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Not understanding any part, they remained like * The mother of Budha, who had now become a d^wa hy the changing of her sex. 310 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. imagery painted upon a wall, in ntter silence. In a little time Budha again simplified his discourse, when they once more ex- pressed their approbation, and began to think, ** The Abhid- harmma is not so difficult ; it is easy to understand," which, when the preacher perceived, he gradually passed to a pro- founder style. Thus, during half a night, Budha rapidly de- clared the bana of the Abhidharmma. In the time occupied by others to say one letter, Ananda says eight ; in the time that Ananda says one, Seriyut says eight ; in the time that Seriyut says one, Budha says eight ; so that Budha can repeat 512 letters as rapidly as the priests can repeat one. Wlien in Tawutisa he repeated the bana thus quickly, because the apprehension of the d6wa3 was of eqaal celerity. In one hundred of our years the d6was eat but once ; and had Budha taken his accustomed meals in their presence during the period he performed wass in Tawutisd, they would have thought that he was always eating. Therefore, at the usual hours of re- fection he caused another Badha to appear and occupy his place, whilst he himself went to the Anotatta lake ; and as his alms- bowl here came to him in a miraculous manner, he took it to IJturukuru, where he received food. At this time Seriyut and 500 priests called Waggula were in Sakaspura, keeping wass. When Budha had eaten the food he received m Uturuknru, he went to the same city, and had at the request of Seriyut re- peated all that he and the representative of Budha had said to the d^was. It would have occupied too much time to repeat the whole, and it was therefore spoken in an abridged form: but such was the wisdom of Seriyut, that when Budha declared to Viim one thing, from that one he learnt a hundred. The things he thus learnt, he was commanded by Q<$tama to teach in full to the 500 Waggula priests, who would afterwards be able to teach others ; and thus the words of the Ahbidhamuna would be preserved to ftiture ages for the benefit of the faithful. When the rehearsal was concluded, Budha returned to the d^¥ra-loka, and causing the form to disap^iear, took its place. This oc- curred daily. The Abhidharmma was completed when the three months of wass had passed over, and at its conclusion the d^wa Mitru, now become a rahat, said to Budha, " You who have been bom from my womb so many times, have now rendered me a reoom- Vn. LEGENDS OF g6tAMA BDDHA. 311 peuoe. In one birth, from being a slave I became the wife of the king of Benares, but that exaltation was not eqoal to the privilege I now receive. From the time of Pijnmatnra Bndha, daring a kap-laksha, you sought no other mother, and I sought no other son. Now, mj reward is received." Not Matru alone, but eighty kelas and a thousand d^was and brahmas entered the paths. After eightj-three days had expired, the multitude assembled at Sewet enquired of Mugalan When Bndha might again be ex- pected to appear. To ascertain this, the priest departed, in the presence of the people, to Tawutisa, where he appeared before Budha, and asked when he would return to the earth, as the multitude of the faithful at Sewet had been waiting three months in the anxious expectation of seeing him. Budha in. formed him that in seven days he should proceed to Sakaspura,* to which place Mugalan was directed to bring the people from Sewet. On the return of the priest, after hearing the informa- tion he conveyed to them, the up^akas enquired the distance from Sewet to Sakaspura, and were told that it was thirty yojanas. They then asked how the young and the lame were to go such a distance ; but Mugalan informed them that by the power of Budha, and his own power, they would be enabled to go without any inconvenience ; and in the same instant, more quickly than if they had gone upon swift horses, sooner than betelt can be taken from the bag and mixed with the lime, they were transported through the air to Sakaspura, as if it were in a dream. The time had now arrived when Budha was to take his de- parture from the d^wa-16ka. Sekra. reflected that he had come from the earth at three steps, but that it would be right to celebrate his departure with special honours. He therefore caused a ladder of gold to extend from Maha M6ru to Sakaspura. ij: * This place is called in Pali Sankassa. A letter from Lieut. Cunningham, R.E. to Colonel Sykes, was read before the Boval Asiatic Society, Dec. 3, 1842, giring an account of the discoreiy and identification of the city of Sankasja, mentioned as the kingdom of Kusadwaja, in the lULmajana. It is twenty-four miles from Farrakhabad, and fifty from Ejuiouj, on the north or left bank of the Kali Nadi. The ruins are very extensive, and there can be no doubt that they are of Budhistical origin. t This masticatory is almost xmiversally in use among the natives of Ceylon. t It is said by Fa Hian that the three ladders disappeared under the earth ; but that Asoka built a monument over the ladder by which Budha descended. 312 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. At the right side of this ladder there was another, also of gold, upon which the dewas appeared, with instruments of music ; and on the left there was another of silver, upon which the brahmas appeared, holding canopies, or umbrellas. These ladders were more than 80,000 yojanas in length. The steps in the ladder of Budha were alternately of gold, silver, coral, ruby, emerald, and other gems, and it was beautifully ornamented. The whole appeared to the people of the earth like three rainbows. When Budha commenced his descent, all the worlds from Awichi to Bhawagra were illuminated by the same light. The charac- teristic marks upon his person appeared to the multitude assembled at Sakaspura, as plainly as the inscription upon a golden coin held in the hand ; and as they looked at him they said to each other, *' Now he is upon the golden step, or the silver, or some other." Sekra preceded him on the same ladder, blow- ing the conch, whilst on the other ladders were the dewas and brahmas. The people who saw him thus honoured, all formed within themselves the wish to become Budhas. The first to pay his respects to Budha on arriving at Sakas- pura was Seriyut; and after he had worshipped the d6wa of d^was he enquired if all who had formed the wish to become Budhas would have their wishes gratified. Budha replied, '' K they had not performed the paramit<^ in former births, how could they have exercised the wish ? Those who have superior merit will become supreme Budhas ; the next in order will be Pase- Budhas; and the others will be priests. Thus all will receive one or other of the three B6dhi."* After this declara- tion had been made, Budha resolved upon giving evidence before the people of the superior wisdom of Seriyut. In the first place he asked a question that those who had not entered the paths could answer ; then he asked another, but they were silent, and those who had entered the first path answered. Thus each class was successively silent, and the one above answered, as he passed to those in the second path and the third ; and then proceeded to the inferior (kshina), the middle (triwidyaprdpta), and the chief (shatabhignydprapta) srdwakas ; then to Mugalan and Seriyut ; and to Seriyut alone. Last of all he propounded a question that the Budhas alone could answer. After this exer- * ThiB IB illustrated by the fiicure of the three landing places, in the r^d stream. VII. LEGENDS OF g6tAMA BUDHA. 313 else, Badha said to Seriyut the words bhuta-midang, which the priest explained in a k6ti of ways, though none of the other srdwakas who were present understood the meaning. As Seriyut proceeded, GhStama listened with the pleasure a father feels when witnessing the elererness of his son, and then declared that in wisdom he was the chief of his disciples. All this honour was received by Seriyut because in a former age he had given in alms a stylus and a blank book for the writing of the bana. 40. The Ndga NandSpananda, overcome by Mugalan. At the time that Budha visited the d6wa-16ka Tawutisd, the n&ga king, Nanddpananda, said to his subjects, *' The sage, G6tama Budha, has passed over the world on his way to Tawu- tisa ; he will have to return by the same way again, but I must try to prevent his journey.