A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t4.198

v2.c19.s6.t4.198

In Chapter I the Brahman Kauṇḍilya begs for a relic of Buddha, even though it might not be larger than a grain of mustard. The Licchavi prince Sarvalokapriyadarśana replies to him in the following verses: "When flowers will grow in the floods of the Ganges, when crows are red and Kokilas are the colour of conch-shells, when the Jambu tree bears palm nuts and the date tree mango blossoms,—then there will be a relic the size of a grain of mustard. When people will be well protected against the winter's cold with coats made out of the hairs of the tortoise,... When the feet of a mosquito will afford a firm support which will not waver,... When people will make a firm ladder out of a hare-horn, whereby to climb up to heaven,... When a mouse will climb up this ladder, and having eaten the moon up, will run around Rāhu,... When an umbrella made of Palāśa leaves will be large enough to protect people from the rain,... When ocean ships will career around upon the dry land with sail and mast,... When owls will carry away Gandhamādana hill with their beaks,[^3) then there will be a relic." The Brahman himself states the reason: It is impossible to find a relic of Buddha, even as small as a grain of mustard, as there is neither bone nor blood of Buddha's body, for the Completely Enlightened Tathāgata has only a Dharmakāya,¹ and consists only of the Dharma element, *i.e.*, he has only an immaterial "body" consisting of the absolute, and he is composed only of ideas, of spiritual (non-sensual) phenomena. A Buddha was never created and never passes away; only in order to bring the beings to maturity, he causes the vision of the complete Nirvāṇa to appear.