2 U^Myanti. I have followed the reading of my own MS., which is confirmed by the Sumangala Vilstsinf and the Mald- lahkdra-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-
120 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.
' 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 re- garded 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 conscious- ness, 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.
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- sa#dino, 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 vener-
able 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
122 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.
Blessed One, O V£se////as, is dead ; do, then, what- ever 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 Kusin&ri ! '
26. And the Mallas of Kusiniri took the per-
fumes and garlands, and all the musical instruments,
and five hundred suits of apparel, and went to the
Upavattana, to the S&la 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 gar-
ments, 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 to- gether; to make the canopy into a tent they would simply add walls of the same material ; and the only decoration, as simple as it
mahA-parinibbAna-sutta.
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, re-
verence, 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. And thereupon eight chieftains among the
Mallas bathed their heads, and clad themselves in
new garments with the intention of bearing the
body of the Blessed One. But, behold, they could
not lift it up!
30. Then the Mallas of Kusiniri said to the
venerable Anuruddha : ' What, Lord, can be the
reason, what can be the cause that eight chieftains
of the Mallas who have bathed their heads, and
clad themselves in new garments with the intention
is beautiful, would be wreaths of flowers, or single lotuses, hanging from the roof, or stretched along the sides.
124 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.
of bearing the body of the Blessed One, are unable to lift it up?'
' It is because you, O V£se#^as, have one pur- pose, and the spirits have another purpose/
31. ' But what, Lord, is the purpose of the spirits?' ' Your purpose, O Vfise/Afcas, is this, Let us carry
the body of the Blessed One, by the south and out-
side, 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 gar-
lands and perfumes, — and there, to the south of the
city, let us perform the cremation ceremony. But
the purpose of the spirits, Vise^as, is this, Let us
carry the body of the Blessed One by the north to the
north of the city, and entering the city by the north
gate, let us bring it through the midst of the city
into the midst thereof. And going out again by the
eastern gate, — paying honour, and reverence, and
respect, and homage to the body of the Blessed
One, with heavenly dance, and song, and music,
and garlands, and perfumes, — let us carry it to the
shrine of the Mallas called Maku/a-bandhana, to the
east of the city, and there let us perform the crema-
tion ceremony/
' Even according to the purpose of the spirits, so, Lord, let it be!'
32. Then immediately all Kusiniri down even to
the dust bins and rubbish heaps became strewn
knee-deep with Mand&rava flowers from heaven !
and while both the spirits from the skies, and the
Mallas of Kusin&r& upon earth, paid honour, and
reverence, and respect, and homage to the body
of the Blessed One, with dance and song and music,
with garlands and with perfumes, they carried the
mahA-parinibbAna-sutta.
body by the north to the north of the city ; and
entering the city by the north gate they carried
it through the midst of the city into the midst
thereof; and going out again by the eastern gate
they carried it to the shrine of the Mallas, called
Maku/a-bandhana ; and there, to the east of the
city, they laid down the body of the Blessed One \
33. 2 Then the Mallas of Kusin&ri said to the
venerable Ananda : c What should be done, Lord,
with the remains of the Tathigata ? '
'As men treat the remains of a king of kings,
so, Vise/Mas, should they treat the remains of a
Tathfigata.'
' And how, Lord, do they treat the remains of a king of kings ? '
' They wrap the body of a king of kings, Vise//^as,
in a new cloth. When that is done they wrap it in
cotton wool. When that is done they wrap it in a
new cloth, — and so on till they have wrapped the
body in five hundred successive layers of both kinds.
Then they place the body in an oil vessel of iron,
and cover that close up with another 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 d&gaba
to the king of kings. This, V£se//^as, 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, Vcise/Mas, should they treat the remains of the
1 The point of this interesting legend is that the inhabitants of an Indian village of that time would have considered it a desecra- tion or pollution to bring a dead body into or through their village.
2 Compare Chap. V, §§ 25-30.
126 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.
Tathigata. At the four cross roads a digaba should
be erected to the Tathigata. 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.'
34. Therefore the Mallas gave orders to their
attendants, saying, ' Gather together all the carded
cotton wool of the Mallas ! '
35. Then the Mallas of Kusiniri wrapped the
body of the Blessed One in a new cloth. And when
that was done, they wrapped it in cotton wool. And
when that was done, they wrapped it in a new cloth,
— and so on till they had wrapped the body of the
Blessed One in five hundred layers of both kinds.
And then they placed the body in an oil vessel of
iron, and covered that close up with another oil
vessel of iron. And then they built a funeral pile
of all kinds of perfumes, and upon it they placed
the body of the Blessed One.
36. Now at that time the venerable Mah& Kas-
sapa was journeying along the high road from Pkvk
to KusinirS. with a great company of the brethren,
with about five hundred of the brethren. And the
venerable Mahd Kassapa left the high road, and sat
himself down at the foot of a certain tree.
37. Just at that time a certain naked ascetic who
had picked up a Mand&rava flower in Kusin^rd was
coming along the high road to Pdvd.
38. And the venerable Mah£ Kassapa saw the
naked ascetic coming in the distance ; and when he
had seen him he said to the naked ascetic :