English
He was five years older than my father Bimsara; they were friends from their childhood ; immediately previous to the time when he attained the Budhaship he went to my father's city, and after he had attained it, he again went there, and said bana to 110,000 brahmans and householders ; my father entered the path 364: A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. sowan. Bndha was my relative : I have received his sarana. It is, therefore, right that I should possess some relic of his body, now that he has attained nirw&na ; and I request that a dhata be sent to me, in order that I may place it in a d^lgoha, and worship it." But immediately after Ajasat had dispatched this letter, he collected an army, and went in person, that if neoessaty he might take the relic by force. The S^ya princes of Kapila, the princes of Wis^Ui^ the princes of Allakappa, the princes of Rdmagama, thebrahmans of W^tthadipa, and the Malwa princes of P4wi, when they heard of the death of Budha, severally collected armies, and went to Kusin&ra that they might obtain a portion of the relics. The seven kings having encircled the city, sent to the princes of Kusinara, to say, *' We demand a portion of the relics, or we warn you to prepare for battle." The Malwa princes replied, ** Budha received nirw4na in our city ; we did not invite him to come ; he came of his own accord ; the dhatu are therefore ours by rightful inheritance. There is nothing in the whole world so precious as the relics of Budha ; we will give our lives rather than yield them up to another.*' Upon hearing this, the seven kings prepared to fight, but the princes, still without fear, said " You are not the only persons who have received the breast of the mother ; we also are men, and have become strong ; it is not we who seek the battle, but those who have approached our gate." In the event of a battle, the princes of Kusinira must necessarily have conquered, as their city was defended by an infinite number of d6was, from its being the depository of the precious relics. At this critical moment, the brahman Dr6ha offered to mediate between the parties, as it would have been a dishonour to Budha, had there been any contention near the sacred spot whei^ he attained nirwdna. To induoe the kings to alter their pur- pose he ascended an elevated place, whence he repeated aloud 500 stanzas. At first they paid no attention, but at the end of the second stanza, they said to each other, ^' How like the voice of our teacher," and then listened in silence. Nearly all present had been, at one time or other, the pupils of Drdha. When he perceived that their attention was secured, he said, *'A11 ye kings, hear what I say ; our departed lord, in the Kshanti and Dharmmap&la births, as well as in many others, exercised the VII. LEGENDS OF GKiTAMA BUDHA. 365 utmost patience and forbearance ; it is therefore not right that with weapons in your hands yon should attempt to seize his relics. Be at peace among yourselves, and dividing the relics into eight portions, let each take one, and retire to your separate cities. By this means many persons will have the opportunity of doing reverence to Budha." The kings were pleased with this advice, and agreed that the brahman should make the division ; upon which he opened the golden casket in which the relics were deposited. The kings reverently approached the treasures weeping, and saying, *' Oh, most glorious Budha I once we could look upon you, but this is not permitted unto us now !" and they beat their breasts as they repeated these words. The brahman seeing that the kings were ofE their guard, from being overcome with sorrow, privately took one of the teeth, and hid it in his hair, after which he divided the rest of the relics into eight portions. There were sixteen measures, according to the measure of Magadha, of the pearl-like substance that was collected when the fire was extinguished, and to each of the kingfs he gave two measures. But Sekra interfered, and enquired who was to possess the tooth from the right side of the sacred mouth ; and when he found that Dr6ha had taken it by stealth, he took it from his head, and conveyed it to his own d^wa-ldka^ where he deposited it with the relic of Budha's hair. At the conclusion the brahman felt in his hair for the tooth, but it had gone ; and he was ashamed to ask any one about it, because he had obtained it treacherously ; he therefore requested as his share of the spoil, the golden vessel in which the relics had been measured, which was presented to him. The princes of Pittali, on hearing of the death of Budha, sent to demand a portion of the relics, but the seven kings replied that they were already distributed, at the same time giving them permission to take the ashes of the pyre. At first they were reluctant to accept this as their portion, but as they were unable to contend with so many powerful kings, they went to the place of burning, and reverently collected the ashes. The relic received by Aj&sat was taken by him to Bajagaha, with a magnificent procession, and a powerful guard ; and as they proceeded leisurely from place to place, that the necessary preparations might be made for its honourable reception, seven years, seven months, and seven days, were occupied in the 366 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. journey. The tirttakas said that the long had brooght the relic merely that he might benefit by the numerons offerings that were made to it ; but for this declaration 96,000 persons went to hell. When the rahats saw in what manner the people were endangered, they requested Sekra to cause the king to hasten tlie passage of the relics to Bajagaha ; but the d6wa replied, "Amon^ all those who are yet unpurified, there is no one so powerful as Ajdsat ; he will not pay any attention to what I say ; but I will oTercome him by a stratagem. I will cause the yakis to send. a sickness among his attendants ; and you who are rahats can go to the monarch, and tell him that as the yakiui are angry, it will be better to take the relic to the city at once, without further delay." All this was done. The king said that he had not intended to hurry the relic on so irreyerently, but as it was the request of the rahats, there should be no further protraction of the journey. Accordingly, he arrived at Bajagaha in seven days from that time, where he built a d^Lgoba for the relic. The other kings also erected d^obas over the relics they had received. .The Sakya princes at Kapila ; the Lichawi princes at WifldU ; the princes of Allakappa, Bam^gama, and Wethadipa, at cities of the same name ; the Malwa princes at Pawa ; and the Mallian princes of Kusin&ra, at Kusin^Lra ; and for the vessel in which the relics were measured, and the ashes of the funeral pyre, d^gobas were erected by the brahman and the princes of Pittali. { Th'^upa-wansa. ) There have been various opinions as to the age in which G6tama lived ;* but the era given by the Singhalese authois is now the most generally received. According to their chro- nology, he expired in the year that according to our mode of reckoning would be B.C. 543, in the eightieth year of his age. This was a period pregnant with events of great im- portance in the western world.t * Professor Wilson, in the Oriental Magazine for 1825, quotes no less than eleven authorities, every one of which establishes the en of Budha more than 1000 years B.C., and five other authorities makes it above 800 years b.c. — Col. S3'kes ; Journ. Bojal As. Soc. No. xii. t In proof of this assertion, vre maj enumerate the following events, nearly all of which are mentioned by Grote (History of Greece) as coming within ^ the period that includes the lifetime of Gdtama. The taking of Jerusalem * by Nebuchadnezzar, and the captivity of its citizens ; the taking of Nineveh by the Medes ; the circumnavigation of Africa by the Phoenicians ; the VIL LEGENDS OF G<5tAMA BUDHA. 367 In adopting the names G6tama and Budha to designate the great sage, I have taken the most simple form of the words. From the faUure of the attempts that have been re- cently made, in the translations from other languages, to write proper names as nearly as possible according to the pronunciation of the original word, I have been led to adopt an opposite course ; but the native authors use so many dif- ferent modes of writing the name of the same person or place, that in some instances I have found it exceedingly difficult to preserve uniformity.