historians of the Buddhist ecclesiastical law, of different successive forms in which the ordination of Bhikkhus had been performed. In the beginning, of course, there was nobody but the Buddha him- self who could ordain Bhikkhus ; to him those who desired to be received, expressed their wish, and he conferred on them the pabba^a and upasampada ordinations by the formula: 'Ehi bhikkhu/ &c. (see I, 6, 32, 34, &c.) It was a very natural concep- tion that afterwards, as the Sawgha grew larger, the Buddha should have transferred the power of admitting new members to the Bhik- khus themselves, and should have instituted that form of ordination which the redactors of the Pi/aka found valid at their own time.
The transition, however, from the supposed oldest form of ordi- nation (the so-called ehi-bhikkhu-upasampada) to that latter form is in the Vinaya legends not represented as immediate. There is described an intermediate stage between the two, the ordination by the three sara/zagamanas, or by the candidate's three times repeated declaration of his taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sa#zgha (see Mahavagga I, 12). The reason which has led the redactors of the Vinaya Pi/aka to this construc- tion, was most probably the important part which in the upasam- pada service of the later time devolved upon the preceptor (upa^- ^•Mya) of the candidate. As only learned Bhikkhus, who had completed the tenth year after their own upasampada, could per- form the function of upa^Mya at the upasampada ordination of other Bhikkhus (Mahavagga I, 31, 8), it was natural that the redactors of the Vinaya found it impossible to ascribe this form of upasampada service to the first times of Buddha's teaching. For these times, therefore, they recorded another form, the upasam- pada by the three sararaagamanas, the introduction of which they assigned, very naturally, to the time soon after the conversion of Yasa's friends, by which event the number of Bhikkhus had been augmented at once from seven to sixty-one.
1 The Lilayan or Phalgu river in Behar ; see General Cunning- ham's map, Archaeological Reports, vol. i. plate iii.
2 After having reached the sambo dhi and before preaching to
1,1,2. Admission to the Order of Bhikkhus. 75
2. Then the Blessed One (at the end of these
seven days) during the first watch of the night fixed
his mind upon the Chain of Causation1, in direct and
in reverse order: ' From Ignorance2 spring the sa^-
the world the truth he has acquired, the Buddha remains, according to the tradition, during some weeks at Uruvela, ' enjoying the bliss of emancipation.' The Mahavagga, which contains these legends in their oldest forms, assigns to this stay a period of four times seven days; the later tradition is unanimous in extending it to seven times seven days (Buddhaghosa in the commentary on the Mahavagga; Gataka Atthav. vol. i. p. 77 seq.; Dipavawsa I, 29, 30; Lalita Vistara, p. 488 seq.; Beal, Romantic Legend, p. 236 seq., &c.)
1 The Chain of Causation, or the doctrine of the twelve nidanas (causes of existence), contains, as has often been observed, in a more developed form an answer to the same problem to which the second and third of the four Noble Truths (ariyasa^ia) also try to give a solution, viz. the problem of the origin and destruction of suffering. The Noble Truths simply reduce the origin of suffer- ing to Thirst, or Desire (Ta^ha), in its threefold form, thirst for pleasure, thirst for existence, thirst for prosperity (see I, 6, 20). In the system of the twelve nidanas Thirst also has found its place among the causes of suffering, but it is not considered as the im- mediate cause. A concatenation of other categories is inserted between tawha and its ultimate effect; and on the other hand, the investigation of causes is carried on further beyond ta»ha\ The question is here asked, What does tawha come from ? and thus the series of causes and effects is led back to avi^a (Ignorance), as its deepest root. We may add that the redactors of the Pi/akas, who of course could not but observe this parallelity between the second and third ariyasa££as and the system of the twelve nidanas, go so far, in one instance (Anguttara-Nikaya, Tika-Nipata, fol. kt of the Phayre MS.), as to directly replace, in giving the text of the four ariyasa&fcas, the second and third of them by the twelve nidanas, in direct and reverse order respectively. Professor Childers has fur- nished a valuable note on the nidanas; see Colebrooke, Miscel- laneous Essays (second edition), II, 453 seq.
2 In the Sammadi/Z^isuttanta (Maggvfama-Nikaya, fol. khu of Tumour's MS.) we find the following explanation of what Ignor- ance is : ' Not to know Suffering, not to know the Cause of suffering,
j6 MAHAVAGGA. I, i, 2.
\ kh&ras \ from the sawkh&ras springs Consciousness,
from Consciousness spring Name-and-Form, from
Name-and-Form spring the six Provinces (of the
not to know the Cessation of suffering, not to know the Path which leads to the cessation of suffering, this is called Ignorance.' The same is repeated in the explanation of the nidana formula, which is given in the Vibhahga (Abhidhamma-Pi/aka, Pa/i^asamuppada- vibhahga, fol. ki of the Phayre MS.), and we must accept it, there- fore, as the authentic expression of Buddhistical belief. It is obvious, however, that this explanation leaves room for another question. Ignorance, we are told, is the source of all evil and of all suffering, and the subject ignored is stated to be the four Truths. But who is the subject that ignores them ? All attri- butes (as the vmTia/za, &c), that constitute sentient beings and enable them to know or to ignore, are said to be first produced by- Ignorance, and we should conclude, therefore, that they cannot exist before Ignorance has begun to act. Or are we to understand that it is the Ignorance incurred by a sentient being in a preceding existence, that causes the sawkharas and Consciousness, the con- necting links between the different existences, to act and to bring about the birth of a new being ?
As is well known, this Ignorance (Avidya) plays a great part also in the Brahmanical philosophy of the Upanishads ; and the Buddhist belief is, no doubt, founded to a considerable extent on older theories. But we cannot venture in a note to touch upon one of the most difficult and interesting questions which await the research of Indianists.
1 It is very frequently stated that there are three sa^kharas or productions: kayasa^khara, va^isa#zkhara, and ^ittasa^- khara, or, productions of body, of speech, and of thought (see, for instance, the Sammadi/Z^isuttanta, Mag^ima-Nikaya, fol. khu of Tumour's MS.) The kayasa^khara consists, according to the Saffzkhara-Yamaka (Abhidhamma-Pi/aka), in inhalation and expira- tion (assasapassasa); the va^isawkhara in attention and in- vestigation (vitakkaviy£ar£) ; the /fcittasa^zkhara in ideas, sen- sations, and all attributes of mind except attention and investigation (sa^M k& vedana £a /^apetva vitakkaviMre sabbe pi ^ittasampayuttaka dhamma). The Vibhahga (Abhidhamma- Pi/aka, Pa/i^iasamuppadavibhahga, 1. 1.) gives, when discussing the sa/rakharas, six categories instead of the three : ' Now which are
I, I, 2. ADMISSION TO THE ORDER OF BHIKKHUS. 77
six senses1), from the six Provinces springs Contact,
from Contact springs Sensation, from Sensation
springs Thirst (or Desire), from Thirst springs At-
tachment, from Attachment springs Existence, from
Existence springs Birth, from Birth spring Old Age
and Death, grief, lamentation, suffering, dejection,
and despair. Such is the origination of this whole
mass of suffering. Again, by the destruction of Igno-
rance, which consists in the complete absence of lust,
the sa^kharas are destroyed, by the destruction of
the sa^kharas Consciousness is destroyed, by the
destruction of Consciousness Name-and-Form are
destroyed, by the destruction of Name-and-Form the
six Provinces are destroyed, by the destruction of
the six Provinces Contact is destroyed, by the de-
struction of Contact Sensation is destroyed, by the
destruction of Sensation Thirst is destroyed, by the
destruction of Thirst Attachment is destroyed, by
the destruction of Attachment Existence is destroyed,
by the destruction of Existence Birth is destroyed,
by the destruction of Birth Old Age and Death, grief,
lamentation, suffering, dejection, and despair are
the sa/ftkharas that are produced by Ignorance ? Sa^kharas (or, productions) that lead to righteousness, sawkharas that lead to sinfulness, sawkharas that lead to immovability, productions of body, of speech, and of thought.' The Pali words are : ' Tattha katame avi^apa^aya sawkhara? pu^abhisa^kharo apuimabhi- sawkharo a/za^abhisawkharo kayasawkharo va£isa#zkharo &tta- sazrckharo.' The list of fifty-five categories belonging to the sa^khara-khandha, which Sp. Hardy gives in his Manual (p. 404 seq. ; comp. also Rh. D., 'Buddhism/ p. 91 seq., and 'Buddhist Suttas from the Pali/ p. 242), is not founded, as far as we know, on the authority of the Pi/akas themselves, but on later compendia and commentaries.
1 I. e. eye, ear, nose, tongue, body (or the faculty of touch), and mind.
J 8 MAHAVAGGA. I, i, 3.
destroyed. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering/
3. Knowing this the Blessed One then on that
occasion pronounced this solemn utterance : ' When
the real nature of things becomes clear to the ardent,
meditating Brahma/za, then all his doubts fade away,
since he realises what is that nature and what its
cause.'
4. Then the Blessed One during the middle watch
of the night fixed his mind upon the Chain of Causa-
tion, in direct and reverse order: 'From Ignorance
spring the sa^kharas, &c Such is the origi-
nation of this whole mass of suffering, &c
Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering/
5. Knowing this the Blessed One then on that
occasion pronounced this solemn utterance: 'When
the real nature of things becomes clear to the ardent,
meditating Brahma^a, then all his doubts fade away,
since he has understood the cessation of causation/
6. Then the Blessed One during the third watch of the night fixed his mind, &c.
7. Knowing this the Blessed One then on that
occasion pronounced this solemn utterance: 'When
the real nature of things becomes clear to the ardent,
meditating Brahma^a, he stands, dispelling the hosts
of Mara, like the sun that illuminates the sky/
Here ends the account of what passed under the Bodhi tree.
I, 2, 3. ADMISSION TO THE ORDER OF BHIKKHUS. 79
i. Then the Blessed One, at the end of those
seven days, arose from that state of meditation, and
went from the foot of the Bodhi tree to the A^apala
banyan tree (banyan tree of the goat-herds1). And
when he had reached it, he sat cross-legged at the foot
of the Ac^apala banyan tree uninterruptedly during
seven days, enjoying the bliss of emancipation.
2. Now a certain Brahma/za, who was of a haughty
disposition2, went to the place where the Blessed
One was ; having approached him, he exchanged
greeting with the Blessed One ; having exchanged
with him greeting and complaisant words, he stationed
himself near him ; then standing near him that Brah-
ma/za thus spoke to the Blessed One : ' By what,
Gotama, does one become a Brahma^a, and what are
the characteristics that make a man a Brahma^a?'
3. And the Blessed One, having heard that, on
this occasion pronounced this solemn utterance : 'That
Brahma^a who has removed (from himself) all sin-
fulness, who is free from haughtiness, free from
impurity, self-restrained, who is an accomplished
master of knowledge (or, of the Veda), who has
fulfilled the duties of holiness, such a Brahma/za may
1 Buddhaghosa : ' The goat-herds used to go to the shadow of that banyan tree and to sit there; therefore it was called the banyan tree of the goat-herds/ The northern Buddhists say that this tree had been planted by a shepherd boy, during the Bodhi- satta's six years' penance, in order to shelter him ; see Beal, Rom. Legend, pp. 192, 238, and the Mahavastu.
2 'Huhunka^atiko.' Buddhaghosa: 'Because he was di /Ma-
in a fig a lik a, he became filled with haughtiness and wrath, and
went about uttering the sound "huhu^." ' Di/Mamangalika
(having seen something auspicious ?) is obscure to us.
80 MAHAVAGGA. I, 3, 1.
justly call himself a Brahma^a, whose behaviour is uneven to nothing in the world/
Here ends the account of what passed under the A^apala tree.
seven days, arose from that state of meditation, and
went from the foot of the i\^apdla banyan tree to the
Mu/^alinda tree. And when he had reached it, he sat
cross-legged at the foot of the Mu/£alinda tree unin-
terruptedly during seven days, enjoying the bliss of
emancipation.
2. At that time a great cloud appeared out
of season, rainy weather which lasted seven days,
cold weather, storms, and darkness. And the Naga
(or Serpent) king Mu/£alinda came out from his
abode, and seven times encircled the body of the
Blessed One with his windings, and kept extending
his large hood over the Blessed One's head, thinking
to himself: 'May no coldness (touch) the Blessed
One ! May no heat (touch) the Blessed One ! May
no vexation by gadflies and gnats, by storms and
sunheat and reptiles (touch) the Blessed One !'
3. And at the end of those seven days, when the
Naga king Mu/£alinda saw the open, cloudless sky, he
loosened his windings from the body of the Blessed
One, made his own appearance disappear, created
the appearance of a youth, and stationed himself in
front of the Blessed One, raising his clasped hands,
and paying reverence to the Blessed One.