comes into the world like a rain-cloud!, and, once born, he, the world’s Lord, speaks and shows the real course of life.
17. And the great Seer, honoured in the world, including the gods, speaks thus: I am the Tathagata, the highest of men, the Gina; I have appeared in this world like a cloud.
18. I shall refresh all beings whose bodies are withered, who are clogged to the triple world. I shall bring to felicity those that are pining away with toils, give them pleasures and (final) rest.
19. Hearken to me, ye hosts of gods and men; approach to. behold me: I am the Tath4gata, the Lord, who has no superior, who appears in this world to save *%
20. To thousands of kofis of living beings I preach a pure and most bright law that has but one scope, to wit, deliverance and rest.
21. I preach with ever the same voice, constantly taking enlightenment as my text. For this is equal for all; no partiality is in it, neither hatred nor affection.
22. I am inexorable’, bear no love nor hatred towards any one, and proclaim the law to all creatures without distinction, to the one as well as the other.
1 In the legend, it is well known, he enters the womb of the Great Mother, Mah&-Mayé (identical with Prakriti, Aditi, both Nature and Earth), as an elephant. The discrepancy between the two legends is more apparent than real, for in Indian poetry the clouds are called elephants.
* Like Apollo cwrnp.
5 Anuniyaté mahya na k4fid asti. I suppose that anunfya answers to Sanskrit anuneya.
v. ON PLANTS. 125
23. Whether walking, standing, or sitting, I am exclusively occupied with this task of proclaiming the law. I never get tired of sitting on the chair I have ascended.
24. I recreate the whole world like a cloud shedding its water without distinction; I have the same feelings for respectable people as for the low; for moral persons as for the immoral ;
25. For the depraved as for those who observe the rules of good conduct; for those who hold sectarian views and unsound tenets as for those whose views are sound and correct.
26. I preach the law to the inferior (in mental culture) as well as to persons of superior understanding and extraordinary faculties ; inaccessible to weariness, I spread in season the rain of the law.
27. After hearing me, each according to his faculty, the several beings find their determined place in various situations, amongst gods, men, beautiful beings?, amongst Indras, Brahmas, or the monarchs, rulers of the universe.
28. Hear, now, I am going to explain what is meant by those plants of different size, some of them being low in the world, others middle-sized and great.
29. Small plants are called the men who walk in the knowledge of the law, which is free from evil after the attaining of Nirvaza, who possess the six transcendent faculties and the triple science.
29. Small plants are called the men who walk in the knowledge of the law, which is free from evil after the attaining of Nirvaza, who possess the six transcendent faculties and the triple science.
? Manorameshu, perhaps women are meant. A var. lect. has manoratheshu, i.e. amongst fancies, fanciful beings, chimeras, This reading would rather lead us to see in those beautiful or charming beings some kind of geniuses, cherubim, alias Vidy4dharas.
126 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. Vv.
30. Mean plants are called the men who, dwelling in mountain caverns, covet the state of a Pratyekabuddha, and whose intelligence is moderately purified.
31. Those who aspire to become leading men (thinking), I will become a Buddha, a chief of gods and men, and who practise exertion and meditation, are called the highest plants.
32. But the sons of Sugata, who sedulously practise- benevolence and a peaceful conduct, who have arrived at certainty about their being leading men, these are called trees.
33. Those who move forward the wheel that never rolls back, and with manly strength stand firm in the exercise of miraculous power, releasing many kofis of beings, those are called great trees?.
34. Yet it is one and the same law which is preached by the Gina, like the water emitted by the cloud is one and the same; different only are the faculties as described, just as the plants on the face of the earth.
35. By this parable thou mayst understand the skilfulness of the Tathagata, how he preaches one law, the various developments whereof may be likened to drops of rain.
36. I also pour out rain: the rain of the law
It is not easy to make out what kind of terrestrial beings are severally alluded to in stanzas 29-33. I first thought that the small plants were simply the Brahmafrins, the mean ones the V4naprasthas or hermits, and the highest plants the Yatis; but it seems more reasonable to suppose that real sons of Buddha are meant ; cf. the stanzas 39-41. The Buddhists alluded to in stanza 32 are simple monks, whereas those of the following stanza are preachers, able exponents of the law, and clever propagandists of the Bauddha religion.
Vv. ON PLANTS. 127 by which this whole world is refreshed; and each according to his faculty takes to heart this wellspoken law’ that is one in its essence.
37. Even as all grasses and shrubs, as well as plants of middle size, trees and great trees at the time of rain look bright in all quarters ;
38. So it is the very nature of the law to promote the everlasting weal of the world; by the law the whole world is recreated, and as the plants (when refreshed) expand their blossoms, the world does the same when refreshed.
39. The plants that in their growth remain
So it is the very nature of the law to promote the everlasting weal of the world; by the law the whole world is recreated, and as the plants (when refreshed) expand their blossoms, the world does the same when refreshed.
39. The plants that in their growth remain middle-sized, are Arhats (saints) stopping when they have overcome frailties, (and) the Pratyekabuddhas who, living in woody thickets?, accomplish this well-spoken law. _ 40. (But) the many Bodhisattvas who, thoughtful and wise, go their way all over the triple world, striving after supreme enlightenment, they continue increasing in growth like trees.
41. Those who, endowed with magical powers and being adepts in the four degrees of meditation, feel delight at hearing of complete voidness® and emit thousands of rays, they are called the great trees on earth.
42. So then, K4syapa, is the preaching of the law, like the water poured out by the cloud everywhere alike; by which plants and men(?) thrive, endless (and eternal) blossoms (are produced)‘.
1 The term used might be rendered by ‘gospel.’
* Pratyekabuddha vanashandafarino, &c. Burnouf must have had quite a different reading.
* Or unreality, sQnyata.
‘ Yeht (the Sanskrit would require the dual) vivarddhanti
128 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA, Vv.
43. I reveal the law which has its cause in itself; at due time I show Buddha-enlightenment; this is my supreme skilfulness and that of all leaders of the world.
44. What I here say is true in the highest sense of the word; all my disciples attain Nirvana; by following the sublime path of enlightenment all my disciples shall become Buddhas.
And further, Kasyapa, the Tathagata, in his educating! creatures, is equal (i.e. impartial) and not unequal (i.e. partial). As the light of the sun and moon, K4syapa, shines upon all the world, upon the virtuous and the wicked, upon high and low, upon the fragrant and the ill-smelling; as their beams are sent down upon everything equally, without inequality (partiality); so, too, KAsyapa, the intellectual light of the knowledge of the omniscient, the Tathagatas, the Arhats, &c., the preaching of the true law proceeds equally in respect to all beings in the five states of existence, to all who according to their particular disposition are devoted to the great vehicle, or to the vehicle of the Pratyekabuddhas, or to the vehicle of the disciples. Nor is there any deficiency or excess in the brightness of the Tathagataknowledge? up to one’s becoming fully acquainted with the law. There are not three vehicles, Kasyapa; there are but beings who act differently; therefore it is declared that there are three vehicles.
* Tathdgatagfanaprabhay4&é; var. lect. Tathadgatapragnayah.
p. 129
Mahé-Kasyapa said to him: Lord, if there are not three vehicles, for what reason then is the designation of disciples (Sravakas), Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas kept up in the present times ?
On this speech the Lord answered the venerable Mah4-K4syapa as follows: It is, Kasyapa, as if a potter made different vessels out of the same clay. Some of those pots are to contain sugar, others ghee, others curds and milk; others, of inferior quality, are vessels of impurity. There is no diversity in the clay used; no, the diversity of the pots is only due to the substances which are put into each of them. In like manner, K4syapa, is there but one vehicle, viz. the Buddha-vehicle ; there is no second vehicle, no third.
The Lord having thus spoken, the venerable Maha-K4syapa said: Lord, if the beings are of different disposition, will there be for those who have left the triple world one Nirvdza, or two, or three? The Lord replied: Nirvaza, K4syapa, is a consequence of understanding that all laws (things) | are equal. Hence there is but one Nirvdma, not two, not three’. Therefore, K4syapa, I will tell thee a parable, for men of good understanding will generally readily enough catch the meaning of what is taught under the shape of a parable.
It is a case, KAsyapa, similar to that of a certain blind-born man, who says: There are no handsome or ugly shapes; there are no men able to see handsome or ugly shapes; there exists no sun nor moon ; there are no asterisms nor planets; there are no
1 Cf. Ecclesiastes ix. 2: ‘All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean.’
{21} K
130 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. Vv.
Ecclesiastes ix. 2: ‘All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean.’
{21} K
130 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. Vv.
men able to see planets. But other persons say to the blind-born: There are handsome and ugly shapes; there are men able to see handsome and ugly shapes; there is a sun and moon; there are asterisms and planets; there are men able to see planets. But the blind-born does not believe them, nor accept what they say. Now there is a physician who knows all diseases. He sees that blind-born man and makes to himself this reflection: The disease of this man originates in his sinful actions in former times. All diseases possible to arise are fourfold: rheumatical, cholerical, phlegmatical, and caused by a complication of the (corrupted) humours. The physician, after thinking again and again on a means to cure the disease, makes to himself this reflection: Surely, with the drugs in common use it is impossible to cure this disease, but there are in the Himalaya, the king of mountains, four herbs, to wit: first, one called Possessed-of-all-sortsof-colours-and-flavours ; second, Delivering-from-alldiseases; third, Delivering-from-all-poisons ; fourth, Procuring-happiness-to-those-standing-in-the-rightplace. As the physician feels compassion for the blind-born man he contrives some device to get to the Him4laya, the king of mountains. There he goes up and down and across to search. In doing so he finds the four herbs. One he gives after chewing it with the teeth; another after pounding ; another after having it mixed with another drug and boiled; another after having it mixed with a raw drug; another after piercing with a lancet somewhere a vein’; another after singeing it in fire;
1 Sarirasthanam viddhvé, var. lect. sarasth4nam v., witha marginal correction sarirasthanam v. I consider the original reading to have been sirdsthanam.
v. ON PLANTS. 131
lect. sarasth4nam v., witha marginal correction sarirasthanam v. I consider the original reading to have been sirdsthanam.
v. ON PLANTS. 131 another after combining it with various other substances so as to enter in a compound potion, food, &c. Owing to these means being applied the blindborn recovers his eyesight, and in consequence of that recovery he sees outwardly and inwardly}, far and near, the shine of sun and moon, the asterisms, planets, and all phenomena. Then he says: O how foolish was I that I did not believe what they told me, nor accepted what they affirmed. Now I see all; I am delivered from my blindness and have recovered my eyesight; there is none in the world who could surpass me. And at the same moment Seers of the five transcendent faculties?, strong in the divine sight and hearing, in the knowledge of others’ minds, in the memory of former abodes, in magical science and intuition, speak to the man thus: Good man, thou hast just recovered thine eyesight, nothing more, and dost not know yet anything. Whence comes this conceitedness to thee? Thou hast no wisdom, nor art thou a clever man. Further they say to him: Good man, when sitting in the interior of thy room, thou canst not see nor distinguish forms
? Bahir adhyd4tmam, (the things) external and in relation to one’s own self.
4 T.e. simply the five senses. The term Abhigiia can hardly originally have meant ‘transcendent faculty or knowledge,’ because it is a derivation from a compound abhig4n4ti. Neither in Sanskrit nor in Prakrit can abhig#4 denote anything else but perception, acknowledgment, recognition. Yet it cannot be denied that those who used it intended by it to convey the meaning of something grand and imposing, especially the senses of a spiritual man, as distinguished from the profanum vulgus. As to the Seers, Rishis, here mentioned, I think that they are the senses personified, otherwise called devas, gods. Deva, to denote an organ of sense, occurs frequently, e.g. Musdaka Upanishad III, 1, 8.
K 2
132 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. v.
As to the Seers, Rishis, here mentioned, I think that they are the senses personified, otherwise called devas, gods. Deva, to denote an organ of sense, occurs frequently, e.g. Musdaka Upanishad III, 1, 8.
K 2
132 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. v.
outside, nor discern which beings are animated with kind feelings and which with hostile feelings; thou canst not distinguish nor hear at the distance of five yoganas the voice of a man or the sound of a drum, conch trumpet, and the like; thou canst not even walk as far as a kos without lifting up thy feet; thou hast been produced and developed in thy mother’s womb without remembering the fact ; how then wouldst thou be clever, and how canst thou say: I see all? Good man, thou takest! darkness for light, and takest light for darkness. Whereupon the Seers are asked by the man: By what means and by what good work shall I acquire such wisdom and with your favour acquire those good qualities (or virtues)? And the Seers say to that man: If that be thy wish, go and live in the wilderness or take thine abode in mountain caves, to meditate on the law and cast off evil passions. So shalt thou become endowed with the virtues of an ascetic? and acquire the transcendent faculties. The man catches their meaning and becomes an ascetic. Living in the wilderness, the mind intent upon one sole object, he shakes off worldly desires, and acquires the five transcendent faculties. After that acquisition he reflects thus: Formerly I did not do the right thing; hence no good accrued to me®, Now,
1 Samg4nAsi, var. lect. samganishe.
* Dhutaguaa, Pali the same, besides dhfitaguaza. In F&li the dhutangas or dhf® denote thirteen ascetic practices ; see Childers, Pali Dict. s. v. The Dhutaguwas are, according to the same author’s statement, other names for the Dhutangas, but I venture to think that they are the twenty-eight virtues of a Dhutanga, as enumerated in Milinda Pawtho (ed. Trenckner), p. 351-
* Parvam anyat karma kritavin, tena me na kaskid guzo *dhigata’.
v. ON PLANTS. 133 however, I can go whither my mind prompts me; formerly I was ignorant, of little understanding, in fact, a blind man.
Such, K4syapa, is the parable I have invented to make thee understand my meaning. The moral to be drawn from it is as follows. The word ‘blindborn,’ Kasyapa, is a designation for the creatures staying in the whirl of the world with its six states ; the creatures who do not know the true law and are heaping up the thick darkness of evil passions. Those are blind from ignorance', and in consequence of it they build up conceptions?; in consequence of the latter name-and-form, and so forth, up to the genesis of this whole huge mass of evils.
Those are blind from ignorance', and in consequence of it they build up conceptions?; in consequence of the latter name-and-form, and so forth, up to the genesis of this whole huge mass of evils.
So the creatures blind from ignorance remain in the whirl of life, but the Tathagata, who is out of the triple world, feels compassion, prompted by which, like a father for his dear and only son, he appears in the triple world and sees with his eye of wisdom that the creatures are revolving in the circle of the mundane whirl, and are toiling without finding the right means to escape from the rotation. And
1 Or, false knowledge, avidy4, which in the Chain of Causation (pratityasamutp4da, Pali patifAasamutp4da) occupies exactly the same place as in other systems of Indian philosophy. In reality the avidya was not only the origin of all evils, but also the remedy, the panacea. It was, however, thought convenient to veil that conclusion and to call the future state of complete ignorance ‘all-knowingness.’
? Rather, products (samskara) of the imaginative power, of fancy. ‘These form the second item in the enumeration of Causes and Effects.
® The genesis of diseases, death, &c. The merely ideal nature of this genesis is proved by the fact that the sage who has overcome avidy4a is just as liable to diseases and death as the most ignorant creature.
134 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. Vv.
on seeing this he comes to the conclusion: Yon beings, according to the good works they have done in former states, have feeble aversions and strong attachments; (or) feeble attachments and strong aversions; some have little wisdom, others are clever; some have soundly developed views, others have unsound views. To all of them the Tathagata skilfully shows three vehicles 1.
The Seers in the parable, those possessing the five transcendent faculties and clear-sight, are the Bodhisattvas? who produce enlightened thought, and by the acquirement of acquiescence in the eternal law * awake us to supreme, perfect enlightenment.
The great physician in the parable is the Tathagata. To the blind-born may be likened the creatures
1 With this we may compare the term trivartman (of three paths), applied to the individual or living being, Svet&svatara Upanishad V, 7. Sankara explains it by devay4nadi; in the more ancient and natural meaning, the word may have been applied to the three divisions of time. Cf. the same Upanishad I, 4, where the brahmaakra, the brahma-wheel, is said to be trivrét, threefold.
2 In the Yoga called buddhisattva, the reasoning faculty. The Bodhisattvas are the five Dhyani-Bodhisattvas Samantabhadra, &c., who do no more differ from the five Dhyani-Buddhas Vairokana, &c., than the balas do from the indriyas. Cf Burnouf, Introd. p. 118.
2 In the Yoga called buddhisattva, the reasoning faculty. The Bodhisattvas are the five Dhyani-Bodhisattvas Samantabhadra, &c., who do no more differ from the five Dhyani-Buddhas Vairokana, &c., than the balas do from the indriyas. Cf Burnouf, Introd. p. 118.
3 Anutpattikadharmaksh4ntim pratilabhya, var.lect.anutpattikim kshantim p. Anutpattika, being a Bahuvrihi, necessarily means ‘having no origin, no beginning,’ alias anadi. The eternal law is that of rise and decay, and in so far the purport of the phrase seems not materially to differ from the translation in Goldstiicker’s Dict., ‘enduring conditions which have not yet taken place.’ The word ‘acquiescence’ in my version gives but one side of the meaning, for it also denotes ‘undergoing.’ In reality the sanctimonious phrase comes to this: every thinking being suffers the eternal law, i.e. he must die.
Vv. ON PLANTS. 135 blind with infatuation. Attachment, aversion, and infatuation are likened to rheum, bile, and phlegm. The sixty-two false theories also must be looked upon as such (i.e. as doshas, ‘humours and corrupted humours of the body, ‘faults and corruptions’). The four herbs are like vanity (or voidness), causelessness (or purposelessness), unfixedness, and reaching Nirvaza. Just as by using different drugs different diseases are healed, so by developing the idea of vanity (or voidness), purposelessness, unfixedness, (which are) the principles of emancipation, is ignorance suppressed ; the suppression of ignorance is succeeded by the suppression of conceptions (or fancies); and so forth, up to the suppression of the whole huge mass of evils. And thus one’s mind will dwell no more on good nor on evil.
To the man who recovers his eyesight is likened the votary of the vehicle of the disciples and of Pratyekabuddhas.: He rends the ties of evil passion in the whirl of the world; freed from those ties he is released from the triple world with its six states of existence. Therefore the votary of the vehicle of the disciples may think and speak thus: There are no more laws to be penetrated; I have reached Nirvanza. Then the Tathagata preaches to him: How can he who has not penetrated all laws have reached Nirvaza? The Lord rouses him to enlightenment, and the disciple, when the consciousness of enlightenment has been awakened in him, no longer stays in the mundane whirl, but at the same time has not yet reached Nirvaza'. As he has arrived at
1 Te. he is not yet actually dead, but dead to the world; he is a Givan-mukta.
136 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. v.
true insight, he looks upon this triple world in every direction as void, resembling the produce of magic, similar to a dream, a mirage, an echo. He sees that all laws (and phenomena) are unborn and undestroyed, not bound and not loose, not dark and not bright. He who views the profound laws in such a light, sees, as if he were not seeing, the whole triple world full of beings of contrary and omnifarious fancies and dispositions.
He sees that all laws (and phenomena) are unborn and undestroyed, not bound and not loose, not dark and not bright. He who views the profound laws in such a light, sees, as if he were not seeing, the whole triple world full of beings of contrary and omnifarious fancies and dispositions.
And on that occasion, in order to more amply explain the same subject, the Lord uttered the following stanzas :
45. As the rays of the sun and moon descend alike .on all men, good and bad, without deficiency
«(in one case) or surplus (in the other);
46. So the wisdom of the Tathagata shines like the sun and moon’, leading all beings without partiality.
47. As the potter, making clay vessels, produces from the same clay pots for sugar, milk, ghee, or water ;
48. Some for impurities, others for curdled milk, the clay used by the artificer? for the vessels being of but one sort ;
49. As a vessel is made to receive all its distinguishing qualities according to the quality of the substance laid into it®, so the TathAgatas, on account of the diversity of taste,
' Tathagatasya pragita 4a bhasad’ Adityatandravat. Bh4dsad’ stands for bh4sadi, Sansk. bh4sate. Avar. lect. has TathAgatasya pragnabha samé hy 4., i.e. ‘the lustre of the Tathagata’ s wisdom is equal (to all), like the sun and moon.’
* Bh4rgava, to which we may assign the meaning of ‘a skilful workman, artificer,’ because it is one of the synonyms of tvash/ér?.
* YAdr7k prakshipyate dravyam bh4ganam tena labhyate (read, v. ON PLANTS. 137
50. Mention a diversity of vehicles, though the Buddha-vehicle be the only indisputable one. He who ignores the rotation of mundane existence, has no perception of blessed rest ;
51. But he who understands that all laws are void and without reality (and without individual character) penetrates the enlightenment of the perfectly enlightened Lords in its very essence.
52. One who occupies a middle position of wisdom? is called a Pratyekagina (i.e. Pratyekabuddha); one lacking the insight of voidness? is termed a disciple.
53. But after understanding all laws one is called a perfectly-enlightened one; such a one is assiduous in preaching the law to living beings by means of hundreds of devices.
54. It is as if some blind-born man, because he sees no sun, moon, planets, and stars, in his blind ignorance (should say): There are no visible things® at all.
55. But a great physician taking compassion on the blind man, goes to the Himélaya, where (seeking) across, up and down,
56. He fetches from the mountain four plants ;
lambhyate) sarvA(n) viseshe ’pi (Prékrit for viseshan api, though the stanza bears the traces of having originally been in Sanskrit) tatha rufibhed4t Tath4gataz. Avar.lect.has kshate (one syllable wanting) instead of la(m)bhyate; what is intended is rakshate, it keeps.
1 Pragfiémadhyavyavasthanat Pratyekagina ufyate.
Avar.lect.has kshate (one syllable wanting) instead of la(m)bhyate; what is intended is rakshate, it keeps.
1 Pragfiémadhyavyavasthanat Pratyekagina ufyate.
* Iam at a loss to explain how this statement is to be reconciled with the bearings of the passage in prose before, unless we assume that the philosophers here alluded to are followers of other creeds, who believe in the existence of a soul. Their views are in opposition to those of the Buddha; yet they are to be spoken of with moderate respect, because they do not belong to the profanum vulgus.
5 Rather here, phenomena.
138 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. Vv.
the herb Of-all-colours-flavours-and-cases!, and others. These he intends to apply.
57. He applies them in this manner: one he gives to the blind man after chewing it, another after pounding, again another by introducing it with the point of a needle into the man’s body.
58. The man having got his eyesight, sees the sun, moon, planets, and stars, and arrives at the conclusion that it was from sheer ignorance that he spoke thus as he had formerly done.
59. In the same way do people of great ignorance, blind from their birth, move in the turmoil of the world,’ because they do not know the wheel of causes and effects, the path of toils *.
60. In the world so blinded by ignorance appears the highest of those who know all, the Tathagata, the great physician, of compassionate nature.
61. As an able teacher he shows the true law; he reveals supreme Buddha-enlightenment to him who is most advanced.
62. To those of middling wisdom the Leader preaches a middling enlightenment; again another enlightenment he recommends to him who is afraid of the mundane whirl.
63. The disciple who by his discrimination has escaped from the triple world thinks he has reached pure, blest Nirvaza’, but it is only by knowing all
1 The reading is doubtful: sarvavarnarasasth4nan nag4l labhata oshadhim, evamAdis Aatasro ’tha, &c.; var. lect. °sthandnugdm 1., &c. This may mean, fit for all colours, flavours, and cases.
2 Prati(t)yotpadasakrasya—du/khavartmanad.
* In other words, he has indeed attained a qualified (sopadhisesha, Pali upadisesa or sa-up4disesha) Nirvaza, or as non- Buddhists say, givanmukti.
v. ON PLANTS. 139 laws (and the universal laws) that the immortal! Nirvaza is reached.
64. In that case it is as if the great Seers, moved by compassion, said to him: Thou art mistaken ; do not be proud of thy knowledge.
65. When thou art in the interior of thy room, thou canst not perceive what is going on without, fool as thou art.
66. Thou who, when staying within, dost not perceive even now what people outside are doing or not doing, how wouldst thou be wise, fool as thou art?
67. Thou art not able to hear a sound at a distance of but five yoganas, far less at a greater distance.
68. Thou canst not discern who are malevolent or benevolent towards thee. Whence then comes that pride to thee?
67. Thou art not able to hear a sound at a distance of but five yoganas, far less at a greater distance.
68. Thou canst not discern who are malevolent or benevolent towards thee. Whence then comes that pride to thee?
69. If thou hast to walk so far as a kos, thou canst not go without a beaten track?; and what happened to thee when in thy mother’s womb thou hast immediately forgotten.
70. In this world he is called all-knowing who possesses the five transcendent faculties, but when thou who knowest nothing pretendest to be allknowing, it is an effect of infatuation.
71. If thou art desirous of omniscience, direct thy attention to transcendent wisdom ; then betake thy-
1 T.e. eternal, because in this system the dead is dead for ever, This immortal, everlasting Nirvana is, of course, the anupadhisesha, P&li anup4disesa N.
2 Or, perhaps, without a guide, padavin tu vind ’gatiz. This does not agree with the prose version, but it is not rare to meet with such discrepancies.
140 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. Vv.
self to the wilderness and meditate on the pure law; by it thou shalt acquire the transcendent faculties.
72. The man catches the meaning, goes to the wilderness, meditates with the greatest attention, and, as he is endowed with good qualities, ere long acquires the five transcendent faculties.
73. Similarly all disciples fancy having reached Nirvaza, but the Gina instructs them (by saying): This is a (temporary) repose, no final rest.
74. It is an artifice of the Buddhas to enunciate this dogma’. There is no (real) Nirvaza without all-knowingness ; try to reach this.
75. The boundless knowledge of the three paths (of time), the six utmost perfections (P4ramitds), voidness, the absence of purpose (or object), the absence of finiteness?;
76. The idea of enlightenment and the other laws leading to Nirvd4za, both such as are mixed with imperfection and such as are exempt from it, such as are tranquil and comparable to ethereal space ;
77. The four Brahmavihdras* and the four Sangrahas ‘, as well as the laws sanctioned by eminent sages for the education of creatures ;
78. (He who knows these things) and that all phenomena have the nature of illusion and dreams,
1 Of temporary repose, it would seem.
* Or, absence of fixed purpose, pramidhAnavivargitam.
5 Otherwise termed Appamafina in Pali; they are identical with the four bhAvan4s, or exercises to develop benevolence, compassion, cheerful sympathy, and equanimity, well known from the Yoga; see Yogasdstra I, 33.
* Commonly called sangrahavastfni, Pali sangahavatthfini, articles of sociability, viz. liberality, affability, promoting another's interest, and pursuit of a common aim; see e.g. Lalita-vistara,
Pp. 39, 1-1.
Vv. ON PLANTS. I4I that they are pithless as the stem of the plantain}, and similar to an echo;
79. And who knows that the triple world throughout is of that nature, not fast and not loose, he knows rest.
Lalita-vistara,
Pp. 39, 1-1.
Vv. ON PLANTS. I4I that they are pithless as the stem of the plantain}, and similar to an echo;
79. And who knows that the triple world throughout is of that nature, not fast and not loose, he knows rest.
80. He who considers all laws? to be alike, void, devoid of particularity and individuality, not derived from an intelligent cause; nay, who discerns that nothingness is law;
81. Such a one has great wisdom and sees the whole of the law entirely. There are no three vehicles by any means; there is but one vehicle in this world.
82. All laws (or the laws of all) are alike, equal, for all, and ever alike. Knowing this, one understands immortal, blest Nirv4za.
1 Cf. the words of the funeral song in YAgiiavalkya III, 8: ‘Foolish is he who would seek pithfulness in humanity, which is pithless as the plantain’s stem and resembling a water bubble.’
*kan), na Aaitén (I think Aaittan) prekshate napi kiméid dharmim (sic) vipasyate. The other MS. has sarvadharmam (r. °man) sam4(n) sQnyan nimnanaikaran4tmikan, na Aetém prekshate n4pi kimkid dharmam vinasyati. The great difficulty lies in the second half verse, which is evidently corrupt and wrongly Sanskritised, so that the correctness of the translation in this respect is problematical.
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CHAPTER VI. ANNOUNCEMENT OF FUTURE DESTINY.
After pronouncing these stanzas the Lord addressed the complete assembly of monks: I announce to you, monks, I make known to you that the monk K4syapa, my disciple, here present, shall do homage to thirty thousand kofis of Buddhas; shall respect, honour, and worship them; and shall keep the true law of those Lords and Buddhas. In his last bodily existence’ in the world Avabhasa (i. e. lustre), in the age (4Zon) Mah4vytha (i.e. great division) he shall be a TathAgata, an Arhat, &c. &c., by the name of Rasmiprabhdsa (i.e. beaming with rays). His lifetime shall last twelve intermediate kalpas, and his true law twenty intermediate kalpas; the counterfeit of his true law shall last as many intermediate kalpas. His Buddha-field will be pure, clean, devoid of stones, grit, gravel; of pits and precipices; devoid of gutters and dirty pools?; even, pretty, beautiful, and pleasant to see; consisting of lapis lazuli, adorned with jewel-trees, and looking like a checker-board with eight compartments set off with gold threads. It will be strewed
' Paskima samuésshraya, which also means western rise, elevation.
* Apagatasyandanikag dthodilla, var. lect. thodigalla. My rendering of the last part of the compound is conjectural.
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It will be strewed
' Paskima samuésshraya, which also means western rise, elevation.
* Apagatasyandanikag dthodilla, var. lect. thodigalla. My rendering of the last part of the compound is conjectural.
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with flowers, and many hundred thousand Bodhisattvas are to appear in it. As to disciples, there will be innumerable hundred thousands of myriads of kofis of them. Neither M4ra the evil one, nor his host will be discoverable in it, though Mara and his followers shall afterwards be there; for they will apply themselves to receive the true law under the command of that very Lord Rasmiprabhasa.
And on that occasion the Lord uttered the following stanzas :
1. With my Buddha-eye, monks, I see that the senior KAsyapa here shall become a Buddha at a future epoch, in an incalculable Aon, after he shall have paid homage to the most high of men.
2. This KAsyapa shall see fully thirty thousand kofis of Ginas, under whom he shall lead a spiritual life for the sake of Buddha-knowledge.
3. After having paid homage to those highest of men and acquired that supreme knowledge, he shall in his last bodily existence be a Lord of the world, a matchless, great Seer.
4. And his field will be magnificent, excellent, pure, goodly, beautiful, pretty, nice, ever delightful, and set off with gold threads.
5. That field, monks, (appearing like) a board divided into eight compartments, will have several jewel-trees, one in each compartment, from which issues a delicious odour.
6. It will be adorned with plenty of flowers, and embellished with variegated blossoms; in it are no pits nor precipices; it is even, goodly, beautiful.
7. There will be found hundreds of kofis of Bodhisattvas, subdued of mind and of great magicalp. 144 power, mighty keepers' of Sdtrantas of great extension.
8. As to disciples, faultless, princes of the law, standing in their last period of life, their number can never be known, even if one should go on counting for AZons, and that with the aid of divine knowledge.
9. He himself shall stay twelve intermediate kalpas, and his true law twenty complete £ons ; the counterfeit is to continue as many AZons, in the domain of RasmiprabhAsa.
Thereupon the venerable senior Mah4-Maudgalyayana, the venerable Subhati, and the venerable Mahd-K4tyayana, their bodies trembling, gazed up to the Lord with unblenching eyes, and at the same moment severally uttered, in mental concert, the following stanzas:
10. O hallowed one (Arhat), great hero, Sakyalion, most high of men! out of compassion to us speak the Buddha-word.
11. The highest of men, the Gina, he who knows the fatal term, will, as it were, sprinkle us with nectar by predicting our destiny also.
12, (It is as if) a certain man, in time of famine, comes and gets good food, but to whom, when the food is already in his hands, they say that he should wait *,
13. Similarly it was with us, who after minding
12, (It is as if) a certain man, in time of famine, comes and gets good food, but to whom, when the food is already in his hands, they say that he should wait *,
13. Similarly it was with us, who after minding
1 Vaipulyasitrantadharaza tayinadm. Here the word tayin would seem to be used in the sense of ‘able,’ agreeing with the meaning of tayana in Pazini I, 3, 38.
* Durbhiksha 4gatad kasfin naro labdhva subhoganam,‘pratiksha’ bhftya ufyeta hastapraptasmi bhogane. The Prakrit underlying this literary dialect is easily reconstrued.
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the lower vehicle, at the calamitous conjuncture of a bad time ', were longing for Buddha-knowledge.
14. But the perfectly-enlightened great Seer has not yet favoured us with a prediction (of our destiny), as if he would say: Do not eat the food that has been put into your hand.
15. Quite so, O hero, we were longing as we heard the exalted voice (and thought): Then shall we be at rest?, when we shall have received a prediction.
16. Utter a prediction, O great hero, so benevolent and merciful! let there be an end of our feeling of poverty!
And the Lord, who in his mind apprehended the thoughts arising in the minds of those great senior disciples, again addressed the complete assembly of monks: This great disciple of mine, monks, the senior Subhiti, shall likewise pay homage to thirty hundred thousand myriads of kofis of Buddhas ; shall show them respect, honour, reverence, veneration, and worship. Under them shall he lead a spiritual life and achieve enlightenment. After the performance of such duties shall he, in his last bodily existence, become a Tath4gata in the world, an Arhat, &c. &c., by the name of Sasiketu °.
His Buddha-field will be called Ratnasambhava and his epoch Ratnaprabh4sa*. And that Buddhafield will be even, beautiful, crystalline, variegated with jewel-trees, devoid of pits and precipices, devoid
1 Dushk4labhagnasandhau.
* And felicitous, blest, beatified (nirvrzta).
3 I. e. moon-signal, or having the moon for ensign. * Var. lect. Ratnavabhasa.
[ar] Lp. 146 of sewers!, nice, covered with flowers. And there will men have their abode in palaces (or towers) given them for their use. In it will be many disciples, innumerable, so that it would be impossible to terminate the calculation. Many hundred thousand myriads of kotis of Bodhisattvas also will be there. The lifetime of that Lord is to last twelve intermediate kalpas; his true law is to continue twenty intermediate kalpas, and its counterfeit as many. That Lord will, while standing poised in the firmament?, preach the law to the monks, and educate many thousands of Bodhisattvas and disciples.
And on that occasion the Lord uttered the following stanzas :
17. I have something to announce, monks, something to make known; listen then to me: The senior Subhati, my disciple, shall in days to come be a Buddha.
And on that occasion the Lord uttered the following stanzas :
17. I have something to announce, monks, something to make known; listen then to me: The senior Subhati, my disciple, shall in days to come be a Buddha.
18. After having seen of most mighty Buddhas thirty myriads of kofis in full, he shall enter upon the straight * course to obtain this knowledge.
19. In his last bodily existence shall the hero, possessed of the thirty-two distinctive signs, become a great Seer, similar to a column of gold, beneficial and bounteous to the world.
20. The field where that friend of the world‘ shall save myriads of kofis of living beings will be most beautiful, pretty, and delightful to people at large. .
? Doubtful, the MSS. having githodigilla and gAthodigalla.
* Properly, standing as a great meteor, mah&vaihayasam sthitva; vaihayasa is exactly the Greek peréwpos.
* Anuloma, direct, straight; the reverse of vakragati, the retrograde motion of planets, &c.
* Lokabandhu.
p. 147
21. In it will be many Bodhisattvas to turn the wheel that never rolls back (or never deviates); endowed with keen faculties they will, under that Gina, be the ornaments of the Buddha-field.
22. His disciples are so numerous as to pass calculation and measure; gifted with the six transcendent faculties, the triple science and magic power ; firm in the eight emancipations.
23. His magic power, while he reveals supreme enlightenment, is inconceivable. Gods and men, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, will always reverentially salute him with joined hands.
24. He shall stay twelve intermediate kalpas ; the true law of that most high of men is to last twenty intermediate kalpas and the counterfeit of it as many.
Again the Lord addressed the complete assembly of monks: I announce to you, monks, I make known that the senior Maha-K4tydyana here present, my disciple, shall pay homage to eight thousand kofis of Buddhas; shall show them respect, honour, reverence, veneration, and worship; at the expiration of those Tath4gatas he shall build StQpas, a thousand yoganas in height, fifty yoganas in circumference, and consisting of seven precious substances, to wit, gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, red pearl, emerald, and, seventhly, coral?. Those Stipas he shall worship
* Lohitamukti, according to Buddhist authorities, red pearl. The word is of so frequent occurrence that there can be no question of muktes in the genitive case being a clerical error for muktay4s. Ifthe word ever had any existence out of Buddhist writings, mukti must have been a variation of mukta,
2? Mus4ragalva; whether this precious stone really be coral, as Buddhist dictionaries assert, is rather doubtful. As the enumerated substances represent the seven colours—originally the
L2
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Mus4ragalva; whether this precious stone really be coral, as Buddhist dictionaries assert, is rather doubtful. As the enumerated substances represent the seven colours—originally the
L2
p. 148
with flowers, incense, perfumed wreaths, ointments, powder, robes, umbrellas, banners, flags, triumphal streamers. Afterwards he shall again pay a similar homage to twenty kotis of Buddhas; show them respect, honour, reverence, veneration, and worship. Then in his last bodily existence ', his last corporeal appearance, he shall be a Tathagata in the world, an Arhat, &c, &c., named Gambdnada-prabhasa (i.e. goldshine), endowed with science and conduct, &c. His Buddha-field will be thoroughly pure, even, nice, pretty, beautiful, crystalline, variegated with jeweltrees, interlaced with gold threads, strewed with flowers, free from beings of the brute creation, hell, and the host of demons, replete with numerous men and gods, adorned with many hundred thousand disciples and many hundred thousand Bodhisattvas. The measure of his lifetime shall be twelve intermediate kalpas; his true law shall continue twenty intermediate kalpas and its counterfeit as many.
And on that occasion the Lord uttered the following stanzas :
25. Listen all to me, ye monks, since I am going to utter an infallible word*. K4&tyd4yana here, the senior, my disciple, shall render worship to the Leaders.
26. He shall show veneration of various kinds and in many ways to the Leaders, after whose rainbow colours, I think—the interpretation either of lohitamukti or of musd4ragalva must be wrong, perhaps both are false.
* Properly, western elevation or rise.
* The Buddha may in sober truth say so, because the astronomer can predict future risings and settings. He here shows himself to be Brahma, in his function of the first of astronomers, to whom the ancient Brahma-Siddh@nta is referred.
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expiration he shall build Stipas, worshipping them with flowers and perfumes.
27. In his last bodily existence he shall be a Gina, in a thoroughly pure field, and after acquiring full knowledge he shall preach to a thousand ko/is of living beings.
28. He shall be a mighty Buddha and illuminator, highly honoured in this world, including the gods, under the name of Gambunada-prabh4sa ?, and save ko/is of gods and men.
29. Many Bodhisattvas as well as disciples, beyond measure and calculation, will in that field adorn the reign of that Buddha, all of them freed from existence and exempt from existence ?,
29. Many Bodhisattvas as well as disciples, beyond measure and calculation, will in that field adorn the reign of that Buddha, all of them freed from existence and exempt from existence ?,
Again the Lord addressed the complete assembly of monks: I announce to you, monks, I make known, ’ that the senior Mah4-Maudgaly4yana here present, my disciple, shall propitiate twenty-eight thousand Buddhas * and pay those Lords homage of various kinds; he shall show them respect, &c., and after their expiration build Stdpas consisting of seven precious substances, to wit, gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, red pearl, emerald, and, seventhly, coral ; (Stipas) a thousand yoganas in height and five hundred yoganas in circumference, which Stipas he shall worship in different ways, with flowers, incense, perfumed wreaths, ointments, powder, robes, umbrellas, banners, flags, and triumphal streamers.
1 One MS. has a second-hand reading, “dabh4sa.
2 Vibhava; Burnouf must have read vibhaya, ‘exempts de terreur.’
* The number of twenty-eight—the cyphers not being taken into account—probably indicates the number of days (Buddhas) during which the planet is standing in some stage of its course.
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Afterwards he shall again pay a similar worship to twenty! hundred thousand ko¢is of Buddhas; he shall show respect, &c., and in his last bodily existence become in the world a Tathagata, &c., named TamAélapatraéandanagandha?, endowed with science and conduct, &c. The field of that Buddha will be called Manobhirama; his period Ratipratipdrza. And that Buddha-field will be even, nice, pretty, beautiful, crystalline, variegated with jewel-trees, strewn with detached flowers, replete with gods and men, frequented by hundred thousands of Seers, that is to say, disciples and Bodhisattvas. The measure of his lifetime shall be twenty-four intermediate kalpas; his true law is to last forty intermediate kalpas and its counterfeit as many.
And on that occasion the Lord uttered the fol- - lowing stanzas :
30. The scion of the Mudgala-race, my disciple here, after leaving* human existence shall see twenty thousand mighty‘ Ginas and eight (thousand) more of these faultless beings.
31. Under them he shall follow a course of duty, trying to reach Buddha-knowledge; he shall pay homage in various ways to those Leaders and to the most high of men.
32. After keeping their true law, of wide reach and sublime, for thousands of ko¢is of AEons, he shall at the expiration of those Sugatas worship their Stdpas.
? As many days in another stage.
* T.e. having the odour (or resemblance) of Xanthochymus and sandal. From the dark colour I infer that Saturn is meant, for this planet is represented as being black.
® Gahitva. ‘-Tayin.
VI. ANNOUNCEMENT OF FUTURE DESTINY. I5t
? As many days in another stage.
* T.e. having the odour (or resemblance) of Xanthochymus and sandal. From the dark colour I infer that Saturn is meant, for this planet is represented as being black.
® Gahitva. ‘-Tayin.
VI. ANNOUNCEMENT OF FUTURE DESTINY. I5t
33. In honour of those most high Ginas, those mighty beings! so beneficial to the world, he shall erect Stipas consisting of precious substances, and decorated with triumphal streamers, worshipping them with flowers, perfumes, and the sounds of music.
34. At the period of his last bodily existence he shall, in a nice and beautiful field, be a Buddha bounteous and compassionate to the world, under the name of Tam4lapatra#andanagandha.
35. The measure of that Sugata’s life shall be fully twenty-four intermediate kalpas, during which he shall be assiduous in declaring the Buddha-rule to men and gods.
36. That Gina shall have many thousands of kotis of disciples, innumerable as the sands of the Ganges, gifted with the six transcendent faculties and the triple science, and possessed of magic power, under the command of that Sugata.
37. Under the reign of that Sugata there shall also appear numerous Bodhisattvas, many thousands of them, unable to slide back (or to deviate), developing zeal, of extensive knowledge and studious habits.
38. After that Gina’s expiration his true law shall measure in time twenty-four’? intermediate kalpas in full; its counterfeit shall have the same measure.
39. These are my five mighty disciples whom I
1 Téyin.
® The original reading has been meddled with; one MS. has vimsak kavam (second-hand, 4a vim) syantarakalpa ; another, vimsaé 4a visantarak®, The original Prékrit may have had something like vimsam Ratum.
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have destined to supreme enlightenment and to become in future self-born Ginas; now hear from me their course?.
* In this chapter only four disciples are mentioned; the fifth must be Sariputra, whose destination has been predicted before.
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CHAPTER VII. ANCIENT DEVOTION},
Of yore, monks, in the past, incalculable, more than incalculable, inconceivable, immense, measureless /Eons since, nay, at a period, an epoch far beyond, there appeared in the world a Tath4gata, &c., named Mahabhig#dg#4n4bhibht, endowed with science and conduct’, a Sugata, &c. &c., in the sphere Sambhava (i.e. origin, genesis), in the period Mahérapa. (You ask), monks, how long ago is it that the Tathagata was born? Well, suppose some man was to reduce to powder the whole mass of the earth element as much as is to be found in this whole universe; that after taking one atom of dust from this world he is to walk a thousand worlds farther in easterly direction to deposit that single atom; that after taking a second atom of.dust and walking a thousand worlds farther he deposits that second atom, and proceeding in this way at last gets the whole of the earth element deposited in eastern
* Pfirvayoga, which recurs as the heading of chaps. XXII and XXV, would at first sight seem to mean ‘former conjunction,’ but that does not answer any more than ‘ancient devotion.’ I think that yoga here is an alteration of yuga, age, period, or a Prakritism for yauga, i.e. referring to an age. A Sanskrit pfirvayauga would be formed like pfirva-y4yata, &c.; cf. Pamini VI, 2, 103. The original meaning of pfirva-yoga is, I suppose, pre-history. Cf. pubbayogo ti pubbakammam, Milinda Pafho, p. 2. .
3 I. e. with light and motion.
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direction. Now, monks, what do you think of it, is it possible by calculation to find the end or limit of these worlds? They answered: Certainly not, Lord; certainly not, Sugata. The Lord said: On the contrary, monks, some arithmetician or master of arithmetic might, indeed, be able by calculation to find the end or limit of the worlds, both those where the atoms have been deposited and where they have not, but it is impossible by applying the rules of arithmetic to find the limit of those hundred thousands of myriads of AZons; so long, so inconceivable, so immense is the number of AZons which have elapsed since the expiration of that Lord, the Tathagata Mahabhig#agf#andbhibhd. Yet, monks, I perfectly remember that Tathagata who has been extinct for so long a time?, as if he had reached extinction to-day or yesterday *, because of my possessing the mighty knowledge and sight of the Tath4gata.
And on that occasion the Lord pronounced the following stanzas :
1. I remember® the great Seer Abhig#ag#4n4bhibhd, the most high of men, who existed many ko¢is of AZons ago as the superior Gina of the period.
2. If, for example, some men after reducing this
1 Hence follows that the Buddha has existed since time immemorial; in other words, that he is Adibuddha.
? T have taken the liberty to render svas by* yesterday,’ though Ihave no other warrant for the word ever being taken in this sense except the context and the fact that in sundry languages the notions of to-morrow and yesterday are occasionally expressed by the same term, e.g. Hindf kal (properly morning, to-morrow, Sansk. kalyam, kalyam); the English ‘yesterday’ is ‘the very same word with Gothic gistradagis, to-morrow.
® Anusmar4mi, omitted by Burnouf.
Vil. ANCIENT DEVOTION. 155 universe to atoms of dust took one atom to deposit it a thousand regions farther on ;
3. If he deposited a second, a third atom, and so proceeded until he had done with the whole mass of dust, so that this world were empty and the mass of dust exhausted ;
4. To that immense mass of the dust of these worlds, entirely reduced to atoms, I liken the number of AZons past.
5. So immense is the number of ko/¢is of AZons past since that extinct Sugata; the whole of (existing) atoms is no (adequate) expression of it; so many are the AZons which have expired since.
5. So immense is the number of ko/¢is of AZons past since that extinct Sugata; the whole of (existing) atoms is no (adequate) expression of it; so many are the AZons which have expired since.
6. That Leader who has expired so long ago, those disciples and Bodhisattvas, I remember all of them as if it were to-day or yesterday. Such is the knowledge of the Tath4gatas.
7. So endless, monks, is the knowledge of the Tathagata; I know what has taken place many hundreds of AZons ago, by my precise and faultless memory.
To proceed, monks, the measure of the lifetime of the Tathagata Mahabhig#4g#4n4bhibhd, the Arhat, &c. was fifty-four hundred thousand myriads of koZ¢is of AZons.
In the beginning when the Lord had not yet reached supreme, perfect enlightenment and had just occupied the summit of the terrace of enlightenment?, he discomfited and defeated the whole host of Mara, after which he thought: I am to reach
1 Bodhimandavarfgragata eva; var. lect. bodhimandavar4gata eva, i.e. just having come to the terrace of enlightenment, Vara here is v4ra, circuit; it adds little to the notion of the simple bodhimanda, this also being a round terrace.
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perfect enlightenment}. But those laws (of perfect enlightenment) had not yet dawned upon him. He stayed on the terrace of enlightenment at the foot of the tree of enlightenment during one intermediate kalpa. He stayed there a second, a third intermediate kalpa, but did not yet attain supreme, perfect enlightenment. He remained a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, a seventh, an eighth, a ninth, a tenth intermediate kalpa on the terrace of enlightenment at the foot of the tree of enlightenment, continuing sitting cross-legged without in the meanwhile rising. He stayed, the mind motionless, the body unstirring and untrembling, but those laws had not yet dawned upon him.
Now, monks, while the Lord was just on the summit of the terrace of enlightenment, the gods of Paradise (TrAyastrimsas) prepared him a magnificent royal throne, a hundred yoganas high, on occupying which the Lord attained supreme, perfect enlightenment; and no sooner had the Lord occupied the seat of enlightenment than the Brahmakéyika gods scattered a rain of flowers all around the seat of enlightenment over a distance of a hundred yoganas ; in the sky they let loose storms by which the flowers, withered, were swept away. From the beginning of the rain of flowers, while the Lord was sitting on the seat of enlightenment, it poured without interruption during fully ten intermediate kalpas,
1 It is difficult not to see that we have here, as well as in the opening of the Mah4vagga and in Lalita-vistara, chap. 21, a description of the rising of the sun, the beginning of a kalpa, a myth of the creation of the visible world.
? The so-called Bo-tree.
® An intermediate kalpa is the twentieth part of an incalculable kalpa, which in reality is equal to one day of twenty-four hours,