Buddhism
BUDDHISM IN TRANSLATIONS
Passages Selected from the Buddhist Sacred Booksand Translated from the Original Pâli into English byHenry Clarke WarrenPublished by Harvard University Press {1896}Buddhism in Translationsby Henry Clarke Warren (1896)
A often-cited scholarly anthology of translations of key Theravada Buddhist documents.
This book was translated and edited by Henry Clarke Warren (1854-1899), and published in 1896 as Volume III of the Harvard Oriental Series. As such, it (like The Sacred Books of the East) suffers from some of the deficiencies of Victorian-era translations, mainly: intentionally archaic phrasing (although not as much as is found in many books), versification that today strikes us as stilted (if not downright bad), and translations of some Buddhist technical terms that may show a lack of understanding for the subtleties of Buddhist thought (very notably, the use of the word 'priest' instead of 'monk' to translate 'bhikku', which is not at all a subtle distinction) and have been superceded in more modern translations. Also, it is an anthology of excerpts from various Pâli sources, and as such, it subjects us to Warren's judgment as to what is important to read.All that being said, however, it is still a quite worthwhile book, and a fine introduction to the vast range of Pâli Buddhist literature. The translations are of a high quality given their time period, and many of the excerpts are of good size, including a number of complete texts. While it may not be suitable for use as devotional text or scholarly reference, it does have value in its own right. Some of the material included (especially the excerpts from the Visudddhi Magga) is not available in any other public domain sources, and at a mere 496 pp. it is concise introduction to the major ideas of Theravada . A second table of contents for the book has also been provided, reorganizing the material according to the original sources.This text was reduced to HTML by Christopher M. Weimer, February 2002, revised July 2002. The entire markup package is hereby made free for any noncommercial use.
CONTENTS
Abbreviations
{The Three Characteristics}
General Introduction xi
CHAPTER I.
THE BUDDHA.
Introductory Discourse
§ 1. The Story of Sumedha
2. A List of former Buddhas
3. The Characteristics of a Future Buddha
4. The Birth of The Buddha
5. The young Gotamid Prince
6. The Great Retirement
7. The Great Struggle
8. The Attainment of Buddhaship
9. First Events after the Attainment of Buddhaship
10. The Conversion of Sâriputta and Moggallâna
11. The Buddha's daily Habits
12. The Death of The Buddha
CHAPTER II.
SENTIENT EXISTENCE.
Introductory Discourse
§ 13. Questions which tend not to Edification
14. King Milinda and Nâgasena come to an Understanding
15. There is no Ego
16. All Signs of an Ego are Absent
17. No continuous Personal Identity
18. The Mind less permanent than the Body
19. What is Unity or One?
20. Analyis of the Human Being
21. The Composition of the Body
22. On getting Angry
23. The Origin and Cessation of the Human Being
24. Inanimate Nature
25. The Middle Doctrine
26. Ignorance
27. Karma
28. Consciousness
29. Name and Form
30. The Six Organs of Sense
31. Contact
32. Sensation
33. Desire
34. Attachment
35. Existence
36. Birth etc.
37. Discussion of Dependent Origination
CHAPTER III.
KARMA AND REBIRTH.
Introductory Discourse
§ 38. Be a Friend to Yourself
39. The cause of Inequality in the World
40. Fruitful and barren Karma
41. The Death of Moggallâna
42. Good and bad Karma
43. How to obtain Wealth, Beauty, and Social Position
44. The Round of Existence
45. Cause of Rebirth
46. Is this to be my Last Existence?
47. Rebirth is not Transmigration
48. Reflections on Existence
49. Different kinds of Death
50. How Existence in Hell is Possible
51. Death's Messengers
{51b.} "The Three Warnings"
52. The Ass in the Lion's Skin
53. The devoted Wife
54. Friendship
55. Virtue is its own Reward
56. The Hare-mark in the Moon
CHAPTER IV.
MEDITATION AND NIRVANA.
Introductory Discourse
§ 57. The Way of Purity
58. Concentration
59. The Thirty-one Grades of Being
60. The Forty Subjects of Meditation
61. The Earth-kasina
62. Beauty is but Skin-deep
63. The Conversion of Animals
64. Love for Animals
65. The Six High Powers
66. Spiritual Law in the Natural World
67. Going Further and Faring Worse
68. Sâriputta and the Two Demons
69. World-cycles
70. Wisdom
71. The Summum Bonum
72. Mâra as Plowman
73. The Fire-Sermon
74. The Four Intent Contemplations
75. The Attainment of the Paths
76. Nirvana to be attained at Death
77. The Attainment of Nirvana by Godhika
78. The Trance of Cessation
79. The Attainment of Nirvana
CHAPTER V.
THE ORDER.
Introductory Discourse
§ 80. Conduct
81. The Admission and Ordination Ceremonies
82. The Serpent who wanted to be a Priest
83. The Buddhist Confession of Priests
84. The Order receive leave to dwell in Houses
85. Residence during the Rainy Season
86. The Mendicant Ideal
87. The Value of Training in Religion
88. The colorless Life
89. Can the Saint suffer?
90. The Body is an open Sore
91. Heaven not the Highest Good
92. The Saints Superior to the Gods
93. The Anger-eating Demon
94. Contentment is Riches
95. The Story of a Priest
96. The young Stone-Thrower
97. "And hate not his father and mother"
98. No Buddhist should commit Suicide
99. The Admission of Women to the Order
100. A Family of Magicians
101. The Story of Visâkhâ
102. The Buddhist Apocalypse
APPENDIX.
§ 103. The Five Groups
ABBREVIATIONS.
A. Anguttara-Nikâya. Edited by Rev. Richard Morris. Pâli Text Society, London, 1885-8. CV. Culla-Vagga. Edited by Hermann Oldenberg. Vinaya-Pitaka, vol. ii., London, 1880.
D. Dîgha-Nikâya, vol. i. Edited by T. W. R. Davids and J. E. Carpenter. P. T. S., 1890. Dhp. Dhammapada. Edited by V. Fausböll. Copenhagen. 1855.
Grimblot. Sept Suttas Pâlis. Edited by P. Grimblot. Paris, 1876.
J. Jâtaka, together with its Commentary, 5 vols. Edited by V. Fausböll, 1877-91. JPTS. Journal of the Pâli Text Society.
JRAS. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, London.
M. Majjhima-Nikâya. Edited by V. Trenckner. P. T. S., 1888. Mil. Milindapañha. Edited by V. Trenckner. London, 1880.
MPS. Mahâ-Parinibbâna-Sutta. Edited by R. C. Childers, London, 1878. JRAS., new series, vii.; also separately. MSS. Mahâ-Satipatthâna-Sutta. Colombo, 1883.
MV. Mahâ-Vagga. Edited by Hermann Oldenberg. Vinaya-Pitaka, vol. i., London, 1879. P's Aut. Mrs. Piozzi's Autobiography. Edited by Hayward. Boston, 1861.
S. Samyutta-Nikâya. Edited by Leon Feer. P. T. S., 1884-94.
Sum Vil. Sumangala-Vilâsinî. Edited by T. W. R. Davids and J. E. Carpenter. P. T. S., 1886. Ud. Udâna. Edited by Paul Steinthal. P. T. S., 1885.
Vis. Visuddhi-Magga, in manuscript.
The abbreviations and numbers at the upper inside corners of the pages of this book refer, as precisely as may be, to the chapter and other subdivisions or to the volume and page and line of the original work from which the beginning of the page concerned is translated.NOTE ON THE PRONUNCIATION OF PÂLI NAMESShort a, as in organ, or like the u in but. The other vowels, as in the key-words, far, pin, pîque, pull, rûle, (and roughly) they, so. Pronounce c like ch in church, and j as in judge. The "aspirates" are true aspirates: thus, th, dh, ph, as in hothouse, madhouse, uphill. They are not spirants as in thin, graphic. The underdotted t, d, n, etc. are pronounced (by the Hindus, at least) with the tip of the tongue turned up and drawn back. Dotted m indicates nasalization of the preceding vowel. {None of the dotted letters or the n-line-over, which is not mentioned here, are represented in this transcription}
THE THREE CHARACTERISTICS.Translated from the Anguttara-Nikâya (iii.1341).Whether Buddhas arise, O priests, or whether Buddhas do not arise, it remains a fact and the fixed and necessary constitution of being, that all its constituents are transitory. This fact a Buddha discovers and masters, and when he has discovered and mastered it, he announces, teaches, publishes, proclaims, discloses, minutely explains, and makes it clear, that all the constituents of being are transitory.Whether Buddhas arise, O priests, or whether Buddhas do not arise, it remains a fact and the fixed and necessary constitution of being, that all its constituents are misery. This fact a Buddha discovers and masters, and when he has discovered and mastered it, he announces, teaches, publishes, proclaims, discloses, minutely explains, and makes it clear, that all the constituents of being are misery.Whether Buddhas arise, O priests, or whether Buddhas do not arise, it remains a fact and the fixed and necessary constitution of being, that all its elements are lacking in an Ego. This fact a Buddha discovers and masters, and when he has discovered and mastered it, he announces, teaches, publishes, proclaims, discloses, minutely explains, and makes it clear, that all the elements of being are lacking in an Ego.
p. xv
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. THE materials for this book are drawn ultimately from the Pâli writings of Ceylon and Burma,--that is to say, they are to be found in palm-leaf manuscripts of those countries, written in the Singhalese or Burmese alphabet, as the case may be, but always in the same Pâli language, a tongue very nearly akin to the Sanskrit. These Pâli writings furnish the most authoritative account of The Buddha and his Doctrine that we have; and it is therefore to be regretted that, inasmuch as so little has been known in the Occident until recently of either Pâli or Pâli literature, the information of the public concerning has been so largely drawn from books based on other, non-Pâli, , on works written in the Singhalese, Chinese, and Tibetan languages, and in the Buddhist-Sanskrit of Nepaul. But a large number of Pâli manuscripts have now been edited and printed in the publications of the Pâli Text Society of London, and in scattered works both in England and in other European countries, and several volumes of translations into English have appeared, so that all excuse for not deriving our knowledge of from the most authentic is fast disappearing. As the work on this book has been done wholly in America, my main reliance has naturally been on printed texts. Still, I have had the use of a number of Pâli manuscripts. In Brown University at Providence, Rhode p. xvi Island, there are many manuscripts, in the Burmese character, of works belonging to the Buddhist Scriptures. These were presented by the Rev. Dr. J. N. Cushing, Baptist missionary to Burma, and an alumnus of the University. But the manuscripts which, as being both important and unedited, have proved of most value to me, are four copies of the extensive and systematic treatise on Buddhist Doctrine composed by the famous Buddhaghosa, who flourished in the fourth century A. D. It is called the "Way of Purity" (in Pâli, Visuddhi-Magga). These four manuscripts have come to me from England: one is from the private collection of Prof. T. W. Rhys Davids, Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society; the second belonged to the late Rev. Dr. Richard Morris of Harold Wood, Essex; the third to Henry Rigg, Esq., consulting engineer to the Government of India, for railways; while for the loan of the fourth, a Burmese manuscript, my thanks are due to the India Office Library. The Pâli literature chiefly consists of the Buddhist Scriptures and their commentaries. These form an extensive body of works, many of which are individually very large. The Singhalese canon proper--that is to say,
the texts without the commentaries--has been estimated by Prof. Rhys Davids to contain about twice as much matter as the Christian Bible. From this estimate Professor Davids excludes the repetitions, which, as he well says, are "some of them very frequent, and others very long." The Christian Bible is divided into two Testaments, whereas the Buddhist canon, or Bible, has three main divisions called "Baskets" (in Pâli, Pitaka), and the Buddhist Bible, consequently, is called "The Three Baskets" (Ti-Pitaka). The first Testament, Basket, or Pitaka has been edited and published by Oldenberg, and a translation p. xvii of a large part of it has appeared in the "Sacred Books of the East." This Pitaka gives the various rules and ordinances to be observed by the Buddhist Order, and is therefore called the "Discipline-Basket" (in Pâli, Vinaya-Pitaka). A large part of this Pitaka is dry and technical reading; but by no means all of it is of this nature, for there is interspersed much narrative of events in the life of The Buddha. The Buddha himself is supposed to have laid down all these rules as occasion suggested their necessity, and the object of these stories is to explain the circumstances under which he did so. The works of this Pitaka are five, as follows:--
Bhikkhu-Vibhanga; Culla-Vagga;
Bhikkhunî-Vibhanga; Parivâra-pâtha.
Mahâ-Vagga;
The second of the three Testaments, or Baskets, is called the Sutta-Pitaka, which may be translated the "Sermon-Basket." It consists of a great number of sermons and discourses in prose and verse, delivered by The Buddha or some one of his disciples, and is extremely interesting to any one studying the philosophy and folk-lore of . The list of the works which, according to the Singhalese canon, belong to this Pitaka is as follows:-
-
p. xviii
Dîgha-Nikâya;
Majjhima-Nikâya;
Samyutta-Nikâya;
Anguttara-Nikâya;
Khuddaka-Nikâya, consisting of
Khuddaka-Pâtha; Therî-Gâthâ;
Dhammapada; Jâtaka;
Udâna; Niddesa;
Itivuttaka; Patisambhidâ-Magga;
Sutta-Nipâta; Apadâna;
Vimâna-Vatthu; Buddha-Vamsa;
Peta-Vatthu; Cariyâ-Pitaka;
Thera-Gâthâ.
The works composing the third and last Pitaka are, of all the Buddhist Scriptures, the dreariest and most forbidding reading, and this is saying a great deal. However, like the desert of Sahara, they are to be respected for their immensity; and when they are all printed, no doubt something can be made of them. The title of this Pitaka is the "Metaphysical Basket" (in Pâli, Abhidhamma-Pitaka). It is composed of the following works:--
Dhamma-Sangani; Dhâtu-Kathâ;
Vibhanga; Yamaka;
Kathâ-Vatthu; Patthâna.
Puggala-Paññatti;
This completes the list of the works composing the Tipitaka or Buddhist Scriptures. A number of them have not been printed in their entirety, and still others not at all.1 The non-canonical works consist of numerous commentaries on the Tipitaka, and of several other writings of more or less importance. The Buddhaghosa above mentioned was a most prolific commentator, and his Sumangala-Vilâsinî; or commentary on the Dîgha-Nikâya, p. xix is in the Providence collection, and has also partially appeared in type. Of others of his commentaries I have seen only fragments; but, as above stated, I have his general work entitled the Visuddhi-Magga. Of works which are not commentaries, there is a dictionary of synonyms written in verse, and called the Abhidhâna-ppadîpikâ. Then there is the Milindapañha (Questions of Milinda). Milinda (Greek Menander) was a Greek king who carried on the Greek dominion in Bactria founded by Alexander the Great. He probably lived in the second century B. C., and the Milindapañha was probably composed about the beginning of our era. The Milindapañha is, strictly speaking, a North Buddhist work, but it is considered so orthodox by the South Buddhists, i.e. by the Buddhists of Ceylon, Burma, and Siam, that I have felt bold to draw upon it freely in this book. Then there are the Abhidhammattha-Sangaha, the Sârasangaha, the Anâgata-Vamsa, and some other works on grammar, history, and so forth, the names of which I spare the reader, as no translation from them occurs in this book. After long bothering my head over Sanskrit, I found much more satisfaction when I took up the study of Pâli. For Sanskrit literature is a chaos; Pâli, a cosmos. In Sanskrit every fresh work or author seemed a new problem; and as trustworthy Hindu chronology and recorded history are almost nil, and as there are many systems of philosophy, orthodox as well as unorthodox, the necessary data for the solution of the problem were usually lacking. Such data, I mean, as who the author was, when he lived and wrote, what were the current beliefs and conceptions of his day, and what his own position was in respect of them; such data, in short, as are necessary in order to know what to think p. xx of an author, and fully to understand what he says. Now the subject matter of Pâli literature is nearly always the same, namely, the definite system of religion propounded by The Buddha. Indeed, in a large part of the writings, The Buddha appears as a dramatis persona. We have volumes and volumes of sermons, discourses, and moral tales credited to him, and hundreds of incidents related, apropos of which he pronounced some dictum. And the place of such utterance is usually given. Consequently, although there is a large field for text criticism--a field on which I have not felt it
desirable to enter in this book--there is, in a general way and in respect of subject matter, considerable unity in Pâli literature. The aim of the present work is to take different ideas and conceptions found in Pâli writings, and present them to the reader in English. Translation has been the means employed as being the most effectual, and the order pursued is in the main that of the Buddhist "Three Jewels" (in Pâli, Ti-Ratana), to wit, The Buddha, the Doctrine, and the Order. The selections of the first chapter are on The Buddha; follow those which deal chiefly with the Doctrine; while others concerning the Order and secular life constitute the closing chapter of the book.
: Introduction to Chapter I
Footnotesp. xviii 1 Since the above was written, the King of Siam, who has long been a patron of Pâli studies, has presented Harvard College and a number of other institutions of learning with an edition of Tipitaka works. This gift was made on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his accession to the throne, and consists of thirty-nine volumes printed in the Siamese character. The first and third Pitakas are complete, as well as the first four Nikâyas of the second Pitaka; but of the Khuddaka-Nikâya I find only the Khuddaka-Pâtha, Dhammapada, Udâna, Itivuttaka, Sutta-Nipâta, Niddesa, and Patisambhidâ-Magga. Most of the other works of this Nikâya have been or are being edited in Europe, so that the only Tipitaka work which has not appeared, at least partially, in type is the Apadâna. This splendid present made by the King of Siam was, I am sorry to say, received too late to be drawn upon for selections for this volume.
p. 1
CHAPTER I.THE BUDDHA.INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. IN reading the Pâli Scriptures one is impressed with the strong personal influence exercised by The Buddha over the hearts of his followers. He was regarded, not as a mere formulator of dry metaphysical propositions, but as a very wise and compassionate friend of his fellow-men. He was full of tact, and all his ways were ways of peace. To allay discord he would tell a little story or fable with a moral, and his epithet for one of whom he disapproved was merely "vain man." Anger, in fact, had no place in his character, and the reader of this book will find that it had equally none in his religio-philosophic system. The term "Buddha" means "Enlightened One," and signifies that the person to whom it is applied has solved the riddle of existence, and discovered the doctrine for the cessation of misery. It was by his attainment of this supreme "Enlightenment" or Wisdom that Gotama became a Buddha. During the thirty-five years of his life to that event, and during all existences from the time he set out towards the Buddhaship, he was a Bodhisatta,--a term which I have freely translated "Future Buddha," but which is more literally rendered "He whose essence is Wisdom." The Buddha's given name would appear to have been Siddhattha; but as the word means "Successful in his Objects," it looks as though it might be a simple epithet. The p. 2 Buddha belonged to the Sakya clan. The word "Sakya" means "Powerful;" and the families that bore the name had a reputation for pride and haughtiness. They were of the warrior caste, but cultivated the peaceful arts of agriculture. By his contemporaries The Buddha is usually called Gotama, or, as the word is sometimes Anglicized, the Gotamid. It is not quite clear why he and others of his clan should bear the name of Gotama in addition to that of Sakya. It may be they claimed descent from the ancient sage Gautama (Sanskrit "Gautama" becomes "Gotama" in Pâli), to whom are attributed some of the hymns of the Rig-Veda; or it may be, as Burnouf has suggested, "because Gautama was the sacerdotal family name of the military race of Sakyas, who, being of the warrior caste, had no ancestor or tutelar saint like the Brahmans, but might, as the Hindu law permits, have taken the name of the sage to whose family belonged their spiritual guide." The Buddha was a Hindu, born not far from the Ganges, and during his long ministry wandered about from place to place in the section of country about Benares, very much as did Christ in Samaria and Judea. And just as Christ once left his native country and went to Egypt, so The Buddha is said by native authorities to have paid a couple of visits to Ceylon; but the statement is, I fear, somewhat mythical. The date of Gotama Buddha is considered to be the sixth century before Christ. It would appear that he lived to his eightieth year, and the time of his death is given by scholars as about 480 B. C. The first eight sections of the present chapter are from the general introduction to the Jâtaka ("Book of Birth-Stories"). These Birth- Stories, five hundred and fifty in number, are so called because they are tales of the anterior existences of Gotama Buddha, while he was as yet but a p. 3 Future Buddha. The Jâtaka is an extensive work; five volumes have already been edited by Professor V. Fausböll, of Copenhagen, and more is yet to come. It consists of the Birth-Stories themselves, with a commentary and a long introduction. Examples of these Birth-Stories will be given further on; here we have only to do with the Introduction, the author of which and of the commentary is unknown. After a few preliminary remarks concerning the inception and plan of his work, the author begins by quoting entire the Story of Sumedha as contained in the metrical work called the Buddha-Vamsa ("History of the Buddhas"). He does not quote it all consecutively, but a few stanzas at a time as authority for his prose statements. In this prose is also some matter of a commentary nature, apparently later glosses and not a part of the original text. In my first translation I give the Story of Sumedha as quoted in this Introduction to the Jâtaka, but I give it consecutively and omit the prose, except that of some of the more interesting and explanatory passages, of the glosses especially, I have made foot-notes. After the Story of Sumedha our author gives formal descriptions of each of the twenty-four Buddhas that preceded Gotama. These descriptions, however, are tedious, and are not here translated. They mainly concern themselves with such details as the height of each Buddha, his length of life, how many conversions he made, the names of his father, mother, chief disciples, etc. But from the point where my second section begins to the end of the eighth I follow the native text without making any omissions. I have divided one continuous text into seven parts, and then given these divisions titles of my own devising. The reader is thus brought up to the ministry of The Buddha. This ministry lasted some forty-five years, and an account of part of it is given by the author of the Introduction. p. 4 It is, however, only a part that he gives, just enough to conduct his reader up to the time when The Buddha was presented with Jetavana monastery, the importance of which event to our author will be readily perceived when it is remembered that this was the monastery in which The Buddha is represented as having related the greater part of the Birth-Stories. As our author fails to give us a complete life of The Buddha, and as I know of none in Pâli literature, none is attempted in this book. But in order that the reader may have at an early stage an idea of what the matters were wherein The Buddha considered himself "enlightened," two passages are translated from the Mahâ-Vagga. Then follows a description of the daily routine of The Buddha's ministry, and the last section of this chapter gives the Pâli account of how The Buddha died. It is not because the philosophical ideas expressed and the references to meditation and trance made in these four sections are supposed to be self-explanatory, that I make no comment on them in this
chapter; but because the three chapters, as I have already stated in my General Introduction, are devoted to the Doctrine, and constitute the philosophical and systematic part of this work. It appeared desirable to give the reader a general idea of what the Buddhists consider to be the salient features of their system of religion before beginning its detailed discussion.
: § 1. The Story of Sumedha
p. 111
CHAPTER II.SENTIENT EXISTENCE.INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. THE word Ego, when it occurs in this book, usually translates Pâli attan, Sanskrit âtman. It is more literally rendered Self; but I have preferred the word Ego, as the reader is not thereby led astray into thinking of the Brahmanical Universal Self and kindred doctrines. Buddhist doctrine is quite different and negative, as the reader will see. In selection § 15 a, however, Ego represents Pâli puggala, a word I sometimes render by 'individual,' as, for example, throughout selection § 40 b. In the first two selections of this chapter occurs a list of ten theories which have caused considerable trouble, not merely, as may be supposed, to their original propounders, but to modern students of Pâli . This latter-day anxiety, however, concerns itself not so much with their truth, as with the question, what was really the precise attitude of The Buddha with respect to them. Did he claim to know the truth concerning them, but refuse to tell; or did they lie entirely outside of the scope of his philosophy; or what other reason could he have for refusing to discuss them? Now I think that all these questions are left unanswered for the same reasons. If the reader will compare these two selections with selection § 15 d, and in particular note the to the last paragraph on page 141, I think that he will see that The Buddha considered all such questions to be out of court. p. 112 All the questions (even perhaps the two concerning the finiteness or the infinity of the world) take for granted what he denies.
Hence he refuses to give a Yes or No answer, just as any one of us might be excused for doing, in case any one were to be so impolite as to ask, "Have you left off beating your mother?" The truth of no one of these theories could be allowed. They were one and all heretical and incompatible with his doctrine. In proof of this, see selection § 15 d and page 167. But The Buddha also objected to these questions as being metaphysical ones and betraying a speculative spirit on the part of those who asked them. His was a purely practical aim, and his arguments à posteriori. If he taught his disciples the truth concerning misery and how misery could be made to cease, he thought that should suffice, and cared not to go deeper into ultimate questions than was sufficient for that end. This, I take it, is the reason why at the end of § 67 The Buddha objected to the form of the priest's question concerning the four elements. For The Buddha's way of putting the question does not appear to me so very different; but he added to it so as to make it apply to the living being. The Buddha's system was a religious one, his philosophy an applied philosophy; and in the sermons and sayings attributed directly to The Buddha there is but little metaphysics that does not have a direct and practical bearing. Hence it is that I have given to this chapter the caption Sentient Existence. By this phrase, I in no way intend to imply that the doctrines herein advanced have no application to the inanimate world, but as The Buddha in his teachings kept constantly in mind the welfare of what had the capability of suffering, of undergoing rebirth, I find but little to insert concerning inorganic nature. Section 24, which bears directly on the subject, is not taken from the Tipitaka, but p. 113 from the Visuddhi-Magga, a work that endeavors to be systematically complete. Here I would call the reader's attention to the Three Characteristics which I have placed at the head of this book, as giving the Buddhist pessimistic analysis of the universe. The Three Characteristics are applicable to inanimate as well as to animate nature. This makes it hard to translate the third Characteristic, as what is translated by Ego in the case of sentient beings cannot so be rendered in the case of lifeless things, but some such phrase as an underlying persistent reality (substantia) must be employed. This question of an Ego in sentient beings or of an underlying persistent reality in inanimate matter is of the last importance in . Unless the thesis of this chapter be true, the scheme of salvation elaborated in the fourth chapter is impossible. Hence the reader will find this subject taken up in this and the two following chapters with perhaps wearying iteration. A very curious and instructive parallel can here be drawn between and the teachings of modern science. All evolution of animate nature can be characterized as a process of self-integration or assertion of self through countless generations. The Buddhists make a similar statement; only they say that a man inherits from himself, and do not bring in the scientific doctrine of heredity, or inheritance from others. If such is the origin of the sentient being, then, naturally, the disintegration of self will cause dissolution, as the fourth chapter will explain. I hope that the reader will be able to make out the Buddhist theory of existence. It does not appear to me that it corresponds to either τὸ ὄν or τὸ γιγνόμενον, nor yet is it nihilism, that is to say, a doctrine of unreality. The human being is composed of five groups, so-called because they each consist of many independent elements. In the case of the p. 114 sensation-group, these elements of being are said to be consecutive in time, but in other cases many members of one group can occur at the same time; for instance, it is stated in the Visuddhi-Magga that over thirty predispositions occur in conjunction with the first of the eighty-nine consciousnesses. Now each of the elements that together form a group is an independent existence, and is real enough while it lasts. All things we know of are formed from one or more of these groups. When milk changes to sour cream, Buddhist doctrine does not say that an underlying substance has entered on a new mode or phase of being, but that we have a new existence, or rather, perhaps, anew existence-complex, --that is to say, that the elements of the form-group that now compose the sour cream are not the same as those that composed the milk, the elements that composed the milk having passed away and new ones having come into being. This is what is intended in § 24, when it says, "This form in the series of forms belonging to its own nature." It would appear from page 151 that the form-group contains tolerably persistent elements, while those of the mental groups are momentary and more easily overcome. So far as the mental groups are concerned, Nirvana can be obtained in the present life, but from the form-group deliverance can only be attained at death, because, as stated on page 156, "whereas there are sensations, perceptions, etc. [i.e. predispositions and consciousnesses] which are not subject to depravity, it is not so with form." Having explained the nature of the human being as consisting of the five groups, the thing to be done is to show the causes of these five groups and how their several series are perpetuated. All this, too, must be done without recourse being had to what we call a First Cause. This gives occasion for an elaborate theory which is expressed in the p. 115 formula of Dependent Origination (Pâli paticcasamuppâda), also called the middle doctrine, as avoiding the doctrine of τὸ ὄν on the one hand, and of nihilism or the denial of the reality of existence on the other. The Buddhist Sacred Books seem to claim Dependent Origination as the peculiar discovery of The Buddha, and I suppose they would have us understand that he invented the whole formula from beginning to end. But it is to be observed that the formula repeats itself, that the human being is brought into
existence twice--the first time under the name of consciousness and name and form and by means of ignorance and karma, the second time in birth and by means of desire (with its four branches called attachments ) and karma again, this time called existence. See § 35. Therefore, though Buddhaghosa, as the reader will see, is at great pains to explain this repetition as purposely intended for practical ends, yet one is much inclined to surmise that the full formula in its present shape is a piece of patchwork put together of two or more that were current in The Buddha's time and by him--perhaps expanded, perhaps contracted, but at any rate--made into one. If The Buddha added to the formula of Dependent Origination, it would appear that the addition consisted in the first two propositions. For ignorance, of course, is the opposite of wisdom, and wisdom, or the third discipline, that is to say, the method for getting rid of ignorance, is, as the reader will see in the Introductory Discourse to the fourth chapter and elsewhere in this book, The Buddha's particular contribution to the science of meditation; whereas concentration, or the second discipline, the method for opposing desire, he had learnt from his teachers. In § 37 these first two propositions are omitted, and consciousness and name-and-form of the third proposition are made mutually dependent. The same antithesis of ignorance and desire appears also to p. 116 be present in the threefold fire of lust, hatred, and infatuation, where lust and hatred can be viewed as but the two opposite poles of the same feeling and will then together stand for desire, while infatuation will represent ignorance. In addition to my remarks on attan and puggala above, it may be well to say a few words in regard to my translations of some other Pâli terms. "Elements of being" (dhamma) and "constituents of being" (sankhâra) are often used synonymously to mean the individual components of the Five Groups; but when dhamma refers to the twelve terms of the formula, Dependent Origination, I have sometimes used the phrase "factors of being." The two terms dhamma and sankhâra are very troublesome to render into English, both because they each of them mean so many things and because their ground meaning is not translatable into English, being expressive of a different philosophy. Sankhâra means what makes or what is made, fashioned, or put together: we should naturally with our different beliefs say, creator and created things. Everything except Nirvana and space is sankhâra. Sankhâra as a name for the fourth group, I translate by predispositions; as the second term in Dependent Origination, by karma. Dhamma means any established law, condition, or fact, either of nature or of human institutions. It is the word I render by Doctrine when it signifies The Buddha's teachings. This word dhamma occasioned me especial difficulty when used in § 74 to characterize the subjects of the Fourth Contemplation. But although "elements of being" is a bad rendering, the reader need not be led astray, as all the different things denoted by it are there enumerated.
: § 13. Questions Which Tend Not to Edification
p. 209
CHAPTER III.KARMA AND REBIRTH.INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. PERHAPS one of the hardest of the Buddhist doctrines is that of Karma. It is a doctrine, not only hard in itself, but it seems to contradict their other tenets. The Buddhists, as we have seen, resolve the human being into a number of elements called dhammas which possess no permanent existence, and they say that on account of this transitoriness no one of these can be considered as the individual, the Ego, the "self." There is therefore here nothing to be reborn--nothing to transmigrate. How then is it, that when he has thus denied all substantive existence to everything which to the Occidental thinker appears to possess the greatest reality, the Oriental should attribute to karma this faculty of being reborn indefinitely? The word karma means 'deeds,' or, as it is often used in the singular, it might perhaps be translated by 'performance' or 'action.' How can substantive reality be attributed to a mere conception of the mind like that of deed or performance, when it is denied of all those components of the human being of which we are cognizant by means of our senses and our self-consciousness? How can any deed be said to be immortal, except in a purely figurative sense, meaning that the memory or else the objective effect of it persists? Now if we look at this doctrine of Karma a little more closely, we may see that it is not so very unlike Christian ideas. If we were to translate p. 210 the word karma somewhat freely, we might call it 'character.' And what, indeed, do we ordinarily mean when we speak of personal immortality, unless it be that the characters of our friends are reborn in heaven? It is evidently not the body that is reborn, for that is left behind with us. And what do we know of the spirit except simply its manifestations, and what we may argue from our own self-consciousness? Our knowledge of our friend is composed of what our senses tell us of his body and what we observe of his deeds. It is his character, his particular set of deeds, or karma, that we think of as surviving death; and this is exactly what the Buddhists do,--the only difference being that we claim the existence of an Ego. This we claim to know by self-inspection; and therefore, when we speak metaphysically, we say that it is our friend's Ego, or soul, that is reborn, and that our friend's character, which is really all we directly know of our friend, is simply the manifestation of that Ego. But as the Buddhists deny the existence of any soul, it is only observed character, or karma, that is left to be reborn. The reader will see, I think, that the two doctrines are really very similar, if we but leave the postulation of an Ego out of the question. But the question still remains: How can character that is no entity in itself be reborn? Now here it is to be noted that the word 'karma' covers two distinct ideas; namely, the deed itself, and the effects of that deed in modifying the subsequent character and fortunes of the doer. The Buddhists say that this subjective effect continues after death into the life. The following illustration may tend to make the general idea of the perpetuation of character without identity of substance seem more reasonable. Why cannot a swallow's egg hatch out a lark? or a lark's a swallow? Is there any difference perceptible between the two eggs in respect of composition or structure, adequate to account for the difference in the p. 211 result? If not, how is it that the egg of the lark will never hatch out into any other kind of a bird than a lark, and that a swallow's egg must always yield a swallow? Now although it is true that if we take the eggs before the first sign of an embryo has appeared we may not be able to detect any physical or chemical difference that would seem to account for the difference in the result, yet we know the why and wherefore of that difference. A swallow's egg cannot hatch out a lark because of the difference in heredity. The countless influences that affected the ancestors of that egg, and the numberless actions performed under those influences are in some mysterious way stored up in that egg, and must bear their own fruit and none other. Therefore a swallow's egg cannot hatch out a lark, because a lark is the result of an entirely different set of conditions; as we might say, its karma is different. But of course the Buddhists do not mean heredity when they use the word karma. 'Karma' expresses, not that which a man inherits from his ancestors, but that which he inherits from himself in some state of existence. But with this difference the Buddhist doctrine and the scientific doctrine of heredity seem very similar. Not all deeds, however, are fruitful and perpetuate existence. Karma is like heredity in that it is an informing principle which must have an embodiment. Just
as the informing principle of an egg would never find expression without the accompaniment of yolk, albumen, and other material constituents, so karma embeds itself in objects of desire in order to form that factitious entity which goes by the name of man. If karma be performed in a state of pure passionlessness, that is, without attachment to anything, then it is barren. The fruitful karma will be quickly undermined and not suffered to bear the full fruit it otherwise would have done. Like a tree whose nourishment has been poisoned, the being who p. 212 performs such karma will cease to be. See § 40, § 76 in Chapter IV, and § 41, which last is given by way of illustration of § 40 b. Thus a being without karma is as arbitrary a conception as a chicken without heredity, that is, one formed by creative fiat independent of antecedent conditions. In illustration of the doctrine of repeated existence I give at the end of this chapter a number of "Birth-Stories," as they are called; namely, stories concerning the anterior "births" or existences of The Buddha. There is a separate work in the Buddhist Scriptures called the "Jâtaka," or "Book of Birth-Stories," containing several hundred such tales. They form a mine of folk-lore, and, though credited to The Buddha, can hardly have been original with him. The ancient Buddhists, like other Orientals, appear to have been fond of gathering together in little companies and listening while some one of their number related a tale or fable; and ancient Buddhist sculptures have come down to the present day representing scenes taken out of these same stories that fill the Jâtaka. Some of these tales are much traveled ones, and are to be found in Æsop's Fables, and in La Fontaine, and other European works. As a sample I give "The Ass in the Lion's Skin." Another instance of folk-lore common to both the Orient and the Occident, but not given as a Birth-Story, occurs in this chapter. The Pâli version is entitled "Death's Messengers," while "The Three Warnings" gives the same general idea in English dress. There are other English versions extant, and German, French, and Latin ones, so that this is an interesting instance of how a fable will travel about from country to country and from clime to clime, varying in dress to suit the habits, customs, and ways of thinking of the different peoples who adopt it into their literatures and then often forget its alien origin.
: § 38. Be a Friend to Yourself
p. 280
CHAPTER IV.MEDITATION AND NIRVANA.INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. PROTESTANT Christianity teaches salvation by faith; while places its greatest reliance in meditation. And it is not strange that the methods of the two religions should be so different, when we consider the very different meanings attached by Buddhists and Christians to the word 'salvation,'--the latter wishing to be saved from sin and hell, the former from karma and rebirth. The Buddha analyzes man and things inanimate, and finds nothing that is permanent, but only the concrete and the perishable. All karma, he says, is performed under the influence of greed after some desired object with hatred of that which is not wanted, and of infatuation or delusion of mind that causes one to believe that satisfaction will result when the object is attained. Now all these objects after which one strives are necessarily more or less concrete and definite, and the concrete and the definite are not satisfying to the reflective mind. Every thinking man endeavors to pass from the things which are seen and temporal to something which is unseen and which he can picture to himself as eternal. Now it is to be observed that when we endeavor to pass in thought from the transitory and the phenomenal to something more permanent and real we try to compass our object by passing from the concrete to the abstract. We try to reduce the multiplicity of phenomena to a few heads, and the more general p. 281 we can make these heads, the nearer we seem to come to infinite or everlasting verity. But what we gain in extension we lose in intension, and the nearer does our conception approach to being a conception of nothing at all. The Buddha evidently saw this; but as negation was what he was striving for, he considered he had found the way to salvation, and hence we have his elaborate system of meditation. But I ought to say that 'meditation' is here a very clumsy word, and does not properly cover all the ground. The meditations. of the Buddhists were not simple reflections on abstract subjects, but trances of se1f-hypnotism as well, in which they tried to bring, not merely the conceptions of the mind, but also the emotions and feelings of the heart to rarefied generalizations. The process appears to me to resemble the mathematical one wherein a number of terms plus and minus consisting of a, b, c, and x, y, z, are grouped into one member of an equation and compared to zero in the other, with zero of course as the result. The various activities, or karma, by virtue of which the series composing the supposed Ego, or supposed reality of things, are perpetuated, are the terms consisting of a, b, c, etc. of the mathematical problem. By meditation an equation is made between this karma and nullity whereby subjective terms find themselves wiped out, and only nothingness remains. In other words, if you think of nothing you do not think. This nothingness when temporary is a trance; when permanent, Nirvana. See § 78 b, compared with 388 and 389. Now the search after a Nirvana, or release from the miseries of rebirth, was not a peculiarity of Gotama, but was a common striving of the age and country in which he lived, and many methods of acquiring the desired end were in vogue. In the selection which I have entitled The Summum Bonum it is described how dissatisfied The Buddha was with what p. 282 had been taught him on the subject, the reason being, that though the forty subjects of meditation and the four trances were good to diminish passion and to lead one from the dominion of the senses into the realm of form or even to bring one to the still more abstract realm of formlessness, yet as long as ignorance was allowed to remain, desire and hence misery was liable to recur. He therefore superadded an intellectual discipline intended to imbue the minds of his followers, not merely with the persuasion that there is misery in the world, that this or that thing is evil, but that in the very nature and constitution of things no good is anywhere possible, inasmuch as the Three Characteristics inhere in all things. Buddhaghosa, therefore, puts the forty subjects of meditation and their resulting trances into a category by themselves, as being all good but not necessarily resulting in the complete extirpation of desire and release from being. This discipline he calls Concentration, and the resulting four trances and the four formless states he calls the eight attainments. But Wisdom, or the intellectual discipline, lies in the mastery of the Four Noble Truths, of Dependent Origination already discussed, and of much else besides, but above all in the application of the Three Characteristics to the elements of being. To this discipline belongs one trance, a ninth attainment or hypnotic state, called the Trance of Cessation. The whole Visuddhi-Magga (Way of Purity or Salvation) consists of a consideration of these two disciplines with Conduct as the foundation. Conduct constitutes Part I, and comprises the first two chapters; Concentration, Part II, and comprises chapters III-XII; while Wisdom is treated of throughout the rest of the book, that is, Part III or Chapters XIII-XXIII. There are thus nine attainments or hypnotic states in the Buddhist system of meditation. And these trances were not merely of importance to learners, as a means
p. 283 for arriving at Nirvana; but, the temporary release they afforded from the sense-perceptions and the concrete was so highly esteemed,
that they were looked upon as luxuries and enjoyed as such by the saints and by The Buddha himself. The Four Intent Contemplations have always seemed to me to be a sort of compendium or manual of meditation, a vade-mecum, as it were. They comprise both meditations belonging to Concentration (thus supplementing what we give under that head) and also to Wisdom. The entire aim of such introspection is to get rid of the idea that any of the bodily or mental functions presuppose an Ego; and the truth thus discovered is then applied to all sentient beings. The Cemeteries, of the First Intent Contemplation, also treated of under the name of the Impurities in "Beauty is but Skin-deep," merit particular notice as they well illustrate the mental attitude that The Buddha inculcates in his disciples. The Buddha teaches that physical beauty is a glamour existing entirely in the mind of the one who sees it. The real truth is that taught by anatomy; namely, that the supposed beautiful object is a congeries of unclean elements. The only reason that we can consider any one as beautiful is to blind our eyes to details and think of the whole; but we are only too prone to forget that there is nothing to be beautiful as a whole. When a priest by Concentration has etherealized his aspirations, has gotten rid of all desire for any but the more spiritual forms of existence, and has then by Wisdom become convinced that all existence, without exception, no matter how high or abstract, is transitory and evil, he is then prepared to look upon Nirvana as a good. The subject of Nirvana has been much written about and many theories have been advanced as to what was the precise teaching of The Buddha on the subject. Now a large part of the pleasure p. 284 that I have experienced in the study of has arisen from the strangeness of what I may call the intellectual landscape. All the ideas, the modes of argument, even the postulates assumed and not argued about, have always seemed so strange, so different from anything to which I have been accustomed, that I feel all the time as though walking in fairyland. Much of the charm that the Oriental thoughts and ideas have for me appears to be because they so seldom fit into Western categories. Nirvana is an illustration of this; and, therefore, all short and compendious definitions necessarily leave much to be desired. If it be said that Nirvana is a getting rid of the round of rebirth, that is perfectly correct; but then, we do not believe in repeated rebirth. Nor can we call it annihilation; for annihilation implies something to be annihilated, whereas Nirvana occurs when the elements that constitute the stream of any individual existence have their dependence undermined and hence cease to originate. If, again, it be said that it is a getting rid of the threefold fire of lust, hatred, and infatuation, that is also a correct definition; but it is rather an ethical than a philosophical one, and implies a pessimistic view of life of which we Occidentals have but little conception. But I hope that in the two chapters and in the present one I have been successful in giving the native point of view of what the religious problem really is of man's relation to the universe; for I conceive that Nirvana can only be properly understood by a tolerably thorough comprehension of the philosophy of which it is the climax and the cap-stone.
: § 57. The Way of Purity
p. 392 CHAPTER V.THE ORDER.INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. UNLIKE Christ, The Buddha instituted an Order, or Church, during his own lifetime; and in the course of his long ministry of forty-five years, and as occasion arose, he made a great many regulations for its guidance. To give these rules and ordinances at length would be a large undertaking, and make this book too technical. The desultory selections of this chapter are therefore mainly illustrative in character, and designed to show what the Buddhists understand by the monastic life, and the duties and position of the laity. It is curious that the aversion which The Buddha showed to having women as members of the Order appears to have been shared by the Buddhist Church in the ages subsequent to his death. The nuns seem never to have played an influential rôle in the history of , and there are now no nuns in Ceylon.
: § 80. Conduct
p. 5 [J.i.31
§ 1. THE STORY OF SUMEDHA.1Translated from the Introduction to the Jâtaka (i.31).
12. A hundred thousand cycles vast And four immensities ago,
There was a town named Amara, A place of beauty and delights.
It had the noises ten complete2 And food and drink abundantly.
13. The noise of elephant and horse, Of conch-shell, drum, and chariot, And invitations to partake--
"Eat ye, and drink!"--resounded loud.
14. A town complete in all its parts, Where every industry was found, And eke the seven precious gems,3 And foreigners from many lands.
A prosperous city of the gods, Full of good works and holy men.
15. Within this town of Amara Sumedha lived, of Brahman caste, Who many tens of millions had,
And grain and treasure in full store.
16. A student he, and wise in spells, A master of the Vedas three.
He fortunes told, tradition knew, And every duty of his caste.
p. 6 [J.i.327
17. In secret then I sat me down, And thus to ponder I began:
"What misery to be born again!
And have the flesh dissolve at death!
18. "Subject to birth, old age, disease, Extinction will I seek to find, Where no decay is ever known, Nor death, but all security.
19. "What if I now should rid me of This body foul, this charnel-house, And go my way without a care,
Or least regret for things behind!
20. "There is, there must be, an escape! Impossible there should not be!
I'll make the search and find the way, Which from existence shall release!
21. "Even as, although there misery is, Yet happiness is also found;
So, though indeed existence is,
A non-existence should be sought.
22. "Even as, although there may be heat, Yet grateful cold is also found;
So, though the threefold fire1 exists, Likewise Nirvana should be sought.
23. "Even as, although there evil is, That which is good is also found;
So, though 't is true that birth exists, That which is not birth should be sought.
24. "Even as a man befouled with dung, Seeing a brimming lake at hand, And nathless bathing not therein,
Were senseless should he chide the lake;
p. 7 [J.i.422
25. "So, when Nirvana's lake exists To wash away corruption's stain,
Should I not seek to bathe therein, I might not then Nirvana chide.
26. "Even as a man hemmed in by foes, Seeing a certain safe escape,
And nathless seeking not to flee,
Might not the blameless pathway chide;
27. "So, when my passions hem me in, And yet a way to bliss exists,
Should I not seek to follow it,
That way of bliss I might not chide.
28. "Even as a man who, sore diseased, When a physician may be had, Should fail to send to have him come, Might the physician then not chide;
29. "So, when diseased with passion, sore Oppressed, I seek the master not Whose ghostly counsel me might cure, The blame should not on him be laid.
30. "Even as a man might rid him of
A horrid corpse bound to his neck, And then upon his way proceed, Joyous, and free, and unconstrained;
31. "So must I likewise rid me of
This body foul, this charnel-house, And go my way without a care,
Or least regret for things behind.
32. "As men and women rid them of Their dung upon the refuse heap, And go their ways without a care, Or least regret for what they leave;
p. 8 [J.i.530
33. "So will I likewise rid me of
This body foul, this charnel-house, And go my way as if I had
Cast out my filth into the draught.
34. "Even as the owners leave and quit A worn-out, shattered, leaky ship, And go their ways without a care, Or least regret for what they leave;
35. "So will I likewise rid me of
This nine-holed,1 ever-trickling frame, And go my way, as owners do,
Who ship disrupted leave behind.
36. "Even as a man who treasure bears, And finds him in a robber-gang, Will quickly flee and rid him of
The robbers, lest they steal his gold;
37. "So, to a mighty robber might
Be likened well this body's frame. I'll cast it off and go my way,
Lest of my welfare I be robbed."
38. Thus thinking, I on rich and poor All that I had in alms bestowed; Hundreds of millions spent I then, And made to Himavant2 my way.
39. Not far away from Himavant,
There was a hill named Dhammaka,
And here I made and patterned well A hermitage and hut of leaves.
p. 9 [J.i.626
40.
A walking-place I then laid out, Exempted from the five defects,1 And having all the virtues eight;2
And there I gained the Six High Powers.
41. Then ceased I cloaks of cloth to wear,
For cloaks possess the nine defects,3
p. 10 [J.i.629
And girded on a barken dress,
Which is with virtues twelve endued.1
42. My hut of leaves I then forsook,
So crowded with the eight defects,2 And at the foot of trees I lived,
For such abodes have virtues ten.3
p. 11 [J.i.632
43. No sown and cultivated grain Allowed I then to be my food; But all the many benefits
Of wild-fruit fare I made my own.
44. And strenuous effort made I there, The while I sat, or stood, or walked; And ere seven days had passed away, I had attained the Powers High.
45. When I had thus success attained, And made me master of the Law,
A Conqueror, Lord of All the World, Was born, by name Dîpamkara.
46. What time he was conceived, was born, What time he Buddhaship attained,
When first he preached,--the Signs1 appeared. I saw them not, deep sunk in trance.
47. Then, in the distant border-land, Invited they this Being Great, And everyone, with joyful heart,
The pathway for his coming cleared.
p. 12 [J.i.1130
48. Now so it happened at this time, That I my hermitage had left,
And, barken garments rustling loud, Was passing o'er them through the air.
49. Then saw I every one alert,
Well-pleased, delighted, overjoyed; And, coming downward from the sky, The multitude I straightway asked:
50. "Well-pleased, delighted, overjoyed, And all alert is everyone;
For whom is being cleared the way, The path, the track to travel on?"
51. When thus I asked, response was made: "A mighty Buddha has appeared,
A Conqueror, Lord of All the World, Whose name is called Dîpamkara. For him is being cleared the way, The path, the track to travel on."
52. This word, "The Buddha," when I heard, Joy sprang up straightway in my heart; "A Buddha! Buddha!" cried I then,
And publishèd my heart's content.
53. And standing there I pondered deep, By joyous agitation seized:
"Here will I now some good seed sow, Nor let this fitting season slip."
54. "For a Buddha do ye clear the road? Then, pray, grant also me a place!
I, too, will help to clear the way, The path, the track to travel on."
55. And so they granted also me A portion of the path to clear,
And I gan clear, while still my heart Said "Buddha! Buddha!" o'er and o'er.
p. 13 [J.i.1314
56. But ere my part was yet complete, Dîpamkara, the Mighty Sage,
The Conqueror, came that way along, Thronged by four hundred thousand saints, Without depravity or spot,
And having each the Six High Powers.
57. The people then their greetings gave, And many kettle-drums were beat, And men and gods, in joyous mood, Loud shouted their applauding cries.
58. Then men and gods together met, And saw each other face to face; And all with joined hands upraised Followed The Buddha and his train.
59. The gods, with instruments divine, The men, with those of human make, Triumphant music played, the while They followed in The Buddha's train.
60. Celestial beings from on high Threw broadcast over all the earth The Erythrina flowers of heaven, The lotus and the coral-flower.
61. And men abiding on the ground On every side flung up in air Champakas, salalas, nîpas,
Nâgas, punnâgas, ketakas.
62. Then loosened I my matted hair, And, spreading out upon the mud My dress of bark and cloak of skin, I laid me down upon my face.
63. "Let now on me The Buddha tread, With the disciples of his train;
Can I but keep him from the mire, To me great merit shall accrue."
p. 14 [J.i.146
64. While thus I lay upon the ground,1 Arose within me many thoughts:
"To-day, if such were my desire, I my corruptions might consume.
65. "But why thus in an unknown guise Should I the Doctrine's fruit secure? Omniscience first will I achieve, And be a Buddha in the world.
66. "Or why should I, a valorous man, The ocean seek to cross alone? Omniscience first will I achieve, And men and gods convey across.
67. "Since now I make this earnest wish, In presence of this Best of Men, Omniscience sometime I'll achieve, And multitudes convey across.
68. "I'll rebirth's circling stream arrest, Destroy existence's three modes;
I'll climb the sides of Doctrine's ship, And men and gods convey across.
69.
"A human being,2 male of sex,
Who saintship gains, a Teacher meets, As hermit lives, and virtue loves,
Nor lacks resolve, nor fiery zeal,
Can by these eight conditions joined, Make his most earnest wish succeed."
p. 15 [J.i.1530
70. Dîpamkara, Who Knew All Worlds, Recipient of Offerings,
Came to a halt my pillow near,
And thus addressed the multitudes:
71. "Behold ye now this monk austere, His matted locks, his penance fierce! Lo! he, unnumbered cycles hence,
A Buddha in the world shall be.
p. 16 [J.i.161
72. "From the fair town called Kapila His Great Retirement shall be made.
Then, when his Struggle fierce is o'er,
His stern austerities performed,--
73. "He shall in quiet sit him down Beneath the Ajapâla-tree;
There pottage made of rice receive, And seek the stream Nerañjarâ.
74. "This pottage shall The Conqueror eat, Beside the stream Nerañjarâ,
And thence by road triumphal go
To where the Tree of Wisdom stands.
75. "Then shall the Peerless, Glorious One Walk to the right, round Wisdom's Throne, And there The Buddhaship achieve,
While sitting at the fig-tree's root.
76. "The mother that shall bring him forth, Shall Mâyâ callèd be by name; Suddhodana his father's name;
His own name shall be Gotama.
77. "Kolita, Upatissa1 too,--
These shall his Chief Disciples be; Both undepraved, both passion-free, And tranquil and serene of mind.
78. "Ânanda shall be servitor
And on The Conqueror attend; Khemâ and Uppalavanna
Shall female Chief Disciples be,
79. "Both undepraved, both passion-free, And tranquil and serene of mind.
The Bo-tree of this Blessed One Shall be the tree Assattha2 called."
p. 17 [J.i.161
80. Thus spake Th' Unequalled, Mighty Sage; And all, when they had heard his speech, Both men and gods rejoiced, and said: "Behold a Buddha-scion here!"
81. Now shouts were heard on every side,
The people clapped their arms and laughed. Ten thousand worlds of men and gods
Paid me their homage then and said:
82. "If of our Lord Dîpamkara
The Doctrine now we fail to grasp, We yet shall stand in time to come Before this other face to face.
83. "Even as, when men a river cross, And miss th' opposing landing-place, A lower landing-place they find,
And there the river-bank ascend;
84. "Even so, we all, if we let slip
The present Conqueror that we have, Yet still shall stand in time to come
Before this other, face to face."
85. Dîpamkara, Who All Worlds Knew, Recipient of Offerings,
My future having prophesied,
His right foot raised and went his way.
86. And all who were this Conqueror's sons, Walked to the right around me then; And serpents, men, and demigods, Saluting me, departed thence.
87. Now when The Leader of the World Had passed from sight with all his train,
My mind with rapturous transport filled, I raised me up from where I lay.
p. 18 [J.i.1720
88. Then overjoyed with joy was I, Delighted with a keen delight; And thus with pleasure saturate I sat me down with legs across.
89. And while cross-legged there I sat, I thus reflected to myself:
"Behold! in trance am I adept, And all the Powers High are mine.
90. "Nowhere throughout a thousand worlds Are any seers to equal me;
Unequalled in the magic gifts
Have I this height of bliss attained."
91. Now while I sat with legs across, The dwellers of ten thousand worlds
Rolled forth a glad and mighty shout:1 "Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
92. "The presages that erst were seen, When Future Buddhas sat cross-legged, These presages are seen to-day-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
93. "' All cold is everywhere dispelled, And mitigated is the heat;
These presages are seen to-day-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
94. "The system of ten thousand worlds Is hushed to quiet and to peace; These presages are seen to-day-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
p. 19 [J.i.181
95. "The mighty winds then cease to blow, Nor do the rivers onward glide;
These presages are seen to-day-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
96. "All plants, be they of land or stream, Do straightway put their blossoms forth;
Even so to-day they all have bloomed-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
97. "And every tree, and every vine,
Is straightway laden down with fruit; Even so to-day they're laden down-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
98. "In sky and earth doth straightway then Full many a radiant gem appear;
Even so to-day they shine afar-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
99. "Then straightway music's heard to play 'Mongst men on earth and gods in heaven; So all to-day in music join--
Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
100. "There falleth straightway down from heaven A rain of many-colored flowers;
Even so to-day these flowers are seen-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
101. "The mighty ocean heaves and roars, And all the worlds ten thousand quake; Even so is now this tumult heard-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
102. "Straightway throughout the whole of hell The fires ten thousand all die out;
Even so to-day have all expired-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
p. 20 [J.i.1817
103. "Unclouded then the sun shines forth, And all the stars appear to view;
Even so to-day do they appear-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
104. "Straightway, although no rain hath fallen, Burst springs of water from the earth; Even so to-day they gush in streams-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
105. "And bright then shine the starry hosts And constellations in the sky;
The moon in Libra now doth stand-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
106. "All beasts that lurk in holes and clefts, Then get them forth from out their lairs; Even so to-day they've left their dens-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
107. "Straightway content is all the world, And no unhappiness is known;
Even so to-day are all content-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
108. "Then every sickness vanishes, And hunger likewise disappears;
These presages are seen to-day-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
109. "Then lust doth dwindle and grow weak, And hate, infatuation too;
Even so to-day they disappear-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
110. "Then fear and danger are unknown; All we are freed from them to-day; And by this token we perceive-- 'Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!'
p. 21 [J.i.1833
111. "No dust upwhirleth towards the sky; Even so to-day this thing is seen;
And by this token we perceive-- 'Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!'
112. "All noisome odors drift away,
And heavenly fragrance fills the air; Even so the winds now sweetness waft-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
113. "Then all the gods appear to view,
Save those that hold the formless realm; Even so to-day these all are seen-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
114. "Then clearly seen are all the hells, However many be their tale;
Even so to-day may all be seen-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
115. "Through walls, and doors, and mountain-rocks, One finds an easy passage then;
Even so to-day they yield like air-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
116. "Existence then forbears its round Of death and rebirth for a time; Even so to-day this thing is seen-- Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!
117. "Do thou a strenuous effort make! Do not turn back! Go on! Advance! Most certainly we know this thing:
'Surely a Buddha thou shalt be!'"
118. When I had heard The Buddha's speech, And what the worlds ten thousand said, Well-pleased, delighted, overjoyed,
I thus reflected to myself:
p. 22 [J.i.1920
119. "The Buddhas never liars are;
A Conqueror's word ne'er yet was vain; Nothing but truth The Buddhas speak-- Surely a Buddha I shall be!
120. "As clods thrown upward in the air
Fall surely back upon the earth,
So what the glorious Buddhas speak Is sure and steadfast to the end.
Nothing but truth The Buddhas speak1-- Surely a Buddha I shall be!1
121. "As also for each living thing
The approach of death is ever sure, So what the glorious Buddhas speak Is sure and steadfast to the end.
Nothing but truth The Buddhas speak1-- Surely a Buddha I shall be!1
122. "As at the waning of the night The rising of the sun is sure,
So what the glorious Buddhas speak Is sure and steadfast to the end.
Nothing but truth, etc.1
123. "As, when he issues from his den, The roaring of the lion's sure,
So what the glorious Buddhas speak Is sure and steadfast to the end.
Nothing but truth, etc.1
124. "As when a female has conceived, Her bringing forth of young is sure, So what the glorious Buddhas speak Is sure and steadfast to the end.
Nothing but truth The Buddhas speak1--
Surely a Buddha I shall be!1
p. 23 [J.i.2010
125.
"Come now! I'll search that I may find Conditions which a Buddha make-- Above, below, to all ten1 points, Where'er conditions hold their sway."
126. And then I searched, and saw the First Perfection, which consists in Alms, That highroad great whereon of old The former seers had ever walked.
127. "Come now! This one as first adopt, And practise it determinedly; Acquire perfection in thine Alms,
If thou to Wisdom wouldst attain.
128. "As when a jar is brimming full, And some one overturneth it, The jar its water all gives forth, And nothing for itself keeps back;
129. "So, when a suppliant thou dost see, Of mean, or high, or middling rank, Give all in Alms, in nothing stint, E'en as the overturnèd jar.
130. "But now there must be more than these Conditions which a Buddha make:
Still others will I seek to find
That shall in Buddhaship mature."
131. Perfection Second then I sought, And lo! the Precepts came to view, Which mighty seers of former times Had practised and had follow'd.
132. "Come now! as second this adopt, And practise it determinedly;
The Precepts to perfection keep, If thou to Wisdom wouldst attain.
p. 24 [J.i.2033
133. "As when a Yak cow's flowing tail Is firmly caught by bush or thorn, She thereupon awaits her death, But will not tear and mar her tail;1
134. "So likewise thou in stages four, Observe and keep the Precepts whole, On all occasions guard them well,
As ever Yak cow does her tail.
135. "But now there must be more than these Conditions which a Buddha make;
Still others will I seek to find
That shall in Buddhaship mature."
136. And then Perfection Third I sought, Which is Renunciation called, Which mighty seers of former times Had practised and had follow'd.
137. "Come now! this one as third adopt, And practise it determinedly; Renounce, and in perfection grow, If thou to Wisdom wouldst attain.
138. "Even as a man who long has dwelt In prison, suffering miserably,
No liking for the place conceives, But only longeth for release;
139. "So likewise thou must every mode Of being as a prison view-- Renunciation be thy aim;
Thus from existence free thyself.
140. "But now there must be more than these Conditions which a Buddha make;
Still others will I seek to find
That shall in Buddhaship mature."
p. 25 [J.i.2133
141. And then I sought and found the Fourth Perfection, which is Wisdom called, Which mighty seers of former times Had practised and had follow'd.
142. "Come now! this one as fourth adopt, And practise it determinedly;
Wisdom to its perfection bring,
If thou to Wisdom wouldst attain.
143. "Just as a priest, when on his rounds, Nor low, nor high, nor middling folk Doth shun, but begs of everyone, And so his daily food receives;
144. "So to the learned ay resort,
And seek thy Wisdom to increase;
And when this Fourth Perfection's gained, A Buddha's Wisdom shall be thine.
145. "But now there must be more than these Conditions which a Buddha make;
Still others will I seek to find
That shall in Buddhaship mature."
146. And then I sought and found the Fifth Perfection, which is Courage called, Which mighty seers of former times Had practised and had follow'd.
147. "Come now! this one as fifth adopt, And practise it determinedly;
In Courage perfect strive to be,
If thou to Wisdom wouldst attain.
148. "Just as the lion, king of beasts,
In crouching, walking, standing still, With courage ever is instinct,
And watchful always, and alert;
p. 26 [J.i.2220
149. "So thou in each repeated birth, Courageous energy display;
And when this Fifth Perfection's gained, A Buddha's Wisdom shall be thine.
150. "But now there must be more than these Conditions which a Buddha make;
Still others will I seek to find
That shall in Buddhaship mature."
151. And then I sought and found the Sixth Perfection, which is Patience called, Which mighty seers of former times Had practised and had follow'd.
152. "Come now! this one as sixth adopt, And practise it determinedly;
And if thou keep an even mood,
A Buddha's Wisdom shall be thine.
153. "Just as the earth, whate'er is thrown Upon her, whether sweet or foul,
All things endures, and never shows Repugnance, nor complacency;
154. "E'en so, or honor thou, or scorn,
Of men, with patient mood must bear;
And when this Sixth Perfection's gained, A Buddha's Wisdom shall be thine.
155. "But now there must be more than these Conditions which a Buddha make;
Still others will I seek to find
That shall in Buddhaship mature."
156. And then I sought and found the Seventh Perfection, which is that of Truth,
Which mighty seers of former times Had practised and had follow'd.
p. 27 [J.i.2318
157. "Come now! this one as seventh adopt, And practise it determinedly;
If thou art ne'er of double speech, A Buddha's Wisdom shall be thine.
158. "Just as the morning star on high Its balanced course doth ever keep,
And through all seasons, times, and years, Doth never from its pathway swerve;
159. "So likewise thou in all thy speech Swerve never from the path of truth;
And when this Seventh Perfection's gained, A Buddha's Wisdom shall be thine.
160. "But now there must be more than these Conditions which a Buddha make;
Still others will I seek to find
That shall in Buddhaship mature."
161. And then I sought and found the Eighth Perfection, Resolution called,
Which mighty seers of former times Had practised and had follow'd.
162. "Come now! this one as eighth adopt, And practise it determinedly;
And when thou art immovable,
A Buddha's Wisdom shall be thine.
163. "Just as a rocky mountain-peak, Unmovèd stands, firm-stablishèd, Unshaken by the boisterous gales, And always in its place abides;
164. "So likewise thou must ever be In Resolution firm intrenched;
And when this Eighth Perfection's gained, A Buddha's Wisdom shall be thine.
p. 28 [J.i.2416
165. "But now there must be more than these Conditions which a Buddha make;
Still others will I seek to find
That shall in Buddhaship mature."
166. And then I sought and found the Ninth
Perfection, which is called Good-will; Which mighty seers of former times Had practised and had follow'd.
167. "Come now! this one as ninth adopt, And practise it determinedly; Unequalled be in thy Good-will,
If thou to Wisdom wouldst attain.
168. "As water cleanseth all alike,
The righteous and the wicked, too, From dust and dirt of every kind, And with refreshing coolness fills;
169. "So likewise thou both friend and foe, Alike with thy Good-will refresh,
And when this Ninth Perfection's gained, A Buddha's Wisdom shall be thine.
170. "But now there must be more than these Conditions which a Buddha make;
Still others will I seek to find
That shall in Buddhaship mature."
171. And then I sought and found the Tenth Perfection, called Indifference;
Which mighty seers of former times Had practised and had follow'd.
172. "Come now! this one as tenth adopt, And practise it determinedly;
And when thou art of equal poise, A Buddha's Wisdom shall be thine.
p. 29 [J.i.257
173. "Just as the earth, whate'er is thrown Upon her, whether sweet or foul, Indifferent is to all alike,
Nor hatred shows, nor amity;
174. "So likewise thou in good or ill, Must even-balanced ever be;
And when this Tenth Perfection's gained, A Buddha's Wisdom shall be thine.
175. "But earth no more conditions hath That in The Buddhaship mature; Beyond these are there none to seek; So practise these determinedly."
176. Now pondering these conditions ten, Their nature, essence, character,-- Such fiery vigor had they all,
That all the worlds ten thousand quaked.
177. Then shook and creaked the wide, wide earth, As doth the sugar-mill at work;
Then quaked the ground, as doth the wheel Of oil-mills when they're made to turn.
178. Th' entire assemblage that was there,
And followed in The Buddha's train, Trembled and shook in great alarm, And fell astonied to the ground.
179. And many thousand waterpots, And many hundred earthen jars, Were one upon another dashed,
And crushed and pounded into dust.
180. Excited, trembling, terrified,
Confused, and sore oppressed in mind, The multitudes together came,
And to Dîpamkara approached.
p. 30 [J.i.2621
181. "Oh, tell us what these signs portend. Will good or ill betide the world?
Lo! terror seizes hold on all. Dispel our fears, All-Seeing One!"
182. The Great Sage, then, Dîpamkara, Allayed and pacified their fears:-- "Be comforted; and fear ye not
For that the world doth quake and shake.
183. "Of whom to-day I made proclaim-- 'A glorious Buddha shall he be,'-- He now conditions pondereth, Which former Conquerors fulfilled.
184. "'T is while on these he is intent, As basis for The Buddhaship,
The ground in worlds ten thousand shakes, In all the realms of gods and men."
185. When thus they'd heard The Buddha speak, Their anxious minds received relief;
And all then drawing near to me, Again they did me reverence.
186. Thus on the road to Buddhaship, And firm determined in my mind, I raised me up from off my seat, And reverenced Dîpamkara.
187. Then as I raised me from my seat, Both gods and men in unison
Sweet flowers of heaven and flowers of earth Profusely sprinkled on my head.
188. And gods and men in unison
Their great delight proclaimed aloud:-- "A mighty prayer thou now hast made; Succeed according to thy wish!
189. "From all misfortunes be thou free, Let every sickness disappear!
p. 31 [J.i.2723
Mayst thou no hindrance ever know, And highest Wisdom soon achieve!
190.
"As, when the time of spring has come,
The trees put forth their buds and flowers, Likewise dost thou, O Hero Great,
With knowledge of a Buddha bloom.
191.
"As all they who have Buddhas been, The Ten Perfections have fulfilled, Likewise do thou, O Hero Great,
The Ten Perfections strive to gain.
192.
"As all they who have Buddhas been,
On Wisdom's Throne their insight gained, Likewise do thou, O Hero Great,
On Conqueror's Throne thy insight gain.
193.
"As all they who have Buddhas been, Have made the Doctrine's Wheel to roll, Likewise do thou, O Hero Great,
Make Doctrine's Wheel to roll once more.
194.
"As on the mid-day of the month The moon in full perfection shines, Likewise do thou, with perfect mind,
Shine brightly in ten thousand worlds.
195.
"As when the sun, by Râhu freed, Shines forth exceeding bright and clear. So thou, when freed from ties of earth, Shine forth in bright magnificence.
196.
"Just as the rivers of all lands Into the ocean find their way,
May gods and men from every world Approach and find their way to thee."
197.
Thus praised they me with glad acclaim; And I, beginning to fulfil
The ten conditions of my quest, Re-entered then into the wood.
END OF THE STORY OF SUMEDHA.
: § 2. A List of Former Buddhas
Footnotesp. 5 1 This entire story is related by The Buddha to his disciples, and describes how, in his long-ago existence as the Brahman Sumedha, he first resolved to strive for the Buddhaship. In stanzas 12-16 he speaks of himself, that is, of Sumedha, in the third person, but elsewhere in the first.2 Only six of the ten noises indicative of a flourishing town are here mentioned. For the complete list, see p. 101.3 Probably gold, silver, pearls, gems (such as sapphire and ruby), cat's-eye, diamond, and coral; or perhaps as given on p. 101, note.p. 6 1 Lust, hatred, and infatuation. Compare page 59, and also the "Fire-sermon," page 351.p. 8 1 The two eyes, ears, and so forth, as enumerated at page
298.2 The Himalaya mountains. Himâlaya and Himavant are Sanskrit words of almost identical signification. The former means "snow-abode," and is a compound of hima, "snow," and âlaya, "settling-down place," or "abode." Hima-vant means "snow-y."p. 9 1 Native gloss: Jâtaka, vol. i.,
p. 7, l. 14: Exempted from the five defects: The following are the five defects in a walking-place: hardness and unevenness; trees in the midst; dense underbrush; excessive narrowness; excessive width. For if the walking-place be on hard and uneven ground, then any one who uses it hurts and blisters his feet, so that he fails of concentration of mind, and his meditation is broken up; while he who walks at ease on a soft and even surface succeeds in meditation. Therefore hardness and unevenness of surface are to be reckoned as one defect. If a walking-place have trees in it, whether in the middle or at the end, then any one who uses it is liable, if not careful, to strike his forehead or his head against them. Therefore trees in the midst are a second defect. If a walking-place be overgrown with a dense underbrush of grass, vines, and so forth, any one who uses it in the dark is liable to tread upon snakes and other creatures and kill them, or they may bite and injure him. Thus a dense underbrush is a third defect. If a walking-place be excessively narrow, say only a cubit or half a cubit wide, then any one who uses it is liable to stumble at the borders and stub his toes and break his toe-nails. Therefore excessive narrowness is a fourth defect. If a walking-place be excessively wide, then any one who uses it is liable to have his mind wander and fail of concentration. Thus excessive width is a fifth defect. A walking-place should be a path a cubit and a half in breadth, with a margin of a cubit on either side, and it should be sixty cubits in length, and it should have a surface soft and evenly sprinkled with sand.2 Ibidem, l. 30. And having all the virtues eight: Having the eight advantages for a
monk. The following are the eight advantages for a monk: it admits of no storing-up of treasure or grain; it favors only a blameless alms- seeking; there one can eat his alms in peace and quiet; there no annoyance is experienced from the reigning families when they oppress the kingdom with their levies of the precious metals or of leaden money; no passionate desire arises for furniture and implements; there is no fear of being plundered by robbers; no intimacies are formed with kings and courtiers; and one is not shut in in any of the four directions.3 Native gloss: Jâtaka, vol. i., p. 8, l. 27: For cloaks possess the nine defects: . . . For one who retires from the world and takes up the life of an anchorite, there are nine defects inherent in garments of cloth. The great cost is one defect; the fact that it is got by dependence on others is another; the fact that it is easily soiled by use is another, for when it has been soiled it must be washed and dyed; the fact that when it is much worn it must needs be patched and mended is another; the difficulty of obtaining a new one when needed is another; its unsuitableness for an anchorite who has retired from the world is another; its acceptableness to one's enemies is another, for it must needs be guarded lest the enemy take it; the danger that it may be worn for ornament is another; the temptation it affords to load one's self down with it in travelling is another.p. 10 1 The bast, or inner bark of certain trees, was much used in India as cloth, to which indeed it bears a striking resemblance.--Native gloss: Jâtaka, vol. i., p. 9, l. 2: Which is with virtues twelve endued: Possessing twelve advantages. For there are twelve advantages in a dress of bark. It is cheap, good, and suitable; this is one advantage. You can make it yourself; this is a second. It gets dirty but slowly by use, and hence time is not wasted in washing it; this is a third. It never needs sewing, even when much used and worn; this is a fourth. But when a new one is needed, it can be made with ease; this is a fifth. Its suitableness for an anchorite who has retired from the world is a sixth. That it is of no use to one's enemies is a seventh. That it cannot be worn for ornament is an eighth. Its lightness is a ninth. Its conducing to moderation in dress is a tenth. The irreproachableness and blamelessness of searching for bark is an eleventh. And the unimportance of its loss is a twelfth.2 Native gloss: Jâtaka, vol. i., p. 9, l.11: My hut of leaves I then forsook, So crowded with the eight defects: ...(L. 36) For there are eight evils connected with the use of a leaf-hut. The great labor involved in searching for materials and in the putting of them together is one evil. The constant care necessary to replace the grass, leaves, and bits of clay that fall down is a second. Houses may do for old men, but no concentration of mind is possible when one's meditation is liable to be interrupted; thus the liability to interruption is a third. The protection afforded against heat and cold renders the body delicate, and this is a fourth. In a house all sorts of evil deeds are possible; thus the cover it affords for disgraceful practices is a fifth. The taking possession, saying, "This is mine," is a sixth. To have a house is like having a companion; this is a seventh. And the sharing of it with many others, as for instance with lice, bugs, and house-lizards, is an eighth.3 Ibidem, p. 10, l. 9: And at the foot of trees I lived, For such abodes have virtues ten: ...The following are the ten virtues. The smallness of the undertaking is one virtue, for all that is necessary is simply to go to the tree. The small amount of care it requires is a second; for, whether swept or unswept, it is suitable for use. The freedom from interruption is a third. It affords no cover for disgraceful practices; wickedness there would be too public; thus the fact that it affords no cover for disgraceful practices is a fourth. It is like living under the open sky, for there is no feeling that the body is confined; thus the nonconfinement of the body is a fifth. There is no taking possession; this is a sixth. The abandonment of all longings for household life is a seventh. When a house is shared with others, some one is liable to say,"I will look after this house myself. Begone!" Thus the freedom from eviction is an eighth. The happy contentment experienced by the occupant is a ninth. The little concern one need feel about lodgings, seeing that a man can find a tree no matter where he may be stopping,--this is a tenth.p. 11 1 Translated from the prose of the Jâtaka, vol. i., p. 10, last line but one: At his [Dîpamkara's] conception, birth, attainment of Buddhaship, and when he caused the Wheel of Doctrine to roll, the entire system of ten thousand worlds trembled, quivered, and shook, and roared with a mighty roar; also the Thirty-Two Prognostics appeared. [For the Thirty-Two Prognostics, see page 44.]p. 14 1 Native gloss: Jâtaka, vol. i., p. 13, l. 31: As he lay in the mud, he opened his eyes again, and gazing upon the Buddha-glory of Dîpamkara, The Possessor of the Ten Forces, he reflected as follows: "If I so wished, I might burn up all my corruptions, and as novice follow with the congregation when they enter the city of Ramma; but I do not want to burn up my corruptions and enter Nirvana unknown to any one. What now if I, like Dîpamkara, were to acquire the supreme wisdom, were to cause multitudes to go on board the ship of Doctrine and cross the ocean of the round of rebirth, and were afterwards to pass into Nirvana! That would be something worthy of me!"2 Native gloss: Jâtaka, vol. i., p. 14, l. 20: For it is only a human being that can successfully wish to be a Buddha; a serpent, or a bird, or a deity cannot successfully make the wish. Of human beings it is only one of the male sex that can make the wish: it would not be successful on the part of a woman, or of a eunuch, or of a neuter, or of a hermaphrodite. Of men it is he, and only he, who is in a fit condition by the attainment of saintship in that same existence, that can successfully make the wish. Of those in a fit condition it is only he who makes the wish in the presence of a living Buddha that succeeds in his wish; after the death of a Buddha a wish made at a relic-shrine, or at the foot of a Bo-tree, will not be successful. Of those who make the wish in the presence of a Buddha it is he, and only he, who has retired from the world that can successfully make the wish, and not one who is a layman. Of those who have retired from the world it is only he who is possessed of the Five High Powers and is master of the Eight Attainments that can successfully make the wish, and no one can do so who is lacking in these excellences. Of those, even, who possess these excellences it is he, and only he, who has such firm resolve that he is ready to sacrifice his life for The Buddhas that can successfully make the wish, but no other. Of those who possess this resolve it is he, and only he, who has great zeal, determination, strenuousness, and endeavor in striving for the qualities that make a Buddha that is successful. The following comparisons will show the intensity of the zeal. If he is such a one as to think: "The man who, if all within the rim of the world were to become water, would be ready to swim across it with his own arms and get to the further shore,--he is the one to attain the Buddhaship; or, in case all within the rim of the world were to become a jungle of bamboo, would be ready to elbow and trample his way through it and get to the further side,--he is the one to attain the Buddhaship; or, in case all within the rim of the world were to become a terra firma of thick-set javelins, would be ready to tread on them and go afoot to the further side,--he is the one to attain the Buddhaship; or, in case all within the rim of the world were to become live coals, would be ready to tread on them and so get to the further side,--he is the one to attain the Buddhaship,"--if he deems not even one of these feats too hard for himself, but has such great zeal, determination, strenuousness, and power of endeavor that he would perform these feats in order to attain the Buddhaship, then, but not otherwise, will his wish succeed.p. 16 1 Better known as Moggallâna and Sâriputta, respectively.2 Ficus religiosa.p. 18 1 There have been many beings who, like Sumedha here, were to become Buddhas, and who were therefore called Bodhi-sattas or "Future Buddhas." The certainty of their ultimate "Illumination," or Buddhaship, was always foretokened by certain presages. The "dwellers of ten thousand worlds" describe in the following stanzas what these presages were, declare that they are
reappearing now, and announce to Sumedha their prophetic inference that he will attain Buddhaship.p. 22 1 This refrain is added to these stanzas in the Buddha-Vamsa. In the Jâtaka it is omitted.p. 23 1 The four cardinal points of the compass, the four intermediate points, the zenith and nadir.p. 24 1 As Fausböll observes, a very similar statement is made by Aelian, περὶ ζώων, xvi. 11. See also Visuddhi-Magga, chapter i.
p. 32 [J.i.4328
§ 2. A LIST OF FORMER BUDDHAS.Translated from the Introduction to the Jâtaka (i.4328). Now in the same world-cycle that saw Dîpamkara, The One Possessing the Ten Forces, there were also three other Buddhas; but as none of them prophesied concerning the Future Buddha, I have not mentioned them. In the Commentary, however, all the Buddhas are mentioned from the beginning of that world-cycle on, as follows:--
247. "Tanhamkara, Medhamkara, And also Saranamkara, Dîpamkara, the Buddha great, Kondañña, of all men the chief,
248. "Mañgala, and Sumana too, Revata, Sobhita, the sage, Anomadassi, Paduma, Nârada, Padumuttara,
249. "Sumedha, and Sujâta too, Piyadassi, the glorious one, Atthadassi, Dhammadassi, Siddhattha, guide of every man,
250. "Tissa, Phussa, the Buddha great, Vipassi, Sikkhi, Vessabhû, Kakusandha, Konâgamana, Kassapa also, guide for men,--
251. "All these aforetime Buddhas were, Tranquil, from every passion free. And like the sun, the many-rayed,
They chased away the darkness dense, And having flamed like tongues of fire, Became extinct with all their train."
Our Future Buddha, in his passage through four immensities and a hundred thousand world-cycles to the present time,
p. 33 [J.i.4415
has made his wish under twenty-four of these Buddhas beginning with Dîpamkara. But since Kassapa, The Blessed One, there has been no Supreme Buddha excepting our present one. Accordingly, our Future Buddha has received recognition at the hands of twenty-four Buddhas beginning with Dîpamkara.
: § 3. The Characteristics of a Future Buddha
p. 33
§ 3. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A FUTURE BUDDHA.Translated from the Introduction to the Jâtaka (i.4420).
"A human being, male of sex,
Who saintship gains, a Teacher meets, As hermit lives, and virtue loves,
Nor lacks resolve, nor fiery zeal,
Can by these eight conditions joined, Make his most earnest wish succeed,"
These eight conditions were all united in him when he made his earnest wish at the feet of Dîpamkara, saying,--
"Come now! I'll search that I may find Conditions which a Buddha make."
Thereupon, putting forth a strenuous effort,--as it is said,--
"And then I searched, and found the First Perfection, which consists in alms,"--
he discovered, not only the perfection which is called alms, but also all the others that go to make a Buddha. And in fulfilling them he reached his Vessantara existence.1 In so doing, all the blessings celebrated in the following stanzas as belonging to Future Buddhas who make the earnest wish were attained by him:--
p. 34 [J.i.4429
252. "Such men in every virtue trained, And destined for the Buddhaship, In all their weary rounds of birth, Though cycle-millions come and go,
253. "Are never born inside of hell, Nor in the intermundane voids.
They never share the Manes' thirst,1 Their hunger or ferocity,1
And though sometimes of low estate, Are never of the insect class.
254. "When they appear among mankind, 'T is not as blind from birth they come, Deafness they never have to bear,
Nor dumbness have they to endure.
255. "They're never of the female sex, Nor as hermaphrodites appear,
As eunuchs are they never classed, Those destined for the Buddhaship.
256. "From all the five great crimes exempt, And pure in all their walks in life,
They follow not vain heresy,
For well they know how karma works.
257. "Though in the heavens they may be born, Yet ne'er 'mongst those perception-reft;
Nor are they destined to rebirth 'Mongst dwellers in the Pure Abodes.2
258. "These pleasure-abnegating men Live unattached in every birth, And ever toil to help the world; While all perfections they fulfil."
p. 35 [J.i.4511
Now in accomplishing these Ten Perfections there was no limit to the number of existences in which he fulfilled the perfection of almsgiving; as when he was born as the Brahman Akitti, the Brahman Samkha, king Dhanañjaya, Mahâ-Sudassana, Mahâ-Govinda, king Nimi, prince Canda, Visayha the treasurer, king Sivi, and king Vessantara. But the acme was reached when as the Wise Hare1 he said,--
259. "There came a beggar, asked for food; Myself I gave that he might eat.
In alms there's none can equal me; In alms have I perfection reached."
Thus, in this offering up of his own life, he acquired the perfection of almsgiving in its highest degree. Likewise there was no limit to the number of existences in which he fulfilled the precepts; as when he was born as the elephant-king Sîlava, the snake-king Campeyya, the snake- king Bhûridatta, the elephant-king Chaddanta, and prince Alînasattu, son of king Jayaddisa. But the acme was reached when, as related in the Samkhapâla Birth-Story, he said,--
260. "They pierced me through with pointed stakes, They hacked me with their hunting-knives;
Yet gainst these Bhojans raged I not, But kept the precepts perfectly."
Thus, in giving up his own life, he acquired perfection in the keeping of the precepts. Likewise there was no limit to the number of existences in which he fulfilled the perfection of abnegation by abandoning
p. 36 [J.i.4528
his throne; as when he was born as prince Somanassa, prince Hatthipâla, and the pandit Ayoghara. But the acme was reached when, as related in the Lesser Sutasoma Birth-Story, he said,--
261. "A kingdom dropped into my hands; Like spittle vile I let it fall,
Nor for it felt the smallest wish, And thus renunciation gained."
Thus, free from attachment, he renounced a kingdom and retired from the world, and by so doing acquired the perfection of abnegation in its highest degree. Likewise there was no limit to the number of existences in which he fulfilled the perfection of knowledge; as when he was born as the pandit Vidhûra, the pandit Mahâ-Govinda, the pandit Kuddâla, the pandit Araka, the wandering ascetic Bodhi, and the pandit Mahosadha. But the acme was reached when, as the pandit Senaka of the Sattubhatta Birth-Story, he said,--
262. "With wisdom sifted I the case,
And freed the Brahman from his woe; In wisdom none can equal me:
In wisdom I've perfection reached,"
and displayed to all present the serpent which lay concealed in the bag, and in so doing acquired the perfection of wisdom in its highest
degree. Likewise there was no limit to the number of existences in which he fulfilled the perfection of courage. But the acme was reached when, as related in the Greater Janaka Birth-Story, he said,--
263. "Far out of sight of land were we, The crew were all as dead of fright; Yet still unruffled was my mind:
In courage I've perfection reached."
Thus it was in crossing the ocean he acquired the perfection of courage in its highest degree.
p. 37 [J.i.4617
Likewise in the Khantivâda Birth-Story, where he said,--
264. "Like one insensible I lay,
While with his hatchet keen he hacked, Nor raged I gainst Benares' king:
In patience I've perfection reached,"
in enduring great suffering, while appearing to be unconscious, he acquired the perfection of patience in its highest degree. Likewise in the Greater Sutasoma Birth-Story, where he said,--
265. "I kept the promise I had made, And gave my life in sacrifice,
A hundred warriors set I free:
In truth have I perfection reached,"
in keeping his word at the sacrifice of his life, he acquired the perfection of truth in its highest degree. Likewise in the Mûgapakkha Birth-Story, where he said,--
266. "'T is not that I my parents hate, 'T is not that glory I detest,
But since omniscience I held dear, Therefore I kept my firm resolve,"
in resolving on a course of conduct that cost him his life, he acquired the perfection of resolution in its highest degree. Likewise in the Ekarâja Birth-Story, where he said,--
267. "No fear has any one of me, Nor have I fear of any one, In my good-will to all I trust,
And love to dwell in lonely woods,"
in the exercise of feelings of good-will, and in taking no thought for his life, he acquired the perfection of good-will in its highest degree. Likewise in the Lomahamsa Birth-Story, where he said,--
268. "I laid me down among the dead, A pillow of their bones I made; While from the villages around,
Some came to mock, and some to praise,"
p. 38 [J.i.479
while village children flocked about him, and some spat and others showered fragrant garlands upon him, he was indifferent alike to pleasure and pain, and acquired the perfection of indifference in its highest degree. The above is an abridgment, but the full account is given in the Cariyâ- Pitaka. Having thus fulfilled all the perfections, he said, in his existence as Vessantara,--
269. "This earth, unconscious though she be, And ignorant of joy or grief,
E'en she then felt alms' mighty power, And shook and quaked full seven times."
And having thus caused the earth to quake by his mighty deeds of merit, at the end of that existence he died, and was reborn in the Tusita heaven. Accordingly the period from the time when he fell at the feet of Dîpamkara to his birth in the city of the Tusita gods constitutes the Distant Epoch.
: § 4. The Birth of a Buddha
Footnotesp. 33 1 The Vessantara Birth-Story is the last of the five hundred and fifty, and is not yet published.p. 34 1 I despair of giving in metre more than the general drift of these two lines. See Hardy, "Manual of Budhism {sic}," chap. ii. § 11.2 See page 289.p. 35 1 The story of the Future Buddha's existence as the Wise Hare is given further on under the caption, "The Hare-Mark in the Moon." It is the only one of the numerous Birth-Stories above-mentioned that is to be found in this book. The stanza quoted, however, is not taken from that account, but from another work called the Cariyâ-Pitaka, which is wholly in poetry. The Cariyâ-Pitaka consists of Birth-Stories, and besides the Wise Hare, gives several others of those here mentioned. Some are also briefly alluded to in the ninth chapter of the Visuddhi-Magga; but of course the great treasure-house for Birth-Stories is the Jâtaka itself.
p. 38
§ 4. THE BIRTH OF THE BUDDHA.Translated from the Introduction to the Jâtaka (i.4721). Now while the Future Buddha was still dwelling in the city of the Tusita gods, the "Buddha-Uproar," as it is called, took place. For there are three uproars which take place in the world,--the Cyclic-Uproar, the Buddha-Uproar, and the Universal-Monarch-Uproar. They occur as follows:-- When it is known that after the lapse of a hundred thousand years the cycle is to be renewed, the gods called Loka-byûhas, inhabitants of a heaven of sensual pleasure, wander about through the world, with hair let down and flying in the wind, weeping and wiping away their tears with their hands, and with their clothes red and in great disorder. And thus they make announcement:--
p. 39 [J.i.4727
"Sirs, after the lapse of a hundred thousand years, the cycle is to be renewed; this world will be destroyed; also the mighty ocean will dry up; and this broad earth, and Sineru, the monarch of the mountains, will be burnt up and destroyed,--up to the Brahma heavens will the destruction of the world extend. Therefore, sirs, cultivate friendliness; cultivate compassion, joy, and indifference; wait on your mothers; wait on your fathers; and honor your elders among your kinsfolk." This is called the Cyclic-Uproar. Again, when it is known that after a lapse of a thousand years an omniscient Buddha is to arise in the world, the guardian angels of the world wander about, proclaiming: "Sirs, after the lapse of a thousand years a Buddha will arise in the world." This is called the Buddha-Uproar. And lastly, when they realize that after the lapse of a hundred years a Universal Monarch is to arise, the terrestrial deities wander about, proclaiming:-- "Sirs, after the lapse of a hundred years a Universal Monarch is to arise in the world." This is called the Universal-Monarch-Uproar. And these three are mighty uproars. When of these three Uproars they hear the sound of the Buddha-Uproar, the gods of all ten thousand worlds come together into one place, and having ascertained what particular being is to be The Buddha, they approach him, and beseech him to become one. But it is not till after omens have appeared that they beseech him. At that time, therefore, having all come together in one world, with the Catûm-Mahârâjas, and with the Sakka, the Suyâma, the Santusita, the Paranimmita-Vasavatti, and the Mahâ-Brahma of each several world, they approached the Future Buddha in the Tusita heaven, and besought
him, saying,-- "Sir, it was not to acquire the glory of a Sakka, or of a Mâra, or of a Brahma, or of a Universal Monarch, that you fulfilled the Ten Perfections; but it was to gain omniscience
p. 40 [J.i.4820
in order to save the world, that you fulfilled them. Sir, the time and fit season for your Buddhaship has now arrived." But the Great Being, before assenting to their wish, made what is called the five great observations. He observed, namely, the time, the continent, the country, the family, and the mother and her span of life. In the first of these observations he asked himself whether it was the right time or no. Now it is not the right time when the length of men's lives is more than a hundred thousand years. And why is it not the right time? Because mortals then forget about birth, old age, and death. And if The Buddhas, who always include in their teachings the Three Characteristics, were to attempt at such a time to discourse concerning transitoriness, misery, and the lack of substantive reality, men would not think it worth while listening to them, nor would they give them credence. Thus there would be no conversions made; and if there were no conversions, the dispensation would not conduce to salvation. This, therefore, is not the right time. Also it is not the right time when men's lives are less than a hundred years. And why is it not the right time? Because mortals are then exceedingly corrupt; and an exhortation given to the exceedingly corrupt makes no impression, but, like a mark drawn with a stick on the surface of the water, it immediately disappears. This, therefore, also is not the right time. But when the length of men's lives is between a hundred years and a hundred thousand years, then is it the right time. Now at that time men's lives were a hundred years; accordingly the Great Being observed that it was the right time for his birth. he made the observation concerning the continent. Looking over the four continents with their attendant isles, he reflected: "In three of the continents the Buddhas are never born; only in the continent of India are they born." Thus he decided on the continent. he made the observation concerning the place. "The continent of India is large," thought he, "being ten
p. 41 [J.i.496
thousand leagues around. In which of its countries are The Buddhas born?" Thus he decided on the Middle Country. The Middle Country is the country defined in the Vinaya as follows:-- "It lies in the middle, on this side of the town Kajañgala on the east, beyond which is Mahâ-Sâla, and beyond that the border districts. It lies in the middle, on this side of the river Salalavatî on the southeast, beyond which are the border districts. It lies in the middle, on this side of the town Setakannika on the south, beyond which are the border districts. It lies in the middle, on this side of the Brahmanical town Thûna on the west, beyond which are the border districts. It lies in the middle, on this side of the hill Usîraddhaja on the north, beyond which are the border districts." It is three hundred leagues in length, two hundred and fifty in breadth, and nine hundred in circumference. In this country are born The Buddhas, the Private Buddhas,1 the Chief Disciples, the Eighty Great Disciples, the Universal Monarch, and other eminent ones, magnates of the warrior caste, of the Brahman caste, and the wealthy householders. "And in it is this city called Kapilavatthu," thought he, and concluded that there he ought to be born. Then he made the observation concerning the family. "The Buddhas," thought he, "are never born into a family of the peasant caste, or of the servile caste; but into one of the warrior caste, or of the Brahman caste,
whichever at the time is the higher in public estimation. The warrior caste is now the higher in public estimation. I will be born into a warrior family, and king Suddhodana shall be my father." Thus he decided on the family. Then he made the observation concerning the mother. "The mother of a Buddha," thought he, "is never a wanton, nor a drunkard, but is one who has fulfilled the perfections through a hundred thousand cycles, and has kept the five precepts unbroken from the day of her birth. Now this queen Mahâ-Mâyâ is such a one; and she shall be my mother."--
p. 42 [J.i.4928
"But what shall be her span of life?"1 continued he. And he perceived that it was to be ten months and seven days. Having thus made the five great observations, he kindly made the gods the required promise, saying,-- "Sirs, you are right. The time has come for my Buddhaship." Then, surrounded by the gods of the Tusita heaven, and dismissing all the other gods, he entered the Nandana Grove of the Tusita capital,--for in each of the heavens there is a Nandana Grove. And here the gods said, "Attain in your existence your high destiny," and kept reminding him that he had already paved the way to it by his accumulated merit. Now it was while he was thus dwelling, surrounded by these deities, and continually reminded of his accumulated merit, that he died, and was conceived in the womb of queen Mahâ-Mâyâ. And in order that this matter may be fully understood, I will give the whole account in due order. It is related that at that time the Midsummer Festival had been proclaimed in the city of Kapilavatthu, and the multitude were enjoying the feast. And queen Mahâ-Mâyâ, abstaining from strong drink, and brilliant with garlands and perfumes, took part in the festivities for the six days to the day of full moon. And when it came to be the day of full moon, she rose early, bathed in perfumed water, and dispensed four hundred thousand pieces of money in great largess. And decked in full gala attire, she ate of the choicest food; after which she took the eight vows, and entered her elegantly furnished chamber of state. And lying down on the royal couch, she fell asleep and dreamed the following dream:-- The four guardian angels came and lifted her up, together with her couch, and took her away to the Himalaya Mountains. There, in the Manosilâ table-land, which is sixty leagues in extent, they laid her under a prodigious sal-tree,
p. 43 [J.i.5012
seven leagues in height, and took up their positions respectfully at one side. Then came the wives of these guardian angels, and conducted her to Anotatta Lake, and bathed her, to remove every human stain. And after clothing her with divine garments, they anointed her with perfumes and decked her with divine flowers. Not far off was Silver Hill, and in it a golden mansion. There they spread a divine couch with its head towards the east, and laid her down upon it. Now the Future Buddha had become a superb white elephant, and was wandering about at no great distance, on Gold Hill. Descending thence, he ascended Silver Hill, and approaching from the north, he plucked a white lotus with his silvery trunk, and trumpeting loudly, went into the golden mansion. And three times he walked round his mother's couch, with his right side towards it, and striking her on her right side, he seemed to enter her womb. Thus the conception took place in the Midsummer Festival. On the day the queen awoke, and told the dream to the king. And the king caused sixty-four eminent Brahmans to be summoned, and spread costly seats for them on ground festively prepared with green leaves, Dalbergia flowers, and so forth. The Brahmans being seated, he filled gold and silver dishes with the best of milk-porridge compounded with ghee, honey, and treacle; and covering these dishes with others, made likewise of gold and silver, he gave the Brahmans to eat. And not only with food, but with other gifts, such as new garments, tawny cows, and so forth, he satisfied them completely. And when their every desire had been satisfied, he told them the dream and asked them what would come of it. "Be not anxious, great king!" said the Brahmans; "a child has planted itself in the womb of your queen, and it is a male child and not a female. You will have a son. And he, if he continue to live the household life, will become a Universal Monarch; but if he leave the household life and retire from the world, he will become a Buddha, and roll back the clouds of sin and folly of this world." Now the instant the Future Buddha was conceived in the
p. 44 [J.i.514
womb of his mother, all the ten thousand worlds suddenly quaked, quivered, and shook. And the Thirty-two Prognostics appeared, as follows: an immeasurable light spread through ten thousand worlds; the blind recovered their sight, as if from desire to see this his glory; the deaf received their hearing; the dumb talked; the hunchbacked became straight of body; the lame recovered the power to walk; all those in bonds were freed from their bonds and chains; the fires went out in all the hells; the hunger and thirst of the Manes was stilled; wild animals lost their timidity; diseases ceased among men; all mortals became mild-spoken; horses neighed and elephants trumpeted in a manner sweet to the ear; all musical instruments gave forth their notes without being played upon; bracelets and other ornaments jingled; in all quarters of the heavens the weather became fair; a mild, cool breeze began to blow, very refreshing to men; rain fell out of season; water burst forth from the earth and flowed in streams; the birds ceased flying through the air; the rivers checked their flowing; in the mighty ocean the water became sweet; the ground became everywhere covered with lotuses of the five different colors; all flowers bloomed, both those on land and those that grow in the water; trunk- lotuses bloomed on the trunks of trees, branch-lotuses on the branches, and vine-lotuses on the vines; on the ground, stalk-lotuses, as they are called, burst through the overlying rocks and came up by sevens; in the sky were produced others, called hanging-lotuses; a shower of flowers fell all about; celestial music was heard to play in the sky; and the whole ten thousand worlds became one mass of garlands of the utmost possible magnificence, with waving chowries, and saturated with the incense-like fragrance of flowers, and resembled a bouquet of flowers sent whirling through the air, or a closely woven wreath, or a superbly decorated altar of flowers. From the time the Future Buddha was thus conceived, four angels with swords in their hands kept guard, to ward off all harm from both the Future Buddha and the Future Buddha's mother. No lustful thought sprang up in the mind of the Future Buddha's mother; having reached the