English
On this they commissioned the space-travelling Yakshas with haste to cleave the void and ascend upwards to beg the assistance of the Devas (heavenly soldiers), and so once more the Asuras are put to flight. But now the King of the inferior Asuras comes forth with his warriors and rallies the retreating crowd ; and when, in consequence of his assistance, the good Nagas and Devas were hard pressed, the four Heavenly Kings bring forth their armies and retrieve the fortune of the day. Finally, the King of the great Asuras is supplicated to help them ; he, indeed, greatly enraged, leapt up from his throne, the great earth trembled and quaked, Nanda, the Naga Rajah, with his tail lashed the sea till the spray thereof reached even to the Tusita Heaven. Then Sakra Rajah, seeing the earth quake and the clouds driven here and there in wild confusion, knew that the Asuras were invading his boundai-ies, where- upon he commanded the thirty-two Devas to enter the SCRIPTURES PROM THE CHINESE. 53 Chitra vana^ and select each one a diamond maco and sword^ a battleaxe and club^ bow and quiver, and prepare himself for the encounter. Seeing this, the King of the Great Asuras issued his orders for his subjects to assemble in mass ; in countless numbers they came forth from the mighty ocean, each grasping his warlike weapons. Cleav- ing the void they ascended to engage the Heavenly Kings. The four Kings/ beholding the vast array, hastened up to the summit of Sumeru to seek an audience with Sakra Rajah. Then Sakra, mounting his Imperial Elephant (ele- phant-dragon, i.e., Airavana hasti rajah), summoned all the Devas to assemble their followers and descend to the con- flict. The armies of the Asiira Rajah had already reached the confines of the Mountain ; whom, indeed, Sekra Rajah tried to conciliate by friendly counsel, but the King, scowl- ing upwards, shouted out — 'Seize him, there!' ''Hold him, there !' Then the Deva Kings ordered their forces to ad- vance ; Surya Deva puttra^ led the way, beaming forth his bhnding rays into the eyes of the A sura Rajah. He, indeed, dazzled by the brightness, was unable to distinguish the hosts of the Devas, and so raised his hand to shade his eyes (this causes an eclipse), and commanded the Asuras to attack, on which the two hosts come into conflict. Then very wonderful was the struggle and the commotion : no human powers of comparison can sufficiently describe it. King with king, leader with leader, army with army, dragon with dragon, ruthlessly struggled. They advanced as a cloudy phalanx, they clashed the martial drums, they exercised their supernatural force. Nor was the contest of one kind only, for some fought with gleaming swords, some grasped the mighty spear, the thunder crash and the lightning- gleam followed in rapid succession. There was the hurling of great rocks and mighty trees ; some belched forth water ' Tchi-to-lo-lin, or it may be the Chitra treasure-house or depository, " cliitra" meaning magical or supernatural. - That is the chatur maha rajahs, who live on each side of Sumeru. ^ I.e., the Sun Deva. 54 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST and some fire ; some tugged hand to hand ; whilst others shouted out defiance. Then there were those who em- ployed magical contrivances ; some caused swords and arrows and stones to fall like rain; some were wounded — without eyes ! without ears ! with no hands or feet ! The Devas, in- deed, except their heads were cut from their shoulders, had the power to restore themselves, but not so their opponents. Then Sumeru shook and quaked ! the great ocean seethed and boiled ! and the fish Nagas leapt upwards in wild afi'right at the noise of the battle ! At this time the Asura Rajah, using his spiritual power, ap- peared with five hundred heads and five hundred hands, and seizing a mountain three hundred yojanas high, he hurled it against the heavenly host. This the King of the Devas tritu- rated to fine powder by the countless arrows he shot against it during its flight. Again the Asura King seized a mountain five hundred yojanas high, and hurled it against Sakra Rajah; this the Imperial Elephant Airavana caught with his trunk and hurled it back against the Asura, whom, striking full in the middle of his breast, it overturned. Then the Devas laughingly shouted — ' Ah ! beast-born ! has the A^Tiite Elephant hit you!' Hereupon the Ele- phant King, exerting his spiritual power, assumed an appearance of one with 1000 heads ! from his mouths he darted flames of fire ! whilst his body by its vastness filled the limits of space ! Then Sakra Rajah also assumed a majestic body with 1000 heads and 1000 arms, and seizing in each hand a diamond mace sparkling with the lustre of gems, mounted on his Royal Elephant, he advanced in person against the Asiiras, resolved for good to drive them back. The King of the Asuras, beholding Sakra Rajah darkening the limits of space with his body, his heart failed him for fear and he ordered his army to turn about and descend from the heights. Then the Devas of the thirty- two heavens and the four heavenly Kings hui-led down their winged swords thick as the falling rain and their arrows like the showers of Autumn, and thus joined in the pursuit. SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 55 At length Sakra Rajah, moved with pity, recalled his soldiers, and bade them return to the Triyastrifishas Heaven, to lay aside their military weapons and assume their heavenly robes ! "After this, Sakra, ascending his Royal throne, the Kings came forward to congratulate him ; and he on his part de- livered the Law to them and expounded many virtuous principles in their hearing, exhorting them to practise piety, and not forsake the rules of correct hfe. All the Devas thereupon made obeisance and departed to their several palaces. Meantime, Airavana hasti rajah, filled with exult- ation, blew forth from his trunk two mighty streams of water, which, spreading abroad through Jambudwipa, fell as a genial rain for seven days, causing the different sorts of shrubs and grain to revive and flourish. Then he also went to his highly adorned abode, ^' ON THE BODILY SIZE 01' DIFFERENT BEINGS. 10. The Agama Sutra says : " Of all the great creatures which exist, the two Nagas Nanda and Upananda are the largest. They are able to infold Sumeru seven times round, their heads above the top of it and their tails in the sea.^^ Another Sutra says •} " The greatest creature is the Garuda Mahakaya, from head to tail eight thousand yojanas, and in height the same. This bird can fly without rest from one Sumera to another (that is, from one world to ano- ther)." The Avatamsaka Sutra says : " When the Devas of the thirty-three heavens were at war with the Asuras, the Devas gained the victory, and the Asuras were discomfited. The Asura-Rajah, although seven hundred yojanas long, by his power of sorcery, was able to conceal himself and all his host in the tubes of the lily roots." A gatha says : • Pou-sah-clm-toi-kiiig, that is, the Sutra of the births of Boilhisatwa. 56 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST " As when the Asura took upon himself corporeal shape, Standing upon the Diamond strand in Ocean's midst, The waters of the sea concealed one half his form, Whilst high as Sumeru's top his head he towered." (This would make his bodily shape to be 158,000 yojanas long.) We read again in the Vinaya ■} " The body of the great fish Makara is sometimes three hundred yojanas long, and sometimes four hundred, the greatest ever known is seven hundred yojanas." So another Sutra says : " "With eyes like the sun and moon, a nose like a gigantic mountain, a mouth like a yawn- ing abyss." In the Rules of the Vinaya it is said that Sariputra ha\dng carefully strained his drinking-water, again and again de- sired to make use of it to quench his thirst, but by his spiritual power perceived that it was yet full of minute in- sects. For seven days he drank nothing. Then his body became attenuated, and Buddha inquired what was the cause of it ; to whom he answered : " In obedience to your orders I carefully strained my drinking-water, in order to free it from all animal life, but yet I saw, by my power of spiritual perception, that there remained in it countless insect forms, and so, from respect to the Rule for protecting and preserv- ing Life, I did not dare to drink.