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After his reception of the Budhaship, there came to him one night, when his residence was on the eagle-peik near Eaja- gaha, the guardian deities of the four quarters, attended by a large retinue. " Some of the yakas worshipped him and sat down ; others sat down after having had pleasing conversa- tion with him; others merely bowed themselves with elevated clasped hands and sat down ; some announced their names and race ; and others sat down in silence. When they were seated, their great king, Wessawano, thus addressed Budha : There are, my lord, some demons of great power who are opposed to Budha, and others who are attached to him; there are some demons of the middle order who are opposed to Budha, and some who are attached to him; there are some demons of the lowest order who are opposed to Budha, and some who are attached to him. What is the reason, my lord, that many demons are opposed to Budha ? Budha, my lord, has preached abstinence from destroying life, from theft, from lewdness, from lying, and fi*om intoxicating drinks, which cause irreligion. Many demons, my lord, n. ORDERS OF SENTIENT EXISTENCE. 47 do not abstain from destroying life, from theft, from lewd- ness, from lying, and from intoxicating drinks which cause irreligion, and they are dissatisfied and displeased with these doctrines. My lord, thei*e are disciples of Budha who reside in solitary parts of forests, free firom noise and tumult, in quiet and retirement, remote from men. In those retired places demons of great power reside, who are opposed to the doctrines of Budha. Therefore, my lord, to placate them, learn the atanatiya defence, or pirit, by which the priests and priestesses, the male and female (lay) disciples, may be preserved, defended, kept free from harm, and live in peace. Budha silently consented to his request. Then the great king, Wessawano, perceiving that Budha silently consented, spake the atanatiya defence." After it had been recited, the demon king declared, that " if any priest or priestess, male or female disciple, fully and perfectly learn this defence, none of the amanusa (not-men), no male or female yak&, &c., will approach him with an evil design, whether walking, standing, sitting, or reclining." — Eev. D. J. Gogerly, Ceylon Friend, iii, 21. IX. The Khumbandas, who guard the palace of Sekra on the south, are monsters of immense size and disgusting form. X. The Asurs reside under M^ru (10). There were for- merly contests carried on between them and the d^was of Tawutisa, but when Manamanawakaya became Sekra, they were finally defeated, and from that time have been kept in subjection. The four guardian deities of that 16ka, with their attendants, are appointed to their respective ofiices that they may ward off the attacks of the asurs. There are many allusions, even in the most sacred of the Pali writings, to the seizure of the sun and moon by the asurs Eahu and K^tu. In the performance of the pirit ex- orcism, the following extract, entitled Chanda Pirit, or the Moon's Protection, is read from the Pitakas : — " Thus I heard. Budha resided in the garden of Anathapindika, in Jatawany, near Sawatti. At that time the god Chanda (the 48 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. moon), was seized by the asur Sahu (i.e., the moon was eclipsed). Then the god Chanda remembering Budha, at that moment spake this stanza : 0 conquering Budha, I adore thee I thou art perfectly free from evil ; I am in distress ; be thou my refuge ! Then Budha spake this stanza to the asur Bahu on behalf of the god Chanda : B&hu ! Chanda has taken refuge in the holy Tatdgata. Eelease Chanda I Budha compassionates the world. Then the asur B&hu released the god Chanda, and immediately fled to Wepachitti (the chief of the asurs) and stood trembling and affrighted by his side; when Wepachitti addressed Eahu in the following stanza : B&hu, why did you suddenly release Chanda ? why have you come trembling and stand here affrighted ? My head (replied Eahu) would have been split into seven pieces ; I should have had no comfort in my life ; I have been spoken to by Budha in a stanza ; otherwise I would not have released Chanda." — Gogerly ; Ceylon Friend, ii, 228. There is a similar narrative, entitled Suriya Pirit, or the Sun's Pro- tection. The asurs have been compared to the Titans and Giants of the Greeks, as in stature they are immensely greater than any other ord^r of being ; and as they are connected with eclipses and made war with the d^was, there appears to be some ground for the comparison ; it being generally agreed that the giants were personifications of the elements, and that their wars with the gods refer to the throes of the world in its state of chaos. XI. The Eakshas resemble the yakas ; but they have not, like them, the power to assume any shape that they choose. When appearing to men, they must assume their own proper form. They live principally in the forest of Himdla, and feed on the flesh of the dead, whether of beasts or of men. XII. The Pr^tas inhabit the L6k4ntarika naraka (11). In appearance they are extremely attenuated, like a dry leaf. There are some pr^tas that haunt the places near which they had formerly lived as men ; they are also found in the suburbs of cities, and in places where four ways meet. n. ORDEKS OF SENTIENT EXISTENCE. 49 XIII. The inhabitants of the Narakas endure intense misery ; and it was declared by G6tama that those who trans- gress the precepts will be born in these worlds (12). To tell the fearfulness of their affliction is difficult ; it is Hke the joining together of aU evil things ; it is not possible rightly to declare it A priest having asked G6tama to explain it by comparison, the sage proceeded thus : — " A man who has com- mitted some great ofifence is brought into the presence of the king, who commands that early in the morning he shall be pierced by a hundred spears. This is done ; but at noon the monarch is told that the criminal still lives ; he is astonished to hear it, but commands that he be pierced by a hundred more. In the evening he is told that he is not yet dead, and he commands that the pimishment be repeated. Thus the criminal is pierced by 300 spears. Can that which he endures therefrom be understood ? " The priest replied, " The pain produced by one single spear would be exceedingly severe ; how, then, is it possible for any one to imderstand the pain that would be produced by the piercing of 300 spears ? '* After receiving this reply, Budha took up a handful of small pebbles from the ground, and said we might affirm that the great Himala is ten, twenty, or a thousand times larger than those stones ; but that it would not be an adequate comparison. " In like manner," he continued, " as this handful of stones is inadequate to show forth the extent of the great Himala, so is the pain produced by the piercing of 300 spears inadequate to show forth the greatness of the misery of the narakas." The other beings that are introduced as living in different regions and worlds are mere deformities ; and are presented before us in all their repulsiveness, without any equivalent to the covering with which the Greeks, in their more culti- vated ages, invested beings who in their original shape were equally monstrous. The fallen spirits that lead men captive at their will have seized upon that creative power which, when the offspring of a hope founded on the word of God, was intended to impart the power to man to build unto him- E 50 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. self a heaven worthy of his residence when his intellect shall become mighty as that of the seraph ; and they have made it frame, out of the disjecta membra of things visible and creatures existent, regions and races of being that cannot possibly have an antitype in any world. These wild fantasies are to the spirits that have drawn them forth as the laughter-moving comedy in the great drama of man ; but to the thoughtful mind they tell of the degradation of our species, and fastly- flowing tears are their proper accompaniment. 1. The PasS Bvdhas. Before this privilege can be obtained, there mast have been the practice of the paramitas, or prescribed virtues, during two asankyakap-lakshas ; as in no other way can it be acquired.* There are five things necessary to its reception.