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He who re- ceives it must be a male, and not a person in whom the two sexes are conjoined ; he must have seen a supreme Budha (in some previous birth), a Pas^ -Budha, or a rahat ; he must have exercised faith in the exalted personage thus seen ; and he must have desired the same office. It is equally necessary that he be born of one of the three superior castes, as he can belong to no other ; and that he appear at the period when the age of man is of the same length as is requisite for the birth of a supreme Budha. The Pas^-Budha can visit the golden cave in the forest of Himila, and can keep the p<5ya festivals at the manjusa tree in the same forest. 2. The Dewas. The inhabitants of the d6wa-16kas are all twelve miles in height. When B<5dhisat was in Tnsita, he had a crown four miles high ; he had also sixty wagon-loads of gems and jewels, all other kinds of treasures, and a kela of beautiful attendants. * The word pachch^ko, derived from pati-^kan, by permutation of letters contracted into pachch^ko and pachcn^ (in Singhalese, pas^) rignifies, aerered from imitj (with supreme Budhahood) : and is a term applied to an inferior being or saint, who is never co-existent with a supreme Budha, as he is only manifested during the period intenrening between the nibbina of one and the advent of the succeeding supreme Budha, and attains nibbina without rising to supreme Budhahood. — Tumour^s Mahawanso. II. ORDEHS OF SENTIENT EXISTENCE. 51 In one of ottr years the d^was breathe 216 times, which is 18 times in one of our months, and once in 100 honrs. In one hundred of onr years they eat once. 3. The Legend of LomcLsa Kcuyajpa, There was a rishi called Lomasa Kisyapa who kept the preceptH 60 perfectly that the throne of Sekra became warm (which was an indication that his exalted office was in danger). When the dewa looked to see what was the reason of this occurrence, and discovered it, he resolved that he would try to set aside the merit of the rishi. For this purpose he went to the palace of the king of Benares, and appeared to the monarch as he was reclining upon a couch, saying, "I am Sekra; if you would become lord of the whole earth you must entreat the rishi K4- syapa, now living in the forest of Himdla, to offer a sacrifice of all kinds of animals, from the elephant downwards." The king accordingly, by the beating of the city drum, found out a hunter who knew the way to the dwelling of the rishi, with whom he sent the noble Saiha. On arriving at the place, he requested in the king's name that he would offer the sacrifice ; but Lo- masa Kdsyapa replied that he would not thus relinquish the merit he had gained by the observance of the precepts, for all the wealth of the world. After this Sekra again appeared to the king, and recommended him to send his daughter Chan- drawati-d^wi to make the same request. In consequence of this advice, the princess was arrayed in the most beautiful manner, and sent to the forest under the care of the same noble, who said to the rishi that the king would give him the hand of his daughter and the half of his kingdom, if he would offer the sacrifice. At the sight of the princess the rishi forgot the obli- gations by which he was bound, and was willing to accompany her to the city. On their arrival, the animals were all assem- bled in the place of sacrifice ; but when he lifted up the knife to slay the elephant, the affrighted beast cried out, and all the rest joined in the lamentation. This brought the rishi to his senses ; and throwing down the knife, he fled at once to the forest, where he accomplished the requisite amount of merit, and was afterwards bom in a brahma-16ka. This rishi was the B6dhisat who afterwards became G6tama Budha ; but as he was under the influence of a temporary madness when he thus resolved E 2 52 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. upon taking life, it is not contrary to the declaration that in every birth he received as a hnman being, he was kind to all sentient existence. 4. Thefowr Guwrdian Dewas. When Sekra is seated npon his throne, called Dharmma, in the hall of Snddharmma, on the atawaka (the eighth day after the new and fall moon) tl^e scribes of the four guardian d^was ; on the day of the new moon, the sons of the four d6was ; and on the day of the full moon, the d6was themselves ; coming to the earth, observe in all places the following circumstances : " To- day so many men have observed the p6ya (or sacred day) ; so many women have attended to the ordinances ; by so many per- sons the threefold protective formulary has been repeated ; so many assist their parents ; so many render the due honours to the chiefs of their clan; so many offer flowers and lamps in their places of worship ; so many say bana, hear bana, or invite others to hear it ; so many make offerings to the dagobas, the sacred trees, and the images of Budha ; so many perform righ- teous acts with the body, the speech, and the mind; and so many perform the ten virtues." These things being written in the golden books with vermilion, the books are delivered to the children of the four guardian deities ; the children give them to W^samuna (the master of the revels), who hands them over to Panchasikha (the vizier or prime minister of Sekra, who has five heads, or faces) ; and by him they are presented to MataJi (the charioteer of Sekra), who gives them to Sekra. If the persons upon earth who acquire merit are few, the books of record are small in size ; if many, they are large. When the books are small, all the d^was observe the circumstance and exclaim, in sorrow, " The beings upon earth who acquire merit are few ; the narakas will be filled, and the dewa-lokas will not be replenished.** When the books are large, they exclaim, " The beings upon earth pass their time in the observance of the precepts, and pro- cure an abundance of merit ; the narakas will be depopulated, and our celestial worlds will be filled." The illustrious d^was who have acquired merit upon eaiiih during the appearance of a Budha, exclaim in rapture, "We shall have joy." Then Sekra, ascending his throne of flowers, sixteen miles high, takes II. ORDERS OF SENTIENT EXISTENCE. 53 Uie books into his hands, and reads. If he reads in a low tone, the d6was can hear it to the distance of twelve yojanas ; if in a high tone, it is heard hj all the d6was in Tawatisi to the dis- tance of 10,000 yojanas. In this manner, when Sekra has assembled the d6was, and seated himself in the hall of Suddharm- ma, these are the principal acts of the four guardian deities ; they come to the earth, observe the merit acquired by men, and having recorded it in the golden books, present them in the manner now declared to Sekra ; they are an assistance to the world, and perform many other acts of a similar character. 5. The Faithful Priest. There was a nobleman in Pelalup, called Wisikba, who having heard of the fame of Ceylon, and of the privileges there enjoyed, gave all he possessed, though his wealth was immense, to his family, except one single piece of gold, which he tied in the comer of his garment, and went to the sea-side that he might embark for the island. But as he had to wait a whole month before he found a ship going in that direction, he began to trade with his money ; and at the time of embarking, through his great skill as a merchant, he had gained a thousand pieces of gold. With this sum he arrived at Tambraparnna (Ceylon), and afterwards went to the city of Anuradhapura, where he solicited admission into the priesthood, from the inmates of the principal wihiLra. But when they perceived the wealth he had brought, they told him that as the priests could not make use of money he had better dispose of it previous to admission. Upon hearing this he threw it down into the midst of the court. He was then admitted to the noviciate, and five years afterwards to the order of upasampadi. After this he went from one wihara to another, remaining four months at each place, and exercising t}ie form of meditation called maitri-bhawand.