Geography of Early Buddhism c12.36

c12.36

ascertain what kind or kinds of cetiyas these were; but it is striking to note that most of them were denoted to commemorate a name or a relic. The Gautama-nyagrodha caitya, it is possible to imagine, refers to a nyagrodha tree shrine which was worshipped by Buddhist devotees. We have abundant references of tree worship in Buddhist art and literature. On the railings of the Bārhut stūpa, and on the gate-way of the Sañchi stūpa, we have relics representing sacred trees being worshipped by the people; and nyagrodha is the tree under which Gotama attained sambodhi (enlightenment). The Makuṭabandhana cetiya must likewise refer to a sacred spot where the head-gear band or the lock of hairdress of the Buddha after he had cut it off with his sword was placed, and which had thus attained a sanctity. In the early days of Buddhism when the worship of any image of the Buddha had not yet been sanctioned, it had been the custom to worship objects—the Bodhi tree, locks of hair, foot-prints, Dhamma-cakka (wheel of law), the alms-bowl or the like that had once been associated with him. In fact on the rails of the Bārhut stūpa, there are reliefs representing these objects being worshipped by the people. The Makuṭabandhana Cetiya is referred to in the Dīgha Nikāya¹ as belonging to the Mallas. Every tribe and janapada had cetiyas or sacred shrines of their own which they were required to honour, worship and support. The Mahāparinibbāna Suttanta of the Dīgha Nikāya informs us thus: ‘The Vajjians will surely prosper as long as they honour, esteem, revere and support Vajjian shrines (Vajji-cetiyāni) in town or country’. ² The Buddha while staying at the Sārandada cetīya at Vesālī taught the Vajjians the seven conditions of welfare.³ The Sārandada cetīya thus seems to be a vihāra or monastery of the Vajjian tribe. The Makuṭabandhana cetīya⁴ had probably the honour of having been the sacred spot where the body of the Master was burnt. For the Dīgha Nikāya asserts, ‘the object of the gods is to carry the dead body of the Blessed One to the Makuṭabandhana, a cetiya of the Mallas, where the body of the Master will be burnt.’⁵ The same authority refers to the Cāpāla cetīya in detail, and relates how here the Buddha thwarted an attempt of Māra, and also rejected the rest of his natural term of life consciously and deliberately.⁶ It seems that the Cāpāla cetīya was a vihāra shrine; and our assumption seems to be a correct one when we find a mention of the same shrine in the Divyāvadāna⁷ which informs us thus: ‘the Master asked Ānanda to go to the Cāpāla shrine where the Bhikkhus were dwelling and the Buddha also directed him to have all those members assembled in the assembly-room of the monastery (Upasthānasālā). That the Sārandada cetiya referred to above cannot but mean a vihāra is clear from a reference in the Aṅguttara Nikāya¹ wherein it is stated that the five hundred Licchavis once assembled there when a talk arose amongst them about the getting of five jewels which cannot be easily got in this world.