' O friend ! surely thou knowest our Master ? '
mahA-parinibbana-sutta.
4 Yea, friend ! I know him. This day the Samara
Gotama has been dead a week ! That is how I
obtained this MandcLrava flower/
39. And immediately of those of the brethren
who were not yet free from the passions, some
stretched out their arms and wept, and some fell
headlong 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 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 ? '
40. Now at that time a brother named Subhadda,
who had been received into the order in his old
age, was seated there in their company l .
And Subhadda the old addressed the brethren, and
said : ' Enough, brethren ! Weep not, neither lament !
We are well rid of the great Samara. We used to
be annoyed by being told, " This beseems you, this
beseems you not." But now we shall be able to do
whatever we like ; and what we do not like, that we
shall not have to do ! '
1 At p. xxvi of the Introduction to his edition of the Maha* Vagga, Dr. Oldenberg identifies this Subhadda with Subhadda the last convert, mentioned above in Chap. V, §§ 52-68. They are different persons ; the last convert being represented as a young man of high character, incapable of the conduct here ascribed to this Subhadda. The last convert was a Brahman, traditionally supposed to be younger brother to Anns. Konda##a, the first convert ; this Subhadda had been a barber in the village Atuma.
128 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.
41. But the venerable Mahi Kassapa addressed
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 any-
thing whatever born, brought into being, and or-
ganised 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 ! '
42. Now just at that time four chieftains of the
M alias had bathed their heads and clad themselves
in new garments with the intention of setting on fire
the funeral pile of the Blessed One. But, behold,
they were unable to set it alight !
43. Then the Mallas of Kusiniri said to the
venerable Anuruddha : ' What, Lord, can be the
reason, and what the cause, that four chieftains of
the Mallas who have bathed their heads, and clad
themselves in new garments, with the intention of
setting on fire the funeral pile of the Blessed One,
are unable to set it on fire ? '
4 It is because you, O V&se/^as, have one purpose, and the spirits have another purpose.'
44. * But what, Lord, is the purpose of the spirits ? ' * The purpose of the spirits, O V&se//^as, is this :
That venerable brother Mahi Kassapa is now
journeying along the high road from Pivi to Kusi-
n&rk with a great company of the brethren, with
five hundred of the brethren. The funeral pile of
vr.
mahA-parinibbAna-sutta.
the Blessed One shall not catch fire, until the venera-
ble Mah£ Kassapa shall have been able reverently
to salute the sacred feet of the Blessed One.'
* Even according to the purpose of the spirits, so, Lord, let it be!'
45. Then the venerable Mah£ Kassapa went on
to Makufe-bandhana of Kusin£r£, to the shrine of
the Mallas, to the place where the funeral pile of
the Blessed One was. And when he had come up
to it, he arranged his robe on one shoulder ; and
bowing down with clasped hands he thrice walked
reverently round the pile ; and then, uncovering the
feet, he bowed down in reverence at the feet of
the Blessed One.
46. And those five hundred brethren arranged
their robes on one shoulder; and bowing down
with clasped hands, they thrice walked reverently
round the pile, and then bowed down in reverence
at the feet of the Blessed One.
47. And when the homage of the venerable Mah£
Kassapa and of those five hundred brethren was
ended, the funeral pile of the Blessed One caught
fire of itself 1 .
1 It is possible that we have here the survival of some ancient custom. Spence Hardy appropriately refers to a ceremony among Jews (of what place or time is not mentioned) in the following terms : ' Just before a Jew is taken out of the house to be buried, the relatives and acquaintances of the departed stand round the coffin ; when the feet are uncovered ; and each in rotation lays hold of the great toes, and begs pardon for any offence given to the deceased, and requests a favourable mention of them in the next world/ (Manual of Buddhism, p. 348).
The Buddhist bhikkhus in Siam and the great majority of those in Ceylon (the adherents of theSiyam-sam&gama) always keep one shoulder uncovered. It is evident that the bhikkhus
I30 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.
48. Now as the body of the Blessed One burned
itself away, from the skin and the integument, and
the flesh, and the nerves, and the fluid of the joints,
neither soot nor ash was seen : and only the bones
remained behind.
Just as one sees no soot or ash when glue or
oil is burned ; so, as the body of the Blessed One
burned itself away, from the skin and the integu-
ment, and the flesh, and the nerves, and the fluid
of the joints, neither soot nor ash was seen : and
only the bones remained behind. And of those five
hundred pieces of raiment the very innermost and
outermost were both consumed.
49. And when the body of the Blessed One had
been burnt up, there came down streams of water
from the sky and extinguished the funeral pile of
the Blessed One ; and there burst forth streams of
water from the storehouse of the waters (beneath
the earth), and extinguished the funeral pile of the
Blessed One. The M alias of Kusin£r& also brought
water scented with all kinds of perfumes, and ex-
tinguished the funeral pile of the Blessed One \
in Burma, and those in Ceylon who belong to the Amara-pura- s a ma gam a, are more in accordance with ancient custom in wearing the robe ordinarily over both shoulders.
1 There is something very quaint in the way in which the faithful Mallas are here represented as bringing coals to Newcastle. The 'storehouse of the waters' is in Pali udaka-sila, on which Buddhaghosa has two theories: first, that the Sala trees around shed down a miraculous rain from their trunks and branches and leaves; and next, that the waters burst up from the earth and became as it were a diadem of crystal round the pyre. On the belief that water thus burst up miraculously through the earth, see 'Buddhist Birth Stories/ pp. 64, 67. If the reading be correct it is scarcely possible that sala can here have anything to do with Sala trees ; but the other interpretation is open to the objections
vi. mahA-parinibbAna-sutta. 131
50. Then the Mallas of Kusiniri surrounded the
bones of the Blessed One in their council hall with
a lattice work of spears, and with a rampart of bows ;
and there for seven days they paid honour and
reverence and respect and homage to them with
dance and song and music, and with garlands and
perfumes.
51. Now the king of Magadha, A^atasattu, the
son of the queen of the Videha clan, heard the
news that the Blessed One had died at KusindrA.
Then the king of Magadha, A^atasattu, the
son of the queen of the Videha clan, sent a mes-
senger to the Mallas, saying, ' The Blessed One
belonged to the soldier caste, and I too am of the
soldier caste. I am worthy to receive a portion
of the relics of the Blessed One. Over the remains
of the Blessed One will I put up a sacred cairn,
and in their honour will I celebrate a feast 1 ! '
52. And the Uikkhzvis of Vesfili heard the news
that the Blessed One had died at Kusinfiri. And
the Uikkhavis of Ves&li sent a messenger to the
Mallas, saying, * The Blessed One belonged to the
soldier caste, and we too are of the soldier caste.
We are worthy to receive a portion of the relics of
the Blessed One. Over the remains of the Blessed
One will we put up a sacred cairn, and in their
honour will we celebrate a feast ! '
53. And the S&kiyas of Kapila-vatthu heard the
that sala means an open hall rather than a storehouse, and that the belief in a ' storehouse of water ' has not, as yet, been found elsewhere.
1 The commentator gives a long account of A^tasattu's pro- ceedings on this occasion.
132 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.
news that the Blessed One had died at Kusin&ri.
And the S&kiyas of Kapila-vatthu sent a messenger
to the Mallas, saying, 1 The Blessed One was the
pride of our race. We are worthy to receive a
portion of the relics of the Blessed One. Over the
remains of the Blessed One will we put up a sacred
cairn, and in their honour will we celebrate a feast ! '
54. And the Bulis of Allakappa heard the news
that the Blessed One had died at Kusin&ri. And
the Bulis of Allakappa sent a messenger to the
Mallas, saying, ' The Blessed One belonged to the
soldier caste, and we too are of the soldier caste.
We are worthy to receive a portion of the relics
of the Blessed One. Over the remains of the
Blessed One will we put up a sacred cairn, and in
their honour will we celebrate a feast ! '
55. And the Koliyas of R&mag&ma heard the
news that the Blessed One had died at Kusin&ri.
And the Koliyas of RAmagfima sent a messenger
to the Mallas, saying, ' The Blessed One belonged
to the soldier caste, and we too are of the soldier
caste. We are worthy to receive a portion of the
relics of the Blessed One. Over the remains of the
Blessed One will we put up a sacred cairn, and in
their honour will we celebrate a feast ! '
56. And the Brdhman of VeMadipa heard the
news that the Blessed One had died at KusinsLri.
And the Br&hman of VeMadipa sent a messenger
to the Mallas, saying, ' The Blessed One belonged
to the soldier caste, and I am a Br&hman. I am
worthy to receive a portion of the relics of the
Blessed One. Over the remains of the Blessed
One will I put up a sacred cairn, and in their
honour will I celebrate a feast ! '
mahA-parinibbAna-su tta.
57. And the Mallas of P£v& heard the news that the Blessed One had died at Kusindri.
Then the Mallas of Pava sent a messenger to the
Mallas, saying, ' The Blessed One belonged to the
soldier caste, and we too are of the soldier caste. We
are worthy to receive a portion of the relics of the
Blessed One. Over the remains of the Blessed One
will we put up a sacred cairn, and in their honour
will we celebrate a feast ! '
58. When they heard these things the Mallas of
Kusinari spoke to the assembled brethren, saying,
'The Blessed One died in our village domain.
We will not give away any part of the remains of
the Blessed One ! '
59. When they had thus spoken, Dona, the Brah- man addressed the assembled brethren, and said :
4 Hear, reverend sirs, one single word from me.
Forbearance was our Buddha wont to teach.
Unseemly is it that over the division
Of the remains of him who was the best of
beings
Strife should arise, and wounds, and war !
Let us all, sirs, with one accord unite
In friendly harmony to make eight portions.
Wide spread let Thfipas rise in every land
That in the Enlightened One mankind may trust ! '
60. * Do thou then, O Br&hman, thyself divide
the remains of the Blessed One equally into eight
parts, with fair division V