It cannot be disputed that the sun-myth theory has become greatly discredited, and with reason, by having been used too carelessly and freely as an explanation of religious legends of different times and countries which have really no historical connection with the earlier awe and reverence inspired by the sun. The very mention of the word sun-myth is apt to call forth a smile of incredulity, and the indubitable truth which is the basis of the theory has not sufficed to protect it from the shafts of ridicule. The ' Book of the Great King of Glory ' seems to afford a useful example both of the extent to which the theory may be accepted, and of the limitations under which it should always be applied.
It must at once be admitted that whether the whole story is based on a sun-story, or whether certain parts or details of it are derived from things first spoken about the sun, or not, it is still essentially Buddhistic. A large pro- portion of its contents has nothing at all to do with the worship of the sun ; and even that which has, had not, in
1 In this respect it should be noticed that the very word here used for cessa- tion, upasamo, is used as one among a string of epithets of Arahatship at Dhamma-£akka-ppavattana Sutta, § 3, = Cataka I, 97, and again in Dharama- pada, verses 368, 381. In this last passage the whole of the phrase in the last verse in our stanza recurs in the accusative case as an equivalent to Arahatship, and the comma inserted by Mr. Fausboll between sankharupasamanf and sukhaw is, in both verses, unnecessary.
the mind of the author, when the book was put fogether.
Whether indebted to a sun-myth or not, it is therefore
perfectly true and valid evidence of the religious belief of
the people among whom it was current ; and no more
shows that the Buddhists were unconscious sun worship-
pers than the story of Samson, under any theory of its
possible origin, would prove the same of the Jews.
What we really have is a kind of wonderful fairy tale, a gorgeous poem, in which an attempt is made to describe in set terms the greatest possible glory and majesty of the greatest possible king, in order to show that all is vanity, save only righteousness — just such a poem as a Jewish prophet might have written of Solomon in all his glory. It would have been most strange, perhaps impossible, for the author to refrain from using the language of the only poets he knew, who had used their boldly figurative language in an attempt to describe the appearance of the sun.
To trace back all the rhetorical phrases of our Sutta to their earliest appearance in the Vedic hymns would be an interesting task of historical philology, though it would throw more light upon Buddhist forms of speech than upon Buddhist forms of belief. In M. Senart's valuable work, ' La Legende du Bouddha/ he has already done this with regard to the seven treasures (mentioned in the early part of the Sutta) on the basis of the corresponding passage in the later Buddhist Sanskrit poem called the Lalita Vistara. The descriptions of the royal city and of its wondrous Palace of Righteousness have been probably originated by the author, though on the same lines ; and it reminds one irresistibly, in many of its expressions, of the similar, but simpler and more beautiful poem in which a Jewish author, some three centuries afterwards, described the heavenly Jerusalem.
When the Northern Buddhists, long afterwards, had smothered the simple teaching of the founder of their religion under the subtleties of theological and metaphy- sical speculation, and had forgotten all about the Noble Path, their goal was no longer a change of heart in the Arahatship to be reached on earth, but a life of happiness, under a change of outward condition, in a heaven of bliss
beyond the skies. One of the most popular books among the Buddhists of China and Japan is a description of this heavenly paradise of theirs, called the Sukhdvati-vyuha, the ' Book of the Happy Country/ the Sanskrit text of which has been just published by Professor Max Muller in the volume of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for the present year. It is instructive to find that several of the expressions used are word for word the same as the corresponding phrases in the ' Book of the Great King of Glory/
THE GREAT KING OF GLORY 1 .
MAHA-SUDASSANA - SUTTA.
Chapter I.
once staying at Kusiniri in th^ Upavattanaf tfife
Sila grove of the Mallas, between the twin Sila
trees, at the time ok his death.
2. Now the venerable Ananda went up to the
place where the Blessed One was, and bowed down
before him, and took his seat respectfully on one
side. And when he was so seated, the venerable
Ananda said to the Blessed One :
2 * Let not the Blessed One die in this little wattel
and daub town, in this town in the midst of the
jungle, in this branch township. For, Lord, there
are other great cities, such as u&fampi, R^agaha,
SAvatthi, Sdketa, Kosambi, and Ben&res. Let the
Blessed One die in one of them. There there are
many wealthy nobles and Br&hmans and heads of
houses, believers in the Tath&gata, who will pay
due honour to the remains of the Tath&gata/
3. 'Say not so, Ananda! Say not so, Ananda,
1 Sudassana means ' beautiful to see, having a glorious appear-
ance/ and is the name of many kings and heroes in Indian
legend.
2 From here down to the end of the next section is found also, nearly word for word, in the Mah&parinibb&na Sutta, above, pp. 99, 100. Compare also Maha-Sudassana Gataka, No. 95.
that this is but a small wattel and daub town, a
town in the midst of the jungle, a branch township.
Long ago, Ananda, there was a king, by name
Mahi-Sudassana, a king of kings, a righteous man
who ruled in righteousness, an anointed Kshatriya \
Lord of the four quarters of the earth, conqueror,
the protector of his people, possessor of the seven
royal treasures. This KusinirA, Ananda, was the
royal city of king Mahi-Sudassana, under the name
of Kusivati 2 , and on the east and on the west it was
twelve leagues in length, and on the north and on
the south it was seven leagues in breadth. That
royal city Kusivati, Ananda, was mighty, and pros-
perous, and full of people, crowded with men, and
provided with all things for food. Just, Ananda,
as the royal city of the gods, A/akamand£ by name,
is mighty, prosperous, and full of people, crowded
with the gods, and provided with all kinds of food,
so, Ananda, was the royal city Kusivatt mighty and
prosperous, full of people, crowded with men, and
provided with all kinds of food. Both by day and
by night, Ananda, the royal city Kusivatl resounded
1 Khattiyo muddhavasitto, which does not occur in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, the Mahapadhana Sutta, the Lakkhana Sutta, and other places where this stock description of a JTakka- vatti is found. It is omitted also in the Lalita Vistara. The Burmese Phayre MS. of the India Office reads here mudddbhi- sitto, but this is an unnecessary correction. So the name of the Hindu caste mentioned in the Sahyddri Kha»</a of the Skanda Purawa is spelt both ways. The epithet is probably inserted here from § 12 below.
9 Kuj&vatt was the name of a famous city mentioned as the capital of Southern Kusala in post-Buddhistic Sanskrit plays and epic poems. In the Mahabharata it is called Kujavatf. It is said to have been so named after Kuja, son of Rama, by whom it was built; and it is also called Kujasthali.
with the ten cries ; that is to say, the noise of ele-
phants, 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 1 ! "
4. 'The royal city Kus&vati, Ananda, was sur-
rounded by Seven Ramparts. Of these, one
rampart was of gold, and one of silver, and one of
beryl, and one of crystal, and one of agate, and one
of coral, and one of all kinds of gems 2 ! '
1 This enumeration is found also at G&taka, p. 3, only that the chank is added there — wrongly, for that makes the number of cries eleven.
8 Beryl, agate, and coral are doubtful renderings of Pali names of precious substances, the exact meaning of which has been dis- cussed on the very slender evidence available (and hence, it seems to me, with very little certain result) by Burnouf in the ' Lotus de la Bonne Loi/ pp. 3 1 9-321 ; and Professor Max Mtiller has a further note in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1880, p. 178. The Pali words here are in the first column :
1. Sovawwamayo, Suvarwasya;
2. Rupimayo, Rupasya;
3. Ve/uriyamayo, Vau/uryasya ;
4. Phalikamayo, Spha/ikasya;
5. Lohitahkamayo, Lohitamuktasya ;
6. Masaragallamayo, Asmagarbhasya ;
7. Sabbaratanamayo, Musaragalvasya : those in the second being taken from the Sukhavativyuha in the passage corresponding to § 6 below. It is quite possible that the writers of these passages used the rarer words only as names of precious substances, without attaching any clearly distinct meaning to each (compare Rev. xxi. 19-21). The Pali author seems to have been hard put to it to find enough names to fill up the sacred number seven; just as in the 'Seven Jewels' of the D ham ma, the sacred number seven is reached by giving to one jewel two distinct names (Pa#£* indriy&ni = pa#£a baldni). At -Afulla Vagga IX, 1, 4 we find the following enumeration of
5. ' To the royal city Kusdvatl, Ananda, there
were Four Gates. One gate was of gold, and one
of silver, and one of jade, and one of crystal. At
each gate seven pillars were fixed ; in height as
three times or as four times the height of a man.
And one pillar was of gold, and one of silver, and
one of beryl, and one of crystal, and one of agate,
and one of coral, and one of all kinds of gems.
6. 'The royal city Kus£vatf, Ananda, was sur-
rounded by Seven Rows of Palm Trees. One
row was of palms of gold, and one of silver, and one
of beryl, and one of crystal, and one of agate, and
one of coral, and one of all kinds of gems.
7. ' And the Golden Palms had trunks of gold,
and leaves and fruits of silver. And the Silver
Palms had trunks of silver, and leaves and fruits of
gold. And the Palms of Beryl had trunks of beryl,
and leaves and fruits of crystal. And the Crystal
Palms had trunks of crystal, and leaves and fruits of
beryl. And the Agate Palms had trunks of agate,
and leaves and fruits of coral. And the Coral Palms
had trunks of coral, and leaves and fruits of agate.
And the Palms of every kind of Gem had trunks
and leaves and fruits of every kind of gem.
8. 1 ' And when those rows of palm trees, Ananda,
rata/zas as found in the ocean, though only Nos. 1, 4, 5, 6 are really produced there :
1. Mutta. 6. Pav&afli.
2. Mam. 7. RagaXam.
3. Ve/uriyo. 8. G&tarupam.
4. Sankho. 9. Lohitahko.
5. Sila. 10. Masaxagallaw.
1 This section and § 9 should be compared with one in the Sukhavatfvyuha, translated by Professor Max Mliller as follows (Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1880, p. 170):
' And again, O *Sariputra, when those rows of palm trees and
were shaken by the wind, there arose a sound sweet, and pleasant, and charming, and intoxicating.
4 Just, Ananda, as the seven kind of instruments
yield, when well played upon, to the skilful man, a
sound sweet, and pleasant, and charming, and in-
toxicating — just even so, Ananda, when those rows
of palm trees were shaken by the wind, there arose
a sound sweet, and pleasant, and charming, and
intoxicating.
9. 'And whoever, Ananda, in the royal city
Kusfivatl were at that time gamblers, drunkards,
and given to drink, they used to dance round to-
gether to the sound of those palms when shaken
by the wind.
10. 4 The Great King of Glory, Ananda, was the a
possessor of Seven Precious Things, and was
gifted with Four Marvellous Powers/
' What are those seven ? '
11. 14 In the first place, Ananda, when the Great King of Glory, on the Sabbath day 2 , on the day of