Buddhist Suttas — SBE Vol. 11 (Clarendon Press, 1881) page scans

o and fro in anguish at the thought : ' Too soon has the Blessed One died ! Too soon has the Happy One passed away from existence ! Too soon has the Light gone out in the world ! '

But those of the brethren who were free from the passions (the Arahats) bore their grief collected and composed at the thought : * Impermanent are all component things! How is it possible that [they should not be dissolved]?'

20. Then the venerable Anuruddha exhorted the brethren, and said : * Enough, my brethren ! Weep not, neither lament! Has not the Blessed One formerly declared this to us, that it is in the very nature of all things near and dear unto us, that we must divide ourselves from them, leave them, sever ourselves from them ? How then, brethren, can this be possible — that whereas anything whatever born, brought into being, and organised, contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution — how then can this be possible that such a being should not be dissolved ? No such condition can exist ! Even the spirits, brethren, will reproach us 2 .

each of these for the change in character resulting from their conversion to Buddhism) ; the holy, thoughtful Arahat ; and the loving, childlike disciple.

1 Nearly = V, 11-14; and below, VI, 39.

2 U^Myanti. I have followed the reading of my own MS., which is confirmed by the Sumangala Vilstsinf and the Maldlahkdra-vatthu. V\ggkd.ya.nt\ 9 which Childers reads, would be questionable Buddhism. The spirits do not become extinct ; that is, not as a general rule, as would be implied by the absolute state-

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' But of what kind of spirits is the Lord, the venerable Anuruddha, thinking ? '

21. 'There are spirits, brother Ananda, in the sky, but of worldly mind, who dishevel their hair and weep, and stretch forth their arms and weep, fall prostrate on the ground, and roll to and fro in anguish at the thought : " Too soon has the ment, ' Even the spirits, brethren, become extinct/ It is no doubt true that all spirits, from the lowest to the highest, from the most insignificant fairy to the God of theological speculation, are regarded as temporary. But when they cease to exist as gods or spirits (devata), they do not go out, they are not extinguished (vi^^dyanti); they continue to exist in some other form. And though that other form would, from the European point of view, be a different being, as there would be no continuity of consciousness, no passage of a ' soul ' from the one to the other ; it would, " from the Buddhist point of view, be the same being, as it would be the resultant effect of the same Karma. There would follow on the death of a devati, not extinction, but a transmutation of force, a transmigration of character, a passing on, an inheritance of Karma. Only in the exceedingly rare case of an andgdmin, of which an instance will be found above, Chap. II, § 7, could it be said that a spirit becomes extinct.

low on the death of a devati, not extinction, but a transmutation of force, a transmigration of character, a passing on, an inheritance of Karma. Only in the exceedingly rare case of an andgdmin, of which an instance will be found above, Chap. II, § 7, could it be said that a spirit becomes extinct.

The expression 'of worldly mind/ here and above in V, n, is in Pdli paMavi-sa##iniyo, an ambiguous phrase which has only been found in this connection. Buddhaghosa says merely, 'because they made (mdpetvd) an earth in heaven/ This gloss again may be taken either in a figurative or in a literal sense; but, if not impossible, it is at least unlikely that the good commentator means calmly to state that the angels created a floor in the skies — for the greater convenience of tumbling ! The word seems to me also to l be opposed to vitardgd, 'free from passion/ and I have therefore taken it in a spiritual sense. There is a third possibility, viz. that it is used in an intellectual sense, 'having the idea of the world present to their mind and this would be in accordance with the more usual use of sa##f. But how easily, especially in Buddhism, the intellectual merges into the religious may be seen from such a phrase as maraa a- sandino, used at Mahava/tfsa 33 of the bhikkhus. Compare also above, III, 14.

mahA-parinibbAna-sutta.

I2T

Blessed One died ! Too soon has the Happy One passed away ! Too soon has the Light gone out in the world ! " '

' There are spirits, too, Ananda, on the earth, and of worldly mind, who tear their hair and weep, and stretch forth their arms and weep, fall prostrate on the ground, and roll to and fro in anguish at the thought : " Too soon has the Blessed one died ! Too soon has the Happy One passed away ! Too soon has the Light gone out in the world ! "

• But the spirits who are free from passion bear it, calm and self-possessed, mindful of the saying which "begins, " Impermanent indeed are all component things. How then is it possible [that such a being should not be dissolved] ? " '

22. Now the venerable Anuruddha and the venerable Ananda spent the rest of that night in religious discourse. Then the venerable Anuruddha said to the venerable Ananda : * Go now, brother Ananda, into Kusinira and inform the Mallas of Kusin£r£, saying, ' The Blessed One, O V£se//^as, is dead : do, then, whatever seemeth to you fit ! '

' Even so, Lord ! ' said the venerable Ananda, in assent, to the venerable Anuruddha. And having robed himself early in the morning, he took his bowl, and went into Kusiniri with one of the brethren as an attendant.

23. Now at that time the Mallas of Kusinira were assembled in the council hall concerning that very matter.

And the venerable Ananda went to the council hall of the Mallas of Kusiniri ; and when he had arrived there, he informed them, saying, 'The

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Blessed One, O V£se////as, is dead ; do, then, whatever seemeth to you fit!'

24.

l concerning that very matter.

And the venerable Ananda went to the council hall of the Mallas of Kusiniri ; and when he had arrived there, he informed them, saying, 'The

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Blessed One, O V£se////as, is dead ; do, then, whatever seemeth to you fit!'

24. And when they had heard this saying of the venerable Ananda, the Mallas, with their young men and their maidens and their wives, were grieved, and sad, and afflicted at heart. And some of them wept, dishevelling their hair, and some stretched forth their arms and wept, and some fell prostrate on the ground, and some reeled to and fro in anguish at the thought : ' Too soon has the Blessed One died ! Too soon has the Happy One passed away ! Too soon has the Light gone out in the world ! '

25. Then the Mallas of Kusiniri gave orders to their attendants, saying, 4 Gather together perfumes and garlands, and all the music in Kusinâri ! '

26. And the Mallas of Kusiniri took the perfumes and garlands, and all the musical instruments, and five hundred suits of apparel, and went to the Upavattana, to the Sâla Grove of the Mallas, where the body of the Blessed One lay. There they past the day in paying honour, reverence, respect, and homage to the remains of the Blessed One with dancing, and hymns, and music, and with garlands and perfumes ; and in making canopies of their garments, and preparing decoration wreaths to hang thereon \

1 The dress of the Mallas consisted probably of mere lengths of muslin or cotton cloth ; and a suit of apparel consisted of two or, at the outside, of three of these — one to wrap round the loins, one to throw over the shoulders, and one to use as a turban. To make a canopy on occasions of state they would join such pieces together; to make the canopy into a tent they would simply add walls of the same material ; and the only decoration, as simple as it

VI.

mahA-parinibbAna-sutta.

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2 7. Then the Mallas of Kusiniri thought : * It is much too late to burn the body of the Blessed One to-day. Let us now perform the cremation to-morrow/ And in paying honour, reverence, respect, and homage to the remains of the Blessed One with dancing, and hymns, and music, and with garlands and perfumes; and in making canopies of their garments, and preparing decoration wreaths to hang thereon* they past the second day too, and then the third day, and the fourth, and the fifth, and the sixth day also.

28. Then on the seventh day the Mallas of
Kusinird thought :

' Let us carry the body of the Blessed One, by the south and outside, to a spot on the south, and outside of the city, — paying it honour, and reverence, and respect, and homage, with dance and song and music, with garlands and perfumes, — and there, to the south of the city, let us perform the cremation ceremony ! '

29.