English
** No," exclaimed Bndha, '' nor would you be able to reach it, were you even to see the highest of the brahma-16kas.'* When this was said, the astir had not seen his mouth ; but he thought that if his feet were thus wonderful, his mouth must be above all praise. And now he confessed that he was a believer in Budha; and promising to become his devoted servant, he requested his protection. Then the sage permitted him to see his mouth, and preached to him the bana, by which many d^was were enabled to see the fruition of nirwina.* At a time when Budha visited the city of Bajagaha^ there re- sided in the same city a brahman, called Atula, who having heard that neither Sekra, Maha Brahma, Vishnu, Mah^wara, nor any of the rishis was able to measure the height of Budha, thought within himself it was a singular thing that they were unable to tell the height of one who was only of the ordinary stature : about twelve cubits. He, therefore, procured a bamboo sixty cubits long; and when G6tama entered the city, he stood near him with it ; but it did not reach even to his knees. He went home in sorrow, at not succeeding in his attempt ; but the next day he fastened another bamboo of the same length to the end of the former one, so that it was now 120 cubits long ; and when Bndha approached, he stood with it at the entrance of the city; but he soon found that it was still insufficient. Budha then enquired why he stood near him, with his two bamboos fastened together, and placed erect ; and when he replied that it was to ascertain his height, the teacher of the three worlds said, * Neither the asdn nor the dwellers in the Wasawwtti d^wa-Mka can enter the paths. Vin. DIGNITY, VIRTUES, AND POWERS OF BUDHA. 379 " Brahman, if yon were to fill the whole circnit of the earth with bamboos, and conld find ont a way of fastening all these together, end to end, even this would be an insufficient instrument to measure my stature. No one can compute the number of the gar- ments, ornaments, couches, chariots, slaves, cattle, villages, fields, pearls, and gems, I have given in alms since the time when I re- solved upon becoming Budha; nor can any one calculate the number of eyes, heads, and children I have given ; and if a lac, a kela, or an asankya of brahmans like yourself were to try to dis- cover the virtue of my paramitds, all that they could discover would be only like the eye of a needle in comparison to the sky, or a mustard seed to the great ocean, or the portion of mould taken into the mouth of a worm to the whole earth. In like manner, no creature whatever is able to comprehend my stature ; therefore, cease, brahman, from thy attempt." (8adhar7fimd' lanTeiri.) It is difficult to describe the appearance of Bndha ; and for this reason. He conld walk in a space not larger than a mustard seed ; yet on one occasion, he placed his foot on the earth, then on the rock Yugandhara, and next on the summit of Maha M^ru, by which means, at three steps, he reached the heaven of Sekra. This was done with as mneh ease as a man crosses the threshold of his house ; yet the stature of G6tama remained the same ; he did not increase in size, nor did the mountains become less. 4. Budha^s manner of Walking, The manner in which Budha walked excited universal admira- tion. At the time he resided in a cave, near some sal trees, at the rock Wediya, he was seen by an owl of the race of Kosiya, who greatly admired his manner of walking, as he went to the village to receive alms. On his return, the owl again loolced at him with the utmost affection, and on his arrival at the cave paid him adoration. Budha then smiled, and when Ananda asked the reason, he said that the owl, by reason of the merit it had thus received, would hereafter be free from disease, and would escape birth in any of the fonr hells during many ages, as it would always be bom either as a man or as a d^wa ; and that it would afterwards become the Pas6- Budha, S6manassa, and attain nirw4na. {Sadkarmmdlankdre.) 380 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. At another time, wlien GcStama was walking in a manner that was marked by the ntmost propriety, he was asked by the ascetic Ardha who was his preceptor. He replied that he was self- tanght. When he went abroad with his attendant Ananda, that he might bless the world, he appeared like the full moon accom- panied by the planet Gum (Jnpiter). If there were any thorns, stones, roots, potsherds, rocks, or other sabstances that would hinder him or obstruct his progress, they removed from his path of their own accord, and left it clear ; if there was mnd, it became dry ; or if there were holes, they became filled np ; if there were any elevations, they passed away, like butter that sees the fire, nntil the whole path was as level as the head of a drum, and the air appeared as if sweetened by perfumes. If he passed any being that was in pain, though it were in an agony eqnal to hell, it ceased in an instant ; and when his foot touched the earth, a lotus sprang up at every step. (SddhamvmdlankdrS.) The foot of G6tama came to the ground as lightly if it had been cotton wool. When the winged horse passes swiftly over water lilies, its course may be seen by the bending of the flowers, but it leaves no impression of its footstep : and in like manner, the footstep of Budha was without a trace. It was in kindness that this was appointed. Budha was nsually sur- rounded by a crowd of people ; and if he had left the impression of his foot, as he walked along, they would have been wishful to honour it ; they would not have trodden in the same place ; and thus their progress would have been impeded. {Sadharm^ maratnakdre. On some occasions, when Budha was about to ascend the throne upon which he sat, he came through the ground, and rose np at the place, like the sun rising over Yugandhara : and at other times he went through the sky. During his progress from place to place, the light that shone from his body was like the glory proceeding from Maha Brahma, or the splendonr of the gems in the royal diadem on the day of the king's anointing, or a canopy adorned with gold and silver, or a garland of the most beautiful flowers, or an alms-hall filled with sweet-scented flowers and perfumes. (Pujdwaliya.) Vm. DIGNITY, VIRTUES, AND POWERS OF BUDHA. 381 5. The Beauties of Bvdha^a Person, These are divided into three kinds : — 1. The 216 Mangalya- lakshana, of which there were 108 on each foot. 2. The 32 Mahapnrnsha-lakshana, or superior Beauties. 3. The 80 Annwjanjana-lakshana, or inferior Beauties. (1.) The 216 Mangalya-lakshana. — 1. The chakra circle. 2. Two thousand lines proceeding from the centre of the circle, like the spokes of a wheel. 3. The rim round the extremity of these lines, like the outer frame of a wheel. 4. Small circles between the lines, within which were the representations of flowers. These four were called the chakrawartti - lakshana. The remaining 212 were as follows : on each foot was a small drum, a swastika,* a cymbal, a frontlet, the hood of a nayd, an ornament in which flowers are placed, a garland, a gem, an ornament for the head, a royal couch, a palace, a festive arch, a white umbrella, an elephant's tusk, a sword of state, a talipot fan, a peacock's tail, two chdmaras of different kinds, a jessamine flower, a blue water lily, a red water lily, a red lotus, a white lotus, a full vessel, an alms-bowl, a white sea, a blue sea, a coral sea, a golden sea, a sakwala-gala, the forest of Himdla, a Maha M^ru, a discus, the palace of the sun, the mansion of the moon, the isles of the east, the isles of the west, the isleii of the north, the isles of Jambudwipa, a chakrawartti surrounded by his retinue, a right-handed conch, a golden fish, the seven rivers, the Yugandhara and six other concentric circles of rocks, the Anotatta and six other lakes, the king of the garundas, a makara,t two festive flags, a golden litter, the rock Kaildsa, a royal tiger, a lion, a horse of the breed WaUhaka, an elephant of the breed Up<5satha, a nayd, a hansa, a bull, an elephant of the breed Erawana, a mariner, a surabhi-d6nu or cow that gives * A lind of mystical figure, the inscription of which on any person or thing is generally considered to be lucky ; amongst the Jainas it is the emblem of the seventh deified teacher of the present age. — Wilson's Sanskrit Dictionary.