Dialogues of the Buddha, Part II — trans. T. W. and C. A. F. Rhys Davids (1910)

1 KufiWa-nagarake ti pa/irupake sambadhe khuddakanagare. Uggangala-nagarake ti visama-nagarake (S. V, fol. thau) Kudda, if this explanation be right, seems to be merely an old and unusual form for kshudra, and the Burmese correction into khudda to be unnecessary: but I venture to think it is more likely to be = kudya, and to mean a wall built of mud and sticks, or what is called in India, of wattle and daub. When Buddhaghosa explains u^angala as 'lawless,' he is expressing his view that a town in the jungle is likely to be a heathen, pagan sort of place.

2 With reference to Childers's note in his Dictionary on mahasala, with which every one must entirely agree, Buddhaghosa's explanation of the word will be interesting as a proof (if proof be needed) that the Ceylon scholars are not always trustworthy. He says: — Khattiyamahasala ti khattiya-mahasara, sarapatta mahakhattiya. Eso nayo sabbatha.

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Ananda, was the royal city Kusavati mighty and prosperous, full of people, crowded with men, and provided with all kinds of food.

4 Both by day and by night, Ananda, the royal city Kusavati resounded with the ten cries ; that is to say, the noise of elephants, and the noise of horses, and the noise of chariots ; the sounds of the drum, of the tabor, and of the lute ; the sound of singing, and the sounds of the cymbal and of the gong ; and lastly, with the cry : — " Eat, drink, and be merry ! " '

19. 'Go now, Ananda, and enter into Kusinara, and inform the Mallas of Kusinara, saying : — " This day, O Vase///*as, in the last watch of the night, the final passing away of the Tathagata will take place. Be favourable herein, O Vase#/zas, be favourable. Give no occasion to reproach yourselves hereafter, saying: — 4 In our own village did the death of our Tathagata take place, and we took not the opportunity of visiting the Tathagata in his last hours.' "

4 Even so, lord,' said the venerable Ananda, in assent, to the Exalted One ; and he robed himself and taking his bowl, entered into Kusinara attended by another member of the order1.

20. Now at that time the Mallas of Kusinara were assembled in the council hall on some [public] affair -.

1 Literally ' Put on his under-garment, and taking his uppergarment and his bowl, &c.' This sounds complicated; and why should he take his bowl? The Wanderers when at their lodging places on their travels lived (naturally in that beautiful climate) in undress — with only one robe on, the one from the waist to the feet. When they set out for the village on a visit, or on any ceremonious occasion, they put on the second robe, and (just as a European often carries his great-coat on his arm) carried the third with them. At some convenient spot near the village they would put this also on, and enter — so to speak — in full canonicals. And the bowl belonged to, formed part of, their official costume. See J. I, 55 ; III, 379 ; Sum. I, 45, 186; and the note above on Ch. IV, § 37, p. 145.

: Kena/i'id eva karawiyena. Professor Pischel, in his edition of the Assalayana Sutta (p. 1), prints this expression kena£i devakarawiyena, and translates it (p. 28), 'for some religious purpose.' It

D. h". 148. THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. 1 63

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And the venerable Ananda went to the council hall of the Mallas of Kusinara ; and when he had arrived there, he informed them, saying : — ' This day, O Vase- ////as, in the last watch of the night, the final passing away of the Tathagata will take place. Be favourable herein, O Vase//^as, be favourable. Give no occasion to reproach yourselves hereafter, saying : — " In our own village [148] did the death of our Tathagata take place, and we took not the opportunity of visiting the Tathagata in his last hours." '

21, And when they had heard this saying of the venerable Ananda, the Mallas with their young men and maidens and their wives were grieved, and sad, and afflicted at heart. And some of them wept, dishevelling their hair, and stretched forth their arms and wept, fell prostrate on the ground, and rolled to and fro in anguish at the thought : — ' Too soon will the Exalted One die ! Too soon will the Happy One pass away! Full soon will the Light of the world vanish away ! '

Then the Mallas, with their young men and maidens and their wives, being grieved, and sad, and afflicted at heart, went to the Sala Grove of the Mallas, to the Upavattana, and to the place where the venerable Ananda was.