1 This conversation occurs also below (VI, 33), and the older tradition probably had it only in that connection.
2 King of kings is an inadequate rendering of jffakkavatti Ra^a. It is a king whose power no other king can dispute, who is the acknowledged overlord in India. The idea can scarcely have existed before Aandragupta, the first Aakravarti, had raised himself to power. This passage, therefore, is a guide to the date at which the Maha-parinibMna Sutta assumed its present form.
8 Vihatenakappdsen^tisupho/itenakapp^sena:K&sika- vatthaw hi sukhumatta tela/rc na gawhati, tasma* vihatena kappasen&ti&ha. 'As Ben&res cloth, by reason of its fineness of texture, does not take the oil, he therefore says, "with vihata cotton wool," that is, with cotton wool that has been well forced asunder/ That p ho/it a is here the participle of the causal verb, and not of the simple verb, follows of necessity from its being used as an explanation of vihata, 'torn to pieces.' The technical use of the word, as applied to cotton wool, has only been found in this passage. It usually means ' torn with grief.'
4 Ayasaya tela-do«iy&, where one would expect £yas£ya, but my MS. of the Dfgha Nikaya confirms twice over here, and twice again below, § VI, 33, 35, the reading given by Childers. Buddha- ghosa says, Ayasan ti suvawwaw, suvawwamhi idha &yasan ti adhippeto, but here again we should expect the second time to find ayo or ayasa/rc. The meaning of the word is also not
maha-parinibbAna-sutta.
oil vessel of iron \ They then build a funeral pile
of all kinds of perfumes, and burn the body of the
king of kings. And then at the four cross roads
they erect a ddgaba 2 to the king of kings. This,
Ananda, is the way in which they treat the remains
of a king of kings.
* And as they treat the remains of a king of kings,
so, Ananda, should they treat the remains of the
Tathdgata. At the four cross roads a ddgaba should
be erected to the Tath&gata. And whosoever shall
there place garlands or perfumes or paint, or make
salutation there, or become in its presence calm in
heart — that shall long be to them for a profit and
a joy/
27. 4 These men, Ananda, worthy of a dagaba are four in number. Which are the four ?
' A Tathfigata, or Arahat-Buddha, is worthy of a d&gaba. A Pa^eka-Buddha is worthy of a dagaba 3 .
quite clear. It no doubt was originally used for bronze, and only later for iron also, and at last exclusively of iron. As kazrcsa is already a common word for bronze in very early Buddhist Pali texts, I think ayasa or ay as a must here mean ' of iron/ When Buddhaghosa says it is here a name for gold, we can only conclude that iron had become, in his time, a metal which he might fairly consider too base for the purpose proposed.
1 Buddhaghosa has no note on pa/iku^etvd ; but from its use at (rataka I, 50, 29 : 69, 23, it must, I think, have this meaning. I am not certain to what root it ought to be referred. I should mention that pakkhipati seems to me never to mean in Pali, ' to hurl forth into, to throw forth,' but always * to place (slowly and carefully) into/
3 A solid mound or tumulus, in the midst of which the bones and ashes are to be placed. The dome of St. Paul's as seen from the Thames Embankment gives a very good idea of one of the later Buddhist dagabas. The Pali word here and below is Thupa.
8 A Pa^eka-Buddha, who has attained to the supreme and per- fect insight; but dies without proclaiming the truth to the world.
94 TH E BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE.
A true hearer of the Tath&gata is worthy of a d&- gaba. A king of kings is worthy of a d&gaba.
28. 'And on account of what circumstance,
Ananda, is a Tath&gata, an Arahat-Buddha, worthy
of a d&gaba ?
'At the thought, Ananda, "This is the d&gaba
of that Blessed One, of that Arahat-Buddha," the
hearts of many shall be made calm and happy;
and since they there had calmed and satisfied their
hearts they will be reborn after death, when the
body has dissolved, in the happy realms of heaven.
It is on account of this circumstance, Ananda, that
a Tathcigata, an Arahat-Buddha, is worthy of a
dagaba.
29. ' And on account of what circumstance, Ananda, is a Pa^eka-Buddha worthy of a d&gaba ?
' At the thought, Ananda, " This is the ddgaba of
that Blessed One, of that Pa££eka-Buddha," the
hearts of many shall be made calm and happy ; and
since they there had calmed and satisfied their
hearts they will be reborn after death, when the
body has dissolved, in the happy realms of heaven.
It is on account of this circumstance, Ananda, that
a Pa^eka-Buddha is worthy of a d&gaba.
30. ' And on account of what circumstance,
Ananda, is a true hearer of the Blessed One, the
Arahat-Buddha, worthy of a dagaba ?
4 At the thought, Ananda, " This is the d&gaba of
that true hearer of the Blessed Arahat-Buddha," the
hearts of many shall be made calm and happy ; and
since they there had calmed and satisfied their hearts
they will be reborn after death, when the body has
dissolved, in the happy realms of heaven. It is on
account of this circumstance, Ananda, that a true
hearer of the Blessed One, the Arahat-Buddha, is worthy of a d&gaba.
31. * And on account of what circumstance, Ananda, is a king of kings worthy of a d£gaba ?
' At the thought, Ananda, " This is the dfigaba of
that righteous king who ruled in righteousness, ,, the
hearts of many shall be made calm and happy ; and
since they there had calmed and satisfied their
hearts they will be reborn after death, when the
body has dissolved, in the happy realms of heaven.
It is on account of this circumstance, Ananda, that
a king of kings is worthy of a dagaba.
' These four, Ananda, are the persons worthy of a dagaba/
32. * Now the venerable Ananda went into the
Vihcira, and stood leaning against the lintel of the
door \ and weeping at the thought : " Alas ! I remain
still but a learner, one who has yet to work out his
own perfection 2 . And the Master is about to pass
away from me — he who is so kind ! " 9
33. Now the Blessed One called the brethren, and said : * Where, then, brethren, is Ananda ?
The venerable Ananda, Lord, has gone into the
1 Kapisisaw. Buddhaghosa says, Kapisisakan ti dv&ra- baha-ko/iyaw Mitam aggala-rukkhaw, 'apiece of wood fixed as a bolt at the top of the door posts.' The Sanskrit lexicographers give kapi-jirsha in the sense of ' coping of a wall/ Compare Patimokkha, Pa&ttiya, No. 19.
The expression that Ananda went ' into the Vihdra ' at the end of a conversation represented as having taken place in the Sala Grove, would seem to, point to the fact that this episode originally stood in some other connection. Buddhaghosa attempts to explain away the discrepancy by saying that Vih&ra here means Ma«</ala.
a Ananda had entered the Noble Path, but had not yet reached the end of it. He had not attained to Nirvana.
Vihdra, and stands leaning against the lintel of the
door, and weeping at the thought : ' Alas ! I remain
still but a learner, one who has yet to work out his
own perfection. And the Master is about to pass
away from me — he who is so kind ! '
34. And the Blessed One called a certain brother,
and said : ' Go now, brother, and call Ananda in my
name, and say, " Brother Ananda, the Master calls
for thee. ,,,
' Even so, Lord ! ' said that brother, in assent, to
the Blessed One. And he went up to the place
where the Blessed One was ; and when he had come
there, he said to the venerable Ananda : ' Brother
Ananda, the Master calls for thee/
'Very well, brother/ said the venerable Ananda,
in assent, to that brother. And he went up to the
place where the Blessed One was, and when he had
come there, he bowed down before the Blessed One,
and took his seat respectfully on one side.
35. Then the Blessed One said to the venerable
Ananda, as he sat there by his side : 1 Enough,
Ananda ! Do not let yourself be troubled ; do not
weep! Have I not already, on former occasions, told
you that it is in the very nature of all things most
near and dear unto us that we must divide ourselves
from them, leave them, sever ourselves from them ?
How, then, Ananda, can this be possible — whereas
anything whatever born, brought into being, and
organised, contains within itself the inherent neces-
sity of dissolution — how, then, can this be possible,
that such a being should not be dissolved ? No
such condition can exist ! For a long time, Ananda,
have you been very near to me by acts of love,
kind and good, that never varies, and is beyond all
measure. For a long time, Ananda, have you been
very near to me by words of love, kind and good,
that never varies, and is beyond all measure. For
a long time, Ananda, have you been very near
to me by thoughts of love, kind and good, that
never varies 1 , and is beyond all measure. You
have done well, Ananda ! Be earnest in effort, and
you too shall soon be free from the great evils — from
sensuality, from individuality, from delusion, and
from ignorance 2 !'
36. 3 Then the Blessed One addressed the bre-
thren, and said : 1 Whosoever, brethren, have been
Arahat-Buddhas through the long ages of the past,
there were servitors just as devoted to those Blessed
Ones as Ananda has been to me. And whosoever,
brethren, shall be Arahat-Buddhas in the long ages
of the future, there shall be servitors just as devoted
to those Blessed Ones as Ananda has been to me.
37. 'He is a wise man, brethren, — is Ananda.
1 A dv ay en a, which Buddhaghosa explains as not being that kind of love which is now one thing and now another, or which varies in the presence or the absence of the object loved. When the Buddha is called in the Amara Kosha I, 1, 1, 9, advaya- v&din, that must mean in a similar way, ' One whose teaching does not vary/
* Literally, thou shalt become an Anasava, that is, one who is free from the four Asavas, all which are explained above in § I, 12, from which I have taken the details suggested to a Buddhist by the word used. The state of mind to which an Anasava has reached is precisely the same, though looked at from a different point of view, as the state of mind expressed by the better known word Nirvawa.
8 What follows is repeated in the Satipatthawa Vagga of the Sa/wyutta Nikaya ; but in regard to Sariputta (Upatissa) and Moggallana, and reading savaka-yugaw for upa/Mako. [II] H
98 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.
He knows when it is the right time for him to come
and visit the Tathfigata, and when it is the right
time for the brethren and sisters of the order, for
devout men and devout women, for a king, or for a
kings ministers, for other teachers or their disciples,
to come and visit the Tathfigata.
38. 1 Brethren, there are these four wonderful and marvellous qualities in Ananda. Which are the four?
' If, brethren, a number of the brethren of the
order should come to visit Ananda, they are filled
with joy on beholding him ; and if Ananda should
then preach the truth to them, they are filled with
joy at the discourse ; while the company of brethren
is ill at ease, brethren, when Ananda is silent.
1 If, brethren, a number of the sisters of the
order, or of devout men, or of devout women,
should come to visit Ananda, they are filled with
joy on beholding him ; and if Ananda should then
preach the truth to them, they are filled with joy at
the discourse ; while the company of sisters is ill at
ease, brethren, when Ananda is silent.
39. 'Brethren, there are these four wonderful
and marvellous qualities in a king of kings. What
are the four ?
' If, brethren, a number of nobles, or Brahman, or
heads of houses, or Samaras should come to visit
a king of kings, they are filled with joy on behold-
ing him ; and if the king of kings should then speak,
they are filled with joy at what is said ; while they
are ill at ease, brethren, when the king of kings is
silent.