English
The Elder, having stretched out his hands like blossoming red lotuses, firmly grasped the golden-hued Teacher's feet up to the ankles and placed them on the crown of his head. The great crowd, seeing that marvel, at once uttered a great shout. Having honored them with garlands and perfumes and worshipped them as they pleased, as soon as the Elder and the great crowd and those five hundred monks had worshipped, releasing them from the Elder's hands, the lac-red soles of the Buddha's feet, without moving anything in the wood and so on, stood in their original place. Whether the Buddha's feet were emerging or entering, neither the cotton threads nor the ten threads nor a drop of oil nor a piece of wood moved from its place. Everything remained in its original place. But after he got up, like the moon at sunset, As the Tathāgata's feet disappeared, The great crowd wept a great lament. More compassion arose than at the time of passing away. Then, by the power of the deities, The pyre blazed on all sides with a single burst. Of the Lord's body, as it burned, Not even the slightest bit of ash was seen Of skin, hide, flesh, etc., nor soot, But relics remained, like jasmine buds, Like polished pearls, like gold. For the bodies of long-lived Buddhas are Like a solid mass of gold. But the Lord thought, "I will not remain long, I will pass away. My teaching is not yet spread everywhere, Therefore, even after my passing, Let the great crowd, taking a portion of my relics, Build a shrine in their own dwelling place, And, honoring it, be destined for heaven." Thus, he willed the distribution of the relics. How many of his relics were scattered, How many were not scattered? Four teeth, two collarbones, the skull bone: These seven relics were not scattered. The rest were scattered. There, the smallest relic was the size of a mustard seed, The medium relic was the size of a half-split grain of rice. The largest was the size of a half-split mung bean. When the Lord's body was burned, Streams of water fell from the sky, As high as an arm, as high as a leg, As large as a palm leaf, And extinguished the pyre. Not only from the sky, but also From the branches and foliage Of the sal trees standing around, Streams of water issued and extinguished it. The Lord's pyre was large, Breaking the earth all around. Water circles the size of a sesame seed head, Like earrings of hail, went and seized the pyre. The Malla kings, filling golden pots and silver pots, With various fragrant waters brought, And sprinkling with golden and silver ladles, Extinguished the sandalwood pyre. There, as the pyre burned, from the branches Of the sal trees standing around... With their bowls and their extra bowls, The flames rise up. Not a leaf, not a branch is burned, Not even an ant, Not even a spider, Not even a living thing Moves within the flames. Even in the streams of water falling from the sky, Even in the streams of water flowing from the sal trees, Even in the streams of water bursting through the earth, The natural order prevails. Thus, having extinguished the pyre, The Malla kings, In the assembly hall, Ordered a mixture of four kinds of perfumes, Scattered parched grain and five kinds of flowers, And had a canopy of cloth stretched above, Studded with golden stars. There, they hung garlands of perfumes, garlands of flowers, and garlands of jewels. From the assembly hall To the auspicious hall for head-anointing, Known as the Crown-Binding Hall, On both sides, They made a fence of spears and javelins, Stretched a canopy of cloth above, Studded with golden stars. There also, they hung garlands of perfumes, garlands of flowers, and garlands of jewels. They raised five-colored flags on jeweled staffs, And all around, they spread out flags and banners. On the well-sprinkled and swept streets, They placed banana trees and full water pots, Lit torch-bearing staffs, And placed the golden urn with the relics On the adorned elephant's shoulder, Worshiping it with garlands, perfumes, and the like. Playing auspicious games, They brought it into the inner city, Placed it on a couch made of deer hide in the assembly hall, Held a white parasol above it, And had it surrounded by men with swords in their hands, And had it surrounded by elephants striking tusk against tusk, Then by horses striking neck against neck, Then by chariots striking axle-end against axle-end, Then by warriors striking arm against arm. At the edge of these, they had archers surround it, striking arrow-tip against arrow-tip. Thus, they made the area, about a league around, Seem as if covered with armor, And established a guard. But why did they do this? For the two weeks before this, While they were preparing places to sit and rest for the community of monks, While they were providing food and drink, They did not get a chance to play auspicious games. Then it occurred to them, "Let us play joyfully for this week. But there is a possibility that someone, knowing of our negligence, might come and take the relics. Therefore, let us play after establishing a guard." Thus they did. Then King Ajātasattu of Magadha heard, "The Blessed One has passed away at Kusinārā." How did he hear? Did his ministers hear it first and think, "The Teacher has passed away, He cannot be brought back. But there is no one like our king in faith among ordinary people. If he hears this in the usual way, his heart will burst. The king must be protected by us." So they brought three golden troughs, filled them with four kinds of honey, went to the king, and said, "We have seen two bad dreams. To counteract them, you should wear a linen cloth, so that only the tip of your nose is visible, and lie down in the trough of four kinds of honey." The king, hearing the words of the wise men, agreed, saying, "So be it, fathers," and did so. Then one minister, removing his ornaments, scattering his hair, facing the direction where the Teacher had passed away, raised his joined hands and said to the king, "There is no one who can escape death, O King. The Blessed One, our prolonger of life, the place of worship, the field of merit, the anointing platform, the Teacher, has passed away at Kusinārā." Hearing this, the king fainted, and the trough of honey became warm. They lifted the king up and laid him in the second trough. Regaining consciousness, he asked, "Fathers, what are you saying?" "The Teacher, O Great King, has passed away." Again he fainted, and the trough of honey became warm. Then they lifted him from there and laid him in the third trough. Again regaining consciousness, he asked, "Fathers, what are you saying?" "The Teacher, O Great King, has passed away." Again the king fainted, and the trough of honey became warm. Then they lifted him from there and... Having removed the water-pots from his head, they poured water on him. The king, regaining consciousness, rose from his seat. He scattered his fragrant, jewel-colored hair, over his back, the color of a golden tablet. With coral-sprout-colored, well-rounded fingers, he grasped his chest, the color of a golden statue, as if sewing it together. Lamenting, in the guise of a madman, he descended into the inner street. Surrounded by adorned actors, he left the city. Going to Jīvaka's mango grove, he looked at the place where the Blessed One sat and taught the Dhamma. "Blessed One, All-Knowing One, did you not sit in this place and teach me the Dhamma? Did you not remove the dart of sorrow from me? You extracted the dart of sorrow from me. I have gone to you for refuge. But now you do not even give me a reply, Blessed One!" Lamenting again and again, "Blessed One, I hear that at other times, at such a time, delighted, surrounded by a great community of monks, you wander the surface of Jambudīpa. But now I hear of conduct unbefitting and improper for you!" And speaking thus and so forth, recalling the virtues of the Blessed One with about sixty verses, he thought: "My lamenting is not succeeding. I will have the relics of the Ten-Powered One brought here!" And he sent a messenger and a gift to the Malla kings. "The Blessed One was a Khattiya, and I am a Khattiya. I too deserve to have a great and grand stupa made for the Blessed One's relics!" Having sent this, "If they give them willingly, it is good. If they do not give them, I will bring them by force!" Having assembled a fourfold army, he himself set out. Just as Ajātasattu did, so too the Licchavi kings in Vesālī, the Sakya kings in Kapilavatthu, the Bulas of Allakappa, the Koliyas of Rāmagāma, the Brahmin of Veṭhadīpa, and the Mallas of Pāvā, having sent a messenger, set out themselves with a fourfold army. There, the Pāceyyakas, closest to all, lived in a city three leagues distant from Kusinārā. The Blessed One, having entered Pāvā, went to Kusinārā. These great retinues of kings Making arrangements, they arrived later. All those residents of the seven cities came, surrounding the city of Kusinārā, saying, "Either give us the relics, or [we will have] war!" Then the Malla kings said this: "The Blessed One attained final Nibbāna in our village area. We did not send a message to the Teacher, nor did we bring him. The Teacher himself came willingly, sending a message and summoning us. Moreover, if a jewel arises in your village area, you do not give it to us. There is no jewel equal to the Buddha-jewel in the world with its deities. Having obtained such an excellent jewel, we will not give it away!" Thus, they escalated the quarrel, [saying,] "Surely, you alone did not drink milk from your mother's breast; we also drank it. May you alone be men, and may we not be men!" Making mutual arrogance, sending messages and counter-messages, they roared with mutual pride. If there were a war, the Kosinārakas would have been victorious, because the deities who came for the sake of relic-veneration sided with them.