English
* l\his mountain is called Selesumano, Samastakuta, and Samanela. It is 7420 feet above the level of the sea, and was long considered as the highest mountain in the island ; but it has been discovered, since the English came into possession of the interior, that there are at least three others that are higher, Pidurutalagala liavlng an elevation of 8280 feet. It will, however, always be the most remarkable, from the many legends connected with it, VIL LEGENDS OF G<5tAMA BUDHA. 217 Samana, having heard of the arrival of Badha, went to the place where ho was; and after he had worshipped him, he presented a request that he wonld leave an impression of his foot upon the mountain of which he was the guardian, that it might be worshipped during the five thousand years his religion would continue among men. To induce the sage to comply with his request, the d^wa repeated before him at length the praises of the mountain he was invited to visit. The flowers that grew upon its sides and summit, he compared to a magnificent gar- ment and head-dress ; the hum of the bees, as they sped through the air laden with honey, was like the music of lutes: the birds upon the trees were like so many bells sending forth sweet sounds ; doves and other birds uttered their peculiar notes ; the branches of the trees, when agitated by the wind, appeared to dance, as at the command of the master of the revels; all seemed to acknowledge the supremacy of Budha ; the trees pre- sented offerings of flowers ; in the pools of water were many reptiles ; fishes sported in the streams ; in the branches of the trees were birds of many kinds ; in the shade, with their young, were elephants, tigers, bears, deer, monkeys, hares, and other animals ; there were trees that struck their branches together, 80 as to produce fire ; and there were others that appeared, from the mass of flowers by which they were covered, like a cloud from which the lightning flashed or around which it played. When the dewa had in this manner declared the greatness and the excellencies of the mountain, Budha went to it through the air, attended by the 500 rahats. At the right hand of the sage was Samana, in beautiful garments and rich ornaments, attended by all his inferior dewas, with their queens, who made music and carried flags and banners, and scattered around gold and gems. Sekra, Maha Brahma, and Iswara, were all there with their attendant retinues ; and like the rolling of the great ocean upon Maha M6ru or the Yugandhara rocks, was their arrival at the mountain. The sun remained in the midst of the sky, but his rays were cold as those of the moon ; there was a slight falling of rain, like the water that is sprinkled around a throne to allay and the conspicuousDoss of its appearance, especially from the sea ; it is an insulated cone, rising boldly into the skj, and geneniUy cloud-capped. It is supposed by the Chinese (Davis's Chinese) that at its base is a temple, in which the real body of Budha reposes on its side, wad that near it are his teeth and other relics. 218 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. the dust; and the breeze, charged with sweet perfhine, came from all sides to refresh the illustrioos visitant. At his approach, all the trees of the mountain were aa though they danced in gladness at the anointing of a king. In the midst of the assembled dewas, Budha, looking towards the east, made the impression of his foot,* in length three inches less than the cubit of the carpenter ; and the impression remained as a seal to show that Lanka is the inheritance of Budha, and that his religion will here flourish. G6tama remained during the day in a cave of the same moun- tain, called Bhagawa. From thence he went to Dighanaka, in Bfuhuna ; and afterwards to the following places in order : — ^the spot where the b6-tree was afterwards planted by Mahindo, at Anuradhapura ; Thuparama, Ldwamahapaya, and Lahabat-geya, which are also in Anurddhapara ; the tank Danthadara ; Ru- wanpaja ; and the summit of MihintaU. From this mountain he returned to Jambudwlpa, having visited in all fourteen differ- ent places in LanldL {Sadhamimarainakdrd,)^ 14. Budha foretells the FrosperUy of a Labourer's Wife. In the reign of Bimsara, there was in Rajagaha a couple ex- tremely poor. The man's name was K^lawali, and he was a * There is an indentation upon the sammit of Adam's peak, commonly called the srf-p&da, or illustrious footstep, which is annually visited by many pilgrims of different religious persuasions. The Hindus regard it as the footstep of SiTa, and the Moors as that of Adam, whilst the Budhists affirm that it is the identical impression made by Budha when he yisited the d^wa Samana. It is said by Dr. Davy to be " a superficial hollow five feet three inches and three-quarters long, and between two feet seven inches and two feet five inches wide." The lakirs of the Mahomedan religion take impres* sions of the footstep on a piece of white cloth that has been previously covered with pulverized sander. The Mahomedan author, Masudi, A.D. 943, makes mention of mount Bahwan, on which Adam descended when expeUed from Paradise, adding that a race of Hindus, in the island of Ceylon, descended from Adam, derived their origin from the children of Cain, and that the analogy between the traditions of the Arabs and Budhists may probably be traced to that period of early history when both people were Samaneans ; maintaining, according to the authority of the Mefatih-el-olum, that the world had no beginning, that souls transmigrated from one body to another, and that the earth is constantly declining. — ^Bird's Anniversary Discourse, Jo urn. Bombay As. Soc. No. 5. It is probable that B4ja Singha, A.D. 1581, would destroy the sri-p^a then in existence, along with the other objects of Budhistical veneration that fell beneath his hand. Both Fa Hiau and Hiuan Thasng met with sn-p&das in different parts of India. t The whole of the three visits of Gk5tama to Ceylon are inserted togetlier, as it is in this form they appear in the native authorities, though the two last are not in the proper order of time, as some of the legends subsequently inserted must have taken place at a previous period. vn. LEGENDS OF g6tama budha. 219 labonrer. One day he went to seek work, bat did not succeed, and aM the food thej had was a little pottage made of herbs. In the morning, Maha Kasyapa looked abroad to see whom he ghonld benefit, and resolved on conferring a favour npon the labonrer. When be came with his alms-bowl to the door, the wife reflected that they had nothing better to give the priest, so she presented to him the pottage, which he took to the wihilra and gave some to Budha. The priest asked G6tama what would be the reward of the woman ; and he said that in seven days she would be ennobled. On the seventh day after, the king on passing a burial ground near the city, saw a man impaled, who cried out to him, re- questing a supply of food from the royal table. The king, oat of compassion, promised that he should have it. At night, when the king was at supper, he remembered the promise he had made, and told his nobles to call some one to take the food ; bat they could find tio one who was willing to go. A second time they attempted, but did not succeed. On the third trial, the labourer's wife said she would go. The king asked her, if she, a woman, was not afraid to undertake the task ; but she said she was not, if the five weapons were given her, and she was attired as a man. The king commanded that this should be done, and she took the food. In passing a tree on the way, a yaka who resided in it called out to her to stop if she had brought him food ; bat she said she was the king's messenger, and the food was for another. The demon then asked her if she could take a message for him also ; and as she agreed, he told her to call out aloud at a certain tal-tree she would have to pass, that Kali, the wife of Dighatapla, daughter of the d^wa Samana, had been delivered of a son. On passing the tree that had been pointed out, she cried oat aloud as she had been told ; and the d^wa Sumana having heard what she said, out of joy at the intelligence, commanded that as a reward she should be told of a treasure there was at the foot of the tree. When she had received this intelligence, she went forward to the place of execution, and informed the malefactor that she had brought him food from the king's table.