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He thought, '^ I can see mj child after I become Budha ; were I, from parental affection, to endanger thfi reception of the Budhaship, how could the various orders of being be released from the sorrows of existence ? " Then resolutely, like a man attempting to root up Maha M6ra, he withdrew his foot from the doorway, and descended to the court-yard of the palace. Putting his hand upon the back of the steed, as it stood proudly before him, he said, ** Well, Kantaka, you must assist me to- night, that by your aid I may be enabled to release all sentient beings from the perils of existence ;" and he then mounted upon his back. From his neck to his tail, Kantaka was 18 cubits in length, of proportionate height, and as white as the purest conch.* Strong was he and fleet, and when he pawed the ground, the whole city trembled ; but upon the present occasion his footsteps were not heard, through the interposition of the d^was. The attendant noble, Channa, accompanied the prince, holding the horse by the tail.f At the fifteenth hour after sunset, or at midnight, Sidhdrtta proceeded to the outer gate of the city. The king, who had foreseen that his son would attempt to escape by stealth, had placed a thousand men as wardens ; and the gate itself was so ponderous that it required a thousand men to open or shut it. The noble resolved that if the gate were not open, he would take the prince on his right shoulder, and the horse on his left, and • The easterns have a great predilection for horses of a white colour. When trarelling in remote parts of Ceylon, where the animal upon which I rode was as much an object of attention as myself, I was frequently asked if I did not possess a white horse, and when I answered in the negative, I appeared to be much lessened in the estimation of the people. t Horses that are nine yards high are not often found in our degenerate days ; but at Madeira I have seen the grooms take hold of the tails of the ponies that traverse the narrow paths of its steep mountains; they retain their hold even when the animal is going at full gallop, and are thus carried along with fearful rapidity. We learn from Caesar that the Germans weix? so alert by continual exercise, that laying; hold of the manes of their horses they could run with equal swiftness. — De Bel. Gbl. vi. 13. The Arabs relate that when Moses fled from the palace of Pharaoh, he was carried over the Nile on the steed Hizan, provided tor his escape by Ghabriel. But both Kantaka and Hizan must bow before Borak, the miraculous horse of Mahomet, that enabled him to visit Medina, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Paradise, in so short a space of time that a water-vase which he overturned in rising from his couch was not emptied on his return. vn. LEGENDS OF g6tama budha. 163 leap over the ramparts of tlie city ; and the horse resolved, in view of the same ohstacle, to leap over the barrier with the prince on his back, whilst the noble held his tail. Thns, all exhibited the most determined conrage, and were eqnallj free from fear. Bat when they approached the gate, it was thrown open by the d^was, as they knew that in dne time Budha would throw open to them the gates of the city of peace. Wasawartti M&ra knew that if the prince proceeded on his journey, his own d6wa-16ka would be emptied, and all beings become happy, by which he would lose the influence he then possessed ; and he therefore came to him, and said, " Be entreated to stay, that you may possess the honours that are within your reach ; go not ; go not ! " The prince asked who ho was, and he said that he was lord of the sixth d6wa-16ka, Paranirmmita Wasawartti ; but on hearing this, in a way that made the sakwalas tremble, the prince declared, '* A thousand or a hundred thousand honours such as those to which you refer would have no power to charm me to- day ; I seek the Budhaship ; I want not the seven treasures of the Chakrawartti ; therefore, begone, hinder me not.'' Then Mara ascended into the air, and said to Sidh^tta, gnashing his teeth with rage, " We shall see whether thou wilt become Budha ; from his time forth I shall tempt thee with all the devices I can imagine ; until the reception of the Budhaship, I will follow thee incessantly, like thy very shadow, and on the day of its attain- ment I will bring a mighty army to oppose thee." Throughout the whole of the seven years that followed this period, the assaults of M^ra were continued. Rejecting the offer of universal empire, as he would cast forth saliva from his mouth, in the month ^sala, on the day of the fall moon, the nekata being Uttrasala, Sidhartta departed from the city. After proceeding some distance, he resolved to look once more at the place he had left ; when the city, without his turn- ing round, appeared as if it were before him. At the same time he foresaw that a ddgoba would be erected to Kantaka, on the spot whence this' view was presented. In this journey, 60,000 dewas preceded him with torches of jewels, and the same number were on each side. The light was so great, that in any part of the sakwala the smallest thing could be perceived. The d6was in attendance extended as far the sakwala rocks. The ndgas, garundas, and other beings presented perfumes, and strewed M 2 164 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. flowers of various kinds, but all divine ; floral showers also fell from the trees of Parasatu and Madara, filling the sky ; the d6was plajed tlie five- fold music, the gandharwas from the summit of the sakwala rocks, and the rest from the further side, as there was no room for them within. The noise was like the raging of the sea. Attended in this magnificent manner, Sidhdrtta proceeded hi the course of the night through three kingdoms ; and having gone 480 miles, arrived in the morning at the river An6m4. This was not the full speed of Kantaka ; such was his strength that he could have gone in a moment to the sakwala rocks, or have run round the outer circle of the sakwala between the time of the morning meal and noon ; but on account of the number of flowers thrown in the path of the future Budha, and the great retinue by which he was attended, he went in that night only thirty yojanaa. On arriving at the river, he enquired its name from the noble, and when he was told that it was An6m4, illustrious, or honourable, he rec^ved it as another omen in his favour. It was 800 cubits in breadth, but the horse carried both the prince and the noble across, at a single leap, and alighted on the other side upon a bank of sand as white as silver. At this place he presented the horse Kantaka, together with his personal ornaments, to Channa, and gave him permission to return to the city. The noble also wished to abandon the world ; but the prince asked what) in that case, was to become of the horse and the ornaments of which he had divested himself, and how Sudhddana and Yas<5dhara were to learn whither he had gone. At a future time he promised his faithful attendant the accomplishment of his wish, but charged him now to go and inform his father, mother,* wife, and the people of the city, that as he had become a recluse they were not to sorrow for him ; and he requested that care might be taken of his son Rdhula, as he would not see him again until he had become Budha. The noble wept on hearing these words. This was not the only occasion on which Bddhisat had received the assistance of Channa. In former ages he had derived from him the most efficient aid, in times of difficulty.f The horse under- * The principal queen of Suclh(5dana, Praj&pati, must be intended, as his own mother died soon after his birth. t Numerous instances in which this aid was granted are inserted in the original text. VIL LEGENDS OF g6tAMA BUDHA. 165 stood what was said by his master, and as he knew that he should never see him again, he became exceedingly distressed, his breast clove in sunder, and he fell dead upon the ground ; but he was immediately bom in Tawutisd as the d6wa Kantaka. The noble, thus overtaken by a double affliction, then returned to the city, where he made known all that had occurred. The prince knew that in order to become an ascetic his hair must be cut off ; and as there was no one there to perform this operation for him, he took his sword in the right hand, and holding his hair by the left, he cut it off.* Then reflecting,.