1 Very probably it is this story in which a similar legend has originated that the Ceylonese tell about Mahinda, the converter of their island ; see Dipavawsa XI I, 75.
I, 20, 12. ADMISSION TO THE ORDER OF BHIKKHUS. 1 29
went to pluck a fruit from an emblic myrobalan
tree, &c, from a yellow myrobalan tree growing
near the ^ambu tree, &c. He went to the Tava-
ti^sa heaven to pluck a pariy£/£/2attaka (or pari-
^ataka) flower; then arriving before Kassapa he
sat down in the fire room. Then the ^arila Uru-
veli Kassapa saw (&c, as in § 8).
ii. ' When I had sent you away, Kassapa, I went
to the Tavatiwsa heaven to pluck a pari/£/£/£attaka
flower; then I arrived before you and sat down in
the fire room. Here is the pari/£/£/£attaka flower,
Kassapa ; it is beautiful and fragrant ; you may take
it, if you like/
' Nay, great Samara, to you alone it is becoming to keep it ; keep it yourself/
And the GWila (&c, as in § 9). * He is not, however, holy as I am/
12. At that time one day the GWilas, who wished
to attend on their sacred fires, could not succeed
in splitting fire-wood. Now these Garilas thought :
' Doubtless this is the magical power and the high
faculty of the great Samara that we cannot succeed
in splitting fire-wood/ Then the Blessed One said
to the Garila Uruvela Kassapa : ' Shall the fire-wood
be split, Kassapa ?'
' Let it be split, great Sama/za.'
Then in a moment the five hundred pieces of fire-wood1 were split. And the 6Wila Uruveld
1 Bigandet (Life of Gaudama, p. 135) translates this passage from the Burmese version : ' Gaudama split it in a moment, in five hundred pieces/ Doubtless the true meaning is, that there were five hundred pieces of wood, one for each of the five hundred Ga/ilas over whom was Kassapa chief. In the following two stories (§§ 13, 14) we have five hundred sacred fires.
1 30 MAHAVAGGA. I, 20, 13.
Kassapa thought : ' Truly the great Samara pos-
sesses high magical powers and great faculties, since
even the fire-wood splits itself (at his command). He
is not, however, holy like me/
13. At that time the 6Wilas who wished to attend
on their sacred fires, could not succeed in lighting
up the fires (&c, as in the preceding story).
14. At that time the 6a/ilas, after having attended
on their sacred fires, could not succeed in extinguish-
ing the fires (&c, as above).
15. At that time in the cold winter nights, in the
time between the ash/aka festivals 1, when snow falls,
the Garilas plunged into the river Nera/^ara, and
emerged again, and repeatedly plunged into the
water and emerged. And the Blessed One created
five hundred vessels with burning fire 2 ; at those
the GWilas coming out of the river warmed them-
selves. And the GWilas thought : ' Doubtless this
is the magical power and the high faculty of the
great 6ama/2a that these vessels with fire have been
caused to appear here/ And the GWila Uruvela
Kassapa thought : ' Truly the great Sama/za pos-
sesses high magical powers and great faculties, since
he can create such great vessels with fire. He is
not, however, holy like me/
16. At that time a great rain fell out of season ;
and a great inundation arose. The place where the
Blessed One lived was covered with water. Then
1 The ash/aka festivals, about which accurate details are given in the Grzliya Sutras, were celebrated about the wane of the moon of the winter months marganrsha, taisha, and magna ; see Weber, Die vedischen Nachrichten von den Naxatra, II, p. 337, and H. O/s note on the £ankhayana Gr/hya, 3, 12, ap. Indische Studien, XV, p. 145.
2 Buddhaghosa explains mandamukhiyo by aggibha^anani.
I, 20, 17. ADMISSION TO THE ORDER OF BHIKKHUS. 131
the Blessed One thought : ' What if I were to cause
the water to recede round about, and if I were to
walk up and down in the midst of the water on
a dust-covered spot/ And the Blessed One caused
the water to recede round about, and he walked
up and down in the midst of the water on a dust-
covered spot.
And the Ga/ila Uruvela Kassapa, who was afraid
that the water might have carried away the great
Sama/za, went with a boat together with many
Capias to the place where the Blessed One lived.
Then the 6Wila Uruvela Kassapa saw the Blessed
One, who had caused the water to recede round
about, walking up and down in the midst of the
water on a dust-covered spot. Seeing him, he said to
the Blessed One : 'Are you there, great Sama/za?'
' Here I am, Kassapa/ replied the Blessed One,
and he rose in the air and stationed himself in the
boat.
And the Gatila. Uruvela Kassapa thought : 'Truly
the great Samara possesses high magical powers
and great faculties, since the water does not carry
him away. He is not, however, holy like me/
17. Then the Blessed One thought : 'This foolish
man will still for a long time think thus: " Truly the
great Samara possesses high magical powers and
great faculties; he is not, however, holy like me."
What if I were to move the mind of this 6a/ila (in
order to show him my superiority)/
And the Blessed One said to the GWila Uruvela
Kassapa : ' You are not holy (araha), Kassapa, nor
have you entered the path of Arahatship, nor do you
walk in such a practice as will lead you to Arahatship,
or to entering the path of Arahatship/
1 3 2 MAHAVAGGA. I, 20, 18.
Then the Ga/ila Uruvela Kassapa prostrated
himself, inclining his head to the feet of the Blessed
One, and said to the Blessed One : ' Lord, let me
receive the pabba^a and upasampada ordina-
tions from the Blessed One/
18. (Buddha replied): 'You, Kassapa, are chief,
leader, foremost, first, and highest of five hundred
Ga/ilas ; go first and inform them of your intention,
and let them do what they think fit.'
Then the GWila Uruvela Kassapa went to those
GWilas ; having gone to them, he said to those
GWilas : ' I wish, Sirs, to lead a religious life under
the direction of the great Sama/za ; you may do,
Sirs, what you think fit.'
(The GWilas replied) : 'We have conceived, Sir,
an affection for the great Samara long since ; if you
will lead, Sir, a religious life under the great Samara's
direction, we will all lead a religious life under the
great Samaras direction.'
19. Then the Garilas flung their hair1, their
braids, their provisions 2, and the things for the
agnihotra sacrifice into the river, and went to the
place where the Blessed One was ; having approached
him and prostrated themselves before him, inclining
their heads to the feet of the Blessed One, they
said to the Blessed One : * Lord, let us receive the
pabba^a and upasampada ordinations from the
Blessed One/
1 Which they had cut off in order to receive the pabba^a ordination, see chap. 12. 3.
2 We are extremely doubtful about the meaning of kharikag-a, which Buddhaghosa explains by kharibhara. Perhaps it may mean provisions of any description of which each Ga/ila used to keep one khari (a certain dry measure).
I, 20, 24. ADMISSION TO THE ORDER OF BHIKKHUS. I 33
' Come, O Bhikkhus,' said the Blessed One, ' well
taught is the doctrine ; lead a holy life for the sake
of the complete extinction of suffering/
Thus these venerable persons received the upa- sampada ordination.
20. And the GWila Nadi Kassapa saw the hair,
the braids, the provisions, the things for the agni-
hotra sacrifice, which were carried down by the
river; when he saw that, he became afraid that
some misfortune might have befallen his brother.
He sent some 6Wilas, saying, ' Go and look after
my brother,' and went himself with his three hundred
6a/ilas to the venerable Uruvela Kassapa ; having
approached him, he said to the venerable Uruvela
Kassapa: ' Now, Kassapa, is this bliss ■?'
(Uruvela Kassapa replied): 'Yes, friend, this is bliss/
21. And the GWilas (who had come with Nadi Kassapa (&c, as in § 19).
22. And the GWila Gaya Kassapa saw (&c, as
in § 20) ; when he saw that, he became afraid that
some misfortune might have befallen his brothers.
He sent some GWilas, saying, ' Go and look after
my brothers,' and went himself with his two hundred
GWilas to the venerable Uruvela Kassapa (&c, as
above).
23. And the ^a/ilas (who had come with Gaya Kassapa (&c, as in § 19).
24. x At the command of the Blessed One the
five hundred pieces of fire-wood could not be split
and were split, the fires could not be lit up and
1 This is evidently a remark added to the text by a reader or commentator.
1 34 MAHAVAGGA. I, 21, 1.
were lit up, could not be extinguished and were ex-
tinguished ; besides he created five hundred vessels
with fire. Thus the number of these miracles
amounts to three thousand five hundred.
Uruvela as long as he thought fit, went forth to
Gayasisa l, accompanied by a great number of Bhik-
khus, by one thousand Bhikkhus who all had been
GWilas before. There near Gaya, at Gayasisa, the
Blessed One dwelt together with those thousand
Bhikkhus.
2. There the Blessed One thus addressed the
Bhikkhus : ' Everything, O Bhikkhus, is burning.
And how, O Bhikkhus, is everything burning ?
' The eye, O Bhikkhus, is burning ; visible things are burning; the mental impressions based on the eye are burning ; the contact of the eye (with visible things) is burning ; the sensation produced by the contact of the eye (with visible things), be it pleasant, be it painful, be it neither pleasant nor painful, that also is burning. With what fire is it burning? I declare unto you that it is burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of anger, with the fire of ignorance ; it is burning with (the anxieties of) birth, decay, death, grief, lamentation, suffering, dejection, and despair.
3. ' The ear is burning, sounds are burning, &c. .... The nose is burning, odours are burning, &c.
1 According to General Cunningham, Gayasisa ('the head of Gaya') is the mountain of Brahmayoni near Gaya. Arch. Rep. Ill, 107.
1,21,4- Admission to the Order of Bhikkhus. 1 35
.... The tongue is burning, tastes are burning,
&c The body is burning, objects of contact are
burning, &c The mind is burning, thoughts
are burning, &c *
4. ' Considering this, O Bhikkhus, a disciple
learned (in the scriptures), walking in the Noble
Path, becomes weary of the eye, weary of visible
things, weary of the mental impressions based on
the eye, weary of the contact of the eye (with visible
things), weary also of the sensation produced by the
contact of the eye (with visible things), be it pleasant,
be it painful, be it neither pleasant nor painful. He
becomes weary of the ear (&c , down to ... .
thoughts1). Becoming weary of all that, he divests
himself of passion ; by absence of passion he is made
free ; when he is free, he becomes aware that he
is free ; and he realises that re-birth is exhausted ;
that holiness is completed ; that duty is fulfilled ;
and that there is no further return to this world/
When this exposition was propounded, the minds
of those thousand Bhikkhus became free from at-
tachment to the world, and were released from the
Asavas.
Here ends the sermon on ' The Burning.'
End of the third Bhd^avara concerning the Wonders done at Uruvela.
1 Here the same exposition which has been given relating to the eye, its objects, the sensations produced by its contact with objects, &c, is repeated with reference to the ear and the other organs of sense.
I36 MAHAVAGGA. I, 22, 1.
Gayasisa as long as he thought fit, went forth to
Ra^agaha, accompanied by a great number of Bhik-
khus, by one thousand Bhikkhus who all had been
GWilas before. And the Blessed One, wandering
from place to place, came to Ra^agaha. There the
Blessed One dwelt near Ra^agaha, in the La///£i-
vana pleasure garden, near the sacred shrine of
Supati/^a1.
2. Then the Magadha king Seniya Bimbisara
heard : * The Sama/za Gotama Sakyaputta, an ascetic
of the Sakya tribe, has just arrived at Ra^agaha and
is staying near Ra^*agaha, in the La^ivana pleasure
garden, near the sacred shrine of Supati^a. Of
Him the blessed Gotama such a glorious fame is
spread abroad : " Truly he is the blessed, holy, abso-
lute Sambuddha, endowed with knowledge and con-
duct, the most happy One, who understands all
worlds, the highest One, who guides men as a driver
curbs a bullock, the teacher of gods and men, the
blessed Buddha. He makes known the Truth, which
he has understood himself and seen face to face, to
this world system with its devas, its Maras, and its
Brahmas ; to all beings, Samaras and Brdhma^as,