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When Budha afterwards visited the city of WisdM, the princes and others went to meet him ; as from the time he had driven away the pestilence, the citizens had held him in great respect. During his residence there he took up his abode in the Kdtac^ra- s^U, where he was visited by Prajdpati ; and the queen-mother, after returning to her own wihdra, and pondering in her mind over what she had seen, thus reflected : — " Budha is the glory of Y 2 324 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. his srawakas, and the srawakas are the glory of Budha. I must look to see if any of them have ceased to exist. I Kee that none have ceased to exist since the prince Sidhartta became Bndha. I must now look to see whether any of the srawakas are near the attainment of this state. 1 see that it will soon be attained by Anya-kondanya, Scriynt, and Mugalan. I am now 120 years of age, though in appearance I am as young as when I was a maiden of sixteen ; my teeth are perfect, and my hair is not grey ; but it is meet that the child should see the departure of the parent, and not the parent the departure of the child; I will therefore request that I be the first of the faithful admitted to the city of peace.'' The earth moved as these reflections passed through her mind, which was perceived by the 600 princesses ; and when they enquired the reason, she informed them of the resolution to which she had come. They replied that they had all been admitted to profession at the same time as the queen-mother, since which they had all lived together, and she had been their guide; and they now wished to attain nirwdna at the same period. Soon afterwards they went to inform Bndha of their request, when Prajdpati said to the teacher of the three worlds : — " I paid you attention in your infancy, but you have repaid me in a way that no other sou can assist his parent ; I have sheltered you from the sun and storm, and you have protected me from the perils of existence ; the mothers of the chakrawarttis are yet enduring the pains of existence, and after being the empresses of the universe they will become cattle, ants, and other mean creatures ; but I have been the foster-mother of a Budha, and am therefore saved from future birth ; I am the chief of women ; and I have now to request that before any other of your disciples I may be permitted to attain nirwdna. But previous to its attainment I request to see the beauties of the sacred person, and to be forgiven in whatever I have done wrong." Then Budha replied, " The water of the Anotatta lake needs not to be purified ; the chintamanikya jewel needs not to be polished ; the gold from the great jambu tree in the Himalayan forest needs not to be refined ; nor does the queen- mother need to be forgiven, as there is nothing to forgive. It is not requisite that those who have seen nirwana should forgive each other. Yet as you have requested it, and it is the custom of the Budhas thus to forgive, what you seek is granted, as what you have asked is good. Therefore, be the first to enter nirwdna ; VII. LEGENDS OP g(3tama budha. 325 and thas obtain the pre-eminence over all mj other sr4wakas, as all the stars are eclipsed by the saperior light of the full moon.*' Anya-kondanya, Nand% Rahula, the 500 princes, and others were present; and Ananda, as he was not yet a rahat, wept. But the qaeen-mother told him it was not a proper time in which to indulge in grief, as she was about to obtain a great privilege. Before her departure, she was directed by Budha to exhibit some miracle iu the presence of the faithful, that the error of those who supposed that it was not possible for a woman to attain nirw&na might be removed. Then Prajapati rose into the air many times, and declared in such a way that the whole earth might hear it, that what she did was not by her own power but by the power of Budha. She then made as many repetitions of her own form as filled the skies of all the sakwalas, and the mouth of every image thus made repeated the praises of Budha. Then all the forms vanished but one, and afterwards this also disappeared. Many more wonders did she perform, by the power of dhyand and kasina ; making an image of herself so large that it reached to the brahma-16ka ; causing a darkness that everywhere pre- vailed ; taking the waters of the four oceans, and hiding them in the hollow of her hand ; and making figures in the sky of elephants, lions, &c. When the whole was concluded, she descended to the earth, and worshipped Budha ; after which she remained for some time in admiration of his mouth, footstep, and other beauties, and then retired, with her attendants. Having performed the four dhyanas from the beginning to the end, and from the end to the beginning, the ch^tana was extinguished, like a lamp going out, and she entered the city of peace, her body remaining like an image of gold. The 500 princesses attained the same privilege. Wonders then appeared in heaven and earth ; and the d^was going to Budha said, *' The death of Prajapati and the princesses is like the passing away of the moon and the stars from the sky ; the number of the faithful is diminished." Budha commanded Apt^TifJsL to proclaim to his disciples in what manner the queen- mother had attained nirwana, and to summon them to her crema- tion. All who wished to come were enabled to do so in a moment of time, without any personal effort, by the power of Budha ; so that there was the largest assemblage ever collected during the ministry of Gdtama Budha. Wiswakarmma broaght 501 golden 326 A MANUAL OF BUDUISM. litters throngh the sky, and the bodies were carried in them by the gaardian dewas to the place of burning; an honour thin, which was not received by Budha, nor by any other of his disciples. The Licliawi princes prepared a funeral pyre for each of the bodies, made of sandal- wood, saturated with perfumed oil ; and after the burning had taken place, it was found fhat the bodies of the princesses were entirely consumed, but that that of Prajdpati remained like a heap of pearls, which Ananda carefully collected, and placed in the alms-bowl of Budha. 43. 7^ wicked Devices of Dewadatta and AjdsaL In a former age, D6wadatta became the enemy of Bddhisat ; and from that time, until he became Budha, the enmity con- tinued through every successive birth. He was bom in the city of K6h', as the son of Supra-budha, and his mother was one of the sisters of Sudhddana. By the power of dhy&na he became a rishi, so that he could pass through the air and assume any form. Others who attained this state were released by it from birth, but to him it was only as a curse. When the overflowing bile of a dog approaches his nose, he feels a courage so great that he will attack even an elephant, though it be to his own certain destruc- tion ; so Dewadatta, by possessing the power of irdhi, was led on to do that which involved himself in ruin. Thus he thought : — I am equally honourable, as to family, with Budha ; before I became a priest I was treated with all respect, but now I receive even less than my previous followers. I must take to myself 500 disciples ; but before I can do this, I must persuade some king or other to take my part ; the great monarchs of Rajagaha, and other places, are all on the side of Budha ; I cannot therefore deceive them, as they are wise. But there is Ajisat, the son of Bimsara ; he is ignorant of causes, and disobedient to his parents ; but he is liberal to his followers ; so I must bring him over, and then I can easily procure a large retinue." When the queen of Bimsara, who was the daughter of Maha Kosol, king of Sewet, was pregnant, she had a desira to diink blood drawn from the shoulder of the king. She told it to no one ; but as it was not gratified, she continually faded away like a leaf; when the king insisted upon knowing the cause, she informed him. The king was greatly pleased that it only con- VII. LEGENDS OK g6taMA. BUDHA. 327 oerDed himself, and having procured a golden dish and a sharp instrament, he at onoe permitted blood to be drawn from his shoulder, by a skilful snrgeon, when the queen drank it, mixed with water, and was restored to health. The prognosticators having heard of it, declared that she would bear a son, who would be an enemj to his father, and cause his death.