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" For this purpose he took his station upon Maha Meru. When one of the priests who accompanied Budha, Bathapdla, said that he had often passed in that direc- tion before, and had always seen Maha M6ru, but now it was invisible, Budha informed him that it was the n^a Nand<$- pananda.who had concealed the mountain. Upon hearing this, Rathapala said that he would go and drive him away ; but the sage did not give him permission. Then Mugalan offered to go and subdue the nilga, and having obtained leave, he took the form of a snake, and approached Nand6pananda. The niga endeavoured to drive him to a distance by a poisonous blast, but Mugalan sent forth a counterblast ; and there was a battle of blasts, but the blast of the priest was more powerful than that of the n^ga. Then the naga sent forth a stream of fire, and Mugalan did the same, by which he greatly hurt the n^ga, whilst the other stream did no injury whatever to himself. Nandd- pananda said in anger, '* Who art thou who attackest me with a force sufiBcient to cleave Maha Mem P and he answered, '* I am Mugalan." After this he went in at one ear of the ndga, and out at the other ; then in at one nostril, and out at the other ; he also entered his mouth, and walked up and down in his inside, from his head fco his tail, and from his tail to his head. The ndga was still further enraged by this disturbance of his intes- tines, and resolved to squeeze him to death when he emerged from his mouth, but Mugalan escaped without his perceiving it. 314 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. Another poisonous blast was sent forth, but it did not ruffle a single hair of the priest's body. After this Budha imparted to Mugalan the power to overcome the n&gB^ and taking the form of a garunda, he began to pursue him; but Nand6pananda offered him worship, and requested his protection. By Mugalan he was referred to Budha, who deHvered to him a discourse, in which he told him that thej who exercised hatred, however beautiful thej may be, will be regarded with aversion ; and that their fate will be like that of those who are destroyed by their own weapons. And he further informed him that they who are cruel will have to suffer much in hell ; or if bom in this world, they will be diseased, one disease following quickly upon another; and that therefore it is better to avoid anger and love all sentient beings, to have a soft heart, and exercise compassion. (Anii- wattira) 41. The sixteen Dreams of the King of Kosol. The king of Kosol, Pas^nadi, had sixteen dreams in one night. In the morning, when the brahmans came to enquire respecting his health, he told them what he had dreamed, and enquired from them what it portended.* They said that great dangers were threatened, either to his kingdom, his treasures, or his life ; and when asked further how they were to be averted, they told him that he must make a great sacrifice of animals, four and four of each kind. The king approved of this, and gave orders that it should be prepared. As the brahmans had thus advised the king, in order that they themselves might reap the benefit, they set about the work in all readiness. The queen, Mallik^, having observed their eagerness, enquired what it was all about ; and when the king told her, she said it would be better to go and ask the advice of Budha, who was living near, at Sewet. The king saw the propriety of this, and went at once to the residence of G6tama, who inquired why he had come so early ; and when he was informed that the king had come to learn how he might avert the dangers that threatened him, without the sacrifice of so many lives, he told him to repeat the dreams, and as he re- peated them he gave him the interpretation of each. The 1st dream : Four fierce bulls approached each other to * This is a faromite legend with the Singhalese. In the text it is much more extended than in the translation ; but eren in this abridged form it will bo thought to hare receiyed more attention than it merits. VII. LEGENDS OF GMSTAMA BUDHA. 315 fight, bat when the people gathered together to see them, they ran away. The interpretation : In time, men will become evil ; the d6wa8 will not give rain ; as the f onr bulls came from the four quarters, so will the clonds be collected, with a great noise; but as the bolls ran away, so when the people are gathered together expecting rain, the wind will come and disperse the clouds. The 2nd dream : There was a forest of large trees, bnt a little tree appeared, grew up, and overshadowed them. The interpreta- tion : Men will become evil, bnt their children will be good, and wiU thns be superior to their parents. The 3rd dream : Some cows drank milk from calves that were bom on the same day. The interpretation : The time will come when children will not honour their parents, nor support them ; the parents will thus be destitute, and be constrained to come and ask support from their children. The fourth dream : There was a wagon heavily laden, to which two calves were fastened, and farther ofE were two strong bulls fastened to it by slight cords ; as the calves alone were unable to draw it they threw the yoke from their necks, and went away. The interpretation : The time will come when princes will leave the cares of government to mean persons and children ; but they will be unequal to the performance of the duties, and great loss ■ will follow. The 5th dream : There were two horses feeding, with two heads each, but however much they ate, they were not satisfied. The interpretation : Judges will take bribes from both parties, but however much they receive they will still require more. The 6th dream ; A jackal made water into a golden dish. The interpretation : Princes will give high situations to mean people ; ihe noble will thus have no means of support ; they will therefore give their children in marriage to the mean, and thus confusion will be produced. The 7th dream : A man sitting upon a chair made a rope of skin, but a female jackal under the chair ate the part that hung down to the floor, as fast as he made it. The interpretation : Women will be faithless ; they will spend with other men what their husbands have collected with great care. The 8th dream : There was a large vessel near the gate of the palace, around it thousands of smaller vessels; people came 316 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. with water, and poured it into the large vessel, until it ran over ; this they did again and again ; but thej poured more into the smaller vessels. The interpretation: Princes and nobles will oppress the poor ; if they have only one single piece of money left, they will take it from them, and thus leave them empty, whilst they put the wealth they had gained into their own treasuries that are already full. The 9th dream : There was a pool to which birds came to drink ; on the sides the water was good, but in the centre it was muddy. The interpretation : The people of the cities will be oppressed, and they will therefore retire into the forests ; they will thus be at peace whilst the people in the cities are enduring misery. The 10th dream : In a vessel, boiling at the same time, were three kinds of rice, good, ordinary, and bad. The interpreta- tion : In one country, under one king, some people will have no rain, others too much, and others a proper quantity, by which their crops will be good. The 11th dream : Sandal- wood, worth a lac of treasure, was sold for a little sour milk. The interpretation : Priests will say this bana, which I have proclaimed to impart nirwana, not from love to the beings, but for applause or a piece of cloth ; in the highways, the comers of the streets, and sheds, they will repeat it, for the sake of gain. The 12th dream: Large stones floated on the surface of water, whilst dry pieces of wood, gourds, and other light articles, sank. The interpretation: Foolish princes will give good situations to inferior persons ; so the low will become high, and the high low. The 13th dream : A frog as small as a grain of mi, chased and swallowed a large naya. The interpretation : Unwise men will marry g^rls who will squander away their substance ; and when they ask them where all their wealth is gone to, the girls will say, it is nothing to them, and abusing them, usurp the authority. The 14th dream: A crow of most wretched appearance was surrounded by beautiful hansas.