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In reply, he begins by naming 120 TathAgatas, who instructed him therein in his former births ; and at the conclusion of his enumeration of Budhas, S&rvarthasiddha observes, ' he has given so many names exempli gratia, but that his instructors were really no less in number than 80 crores/ There is a verse in the Aparanita Dharani (to be found in many other, and higher authorities), purporting that ' the Buddhas who have been, are, and wiU be, are more numerous than the grains of sand on the banks of the Ganges.' .... These are evident nonentities, in regard to chronology and history, yet it is often difficult to distinguish them from their more substantial compeers." 1. The Era of Resolution, The kalpa in which we now live is called Maha Bhadra. In the ages that were concluded twenty asankya-kap-lakshas previous to this kalpa, there was not, for the space of a kap- asankya, any supreme Bndha ; so that there was no acquirement of merit, nor any attainment of a higher order of existence, except by the beings who in the kalpas previous to these un- propitioas ages had entered the an^dmi and sakrad&gdmi paths, and were thus enabled, in process of time, to attain nirwdna. Those beings who had only entered the path sow&n, passed in Older, by the ascending and descending scale, through the various degrees of men, d6was, and brahmas ; and then, by the exercise of dhydna, entered the superior paths and became rahats. Among these rahats was a brahma, who, observing that the beings who entered the brahma-16kas were few, enquired what was the reason, when he discovered that it was because no supreme Budha had appeared for the space of a kapasankya. Again, looking to see whether there was any one in the world who had the necessary qualifications to become a candidate for the Budhaship, he beheld many thousands of B6dhisats existent, like so many lotus buds awaiting the influence of the sunbeam that they might be expanded. Having made this discovery, he looked once more to see which of these candidates was the 92 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. nearest to the attainment of the great object they all had in view, when he saw that it was the B6dhisat who was afterwards to become G6tama Bndha.* At this time G6tama B^dhisat supported himself and his aged mother, who was a widow, by trade. To increase his wealth, he engaged with some mariners to take him to Swamna Bhdma ; but as he was sailing to this place, accompanied hj his mother, a great storm arose, and the ship in which he sailed was wrecked. They were in danger of perishing, as the waves rose like mountains to the sky ; but Bddhisat, regardless of his own life, and seeking only to save that of his parent, took his mother upon his back, and swam towards the shore, in the midst of sharks, sword-fish, and other monsters of the deep. When the brahma saw the resolution of Bddhisat he was assured that he possessed the requisite qualifications, and therefore bent his mind in the direction of the Budhaship, by means of which Bddhisat thought thus within himself, ^' I will hereafter become a Budha, that I may save the world." Animated by this resolu- tion, and assisted by the brahma, he succeeded in gaining the land ; where he continued, in the foreign country in which he now dwelt, to support his mother, until in due time he died, and was re-bom in a brahma-16ka. After enjoying the blessedness of the brahma-16ka during the accustomed age, he was bom as the son of the king of Benares, at that time called Sirimati, and succeeded his father in the kingdom. On receiving the crown, he took the name of Ses- tratdpa, and was famous for subduing wild elephants and bring- ing them under the yoke. At one time he overcame a very beautiful wild elephant, oE which he had heard from one of his foresters ; not long after which a herd of elephants broke into the royal gardens at night, and destroyed a great number of the trees, by knocking them down and trampling them under their feet. On hearing of the damage that they had done, the king mounted the elephant he had recently caught, and pursued them ; but when the animal upon which he rode scented the females, it went after them with so much eagerness that the king was carried far away into the forest, until he was at so * This statement does not agree with that which is afterwards declared ; as it will be seen that there were manj Bddhisate who became Budha, in the time that elapsed between this period and the appearance of Gdtama. IV. THE BUDHA8 WHO PRECEDED G(5tAMA. 93 great a distance from his attendants, that he became alarmed ; and thinking that he wonld be in danger if a battle were to ensne between his own elephant and the wild ones, he seized the bending branches of a tree that he passed, and escaped from the elephant's back. The attendants followed the footsteps of the elephant, calling ont as they proceeded, nntil they came near the tree ; when the king heard their voices, was released, and returned with them to the city. On reaching the palace, he sent for the chief of the elephant keepers, and enquired if he had intended to take his life, by patting him on so nnrnly an animal ; and thongh the keeper informed the king of the reason of its refractoriness, arising from the presence of the females, he was told that unless it returned from the forest within the space of seven days he must die. But on the seventh day, the elephant returned to the royal stable ; and when the keeper informed the king, his majesty went to see it ; and perceiving that it was now quite tame, he enquired how it was that the animal appeared to be thus docile, when a little time before he had been unable to restrain it, even by the application of the hook. The keeper replied, *' Oh king ! the passion of the sexes is sharper than the hook ; it is hotter than the burning flame ; it is like an arrow piercing the mind ; like a thief that steals away the virtuous disposition that would be obedient to the precepts ; like an asur to swallow the moon-resembling knowledge ; like a fire to bum up the forest-resembling con- tinence. The elephant's passion is over, and he has therefore returned quietly to his stall." The keeper then gave the king a proof of the elephant's obedience to his commands, produced by the power of a mantra ; when the king said, " Passion is mis- chievous, cruel, brutal, and unruly ; it is the cause of all danger and distress." After this the king looked to see in what way the evils connected with existence may be overcome ; and when he saw that the dharmma of a Budha can alone produce this effect, he thought within himself, " May I become * a Budha !" This resolution, or wish, is called man6pranidh4na. Then retir- ing from the kingdom, he became an ascetic in the foreist of Himila, and at his death was re-bom in one of the d6wa- Itfkas. The next birth received by B6dhisat was as a Brahman, in the village of Ddliddi ; and on account of the great beauty of his 94 A MANUAL OF BUDHISH. person he was called Brahma. At sixteen years of age he had read the three Y^das, Irju, Yajn, and S4ma, and was acquainted with all the sciences. Near the rock Eraka, but then called Mnnda, he became an ascetic, and had 500 followers, of whom the BiSdhisat who will one day become Maitri Bndha was the chief. One day, when his disciple and Brahma were wandering abont the forest to gather froits for their sustenance, they saw near the rock a tigress that had some time before brought forth, and was then suffering from hunger. Brahma, on seeing this, reflected again on the evils of existence, and sent his disciple into the forest to see if he could find auy bones or oSsA that they could give to the tigress to appease its hunger. During his absence, Brahma remembered that it was only by the birth of a Budha that these evils could be removed ; and calling to mind the resolution he had previously formed, he reflected that in order to the attainment of this great object it would be necessary for him to g^ve in alms, many times, his own heads, eyes, wives, and children. Then exclaiming^ " May I by this become a Budha ! " he placed himself in the way of the tigress, that by giving his flesh he might preserve its life and that of its little ones. When the animal perceived him, it bounded from the rock to the place where he stood, seized him, and tore him in pieces. By the power of the merit arising from this act, he was bom in a d6wa-16ka.