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When the five hermits saw him at a distance, they said, " Sidhartta has regained his strength and beauty ; he must therefore have left off the practice of austerities ; he now comes to us, as he is unable to gain the Budhaship ; as he is of a royal family it is right that we should give him a seat, but we will not rise at his approach, nor go to meet him." Budha perceived their thoughts, and as the 11,500 inferior streams fall into the five great rivers, so the kindness that extended to infinite sakwalas was made to flow towards the five ascetics. As the withered leaf in the rapid stream cannot remain still a moment, but is continually driven hither and thither ; so the ascetics, overcome by the force of Badha's kind- ness, were unable to remain upon their seats, and were oom- * When similar narratiTes occur, a mere outline of the matter in the original text, as in the present instance, will be given. Vn. LEGENDS OF g6TAMA BUDHA. 191 pelled to come towards him and worship. They afterwards washed his feet, and enquired familiarly abont his health ; but Gdtama informed them, that they mast not address him as an equal ; he was now a supreme Budha. On receiving this intelli- gence, they rejoiced. In the place where the former Budhas said bana, the earth clove, and a throne arose, to which G-6tama ascended, as the sun rises over Udayagiri. The evening was like a lovely female ; the stars were pearls upon her neck, the blue clouds were her braided hair, and the expanse was her flowing robe. As a crown, she had the brahma-16kas ; the three worlds were as her body : her eyes were like the white lotns, kowmada ; and her voice was like the humming of the bee. To worship Budha, and liston to the first proclaiming of the bana, this lovely female came. Maha M^ru leaped with joy ; the seven circles of rocks did obeisance to Badha ; and the sakwala- gala turned many times round. The various beings in the world all assembled, that they might receive the ambrosia and nectar of nirwana. They stood in circles, the room that they occupied being more and more compressed as each additional company arrived, until at last they were so close that a hundred thousand d^was had no more space than the point of a needle. All the d6wa-16kas and brahma-ldkas, except the ardpa worlds, were left empty, and the company extended from this sakwala to the brahma Idkas. Though all space was thus filled, there was no impediment whatever to the spreading of the rays from the person of Budha. The sound was like that of a storm; but when the Sekras blew their conches, all became still as a wave- less sea. Then Badha opened his mouth, and preached the Dhamsak-p8Bwatum-stitra (Dhamma-chakka) . ''There are two things," said he, '* that must be avoided by him who seeks to become a priest ; evil desire, and the bodily austerities that are practised by the (brahman) ascetics." The d^was on each side thought that he looked in their direction when he spoke ; all the d^was and brahmas thought that he addressed himself to their own particular 16ka ; by this means the eyes of all were fixed upon him, and all hearts were offered to him. Although the stature of Maha Brahma is so great, he did not see the top of Budha's head, nor did any being from that time forth. The all- wise saw the exact disposition of every one in that assembly, and knew which of the sixty- three charitas each one cherished ; 192 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. and he could saj, tlie brahmas ihiiik thas, and the d^was thns, and the n^as thus, and so on of every separate order. Though he spoke in the language of Magadha, each one thought that he spoke in his own langaage; and all the different species of animalB, both great and small, listened to him under the same supposition. The oldest of the five ascetics, Kondanya, entered the first path, as did also an asankya of d^was ; an asankya of d^was also entered the second path, and anofcher the third ; and eighteen kelas of brahmas entered the fourth path. 8. Fifty 'four Princes and a ihovsand Fire^worshippera becatne the Disciples of Budha. Whilst Budha remained at Isipatana, Yasa, the son of Sujatd, who had been brought up in all delicacy, one night went secretly to him, was received with affection, became a priest, and entered the first path. The father, on discovering that he had fled, was disconsolate ; but Budha delivered to him a discourse, by which he became a rahat. The fifty-four companions* of Yasa went to the monastery to indnce him to return, and play with them as usual ; but when they saw him, they were so struck with his manner and appearance, that they also resolved upon becoming priests. When they went to Budha they were admitted, by the power of irdhi received the pirikara requisites of the priesthood, and became rahats. Budha had now sixty disciples who were rahats, and he commanded them to go by different ways, and proclaim to all that a supreme Badha had appeared in the world. When the disciples had departed on their mission, Budha set out to return to Uruwela, and by the way remained under the shade of a tree where four ways met. At that time there were thirty-two princes in Kosol,t who from being alike in beauty * These are the same fifty-four persons who are represented under the head of asubha-bh&wani as having burnt the dead body of a woman that they found in the forest ; and it was by the merit then obtained that they were now enabled to become rahats. t Kosol, or E68ala, is the country along the bank of the Sarayu, forming part of the modem province of Oude. It was the pristine kingdom of the 'solar race. In the time of Gdtama Budha, the principal city was Sewet. In the ninth century the authority of the king of Kosala extended into Oondwana, as appears from inscriptions yet extant. There are several Kdsalas mentioned by Sanscrit authors, in different directions. Ptolemy has a Eontakussala in the south of India, probably one of the E<$sala8 of the Hindus. — ^Wilson's Tishnu Pur4na. VII. LEGENDS OK GCJtAMA BUDHA. 193 and disposition were called Bhaddawaggi. They received from the king a province, which they ruled conjointly. Having heard that there was a very pleasant region called Kappasika, they went to see it. One of them, who had no wife like the rest, was accompanied by a courtezan, but she stole his ornaments and absconded ; and when the princes went in search of her, they came to the place where Budha was seated under the tree, from whom they enquired if he had seen a courtezan, telling him what had happened. Budha asked them whether it was better to seek others or to seek themselves. As the princes knew his meaning, they said it was better for each one to seek for himself. Then Budha, seeing that they were willing thus to act, delivered to them an appropriate discourse, and the thirty. two princes became rahats ; after which he sent them dijfferent ways to proclaim that the three gems had appeared. There were now ninety-two persons who had become rahats. In the Uruwela forest, to which Budha repaired, near the river Niltard, three brothers resided of the same name, Uruwel Eisyapa, Gaya K^yapa, and Nadi Kasyapa, who gave out that they were rahats, and thus deceived many people, whilst they lived in great plenty and splendour. I'he oldest brother had 500 disciples, the second 300, and the next 200 ; a thousand in aU. As Budha wished to bring them all into the paths, he went to the residence of Uruwel, and requested permission to remain that night in the fire-hall, or temple. Uruwel replied that he himself had no objection, but that in the hall there was an im- mense naya, the poison of which was most subtle ; it did not hurt him or his brothers because they were rahats ; but as G6tama. vras not a rahat, though his person was so beautiful, it would be dangerous for him to enter the hall. Budha, as if he had not heard what was said, again requested permission to remain in the fire-hall. Uruwel replied, " It is no matter to me whether jou remain in the fire-hall or not ; but remember the fatal ser- pent.'* As Budha could not ask him again, lest his head should be cloven, he fearlessly entered the hall, that he might repose there for the night. The nayi came forth, and asked in anger, " Who is this that has entered my mansion, as if it were his own ? " at the same time sending forth a poisonous blast.