282 THE GREAT KING OF GLORY. CH.
* " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand gems, of which the Wondrous Gem is the chief.
Cast away desire for these ! long not after life !
* " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand wives, of whom the Queen of Glory is the chief.
Cast away desire for these ! long not after life !
' " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand yeomen, of whom the Wonderful Steward is
the chief. Cast away desire for these! long not
after life!
* " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand nobles, of whom the Wonderful Adviser is
the chief. Cast away desire for these! long not
after life!
' " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand cows, with jute trappings, and horns tipped
with bronze. Cast away desire for these ! long not
after life!
' " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand myriads of garments, of delicate textures, of
flax, and cotton, and silk, and wool. Cast away
desire for these ! long not after life !
' " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand dishes, in which, in the evening and in the
morning, rice is served. Cast away desire for these!
long not after life ! "
32. ' When he thus spake, Ananda, the Queen of Glory wept and poured forth tears.
33. ' Then, Ananda, the Queen of Glory wiped
away her tears, and addressed the Great King of
Glory, and said :
1 " The nature of all things near and dear to us, O King, is such that we must leave them, divide
Ii. Maha-Sudassana Sutta. 283
ourselves from them, separate ourselves from them.
Pass not away, O King, with longing in thy heart.
Sad is the death of him who longs, unworthy is the
death of him who longs. Thine, O King, are these
four and eighty thousand cities, the chief of which
is the royal city of Kusivatl. Cast away desire for
these ! long not after life !
'"Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand palaces, the chief of which is the Palace of
Righteousness. Cast away desire for these! long
not after life !
' " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand chambers, the chief of which is the chamber
of the Great Complex. Cast away desire for these !
long not after life!
' " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand divans, of gold, and silver, and ivory, and
sandal wood, spread with long-haired rugs, and
cloths embroidered with flowers, and magnificent
antelope skins ; covered with lofty canopies ; and
provided at both ends with purple cushions. Cast
away desire for these ! long not after life !
4 " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand state elephants, with trappings of gold, and
gilded flags, and golden coverings of network, — of
which the king of elephants, called 'the Changes
of the Moon/ is chief. Cast away desire for these !
long not after life !
' " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand state horses, with trappings of gold, and gilded
flags, and golden coverings of network, — of which
* Thunder-cloud/ the king of horses, is the chief.
Cast away desire for these ! long not after life !
' " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
284 THE GREAT KING OF GLORY. CH.
sand chariots, with coverings of the skins of lions,
and of tigers, and of panthers, — of which the chariot
called ' the Flag of Victory ' is the chief. Cast away
desire for these ! long not after life !
' " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand gems, of which the Wondrous Gem is the chief.
Cast away desire for these ! long not after life !
' " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand wives, of whom the Queen of Glory is the chief.
Cast away desire for these ! long not after life !
1 " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand yeomen, of whom the Wonderful Steward is
the chief. Cast away desire for these! long not
after life!
* " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand nobles, of whom the Wonderful Adviser is
the chief. Cast away desire for these! long not
after life !
' " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand cows, with jute trappings, and horns tipped
with bronze. Cast away desire for these ! long not
after life!
* " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand myriads of garments, of delicate textures, of
flax, and cotton, and silk, and wool. Cast away
desire for these ! long not after life !
* " Thine, O King, are these four and eighty thou-
sand dishes, in which, in the evening and in the
morning, rice is served. Cast away desire for these!
long not after life ! "
34. 4 Then immediately, Ananda, the Great King
of Glory died. Just, Ananda, as when a yeoman
has eaten a hearty meal he becomes all drowsy,
mahA-sudassana sutta.
just so were the feelings he experienced, Ananda, as death came upon the Great King of Glory.
35. 'When the Great King of Glory, Ananda,
had died, he came to life again in the happy world
of Brahm&.
36. ' For eight and forty thousand years, Ananda,
the Great King of Glory lived the happy life of a
prince; for eight and forty thousand years he was vice-
roy and heir-apparent ; for eight and forty thousand
years he ruled the kingdom ; and for eight and forty
thousand years he lived, as a layman, the noble life
in the Palace of Righteousness. And then, when full
of noble thoughts, he died ; he entered, after the dis-
solution of the body, the noble world of Brahma 1 .
37. ' Now it may be, Ananda, that you may think
(i The Great King of Glory of that time was another
person." But, Ananda, you should not view the
matter thus. I at that time was the Great King
of Glory.
'Mine at that time were the four and eighty
thousand cities, of which the chief was the royal city
of Kus&vatl.
' Mine were the four and eighty thousand palaces, of which the chief was the Palace of Righteousness.
* Mine were the four and eighty thousand cham-
bers, of which the chief was the chamber of the
Great Complex.
' Mine were the four and eighty thousand divans,
The 'noble thoughts' are the Brahma-vih&ras, described above, Chap. II, §§ 8-1 1. The 'noble life' is the Brahma^ariyaw, which does not mean the same as it does in Sanskrit. The adjec- tive Brahma may have reference here also to the subsequent (and consequent?) rebirth in the Brahma-loka.
of gold, and silver, and ivory, and sandal wood,
spread with long-haired rugs, and cloths embroidered
with flowers, and magnificent antelope skins ; covered
with lofty canopies ; and provided at both ends with
purple cushions.
' Mine were the four and eighty thousand state
elephants, with trappings of gold, and gilded flags,
and golden coverings of network, — of which die
king of elephants, called ' ' the Changes of the Moon"
was chief.
'Mine were the four and eighty thousand state
horses, with trappings, of gold, and gilded flags,
and golden coverings of network, — of which " Thun-
der-cloud," the king of horses, was the chief.
* Mine were the four and eighty thousand chariots,
with coverings of the skins of lions, and of tigers,
and of panthers, — of which the chariot called "the
Flag of Victory " was the chief.
* Mine were the four and eighty thousand gems, of which the Wondrous Gem was the chief.
* Mine were the four and eighty thousand wives, of whom the Queen of Glory was the chief.
' Mine were the four and eighty thousand yeomen, of whom the Wonderful Steward was the chief.
* Mine were the four and eighty thousand nobles, of whom the Wonderful Adviser was the chief.
'Mine were the four and eighty thousand cows, with jute trappings, and horns tipped with bronze.
' Mine were the four and eighty thousand myriads
of garments, of delicate textures, of flax, and cotton,
and silk, and wool.
' Mine were the four and eighty thousand dishes,
in which, in the evening and in the morning, rice
was served.
mahA-sudassana sutta.
38, ' Of those four and eighty thousand cities,
Ananda, one was that city in which, at that time, I
used to dwell — to wit, the royal city of Kus&vati.
' Of those four and eighty thousand palaces too,
Ananda, one was that palace in which, at that time, I
used to dwell — to wit, the Palace of Righteousness.
' Of those four and eighty thousand chambers too,
Ananda, one was that chamber in which, at that
time, I used to dwell — to wit, the chamber of the
Great Complex.
* Of those four and eighty thousand divans too,
Ananda, one was that divan which, at that time,
I used to occupy — to wit, one of gold, or one of
silver, or one of ivory, or one of sandal wood.
' Of those four and eighty thousand state ele-
phants too, Ananda, one was that elephant which,
at that time, I used to ride — to wit, the king of
elephants, " the Changes of the Moon."
4 Of those four and eighty thousand horses too,
Ananda, one was that horse which, at that time,
I used to ride — to wit, the king of horses, "the
Thunder-cloud."
' Of those four and eighty thousand chariots too,
Ananda, one was that chariot in which, at that time,
I used to ride — to wit, the chariot called " the Flag
of Victory."
* Of those four and eighty thousand wives too,
Ananda, one was that wife who, at that time, used
to wait upon me — to wit, either a lady of noble
birth, or a Vel&mikanl.
' Of those four and eighty thousand myriads of
suits of apparel too, Ananda, one was the suit of
apparel which, at that time, I wore— to wit, one of
delicate texture, of linen, or cotton, or silk, or wool.
288 THE GREAT KING OF GLORY.
' Of those four and eighty thousand dishes too,
Ananda, one was that dish from which, at that time,
I ate a measure of rice and the curry suitable thereto.
39. ' See, Ananda, how all these things are now
past, are ended, have vanished away. Thus im-
permanent, Ananda, are component things; thus
transitory, Ananda, are component things; thus
untrustworthy, Ananda, are component things. In-
somuch, Ananda, is it meet to be weary of, is it meet
to be estranged from, is it meet to be set quite free
from the bondage of all component things !
40. ' Now I call to mind, Ananda, how in this
spot my body had been six times buried. And
when I was dwelling here as the righteous king
who ruled in righteousness, the lord of the four
regions of the earth, the conqueror, the protector
of his people, the possessor of the seven royal trea-
sures — that was the seventh time.
41. 'But I behold not any spot, Ananda, in the
world of men and gods, nor in the world of M&ra,
nor in the world of Brahmd, — no, not among the
race of Samaras or Brahmans, of gods or men, —
where the Tathfigata for the eighth time will lay
aside his body 1 .'
1 The whole of this conversation between the Great King of Glory and the Queen is very much shorter in the G&taka, the enumeration of the possessions of the Great King being omitted (except the first clause referring to the four and eighty thousand cities), and clauses 34-38, 40, and 41 being also left out, § 39 and the concluding being placed in the mouth of the King immediately after § 33. This may be perhaps partly explained by the narrative style in which the G&takas are composed — a style incompatible
mahA-sudassana sutta.
42. Thus spake the Blessed One ; and when
the Happy One had thus spoken, once again the
Teacher said:
'How transient are all component things!
Growth is their nature and decay:
They are produced, they are dissolved again :
And then is best, when they have sunk to rest 1 ! '
End of the Mahi-Sudassana Sutta.
with the repetitions of the Suttas, and confined to the facts of the story.