 354, and above, Chap. I, § 7.

^[107] Buddhaghosa says that the last five words in the text (the last twelve words in my translation) were added by the Theras who held the Council. On Subhadda’s ordination he has the following interesting note: – ‘The Thera (that is, Ānanda), they say, took him on one side, poured water over his head from a water vessel, made him repeat the formula of meditation on the impermanency of the body (see my ‘Buddhist Birth Stories,’ p. 161), shaved off his hair and beard, clad him in the yellow robes, made him repeat the “Three Refuges,” and led him back to the Exalted One. The Exalted One himself admitted him then into the higher rank of the brotherhood, and pointed out to him a subject for meditation (kamma-ṭ-ṭhāna). He accepted this. and walking up and down in a quiet part of the grove, he thought and meditated upon it, till overcoming the Evil Spirit, he had acquired Arahantship, and with it the discriminating knowledge of all the Scriptures (Paṭisambhidā). Then, returning, he came and took his seat beside the Exalted One.’
According to this, no set ceremony for ordination (Saṅgha­kammaɱ), as laid down in the Vinaya, took place; and it is otherwise probable that no such ceremony was usual in the earliest days of Buddhism.

^[108] Bhante or āyasmā. This question has been fully discussed by Prof. Franke in the ‘Journal of the Pāli Text Society,’ 1908.

^[109] According to tradition (trans. by Rhys Davids and Oldenberg, ‘Vinaya Texts,’ III, 377 foll.) the Order considered this matter shortly after the Buddha’s death, and declined to avail themselves of this permission. As to what these lesser precepts were see Rhys Davids. ‘Questions of King Milinda,’ I, 202 foll.

^[110] This brother is represented as an obstinate, perverse man; so destitute of the proper esprit de corps that he dared to take part with the sisterhood, and against the brotherhood, in a dispute which had arisen between them. But after the social penalty here referred to had been duly imposed upon him, even his proud and independent spirit was tamed; he became humble; his eyes were opened; and he, also, attained to the ‘supreme goal’ of the Buddhist faith. (The passages are shown in the index to ‘Vinaya Texts.’)

^[111] Comp. D. II. 287.

^[112] Compare above, Chap. II, § 7. By ‘the most backward’ according to Buddhaghosa, the Exalted One referred to Ānanda, and he said this to encourage him.

^[113] The full text and an explanation of this Rapture will be found in the translator’s ‘Buddhism,’ pp. 174-6.

^[114] Compare above, Chap. III, § 33. p. 119.

^[115] These nine states are called in the Milinda, p. 176, the nine Anupubba-Vihāras. We have therefore, in this list, a technical, scholastic, attempt to describe the series of ideas involved in what was considered the highest thought. No one, of course, can have known what actually did occur; and the eight boundary lines between the nine states are purely conjectural.

^[116] Brahmā, the first cause, the highest result of Indian theological speculation, the one God of the Indian Pantheists, is represented as using expressions full of deep allusions to the most characteristic Buddhist doctrines. The Samussaya is the result of the temporary collocation of the ‘aggregations’ (khandha) of mental and material qualities which give to each being (bhūto, that is, man, animal, god, ghost, fairy, or what not) its outward and visible shape, its individuality. Loka is here not the world in our sense, but the ‘locality’ in the Buddhist universe which such an individual occupies until it is dissolved. (Comp. Chap. II, §§ 12, 26.) Brahmā appears therefore as a veritable Doctor in theology, and I have been obliged to expand the translation to bring out all the meaning in the text.

^[117] On this celebrated verse see below the Introduction to Mahā­Sudassana-Suttanta. It must be the original of the first verse in the Chinese work, Fa Kheu Pi Hu (Beal, Dhammapada, p. 32), though it is there so changed that every clause has lost its point.

Whatever exists is without endurance,
And hence the terms ‘flourishing’ and ‘decaying.’
A man is born, and then he dies.
Oh, the happiness of escaping from this condition!’

The very meaning which is here the most essential connotation of saṅkhāra is lost in the phrase ‘whatever exists.’ By a misapprehension of the, no doubt, difficult word Dhamma, which, however, never means ‘term,’ the second clause has lost its point. And by a grammatical blunder the third clause in the Chinese confines the doctrine, erroneously, to man. In a Chinese tale, called Ngan shih niu, translated by Mr. Beal, in the ‘Indian Antiquary’ for May, 1880, the following verses occur; and they are possibly another reflection of this stanza:

‘All things that exist are transitory,
They must of necessity perish and disappear;
Though joined together, there must be separation;
Where there is life there must be death.’

Compare the constantly repeated phrase: – ‘Whatsoever hath an origin, in that is inherent the necessity of dissolution.’ The perception of this is emphatically called the Eye for the Truth; and the doctrine is referred to in the next section.

^[118] In these four stanzas we seem to have the way in which the death of the Buddha would be regarded, as the early Buddhist thought, by four representative persons – the exalted God of the theologians; the Jupiter of the multitude (allowing in the case of each of these for the change in character resulting from their conversion to Buddhism); the holy, thoughtful Arahant; and the loving, childlike disciple.

^[119] Nearly = V, § 6; and below, VI, 19.

^[120] Ugghāyanti. I have followed the reading of my own MS., which is confirmed by the Sumangala Vilāsinī and the Mālālaṅkara­vatthu. Vigghāyanti, which Childers reads, would be questionable Buddhism. The spirits do not become extinct; that is, not as a general rule, as would be implied by the absolute statement: – ‘Even the spirits, brethren, become extinct.’ It is no doubt true that all spirits, from the lowest to the highest, from the most insignificant fairy to the God of theological speculation, are regarded as temporary. But when they cease to exist as gods or spirits (devatā), they do not go out, they are not extinguished (vigghāayanti); they continue to exist in some other form. And though that other form would, from the European point of view, be a different being, as there would be no continuity of consciousness, no passage of a ‘soul’ from the one to the other; it would, from the Buddhist point of view, be the same being, as it would be the resultant effect of the same Karma. There would follow on the death of a devatā, not extinction, but a transmutation of force, a transmigration of character, a passing on, an inheritance of Karma. Only in the exceedingly rare case of an anāgāmin, of which an instance will be found above Chap. II, § 7, could it be said that a spirit becomes extinct.
The expression ‘of worldly mind,’ here and above in V, 6, is in Pāli paṭhavi-saññiniyo, an ambiguous phrase which has only as yet been found in this connexion. The word is here opposed to vītarāga, ‘free from passion,’ and I have therefore taken it in a spiritual sense. There is another possibility, viz. that it is used in an intellectual sense, ‘making the idea of earth present to their mind’; and this would be in accordance with the use of saññi in the Kasiṇa meditations, in which spirits, like men, were supposed to indulge; see Dīgha II, 108. But how easily, especially in Buddhism, the intellectual merges into the religious may be seen from such a Kasiṇa phrase as maraṇa-saññino, used at Mahāvaɱsa V, 159, of good men.

^[121] See the end of the first paragraph of this section.

^[122] The dress of the Mallas consisted probably of mere lengths of muslin or cotton cloth; and a suit of apparel consisted of two or, at the outside, of three of these – one to wrap around the loins, one to throw over the shoulders, and one to use as a turban. To make a canopy on occasions of state they would join such pieces together; to make the canopy into a tent they would simply add walls of the same material; and the only decoration, as simple as it is beautiful, would be wreaths of flowers, or single lotuses, hanging from the roof, or stretched along the sides. Every civil servant travelling on duty in remote districts in Ceylon has such a tent or canopy put up for him by the peasantry.

One can see that the issue is respect versus superstition. Precisely how this worked is speculation on my part, but I propose that to take the body, keeping it outside the village, to the South of the village, where executions took place and the charnal ground lay would be disrespectful. The respectful thing was to exit via the East gate, towards the rising sun. To exit the East gate the village would need to be entered. To enter via the south gate would provoke superstitions (rise of the dead, allowing in spirits of the dead, etc.), as possibly would entering by way of the West gate (the setting sun, possibly just psychologically depressing), therefore they chose the North gate.

 — p.p.

^[123] The point of this interesting legend is that that the inhabitants of an lndian village of that time would have considered it a desecration or pollution to bring a dead body into or through their village. Authorities differ as to the direction in which it should be taken to avoid this. The old custom, according to Caland (p. 23) was to take it to the East or the West. Later priestly books (Manu, for instance, V, 92) say to the North. The Mallas wanted to go to the South. The remedy proposed by the spirits who are shocked at this impropriety, is more shocking still.

^[124] Compare Chap. V, §§ 11, 12.

^[125] An Ājīvaka. See the note above at Vol. I, p. 71.

Plus the last convert, Subhadda was 1. in Kusinārā already, and 2. had not been in the order long enough to have felt any such complaints. It is wonderful magic that the last convert should be a relative of the first!

 — p.p.

^[126] At p. xxvi of the Introduction to his edition of the Vinaya, Prof. Oldenberg identifies this Subhdda with Subhadda the last convert, mentioned above at the end of Chap. V. They are different persons; the last convert being represented as a man of high character, incapable of the conduct here ascribed to this Subhadda. The last convert was a brahmin, traditionally supposed to be younger brother to Aññā Kondañña, the first convert; this Subhadda had been a barber in the village Ātumā.

^[127] It is possible that we have here the survival of some ancient custom. Spence Hardy appropriately refers to a ceremony among Jews (of what place or time is not mentioned) in the following terms: ­ ‘Just before a Jew is taken out of the house to be buried, the relatives and acquaintances of the departed stand round the coffin; when the feet are uncovered; and each in rotation lays hold of the great toes, and begs pardon for any offence given to the deceased, and requests a favourable mention of them in the next world’ (‘Manual of Buddhism,’ p. 348).
The Buddhist bhikkhus in Siam and the great majority of those in Ceylon (the adherents of the Siyam-samāgama) always keep one shoulder uncovered. It is evident that the bhikkhus in Burma and those in Ceylon, who belong to the Amara-pura-samāgama, arc more in accordance with ancient custom in wearing the robe ordinarily over both shoulders.

‘sālā’ = ‘room’ which at one time meant ‘domain’ or ‘sphere of influence’. And it was believed that the land rested on water, hence it’s ‘domain’ was under the earth.

 — p.p.

^[128] There is something very quaint in the way in which the faithful Mallas are here represented as bringing coals to Newcastle. The ‘storehouse of the waters’ is in Pāli udaka-sālā, on which Buddhaghosa has two theories: first, that the Sāla trees around shed down a miraculous rain from their trunks and branches and leaves; and next, that the waters burst up from the earth and became as it were a diadem of crystal round the pyre. On the belief that water thus burst up miraculously through the earth, see ‘Buddhist Birth Stories,’ pp. 64, 67. If the reading be correct it is scarcely possible that sālā can here have anything to do with Sāla trees; but the other interpretation is open to the objections that sālā means an open hall rather than a storehouse, and that the belief in a ‘storehouse of water’ has not, as yet, been found elsewhere.

^[129] Here again the commentator expands and adds to the comparatively simple version of the text.

^[130] Here closes Buddhaghosa’s long and edifying commentary. He has no note on the following Verses, which he says were added by Theras in Ceylon. The additional verse found in the Phayre MS. was in the same way probably added in Burma.

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^[ed1] Here abridged sections have been expanded. Hereafter they will be expanded as indicated without special notice.

^[ed2]Yā tattha devatā assu tāsaɱ dakkhiṇam ādise As translated by RD this contradicts [MN 35]. There is no support for the idea of transfer of merit here. Walsh translates: ‘Whatever devas there are who report this offering.’ The devas are often shown to pass word of the merits of some good person.

^[ed3] RD has this section as an attribute of the members of the Order. However these are the virtues the individual is to see in himself to understand he is a Stream-entrant. Walsh notes this and has it correctly as such.

^[ed4] ‘further’.

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