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At this time, whilst Ananda was thus proceeding in order collecting charity, he passed by the houses of ill-fame which extended through a certain part of the city, and was thus subjected to the fatal influ- ences of their sorceries. So it was the Mataiiga women^ using the magical words of Savakara,^ a former Bi'ahma Deva, plotted to in- veigle him by their lascivious wiles, to lie down on their mats, where, by amorous personal caressing, they might excite feelings leading to ultimate transgression of the rules of religion. Tatha- gata, aware of the power of these lascivious sorceries, the religious ceremonies being concluded, was now returning homewards; the King and chief ministers, with the nobles and householders, all in 1 It was an ordinance of Buddha that whenever a priest went to a distance, he should be accompauied by the president (Stavirah) and his Teacher (Acharya), so as to avoid any possible scandal. ^ Compare with this the anecdote related by Mr. Gogerly, note 23, Translation of the Pratimoksha from Pali. ^ Pariahs, L. v, 24. * Savakara, sc. sjiva ; yellow. Vide Fo-koue-ki, p. 136. For an account of the Mautauga women, vide Burn., Introd., p. 205. Savakara is explained in the commentary as "yellow-haired." SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 289 company with him, desirous to hear the exposition of the law. Then Tathagata caused to issue from the summit of his hcad^ a flood of glory composed of a hundred precious rays ; from the middle of each ray was produced a thousand-leaved precious lotus-flower, on which was seated the apparitional form of a Buddha, with his legs arranged in the orthodox way ; these Buddhas, uttering some divine forniulEe, commissioned Manjusri, using the sentences as his protection, for the purpose of destroying the eflPect of the evil charms (of the Matangas), and of strengthening and encouraging Ananda, to go to the place where these women lived, and return to the presence of Buddha (with Ananda). Ananda, on his return, beholding Buddha, bent himself to the ground in adoration, and shed a flood of (grateful) tears ; at the same time, he was filled with regrets which had afflicted him from the first, that he yet remained among the number of the inferior disciples of his Master,^ not having arrived at any advanced possession of sacred wisdom, although he had ever been most diligent (in his efforts) and in his earnest inquiries of the several Tathagatas, as to the means of pei-fecting himself in wisdom — that is to say, the perfect attainment of Samadhi, of complete efficacy (Samajiia), the most excellent means of deliverance. And now again on this occasion there were before him countless Bodhisatwas, and the great Rahats of the ten regions, and Pratyeka Buddhas, all anxiously expecting to hear the joyful tidings, awaiting, silently the enunciation of the sacred intentions of the mode of instruction about to be adopted. Then Buddha addressed Ananda : You and I, Ananda, are of one blood, related by the consanguinity of our parents ; tell me, then, what it was first stirred your heart in my religious system — what excellences did you see of such persuasive cha- racter as to induce you to forsake and quit the fascinations of the world ? 1 "The summit of his head." This allusion may be connected with the Sura or sun-emblem (Sura-mani) so frequently seen surmounting the head of images of Buddha in the South. - Ananda is generally spoken of as the first of the " To-wan," /. ^., inferior disciples (Sekha). The Chinese expression is doubtless identical with that found in the Sanscrit and Pali, concerning which there is an instructive note. Lotus, p. 295. U 290 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST Ananda replied thus to Buddha : Seeing in Tathagata the thirty-two superior marks,^ of such superlative beauty, your person bright and ruddy as crystal, and ever reflecting in myself that these marks were not those which the lusts of the flesh produce — for it is plain that the nature of the passions being turbulent and polluting, the humours of the body would in consequence be rank, and the pus secreted by the blood also turo-id and irregular, preventing anything like the production of such excellences as mark the person of Tathagata, shining like gold in their collected splendour— beholding these signs in yom- person, therefore I followed Buddha with shaven crown. Buddha replied : Well said, Ananda ! but now (let me tell you something more), which you should be equally assured of, viz., that the whole world of sentient creatures, from the first till now, have been involved in the nexus of (endless) births and deaths, from the fact of their ignorance of the ' ever fixed and true state of Being (heart), essentially pure, and substantially glorious' ; and so, by adopting eveiy kind of idle speculation without any truth, men have been involved in the net of incessant renewals of existence. As you therefore now desire to investigate (the character of) that wisdom which admits of no further advance, with a view to eliminate (in yourself) the glorious powers of your original nature, you must first of all consent with a true heart to reply to my questions. The Tathagatas of the ten regions agree- ing in observing this one method, have thus escaped from the maze of life and death, all of them possessing an upright heart ; the words which they employed were therefore true. Thus, from first to last founding their conduct on this principle, throughout the whole of their previous career they ever avoided the danger of grievous error. Ananda, I now interrogate you ! — when first you were conscious of a feeling of preference for the thirty-two superior marks of Tathagata, using what means of sight (did you arrive at this state ?) andwho was it that felt the pleasure of prefer- ence for me ? Ananda replied : "World honoured one ! In this way I arrived at this pleasurable preference, by using my mind and my sight. My eyes gazing on you beheld the superlative excellences of ' That is, the thirty-two maha-purusha-lakshana, the thirty-two marks of a great man. SCRIPTURES PROM THE CHINESE. 291 Tathagata, and my mind was sensible of the birth of the delight of love ; it was thus this condition was produced that made mo desire to come out of the tangled influences that bound mc to life and death. Buddha replied to Ananda : According to your words just uttered, the true ground of your pleasurable affection is to be sought in the mind and the eye. But if you know not the precise location of these powers, then you can never get rid of the dust-troubles that affect your conduct — just as though a king of a district, on account of the ravages of a band of robbers, were to equip a military force to expel them, the first requisite would be that the soldiers should know where about the robbers were secreted. So as it is on account of the false judgments of jour mind and sight that you are detained in the stream of perpetual transmigrations, I demand of you — say ! where is the local habitat of this mind and of this sight of which you speak ? " Ananda, replying to Buddha, said : World honoured one ! all the ten diflereut kinds of being which exist in the world agree in considering that the intelligenb mind resides within the body ; whilst it is evident to every one beholding the blue lotus-shaped eyes of Tathagata, that theij are in the face of Buddha ; from which I conclude on this occasion that the four organs of sense^ and the four objects of sense, combining their several offices here in my face — that the seeing eye is without me in my head, and the understanding heart within me in my body. Buddha replied to Ananda thus : Ananda, at this moment you are seated in the preaching-hall of Tathagata, look out now and see the trees of the Jetavana, and tell me where are they situated ? " World honoured one ! this great storied religious preaching- hall is situated in the garden of Anathapindada (the friend of the orphans) ; and so the trees of the Jetavana must be of neces- sity outside the hall, "Ananda, as you sit here in the hall, what is it (your eyes) first behold ? " World honoured one, as I sit in the hall I first of all see 1 That is, sight, hearing, smelling, tasting. It means, of course, that these senses or organs of sense reside in the face ; the other two senses, viz., touch and operation of mind, reside elsewhere. u2 292 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST Tatliagata. Next I behold the great Assembly.