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discoarse on the disadvantages connected with the state of tho laic, he embraced the priesthood, leaving all his treasures. The king of Kosol, when he heard of what had occurred, said that the treasure that had no owner belonged to the supreme lord ; and he therefore took possession of it, as well as of his wife. One daj the 500 flower-girls brought each a nosegay, which the king pre- sented to his 500 queens. When the wife of Utphalagandha re- ceived hers, she thought of the sweet breath of her former husband, and smiled ; but she again reflected that he was gone from her, and wept. This was observed by the king, who en- quired the reason ; but when she informed him, he would not believe it. She said that he might be convinced of its truth, if he would hear him when he delivered the bana. Next day the king invited Budha and Utphalagandha to partake of food at the palace, and prepared a place for the saying of bana. All flowers and perfumes were carefully removed, and the citizens were invited to be present. Budha was aware of the king*s intention, and therefore directed the priest to say bana, when the time ap- pointed had come. In compliance with this command, Utphala- gandha fearlessly ascended the throne that had been prepared, and after a three-fold salutation, began the delivery of the dharmma. When he began to speak, a perfume like that of the lotus proceeded from his month, which filled the palace with its fragrance, and went out by the principal door towards the east. Greatly surprised, the king asked Budha the cause of this won- der, when the sage related to him what had occurred in the time of Piyumatura Budha. After this the king took the wife of the priest into his especial favor, and made her many presents. 35. The Five Hundred Qiieens of KosoL The 500 queens one day approached the king of Kosol, and said to him, that although he thrice every day went to the wihara of Budha, and WisdkhA and the other ladies of the city did the same, they were deprived of this privilege, as they were not permitted to leave the palace, by which the Joss that they sustained was exceedingly great, a supreme Budha only appear- ing after immense intervals of time. The king knew that it would create confusion if they went to the wihara, and therefore thought it would be better to appoint some one to say bana daiJy VII. LEGENDS OF g6TAMA BUDHA. 297 in tlie interior of the palace. After speaking to Budha apon the sabject, the ap^saka Chattapani was requested to undertake the office ; bat he ezensed himself, as he said that he was only a fit person to address the poor, and that it wonld be better to appoint some regularly ordained priest to go to the palace, as the qaeens would receive him with more respect. The king then called to- gether 500 priests, and requested them to choose a proper person ; in consequence of which Ananda was appointed, as he had the most pleasant voice. Having received a command to this effect from Budha, at the request of the king, he went daily to the palace to say bana, by which the queens obtained great merit. Because his voice was like a lute, and his personal ap- pearance prepossessing, the minds of the queens were greatly afiEected towards him ; and not long afterwards each queen had a son, in appearance like him. This gave occasion to the tirttakas to insinuate to the king, that the princes were not like him, but like Ananda ; and as they did it again and again he was put to shame, but when he mentioned the subject to Budha, the sage repeated to him a stanza which removed his doubts. 36. The Gifts presented to Budha on his return to Sewet, After visiting various places, Budha returned to Sewet, and as lie had been long absent, the king of Kosol went to meet him, and congratulate him on his arrival. The next day he invited the sage to partake of a repast he had prepared ; but on the day after that the citizens gave an alms-offering of ten times the value. The king was resolved not to be outdone, and on the third day presented an offering of greater value by twenty-three times than that of the citizens. On the fourth day, the citizens presented an offering more valuable by sixty or seventy times than that received by Budha on the preceding day. On the fifth day the king gave an alms a hundred or a thousand times more costly than that of the citizens. The citizens then con- ferred with each other and resolved to give an alms of superior value to any that had hitherto been presented. For this purpose a general contribution was levied, and even the unbelievers came forward with their share, in honour of the city ; so that the offerings of all kinds of things necessary for the repast were in- calculable. No one slept that night, as all were busy in making 298 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. the pi-eparations. The next day, when the gifts were presented, the king was overconie with astonishment, as he saw that the citizens had won the victory in this game of gifte ^ and when he retamed to the palace he threw himself upon a ^ach, grieved and B^shamed. The queen Mallika-d^wi enquired the reason of his sorrow, and when she learnt the cause, she advised him to make a pavilion of sal trees, with all suitable ornaments, and having in it 500 thrones ; then to invite 500 rahats to partake of a repast, with the 500 queens to wait upon them whilst they were eating, and with 500 elephants to hold canopies over their heads. The king commanded that all this should be done ; but though there were many thousands of royal elephants, only 499 could be procured that were sufficiently tame. On hearing this Mallikd-dewi directed that a wild elephant should be put near the priest Anguli-mdla, as he would be able to keep it in awe. At the appointed time Budha came to the pavilion, accompanied by the rahats ; all was carried on as the queen had directed, and the wild elephant appeared as tame as the rest. When the repast was concluded, the king presented to Budha the materials of the pavilion, the golden vessels, and all the other articles that had been provided, worth in all thirty-four k6tis of treasore. This is called the asadrisa-dana, or the peerless offering. The citizens were not able to equal it, as they had neither sal trees, elephants, nor queens. 37. Bvdha is visited by the BSwa Sehra. At one time Budha resided in the cave called Indrasdla, in the rock W^di, at the north side of the brahman village Ambasanda, on the east of Bajagaba. Sekra was long desirouB of paying a visit to the teacher of the three worlds, but on account of the multitude of affairs that required his attention, he did not meet with a proper opportonity. When he thought about his death, he was g^atly afraid, as he knew that he must then leave all his power and treasures. This made him look about, to see if there was any being in the three worlds who could assist him and take away his fear, when he perceived it was in the power of Budha alone to render him the aid he required. Accordingly he issued his command that the dewas should accompany him to the resi* dence of Budha. There was a reason for this command. On a former occasion, when Budha was residing in the J^tawana VII. LEGENDS OF g6tAMA BUDHA. 299 wihara, Sekra went alone to see Mm and hear bana ; but as tbe sage foresaw that if he obliged him to come again, he would then be accompanied hy 80,000 dewas, who would thereby be enabled to enter the paths, he did not permit him to come into his presence, and he had to return to his 16ka without accomplishing the object of his visit. It was because he thought if he again went alone he would meet with a similar reception, that he now called the d^was to accompany him. In a moment's time the whole company came from the dewa-16ka to the rock Wedi, and rested upon it like a thousand suns. It was now evacing, and the people were sat at their doors, either playing with their chil- dren, or eating their food. When they perceived the light upon the rock they said that some great d^wa or brahma must have come to pay honour to Budha. To announce his arrival to the sage, Sekra sent forward the dewa Panchasikha, who took with him his harp, twelve miles in length; and having worshipped Budha, he began to sing certain stanzas, which admitted of two interpretations, and might either be regarded as setting forth the honour of Budha, or as speaking in praise of Suriyawachasd, daughter of the d^wa Timbara.