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Manual of Indian Buddhism c4: Part II. Life of Buddha

Manual of Indian Buddhism c4

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Contents

Part II. Life of Buddha

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The history of Buddha, such as may be extracted from the canonical writings, is so marvellous that all who are standing outside the pale of Buddhism reject, more or less, its truthfulness. A few of the unbelievers have gone to such lengths as to see in that history the remoulding of an ancient myth. Others, less radical, are of opinion that it will be possible by stripping the tale of its miraculous and mythical elements to find out the historic nucleus. Those are apt to believe that by the aid of their critical manipulations they can produce an image which is extremely like the original. Without denying the worth of critical disquisitions or entering into the merits of the different reconstructions of the traditional history, we must limit ourselves in the following pages to a condensed account of the principal feats in the career of the Sublime Being whom all Buddhists acknowledge and revere as their Lord, Bhagavat, as the fountainhead of all Dharmas; who, according to his own words, throughout myriads of ages had prepared himself, out of charity, before becoming a Buddha, to free sentient beings from the misery of existence. The history of that Buddha may be said to be true in an ideal sense. To a certain extent we agree with SPENCE HARDY² that "we must be content with the legend in its received version", though we would not subscribe to what he adds: "with all the accumulations it has gathered in successive ages", because these supposed accumulations are found in the sacred books, which are not separated from the epoch of Nirvāṇa by ages³.

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² M. of B. p. 139.

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³ There is nothing like a connected biography of the Buddha in the canonical books. The Lalita-Vistara erroneously considered as such, is in reality the narrative of

1. Descent from Heaven. Conception. Birth. Childhood. Adolescence

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¹ The following narrative is mainly based upon Intr. Jāt. I, p. 47 ff. (transl. by RHYS DAVIDS, 1880; by CHALMERS 1895). For comparison's sake references are given to Lal. V.; Mhv. I, 142 ff. and 197 ff., II, 1 ff. HARDY, M. of B. p. 140 ff. BIGANDET I, p. 20 ff. ROCKHILL, L., of B. p. 14 ff. and other sources of information.

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After having exercised the 30 Pāramitās in anterior births the Bodhisattva destined to become an omniscient Buddha was born in the Tuṣita heaven. At the request of the deities, urging him to release mankind, he made, before giving his assent, 5 necessary examinations: 1. of the time of his appearance; 2. of the continent; 3. of the country; 4. of the race and family; 5. of the mother who should bear him, and the time when her life should be at an end². He saw that the proper time had arrived; that all Buddhas are born in Jambudvīpa, in the country Madhyadeśa³; that the Buddhas are born either in the caste of Brahmans or of Kṣatriyas; the latter being predominant, he resolved upon becoming the son of Suddhodana, the king of the Śākya clan in Kapilavastu; finally he saw that the queen Mahā-Māyā should be his mother, and that she would die seven days after his birth⁴. He left Nandanavana, Indra's paradise, and was conceived in the womb of Mahā-Māyā.

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² It is the Buddha himself who is the authority for his abode in, and descent from the Tuṣita heaven; Aṅ. N. II, p. 130, and, according to CHALMERS, also Acchariyabbhuta-S. No. 123 of Majjh. N. (JRAS of 1894, p. 386).

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³ The Buddhist Madhyadeśa, for the boundaries of which see MV. V, 13, 12, lies to the east of Madhyadeśa properly so called. It is, in reality, the Pragdeśa. It is geographically impossible that in any period of Indian history Eastern Hindustan was looked upon as the central region of the Aryan Indians.

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⁴ The reason why she must die, is stated Jāt. I, p. 52; cp. BIGANDET I, p. 27, and Mhv. I, 199 — II, 3. A different reason adduced Lal. V. 112. A third account, the mythical base whereof is but slightly veiled, is found Buddhac. II, vs. 18.

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It was then, on the last day of the Āṣāḍha festival⁵ in Kapilavastu that Māyā had a dream, in which she saw how the Bodhisattva who in the shape of a white elephant was wandering on the Gold Mountain approached her from the North, and entered — so it seemed — her womb. So the Bodhisattva was conceived⁶.

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⁵ Lal. V. p. 63 the conception takes place at fullmoon day of Vaiśākha, the moon standing in Puṣya (Tiṣya); Mhv. gives the same asterism, omitting the name of the month.

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⁶ The conception is represented in the Bharhut sculpture Pl. XXVIII, inscribed *Bhagavato okamti*. Cp. MINAYEF Recherches I, 146.

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When the Queen the next morning told her dream to the King, he summoned Brahmans, interpreters of dreams, who declared that she had conceived a son destined to become either a universal Monarch or a Buddha.

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During the time of gestation, four celestials guarded the Bodhisattva and his mother, to shield them from all harm. When the time of her confinement drew near, Māyā wished to visit her parents at Devadaha (Devahrada). On

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the heroical career of the Bodhisattva from his descent on earth to the time when, after valiantly doing battle and vanquishing the Fiend, he proclaims his Kingdom of Dharma. It has the character of an epic on the Bodhisattva. The same applies to the Chinese texts enumerated by BEAL, SBE. XIX, p. XVI ff. The genuine portion of Aśvaghoṣa's Buddha-carita is nearly coextensive with Lal. V. The complete biographies, known to us, are compilations of canonical accounts, but as compositions comparatively modern; thus the originally Pali source of Bigandet's Life or legend of Gaudama; the Sinhalese Pūjāvaliya; the Tibetan Life by Ratnadharmarāja, transl. in extract by SCHIEFNER; ROCKHILL'S Life of the Buddha, derived from the Byah-Hgyur and Bstan-Hgyur; the Bhadrakalpāvadāna.

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her arriving at the Lumbini Grove, she felt a desire to enter the wood. Seeing a holy Sāl tree, she stretched out her hand to take hold of a branch, which bent down of its own accord, and whilst she held it, she was delivered, in standing position and holding the branch. The child was received by the 4 Guardian gods of the quarters, and from their hands by men, but he, descending from their hands, stood erect on the ground, looked in all directions, and, after making 7 steps, exclaimed triumphantly: "I am the foremost of the world". — The child was brought to Kapilavastu.

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On the same day with the Bodhisattva were born Yaśodharā, the mother of Rāhula¹, Channa (Chanda), Kāḷudāyin (Kāḷodāyin, Udāyin), the horse Kanthaka (Kaṇṭhaka), and Ānanda²; at the same time sprung into existence the Bodhi tree, and the four treasure vases.

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¹ Also called Bimbā, Bodhi-V. p. 20, and in N. sources Gopa, e. g. SCHIEFNER Tib. L. p. 236; 245. Lal. V. 155; cp. 270, where she is called Yaśovatī.

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² The cousin of the Buddha and the son of Amṛtodana, according to N. sources; e. g. SCHIEFNER, Tib. L. p. 264; ROCKHILL, L. of B. p. 13. Curiously BIGANDET I, 36 has the same statement, against the common S. tradition; see RHYS DAVIDS, B. p. 52. In Mhv. II, 157 Ananda's mother is Mṛgī (virtually identical with Kisa Gotamī).

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Northern sources name as born at the same time 4 kings who will play a part in the history of the Buddha, viz. Bimbisāra, Prasenajit, Pradyota, and Udayana³.

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³ SCHIEFNER, Tib. I. p. 235; ROCKHILL, L. of B. p. 16.

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The birth of the Bodhisattva caused great rejoicing in the heaven of the Thirty-three gods. The Seer Kāla (al. Asita) Devala, who happened to witness those rejoicings, and on enquiry was informed of the happy event, went to Suddhodana and expressed the wish to see the child. The infant was brought, but instead of worshiping Devala, put its feet on the matted hair of the Seer, who, rising from his seat bowed respectfully to the child, and the king, following his example, prostrated himself before his son. The Sage prophetically foresaw that the child one day would become a Buddha, but that himself would die before that time. This afflicted him and he wept. In order to secure to one of his relatives the blessing he was be deprived of, he went to his nephew Nāḷaka⁴, and recommended him to become a recluse, as in the house of Suddhodana a son was born, who in 35 years, would become a Buddha. Nāḷaka, accordingly, took up the life of a Śramaṇa, heard afterwards the Master, entered the Order, reached Arhatship, and finally extinction⁵.

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⁴ So, too, Mhv. II, p. 33, but Naradatta Lal. V. 135; 127.

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⁵ Cp. Nāḷaka-S. in S. Nip. p. 128.

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Five days after his birth the Bodhisattva received the name of Siddhattha (Siddhārtha⁶). Among the Brahmans attending the ceremony there were eight renowned soothsayers, who were asked by the King to prognosticate the future destiny of his son. Seven of them were not able to make out whether the Prince would become a universal Monarch or a Buddha. Alone the eigth, young Koṇḍañña (Kauṇḍinya) predicted that the latter alternative would infallibly prove true. This Koṇḍañña was the very same who afterwards as one belonging to the group of Five (Pañcavaggiya; in N. sources: Bhadravargīya) took the vows.

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⁶ In N. works also Sarvārthasiddha. The new born child is brought to the temple, where the idols — or as another account has it — the goddess Abhayā — bow down at his feet; Lal. V. chap. VIII; Mhv. II, 26; ROCKHILL, op. c. p. 17.

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The King, anxious to prevent his son from forsaking the world, asked what would move the Prince to flee from wordly enjoyments. The answer was: four ominous sights: an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a monk.

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Śuddhodana forthwith took all possible precautions that none of those sights should meet the eye of Siddhārtha.

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While the child grew up, surrounded by a brilliant retinue, under the special care of his aunt and stepmother, Prajāpati (the Matron) Gāutamī, it happened on a certain day that the King went out to the Ploughing festival, and the Prince was brought to the field by the nurses, who prepared for him a couch under the shade of a Jambutree. Attracted by the spectacle of the King handing the golden plough, the nurses left the Bodhisattva alone, who, seeing no one by him, seated himself crosslegged, and exercised the first degree of Meditation. Meanwhile the shadow of the trees had turned, but that of the Jambutree had not changed. As the nurses returning saw both miracles, they informed the King, who came in all haste and prostrated himself before his son, saying: "This is my second homage to thee, darling".

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There is a tale in the North that the Prince, when he first went to school, perplexed the schoolmaster, Viśvāmitra, by his miraculous faculties¹.

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¹ This undoubtedly apocryphal tale occurs Lal. V. Chap. X; cp. SCHIEFNER, Tib. L. p. 236. It is curious that in Mil. P. p. 236 Sabbamitta, a name synonymous with Viśvāmitra, is mentioned as a preceptor of the Prince.

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On reaching the age of 16 years Siddhārtha was married to Yaśodharā, the daughter of Suprabuddha², his own cousin.

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² Of Mahānāman in Mhv. II, 48; of Daṇḍapāṇi in Lal. V. p. 179. In S. texts Daṇḍapāṇi is the brother of Suppabuddha; HARDY, M. of B. p. 137. The latter is the father of Māya, in some N. sources, but in Mhv. I, 356 Māya is the daughter of Subhūti. Cp. RHYS DAVIDS, B. p. 52.

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Many feats of prowess were achieved by the Bodhisattva, when a youth. He was an incomparable archer, had herculean strength, and was an expert in all arts. In all contests he showed himself superior to all other Sākyas, among whom Devadatta, and it was then that the seed of jealousy was planted in the proud heart of Devadatta³.

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³ Lal. V. Chap. XII; Mhv. II, 74 ff.; Tib. L. p. 237; ROCKHILL, L. of B. p. 21. Cp. HARDY, M. of B. p. 153. D. is in Pali texts the brother of Yaśodharā and a son to Suppabuddha; HARDY, M. of B. p. 231. His mother is Godhī, e. g. CV. VII, 3, but in Tib. L. p. 237 Devadatta, wife to Amṛtodana.

2. Forebodings of the Future. Flight from Kapilavastu. Renunciation of the World

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Time passed on, and the Bodhisattva lived in luxury and all kinds of enjoyments⁴.

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⁴ Cp. Lal. V. Chap. XIV; Buddhac. Chap. III, vs. 26 ff. and V, 16 f.

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On a certain day the Prince ascended his chariot, and drove with his charioteer Channa (Skr. Chanda, Chandaka) to the pleasure gardens. The gods, knowing that the time was approaching when he would attain supreme Enlightenment, resolved to show him the 4 ominous sights. One among the gods assumed the form of an old, decrepit man. The Prince asked Channa:⁵ "What man is this?" "He is an old man", was the answer, "and every living being is doomed to become like him". With emotion in his mind, the Prince quickly returned home, and Śuddhodana on being informed of the reason of that speedy return, felt his anxiety increase, and doubled the guard surrounding the palace.

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⁵ The compiler of Intr. Jāt. I, 59 here refers to the Mahāpadāna.

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On another day the Prince saw, under the same circumstances, a sick man produced by the power of the gods. He put the same question, and on hearing the answer, turned back in agitation. The King multiplied the means of enjoyments for his son, and again doubled the guards.

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Sometime after the Bodhisattva, when driving to the gardens, met with a corpse. The answer, given by his charioteer moved him more than ever. Quickly he returned to the palace, and the King redoubled his precautions.

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On a fourth occasion the Bodhisattva on his drive to the gardens saw, by the instrumentality of the gods, a monk. The decent deportment of the person made a deep impression on his mind, and when he heard that the man was an ascetic, he forthwith felt a strong inclination to renounce the world¹. Now he drove on to the gardens, and there spent the day. After taking a bath he seated himself on the resting stone to be clothed.

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¹ Jāt. I, p. 59 adds the remark: "The preachers of the Dīgha-N. say that he saw all the 4 signs on the same day". This has nothing to do, as ROCKHILL op. c. p. 22 supposes, with the Prince riding on horseback to the fields and seeing some poor ploughing labourers; this scene falls between the third and the forth ominous sight in Buddhac. V, in ROCKHILL's source afterwards.

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At that moment Śakra felt that his throne became hot, a certain foreboding of danger to his dominion. Conceiving that the Bodhisattva at midnight of that very day would leave the palace and carry out the Great Renunciation, he ordered Viśvakarman to go to the gardens, and adorn Siddhārtha with heavenly attire.

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Viśvakarman obeyed the order, came into the presence of the Prince, and disposed in a divine manner the folds of the latter's hairdress. Thus arrayed in all his splendour, the Bodhisattva ascended his chariot. Just at that time he received the message that Yaśodharā had been delivered of a son², on hearing which he said: "Rāhula has been born, a bond has come into being." Hence the name of Rāhula was given to the child by order of Śuddhodana.

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² In Mhv. II, 159, and Tib. L. p. 240 (cp. Bhadrak. II) it is not the birth, but the conception which took place in the night of the Prince's flight. No date is given Buddhac. II, vs. 46, where Rāhula is marked by the epithet Rāhusapatnavaktra. Cp. the fact that in Tib. L. p. 245 Rāhula's birth coincides with the defeat of Māra at the time of a lunar eclipse on fullmoon day in Vaiśākha. The same moment gave birth to Ananda, the son of Amṛtodana. In Bhadrak. IX, Rāhula is born six years after his conception, as in Tib. L.

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When the Prince was entering the town with great magnificence, a young lady, Kisā Gotamī³, was contemplating from the upper storey of her palace the entrance of the Bodhisattva, and exclaimed:

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³ Her story is told Par. Dīp. 195 ff.; Thertg. 213—223. Cp. Dhp. p. 118; 289; 387; Aṅg. N. I, 14, 5. In Mhv. II, 157 and Bhadrak. XXXV, she is called Mṛgī, the mother of Ānanda; in a confused Tibetan account something like Mṛgaja, with ROCKHILL, I., of B. p. 23; not named Buddhac. V, 24.

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Happy, indeed, is the mother,
Happy, indeed, is the father,
Happy, indeed, is the wife,
Who possesses such a husband!

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On hearing those words, the Bodhisattva became meditative, and as his mind was already estranged from evil passions, he perceived that real happiness can only be gained by quenching the fire of love, hatred and delusion. "She has given me a good lesson", quoth he, "I will search for the peace of Nirvāṇa⁴, and this very day leave my family and renounce the world." Then detaching from his neck a collar of great value, he sent it to Kisā Gotamī as a token of gratitude.

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⁴ The term rendered by "happy" in the stanza, is nibbuta, and Nirvāṇa is synonymous with nibbuti (nirvṛti). See CHILDERS s. vv.

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When Siddhārtha, after retiring to his apartments, lay reclined on his couch, a crowd of fair damsels began to sing, play and dance to divert him, but he took no pleasure in the spectacle and fell asleep. The damsels, disappointed, lay down to sleep. A short time after the Prince awoke and, looking around, saw the loathsome appearance of the sleeping women¹. He felt more and more disgusted, and the desire to accomplish the Great Renunciation (Abhiniṣkramaṇa) arose in him with double force. He rose, called his charioteer, and gave order to saddle his horse².

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¹ For a fuller description see Jat. I, p. 61 and Lal. V., p. 251, with the misogynic effusion p. 252. Cp. Buddhac. V, 43 ff. Mhv. II, 159.

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² N. writings insert an episod describing how the Prince as a dutiful son, before departing, asks his father's leave; Lal. V., Chap. XV; Mhv. II, 141; cp. Buddhac. V, vs. 27—38. The episode contains powerful passages, but is hardly appropriate.

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While Channa was saddling the courser Kanthaka, the Bodhisattva went to the room of Rāhula's mother. He opened the door and saw Yaśodharā sleeping, with one of her hands upon the head of the child. Fearing that her awakening would be an obstacle to his going away, he silently left the palace³. As soon as he came out, he went to his gigantic white steed, bestrode it, and ordered Channa to take hold of its tail⁴. The city gate was opened by the power of the guardian deity, and so the Bodhisattva escaped.

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³ Intr. Jāt. I, p. 62 adds the notice that according to a Jāt. commentary "Rāhula was at that time seven days old", but rejects that view as not being found in other commentaries. Quite different again several N. traditions, see note above p. 16.

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⁴ The horse measured 18 cubits from the neck to the tail.

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At that moment Māra the Fiend appeared in the air, with the intention to prevent the Bodhisattva to become a Buddha, by promising him in a week the dignity of a universal monarch. But the Prince, not aiming at worldly sovereignty, remained deaf to the Tempter, who, baffled in his design, maliciously followed him, as a shadow the body, waiting for an opportunity⁵.

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⁵ Lal. V, p. 257 it is not Māra, but Chandaka who tries to deturn the Prince from his design. Cp. Mhv. II, 160, and again 165. Cp. WINDISCH Māra und B. p. 205.

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It was on the full moon day of Āṣāḍha⁶ when the Prince left the city. At a certain distance he turned the face, at the spot where would be erected the shrine of "Kanthaka's Return"⁷. His progress through the country went on in great pomp and glory, a host of heavenly beings attending him with lighted torches, and the sky being replete with flowers from Indra's heaven "as with the drops of rain at the beginning of the rains"⁸.

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⁶ I. e. the date of his conception.

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⁷ Kanthakanivattana. This shrine not mentioned Lal. V. 277, but another erected on the spot where Chandaka took leave, (Chandakanivartana).

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⁸ In Madhyadeśa the rains set in about the end of June.

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After going with such a splendid retinue 30 Yojanas the Prince arrived at the river Anomā⁹. He sprang with his steed over the river, lighted, and said to Channa: "Here take my ornaments, and return with Kanthaka. I am going to become an ascetic".

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⁹ Slightly different Mhv. II, 164, where the place Anomiya is apparently the same as Anupiya in the country of the Mallas. Cp. Lal. V. p. 277.

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Thereupon the Bodhisattva thought: "These long locks of mine are unbecoming a Sramaṇa". He took his sword, cut off his hair, and flung it together with the crest jewel towards the sky, saying: "If I am destined to become a Buddha, let it stand in the air; if not, let it come down on the ground!" The tuft of hair with the jewel went up and remained suspended in the sky, where Śakra received it in a golden casket, to place it in the Shrine of the Crest jewel (Cūḷāmaṇi) in the Heaven of the 33 gods¹⁰.

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¹⁰ The name of the Caitya in Lal. V. p. 278 is Cūḍāpratigrahaṇa. The relic is Indo-Aryan Research. III. 8. figured as placed in the Sudhammā Devasabhā, and called *Bhagavato Cūḍamaho* Pl. XVI of Bharhut; cp. CUNNINGHAM p. 189 of his text.

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Again the Prince thought: "These fine Benares clothes do not befit a Śramaṇa". At that moment the Mahābrahma angel Ghaṭīkāra, who in the days of yore had been the friend of the Bodhisattva, when the latter was Gyotipāla¹, provided him with the right requisites of a Śramaṇa, the 3 robes etc. The Bodhisattva put on his new dress, and bade Channa to go back with the salutations to his parents. The charioteer obeyed, but the horse Kanthaka, unable to bear his grief, died of a broken heart. After his death he was reborn as a deity of the same name in heaven².

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¹ For the history of the two friends, see Mhv. I, 319 ff. and cp. Mil. P. p. 221 ff. Dhp. p. 349. — In Mhv. II, 195; Lal. V. 276; Buddhac. VI, vs. 60, the B. changes his dress with the *kāṣāya* of a hunter or a Devaputra who had assumed the shape of a hunter.

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² The death and deification of the steed is more amply told in Mhv. II, 189 ff. According to this source, and Lal. V. p. 282 K. died after his having returned to Kapilavastu. Cp. about his blissful state in heaven Vimāna-V. p. 81.

3. Wandering Life. Ascetism. Contest with Māra. Triumph. Attainment of Buddhahood

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The Bodhisattva having thus entered upon the life of a recluse spent a week in the mango grove of Anupiya. Thence he travelled in one day to Rājagṛha, the capital of Magadha, where he begged his food. At this sight the inhabitants were struck with wonder, not knowing whether he was a deity, a mortal, or any other being. The King, Seniya (Śreṇya, Śreṇika) Bimbisāra, observing the Great Man (*Mahāpuruṣa*) from his palace tower, ordered his servants to go and ascertain the nature of the stranger. The men found the Bodhisattva, who after having got sufficient food had left the city, at the foot of the Pāṇḍava Rock, eating, not without an effort, his coarse meal. The messengers returned, and related all to the King, who quickly went to the place where the Great Man was sitting, and offered him his whole kingdom, but the latter rejected that generous offer, saying that he had abandoned all in the hope of attaining supreme Enlightenment, whereupon Bimbisāra asked the favour that his kingdom should first of all be visited by the Buddha³.

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³ A fuller account of this story is found S.-Nip. p. 71 and commentary. The poetical version Lal. V. 297 ff. is much longer.

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On leaving the King, the Bodhisattva went forward, and in due course came to Āḷāra Kālāma and Uddaka, son of Rāma, two renowned teachers of philosophy⁴. He learned from them the successive degrees of ecstatic meditation (*samāpatti*), but soon discovering that it was not the way to Enlightenment, he resolved to apply himself to the Great Effort (*Mahāpadhāna*)⁵. To effect his purpose, he went to Uruvelā (Uruvilvā). Now it came to pass that the Pañcavaggiyas, i. e. the 5 mendicants, Koṇḍañña and the rest, met with him, and resolved to stay with him, persuaded as they were that erelong he would become a Buddha.

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⁴ About the two teachers, see the Buddha's own account, Maijh. N. I, p. 80 ff. Cp. Lal. V. 319 ff. — In the N. books the course of events is somewhat different; see Lal. V. 294; Mhv. II, 195; Buddhac. X—XII; the N. names of the teachers are Ārāḍa Kālāma, and Udraka (mistakenly Rudraka) Rāmaputra.

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⁵ The system is set forth in the Mahāpadhāna-S. in Dīgh. N.; cp. Ang. N. II, p. 16, and CHILDERS s. v. *padhānam*.

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After six years of exertion the Bodhisattva resolved to practise the most profound meditation (*dhyāna*) and to perform the most rigid penance. By carrying his fasting to excess, he became as thin as a skeleton, and at last so weak that one day he fainted and fell down¹. Some gods said: "The Śramaṇa Gautama² is dead; others, however, remarked: 'Such is the state of Arhats'". And, indeed, not long afterwards he recovered from his swoon³.

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¹ Buddha himself describes his severe penance and subsequent exhaustion in Majjh. N. I, p. 80; p. 245 ff. Cp. Lal. V. 319 ff.; SENART Not. Ep. 3 (statue). — The Dhyāna alluded to is termed appanaka Majjh. N. l. c.; āṣṭhanaka Lal. V. 314; 324; Mhv. II, 125.

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² This is the first time the B. is so termed in Jāt. Intr., whereas in Lal. V. he is addressed by that name by Āraḍa. As to the origin of the name, see BURNOUF, Intr. p. 155. The Buddha is also known as an Āṅgirasa, the Gautamas being a subdivision of the Āṅgirasas. One of other appellations is Ādityabandhu, the Śakyas forming a gens of the great tribe of Sun-descendants. Cp. S. Nip. p. 73: Ādicca nāma gottena, Sakkiya nāma jātiya.

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³ Another tradition describes the grief of Māyā on hearing the (false) report of her son's death; Lal. V. 314 ff.

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As he perceived that mortification was not the way to Enlightenment, he resumed his former diet, which caused the Five friars to loose faith in him. Hence they left him, and went to Ṛṣipatana (Isipatana) in the Deer-park near Benares.

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At that time there lived in Uruvelā a girl named Sujātā, the Chieftain's daughter⁴. On the fullmoon day of Vaiśākha she rose early to make an offering to a holy tree and milked the cows. Seeing many miracles, she joyfully sent her servant girl Pūrṇā (Puṇṇā) to clear the place under the holy tree.

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⁴ Her father's title is senāni, senāpati, and otherwise gopādhipa or grāmika (i. e. village head) in Jāt., Mhv., Lal. V., Buddhac. In this last non canonical source her name is Nandabala XII, 106, but Sudata XVII, 9. The name Balā also occurs Lal. V. 331. The story of her offering, the subsequent march of the B., and his victory is twice told, Mhv. II, 264 ff. and 299 ff. Cp. Lal. V. Chap. XVIII-XXI; Buddhac. p. 106 ff.

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Now in the latter part of the previous night the Bodhisattva had seen 5 dreams, by which he got the certainty that in the course of that day he would become Buddha. At daybreak he went in quest of his food and sat down at the foot of the holy tree, lighting up the East with his radiance. Pūrṇā saw him shining, the whole tree goldcoloured by the rays issuing from his body. She ran back to her mistress, who, after pouring milk-rice in a golden vessel, went to the tree, and presented the golden vessel to the Great Man. And at that moment disappeared the earthen pot given him by Ghaṭīkāra. He went with the golden vessel to the bank of the river Nairañjanā (P. Nerañjarā), to a place called Well-established (Supatiṭṭhita), where innumerable Bodhisattvas had bathed on the day of their awaking to Enlightenment. After taking a bath he dressed himself in the garb of an Arhat worn by numberless Buddhas, and, sitting down Eastward, ate all his food, divided into 49 portions, as he would have no other nourishment during the next 7 weeks. Having finished his meal, he flung the golden vessel into the stream with the following asseveration: "If on this day I am to become a Buddha, let this vessel ascend the stream; if not, let it go down". And, lo, it went up to a great distance, when it sunk down to the abode of the Nāgaking Kāla. On striking against the vessels of the three last Buddhas, it produced a sound, by which Kāla became aware of the rise of a new Buddha⁵.

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⁵ Cp. Mhv. II, 265; twice repeated, with variations, p. 307 and p. 400.

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In the evening the Great Man marched toward the tree of Enlightenment. He met on his march with a grasscutter, Svastika (Sotthiya), who offered him 8 bundles of grass. He accepted the offering, and, after taking a survey of the quarters, he went to the East, the seat of all Buddhas, facing the West. There he scattered the handful of grass on the ground, where a seat of 14 cubits was formed. Then he uttered the following asseveration: "Let my skin, my nerves and bones waste away, let my life blood dry up, I will not leave this seat before attaining perfect Enlightenment"¹.

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¹ Cp. the stanza in Lal. V. p. 362.

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It was at that moment that Māra² thinking: "Prince Siddhārtha wishes to escape from my dominion", summoned his hosts to do battle. Himself mounted on the elephant Mountain-girdled (Girimekhala) led the attack, which was so dreadful that the gods attending the Bodhisattva were seized with terror and fled. The Great Man alone remained undaunted, putting his trust in the Pāramitās. Thereupon Māra caused violent winds to blow, followed by a rain of rocks, weapons, glowing ashes, charcoal. All in vain³.

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² Māra pāpimā, the usual name of the Fiend in P., originally, it appears, synonymous with the *Mṛtyuḥ pāpmā* in Vaidic texts, has with the Buddhists become the incarnation of Evil. His connection with Death is further exemplified by his being identified with *Maccu-rāja*, in Therag. vs. 411. For *pāpimā* Mhv. has *pāpimān*, along with *pāpīyān* (e. g. II, 264; 268); the latter form being used in Lal. V. A wellknown synonymous term both in S. and in N. texts is Namuci. His identification with Smara is founded upon his being the ruler of the highest Kāmaloka; hence he is termed Kāmeśvara, Lal. V. p. 427; *kāmadhātav Māraḥ pāpīyān adhipatir īśvaro vaśavartī*, p. 375. Cp. Buddhac. XIII, vs. 2. See also WINDISCH Māra und B. p. 184 ff.

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³ According to Lal. V. p. 404 Māra, after his first unsuccessful attack, sends his daughters to tempt the B. He repeats his attempt in a later period, in which the P. texts place it, as we shall see below. Other transpositions occur Mhv. II, 322 and Buddhac. XIII, vs. 2 ff.

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Seeing all his attempts baffled, the Fiend approached the Great Man, and summoned him to vacate his seat. "Māra!" was the reply, "you have not devoted your life to benefit the world, to attain wisdom. This seat does not belong to you". Enraged at these words, Māra cast his discus weapon at the Great Man, but it became a garland of flowers. Again the host of Māra renewed the attack, but the rocks they hurled down at him, were turned into nosegays. Sure of his triumph, the Bodhisattva exclaimed: "The seat belongs to me", and turning to the Fiend, he defied him to adduce a witness for his merits. Māra pointed to his followers, who with a roar testified to their master's liberality. In his turn the Fiend asked: "As to you, Siddhārtha, who is witness to your having bestowed alms?" Then the Bodhisattva called up the Earth to be his witness, and she replied with such a roaring voice that the hosts of Māra were discomfited, and the elephant Girimekhala fell down on his knees to pay homage to the Great Man. The army of the enemy fled in all directions, whereas the gods exultingly shouted: "Māra is defeated! The Prince Siddhārtha has prevailed!" The Nāgas and other celestial beings approached the seat of Enlightenment, chanting songs of victory.

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The sun was still above the horizon when the Great Man defeated the army of his foe⁴. In the first watch of the night he arrived at the knowledge of his former states of existence (*pūrvanivāsa*, *pubbenivāsa*); in the second watch he acquired the heavenly eye (*divyacakṣus*, *dibbacakkhu*); in the 3d the knowledge of the series of causes and effects⁵.

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⁴ In Mhv. II, 417 the army is defeated at sunrise.

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⁵ *Pratītyasamutpāda*, P. *paṭiccasamuppāda*; the system, as developed MV. I, 1; Lal. V. Chap. XXII; Mhv. II, 285 and 346, will be expounded in Part III below. — BIGANDET'S source adds the conception of the 4 Āryasatyāni; likewise Lal. V. 447; Mhv. II, 345. The 4 truths or axioms are fully set forth Majjh. N. I, p. 48.

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While he was mentally revolving the 12 causes (Nidānas) in direct order and in reverse order⁶, the whole universe shook 12 times to its foundation, and the most extraordinary phaenomena were seen, even as at his birth.

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⁶ Cp. MV. I, 1; for the stanzas there cp. also Mhv. II, 88; 416 ff.

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Amid these wonders the Bodhisattva attained Omniscience, and he uttered the joyful song¹ common to all Buddhas.

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¹ See Intr. Jat. I, p. 76; the dogmatic interpretation in the comment on Dhp. vs. 153 f. An explanation of the "train of thought" is found in Prof. RHYS DAVIDS, B. pp. 100-112. — The Udāna in Mhv. II, 285 contains in plainer words the same idea.

4. The First Seven Weeks of Buddhahood. Preaching of the Law and Conversion of the 5 Mendicant Friars. Other Converts. Temptation by Māra. The Three Kāsyapas

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After reaching perfect Enlightenment, the Lord Buddha remained sitting on the same seat, realizing the bliss of Deliverance, and thinking of his generous acts in his previous existence as Viśvantara (Vessantara⁴). Some deities, seeing that he did not leave his seat, felt a doubt whether he had fulfilled his daytask, but the Master, knowing their thoughts, rose into the air, performed a magical³ feat, and thus dispelled their misgivings. Thereupon he took his stand a little to the North-East, looking during a week with unblenching eyes at the spot which became the "Shrine of the Unblenching one". Between that spot and his seat he shaped a walk, stretching from East to West, which he spent a week in walking to and fro. That walk became known as the "Jewel shrine of the Walk". In the fourth week the gods made to the Northwest a Jewelhouse. There he spent a week, going through the whole Abhidharma-Piṭaka.

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³ Yamaka-pātihāriya. Yamaka, a term which has given rise to various remarks, is, if we are not mistaken, a conundrum, a veiled expression for yoga in the sense of "jugglery, magic"; yamaka, double, being nearly synonymous with yoga, conjunction, and wholly with yuga, a couple.

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After having spent four weeks near the Bodhi tree, he went in the fifth week to the Goatherd's Banyan tree, and sat there scrutinizing the Dharma⁴. It was at that time that Māra, who always followed the Master to discover a flaw sat down overcome with sorrow after his defeat. His three daughters, Desire, Pining and Lust⁵, on hearing the reason of his affliction, promised that by their charms they would overcome the Saint. So they approached the Lord and tried to seduce him, but he paid not the slightest attention to them. At last he said: "Go away! Suchlike endeavours may have success with men who have not subdued the passions, but the Tathāgata has done away with affection, hate and illusion", and he recited two stanzas (Dhp. vss. 179, 180). Baffled in their attemps the daughters returned to their father.

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⁴ The account of the Lord's stations in MV I, 1-5 is different; viz. 1. Bodhi tree; 2. The Goatherd's Banyan tree; 3. Mucalinda; 4. Rājayatana tree; 5. Goatherd's Banyan tree; cp. Majjh. N. I, p. 167. In Lal. V. 488 ff. the sequel is: 1. Bodhi terrace (Bodhi-maṇḍa); 2. the Long Walk, extending over the whole universe; 3. B. looks with unblenching eyes to the Bodhimaṇḍa; 4. He goes the Short Walk from the Eastern to the Western Ocean; 5. Mucilinda; 6. the Goatherd's Banyan tree; 7. Tārāyaṇa tree.

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⁵ Their names in P. are: Taṇhā, Arati, Ragā; see more about them S. Nip. p. 157; Samy. N. I, p. 124; Aṅg. N. I, 3. In Lal. V. 490 they occur as Tṛṣṇā, Arati, Rati; in Buddhac. XIII, 3 Tṛṣ, Prīti, Rati. The episod is wanting in MV.

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The Lord, after spending there a week, went to Mucalinda⁶. There he was shielded during a rainshower by the coils and hoods of the Nāga king. After a week he went to the Rājāyatana tree¹, where he remained another week.

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² His last birth but one. The story of V. is the most favourite of all the Jatakas and forms the subject of dramatic performances in Burma and Tibet; WADDELL, Buddh. of Tib. 540-551. Cp. HARDY, M. of B. 116 ff. Fa Hian's Rec. 106.

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⁶ Lal. V. 491: Mucilinda. It occurs as the name of a mountain, a lake, a Nāga, and a tree.

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¹ Corresponding to Skr. rājāyatana. Tārāyaṇa of Lal. V. may be a corruption of a supposed Prākrit rājāyana.

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On the last day of the seven weeks, whilst the Lord was sitting at the foot of the Rājāyatana, it came to pass that two merchants, Tapussa and Bhalluka², were travelling from Utkala (Orissa) to Madhyadeśa, with 500 carts. A deity, who had been a bloodrelation of those merchants, stopped their carts, and exhorted them to offer cakes of barley and honey to the Lord. The merchants followed the advice, went to the presence of the Buddha, and said: "O Lord! out of mercy to us accept this food!"³ The Tathāgatha had no vessel to receive those offerings, but the Guardian deities of the four quarters forthwith came from heaven, and presented him each with a bowl of sapphire. He refused. Then they offered him four other bowls of bean-coloured stone, which he accepted, putting the four bowls one in the other with the word of command: "Let them become one". He now took the food and ate it.

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² Lal. V. has Trapuṣa and, like MV., Bhallika, two brothers, as with BIGANDET I, 108. Tapassu in Intr. Jāt. is certainly wrong. The event takes place earlier in MV. 1, 4, but equally near the Rājayatana. On the redaction of the episod in Mhv. see MINAYEF Recherches I, 158.

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³ The formula MV 1, 4 is: "that it may be to our weal and happiness for long time!" Lal. V. 495 has anukampām upādāya, exactly as Jāt. Intr.

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When the Lord had finished his meal, the merchants, prostrating themselves, made profession of faith with the words: "We take refuge in the Buddha and in the Law; take us, o Lord, from hence forward lifelong as lay devotees (Upāsaka)!" The two merchants thus became the first lay devotees, by pronouncing only two articles of faith⁴, since at that time the Congregation (Saṅgha) did not yet exist. After their profession of faith they besought the Master to bestow upon them something which in the sequel they might worship. And he gave them a few hairs of his head. These were afterwards deposited by the merchants as relics in a shrine, which they erected in their native city⁵.

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⁴ They became upāsaka dvevācikā.

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⁵ About the conflicting claims of the Burmese and the Simhalese to the possession of these relics see Prof. RHYS DAVIDS, Birth stories p. 110, note. It may be added that a town in Bactria raised the same claim; Voy. 1, 66. Cf. MINAYEF Recherches 1, 161.

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Then the Tathāgata rose up and returned to the Goatherd's Banyan tree. The thought arose in him that the Law he had mastered was too profound and subtle to be preached to others. But Brahmā Sahampati, knowing that the world would be lost, if the Buddha continued unwilling to reveal the Law, repaired to the place where the Lord was sitting and urged him to show the way of salvation in so eloquent words that finally his request was granted⁶.

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⁶ More amply and poetically told MV. I, 5; Majjh. N. I, 167 ff. Samy. N. I, 136 ff. Lal. V. 514 ff. The agreement between the S. and the N. tradition is here very close. We only remark that for P. Brahmā Sahampati Lal. V. has usually Sikht Mahābrahmā; yet Sahampati occurs e. g. p. 69; 342 (cp. Vyutp. § 163), and Sahapati p. 49.

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The Buddha now pondered in his mind to whom he should first reveal the Law. He thought of Ālāra, but by the suggestion of a deity he became aware that his former teacher had died a week ago. Then he thought of Udraka, but on an intimation by a deity he came to the conclusion that Udraka had died last night⁷. Now his thoughts turned to the 5 mendicant friars, who had for a while so faithfully attended him. Discovering in his mind that they were living in the Deerpark near Benares, he took the resolution to go thither and inaugurate there the dominion of the Law¹. He lingered a few days more near the Bodhi tree, and departed on the full moon day of Āṣāḍha².

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⁷ Cp. for this part of the narrative and the sequel Lal. V. 523 ff. Buddhac. XV, 87 ff. ROCKHILL, L. of B. p. 37 ff.

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¹ And: "begin to turn the wheel of the Law". Both translations of *dharmacakram pravartayitum* are admissible. Yet it must be noticed that the Buddhists usually take the expression in a symbolical sense, and so they did anciently, as is proved by the representations of the wheel at Bharhut, Pl. XIII and XXXI. Cp. Ep. Ind. II, 322. A third meaning results from such epithets as *dvādaśākāra* — an allusion to the 12 Nidānas and perhaps to the 12 Aṅgas — and *sūkṣma, gambhīra*; viz. that of "the whole circle of the Law". In such a connection, *dharmacakram vartayati* or *pravartayati* may be rendered with "unfolding the whole of the Dharma".

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² The date of his conception and of his entering upon a wandering life. The "few days" must be a week, for it is eight weeks between full moon day of Vaiśākha to full moon in Āṣāḍha.

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On his way he met the Ājīvaka monk Upaka, who struck with his prepossessing exterior, asked him to what order of monks he belonged, and who was his master. Whereupon the Lord, proclaiming his own omniscience and superiority, declared his intention to proceed to Benares to inaugurate the dominion of the Law, and to beat the drum of Immortality (Nirvāṇa) in this world that is groping in darkness³.

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³ See the Gāthās MV I, 6; Majjh. N. I, p. 169; Lal. V. 526. — Concerning Upaka cp. BURNOUF Intr. 389; FEER, Etudes Bouddhiques pp. 15—17.

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On the evening the Master arrived at the Deerpark⁴. When the Five monks saw him from afar, they said one to another: "Brethren⁵, here comes the Śramaṇa Gautama, who has returned to a good life and forsaken all earnest striving. We will not receive him with marks of reverence, but as he is of a good family he deserves the honour of a seat". Such was their agreement, but when the Lord came nearer, they involuntarily rose and respectfully welcomed him. Not knowing that he had became a Buddha, they addressed him by his name or by "Reverend". But the Lord said: "Do not, o monks, address me thus; I am a Tathāgata. I will preach you the Law by following which you will attain, even in this life, at the highest degree of holiness".

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⁴ The legend about the origin of the name in Mhv. I, 359 ff. presupposes the Prākṛit form *dāya*, not the Skr. *dāva*.

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⁵ *Āvuso*, properly "Sir, Reverend". It is not exactly indeclinable, as CHILDERS has it, but the vocat. case, also used in addressing a company, of *āyusmat* (āyuṣmat); see e. g. S. Vibh. IV, 8, 8. The form of the case agrees with Vaidic-*vas*, as in *adrivas, bhagos*.

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After persuading them to be attentive, the Master preached his first discourse, in which he set forth that one who renounces the world should shun two extremes: the pursuit of worldly pleasures, and the practice of useless austerities⁶; that it is the middle course, discovered by the Tathāgata, which leads to wisdom and Nirvāṇa. That middle course, as he proceeded to unfold, is the eightfold Path⁷. Further he gave an exposition of the 4. Axioms or Certainties (Āryasatyāni): suffering, the cause of suffering, the suppression of suffering, the path leading to that suppression. During that exposition Koṇḍañña (Kauṇḍinya) came to true insight, and understood⁸ that whatever has an origin is destined to have an end. Thereby he acquired the fruit of the first stage on the path to Nirvāṇa¹, and at the time he received ordination. The next day Vappa (Vāṣpa) was converted, and on the three following days Bhaddiya (Bhadrika), Mahānāman and Assaji (Aśvajit) successively². On the fifth day the Master preached to all of them the discourse "On the inanity of all physical and mental phaenomena" (*Anattalakkhaṇa-Suttanta*), in consequence whereof the 5 monks became in their minds freed from all impurity. Thus there were at that time six Arhats.

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⁶ Cp. BEAL SBE. XIX, 174.

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⁷ *Aṣṭāṅgiko (āryaṣṭ°) mārgaḥ, aṭṭhāṅgiko maggo*, viz. right views, r. thoughts, r. speech, r. actions, r. living, r. exertion, r. recollection, r. meditation, MV. I, 6, 18; Dīgh. N. I, p. 157; Majjh. N. I, p. 47 ff.; Samy. N. II, p. 106; Lal. V. 540 ff. Kāraṇḍ. V., 46. Cp. Vyu. § 44; Dharma. S. L.

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⁸ Hence his surname Añña- or Aññāta-Koṇḍañña, in ungrammatical Skr. *Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya*. Cp. Jeta-vana instead of Jetr-vana. A correction has *Ājñāta* K. Vyu. § 47.

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¹ Sotāpattiphala; see CHILDERS s. vv. maggo and sotāpatti; cp. BIGANDET I, p. 153.

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² The formula of ordination is: "Come, O monks! well proclaimed is the Law, lead a holy life that an end may be put to suffering!"

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In those days there was in Benares a young man, named Yaśas (P. Yasa), a wealthy banker's son. Once it happened that he saw the same spectacle of sleeping female musicians as Siddhārtha had witnessed in the night of his flight. Disgusted, he fled the house and directed his steps to the Deerpark. There the Lord saw him, and perceiving his predisposition to become a saint, he called him, established him in the fruition of the first stage on the path to Nirvāṇa, and on the next day in Arhatship³.

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³ The scene of the story of Yaśas is laid in Kusinarā SBE. XIX, 180, but BEAL'S Rom. Leg. agrees with MV.

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Soon afterwards the father of Yaśas became a convert as lay devotee. He was the first Upāsaka making profession of faith by taking refuge in the threefold formula (*tevācika*). The mother of Yaśas and his wife became likewise lay devotees; not long after 54 friends of Yaśas took orders, and attained to Arhatship, so that there were then 61 Arhats all in all.

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After the rainy season and its solemn close (*pavāraṇā, pavāraṇā*), the Master sent out the 60 in different directions with the words: "Go forth, O monks, wandering and preaching". He himself went to Uruvelā. On his way thither he overcame the temptations of Māra⁴ and converted the Bhaddavaggiyas⁵.

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⁴ MV I, 11 and 18; cp. ROCKHILL, L. of B. p. 39. No mention of it in Jāt. Intr. p. 82.

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⁵ Different from the N. five Bhadravargiyas = S. Pañcavaggiyas. Yet a Tibetan source has the same story of the 60 young men of "the happy hand" or Bhadravarga; see ROCKHILL, L. of B. p. 40.

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At Uruvelā there lived three brothers, hermits with matted hair and fireworshippers (*Jaṭilas*), known by the name of Uruvela-Kassapa (Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa), Naḍi-K., and Gayā-K. By performing many miracles⁶, the Tathāgata converted the three brothers, with their disciples. Accompanied by all of them, he went to the hill of Gayāśīrṣa (P. Gayāsīsa), and delivered there his sermon on Burning (*Āditta-pariyāya*), in consequence of which all his hearers were established in Arhatship⁷.

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⁶ Details about those miracles are found MV. I, 15-20; cp. Tib. L. 250 ff. SBE. XIX, 184.

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⁷ MV. I, 21. SBE. XIX, 186.

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After staying for some time near Gayāśīrṣa, the Master wandered with his numerous followers, wending his way to the Supatiṭṭha Shrine in the Laṭṭhivana (Yaṣṭivana⁸) near Rājagṛha, in order to redeem the promise he had made to Bimbisāra.

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⁸ SCHIEFNER, Tib. L. p. 254 has: "Rohrhain des festen K'aitja". Whether "Rohrhain" is intended for a rendering of Yaṣṭivana is doubtful. If so, Y. and Veṇuvana would seem to have been identified, or confounded. The name of the Shrine is obviously Supratiṣṭha, answering to P. Supatiṭṭha. Cf. ROCKHILL, op. c. p. 42, note.

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When the King heard that the Buddha had arrived, he hastened with a great number of Brahman householders to the Yaṣṭivana, and prostrated himself before the feet of the Lord — those feet, marked by the figure of a wheel and emitting a flood of light. As the Brahmans stood in doubt whether the Great Śramaṇa was the pupil of Uruvelā-Kāśyapa, or the reverse, the Lord penetrating their feelings, summoned the Sthavira to give testimony anent his conversion, whereupon Kāśyapa declared that he had renounced the worship of Fire, and exclaimed: "The Lord is my master, I am his disciple". Then he rose into the air, and by that wonder fully convinced the crowd that he had yielded to the Tathāgata. But the Lord said: "Not now only have I subdued Kāśyapa; in the past, too, he was subdued by me", and on that occasion he told the Mahā-Nārada-Kassapa Jātaka, winding up with a discourse on the 4 Axioms. On the conclusion the King with almost the whole of the assembly was established in the fruition of the first stage on the path to Nirvāṇa, and made profession of faith. Before taking leave he invited the Lord to dinner for next day.

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The following morning, when the Master with his disciples entered Rājagṛha, there appeared in front of him a young Brahman — in reality Śakra, who had assumed that shape — singing the praises of Buddha, the Law, and the Congregation in the most lofty strain¹.

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¹ MV I, 22; Intr. Jāt. p. 84; S. Nip. vv. 405-424. Cp. WINDISCH op. c. pp. 234-303.

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When the King of Magadha had received his guests, he presented to the Saṅgha whose chief is the Buddha in the most formal way, by pouring water over the Master's hand, the Bambu grove (Veṇuvana, P. Veḷuvana). The Buddha accepted the grant, and took up his abode in the grove with his company².

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² Cp. ROCKHILL op. c. p. 43; SBE. XIX, 193.

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At that time there lived at Rājagṛha a heterodox wandering ascetic (paribbājaka), Sañjaya, who had many disciples, amongst whom Sāriputra (Sāriputta) and Maudgalyāyana (Moggallāna)³. On a certain morning Sāriputra saw Aśvajit on his begging round, and, impressed by the Sthavira's deportment, he asked him who was his teacher. Aśvajit answered that his Master was the Great Śramaṇa of the Śakya race, and added that he was not yet able⁴ to give a detailed exposition of the doctrine, the essence of which, however, was contained in the following formula:

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³ Sariputra or Sarisuta, also called Upatisya (Upatissa); another name of Maudgalyāyana is Kolita; see MV. I, 24; Dhp. p. 120; Tib. l. p. 255, where the history of the two friends before their becoming pupils to Sañjaya is told. Sāriputta Dhp. l. c. is the son of the Brahmanwoman Sāri; Tib. l. agrees, but confounds the birds śari and śarikā. The origin of the names Upatisya and Kolita is differently told ll. cc. For Śaradvatīputra, synonymous with Sāriputra, see Tib. L. l. c. and BURNOUF Intr. p. 312. Cp. ROCKHILL op. c. p. 44 and the references there given.

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⁴ Notwithstanding his being an Arhat.

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Of those things (conditions) which spring from a cause
The cause has been told by Tathāgata;
And their suppression likewise
The Great Śramaṇa has revealed⁵.

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⁵ An able discussion on the purport of this confessio fidei is found in HODGSON'S Ess. p. 111.

c4.s4.54

Immediately on hearing this verse Sāriputra was established in the fruition of the first stage on the path to Nirvāṇa, and he repeated the formula to Maudgalyāyana, who likewise became a convert. Both, left their teacher Sañjaya. Maudgalyāyana attained Arhatship in a week, Sāriputra in a fortnight, and they were elevated by the Buddha to the rank of his two Chief Disciples. That distinction excited the jealousy of the other disciples, but the Master proved by references to parallel cases under former Buddhas how their discontent was unfounded⁶.

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