Chapter XXIX - From Uruvilvā to Benares

Note: The story now turns back to relate some incidents which occurred during the austerities at Uruvilvā.

Then for six years the Exalted One lived a life of hard austerity at Uruvilvā. And there at Uruvilvā a public washer-woman^[1] from Senāpatigrāma,^[2] with a heart full of faith, offered a hempen rag-robe^[3] to the Exalted One as he was practising his austerities. “Lord,” said she, “When thou wilt have achieved thy purpose, then mayst thou for my sake make use of this hempen rag-robe.” When she became aware of the Exalted One’s silent consent, glad and exultant she hung the rag-robe on the branch of a tree. Then she bowed her head at his feet, saluted him three times from the right, and departed.

Not long afterwards she died in the presence of the Exalted One, serene of heart because she remembered her gift of the rag-robe. Immediately after her death she was reborn among the devas of Trāyastriṃśa, the most excellent among a hundred thousand Apsarases in the mansion of a certain splendid and powerful deva. There, as an Apsaras, she asked herself, “What root of merit did I acquire when I was a human being and what kind of offering did I make, whereby I have been reborn among the devas of Trāyastrimśa?” And as she thus reflected she could see that a certain public washer-woman, named Gavā, of Senāpatigrāma near Uruvilvā was in distress.^[4] “Now,” said she, “just before I died, I gave a hempen rag-robe to the Bodhisattva as he was practising his austerities. As the result of the root of merit I thus acquired, (312) when I passed away from among men I was reborn here among the devas of Trāyastriṃśa. But this meritorious gift^[5] of mine has not yet been made use of by the Exalted One. If the Exalted One would graciously make use of that meritorious gift, then my reward would be still greater.”

So, accompanied by a hundred thousand Apsarases and in the great majesty and splendour of the devas, she left her home in Trāyastriṃśa, took the hempen rag-robe from the branch of the tree, approached the Exalted One and said to him, “Lord, when I was a human being, with a heart full of faith I gave this hempen rag-robe to the Exalted One while he was practising his austerities, so that he should for my sake make use of it when he had achieved his purpose.^[6] As a result of that root of merit, when I passed away from among men I was reborn among the devas of Trāyastriṃśa. Well would it be if the Exalted One, taking pity on me, would now make use of the hempen rag-robe, so that thus my reward might be still greater.”

But devas who appeared in the sky said to the Exalted One, “Lord, pray do not accept this hempen rag-robe. We will give the Exalted One special^[7] garments made in heaven.” The Exalted One, however, would not accept the devas’ gift of special garments.

When he had accepted the hempen rag-robe of Gavā the public washer-woman, hundreds of thousands of devas in the sky waved their garments in honour of the Exalted One and shouted “ha! ha! hail! hail!^[8] As he has renounced his universal sovereignty, are not our hearts glad that he has gotten him hempen rag-robes?”

Then the Exalted One wished to wash the hempen rag-robe. Water was needed, and Śakra, lord of the devas, with his own hands channelled out^[9] a stream. To this day the stream is called Pāṇikhātā.^[10] A stone slab was needed on which to bleach the hempen rag-robe. Four stone slabs were provided by the Four Great Kings. On one stone slab the Exalted One bleached his hempen rag-robe. (313) On the second stone slab he dried it. By his magic power the Exalted One threw the third stone slab in front of Trapusa and Bhallika who dwelt in the town called Śilukṣa,^[11] and it was set up there as a monument. Even to this day there is a place in the kingdom of Gandhāra known as Śilā.^[12]

On the fourth stone slab the Exalted One sat down to darn the hempen rag-robe. And this stone slab received the name of the Exalted One’s Anusīvana.^[13] Thus the Exalted One made use of all the four slabs, and so they became monuments in Jambudvīpa in the eyes of both devas and men.

When the Exalted One had washed and darned his hempen rag-robe, he went down^[14] to the river Pāṇikhātā to bathe. When he had bathed the Exalted One proceeded to step out^[15] of the river. Now exalted Buddhas are untiring^[16] of body and of mind.^[17] But there was on the river-bank a beautiful and lovely tree called Kakubha^[18], with wide-spreading branches, in which dwelt a deva bearing the same name as the tree. And as he was coming out of the water the Exalted One spoke to the deva, saying, “Kakubha, lend me a hand.” The deva, who wore fine and faultless earrings, held out his arms to the Exalted One, who grasped them and thus stepped out of the river Pāṇikhātā. And as soon as he had withdrawn his hand from the deva Kakubha’s arms, on the branch of the tree was seen the mark of the Exalted One’s five fingers.

(When I attained enlightenment, when the good Kakubha extended his arms, when the stream Pāṇikhātā was channelled out and when the stones were thrown down by the devas.)^[19]

Then the Exalted One went on to the Goatherd’s Banyan-tree, and while staying (314) at the foot of the tree he reflected on the world.^[20] “Profound,” said he, “is this dharma of mine to which I have awakened,^[21] abstruse, subtle, hard to understand, but no mere dialectic; it is intelligible only to the wise, and repugnant to the world in general.^[22] But this race of men^[23] delights in the things to which it clings, rejoices and exults in them. And for a race of men which delights, rejoices and exults in the things to which it clings, this is a matter hard to understand, namely, what antecedent condition is, what cause is, and what the arising of all things from a cause; the renunciation of all substrates of rebirth, the break-up of sensorial states by the previous stilling of the saṃskāras,^[24] the destruction of craving, passionlessness, cessation, nirvana. And were I to teach the dharma to others and those others were not to understand,^[25] that would be a vexation^[26] for me. Let me then abide in silence on a mountain in the wilderness.”^[27]

And on that occasion these verses^[28] were revealed to the Exalted One:—

The Way up against the stream, profound and hard to see, passion’s slaves will fail to see it. Enough then of the thought of preaching it.

With hard toil did I win it. Enough then of the thought of preaching it. For men who are consumed by sensual desires are carried down with the current.^[29]

Not long after his enlightenment the Exalted One was staying at Uruvilvā on the banks of the Nairañjanā, at the foot of the Goatherd’s Banyan-tree. Now while the Exalted One was all alone in solitude and seclusion, the following thought and reflection occurred to him: “Since the dharma to which I have won^[30] is profound, abstruse, subtle, hard to understand, not won by speculation, no mere dialectic, intelligible only to the wise, and repugnant to the world in general, were I to teach it to others, those others would not understand.^[31] And that would be the greatest vexation to me. Let me then abide (315) in silence all alone in a tract of wilderness.”

But then Great Brahmā, becoming aware of this thought and reflection of the Exalted One’s, went to Śakra, lord of the devas, and said to him, “Friend Kośika,^[32] the Exalted One is turning his heart to inactivity rather than to setting the wheel of dharma rolling. Why should we not, friend Kośika, go to the Exalted One and implore him to set rolling the wheel of dharma?” “So be it, friend,” said Śakra, lord of the devas, in reply to Great Brahmā.^[33]

Then Great Brahmā, Śakra, lord of the devas, the devas Suyāma, Sunirmita, Vaśavartin,^[34] the Four Great Kings, the ten Yakṣa lords, and the ten Yakṣa chieftains accompanied by several hundred Yakṣas, at dawn of day came to the Exalted One, irradiating with their radiance the whole of the ground at the foot of the banyan-tree. They bowed their heads at his feet and stood to one side. And as they thus stood to one side, Great Brahmā said to Śakra, lord of the devas, “Friend Kośika, implore the Exalted One to set rolling the wheel of dharma.”

And Śakra, lord of the devas, arranging his robe over one shoulder, approached the Exalted One and addressed him in a verse.

Arise thou who art victorious in the fight. Fully laden art thou. Fare through the world free of debt.^[35] Chaste is thy heart like the moon in its fifteenth night.

But the Exalted One kept silent and would not give his consent that he should set rolling the wheel of dharma. Then Great Brahma^[36] said to Śakra, lord of the devas, “Friend Kośika, not so are Exalted Ones, Arhans, perfect Buddhas entreated to set rolling the wheel of dharma. Tathāgatas, Arhans and perfect Buddhas, when so entreated will not set rolling the wheel of dharma.”

When this had been said, Śakra, lord of the devas, replied to Great Brahmā, “Friend Great Brahmā, you knew the perfect Buddhas of old, (316) and so do you yourself implore the Exalted One to set rolling the wheel of dharma.”

And so Great Brahmā, arranging his robe over one shoulder, held out his joined hands to the Exalted One and addressed him in a verse^[37]:

Arise thou who art victorious in the fight. Fully laden art thou. Fare through the world free of debt. Teach dharma, O Sugata. Those who learn will grow.^[38]

But the Exalted One kept silent. Then Great Brahmā, Śakra, lord of the devas, the devas Suyāma, Santuṣita, Nirmita, Vaśavartin, the Four Great Kings, the many hundreds of Yakṣas and the many hundreds of the Yakṣas’ retinue, perceiving the Exalted One’s unwillingness to set rolling the wheel of dharma, were pained and grieved. They bowed their heads at his feet, saluted him from the right, and forthwith disappeared.

There is also the following tradition concerning this^[39]:

The Exalted One was staying at Uruvilvā on the banks of the river Nairañjanā at the foot of the Goatherd’s Banyan-tree, not long after his enlightenment. Then at dawn Great Brahmā approached the Exalted One. In his surpassing beauty he irradiated the whole of the ground at the foot of the Goatherd’s Banyan-tree with his radiance. He bowed at the Exalted One’s feet, and saluted him from the right.

He then stood to one side and addressed the Exalted One in a verse.

Arise thou who art victorious in the fight. Fully laden art thou. Fare through the world free of debt. O Sugata, teach dharma. Those who learn will grow.

But the Exalted One replied to Great Brahmā in a verse:

The Way up against the stream, profound and hard to see, passion’s slaves will fail to see it. Enough then, O Brahmā, of the thought of preaching it.

(317) Then Great Brahmā seeing the Exalted One’s refusal at the foot of the Goatherd’s Banyan-tree to set rolling the wheel of dharma, was pained and grieved. He bowed his head at the Exalted One’s feet, saluted him from the right, and forthwith disappeared.

There is further the following tradition:

Not long after his enlightenment the Exalted One was staying at Uruvilvā on the banks of the river Nairañjanā, at the foot of the Goatherd’s Banyan-tree. Now at that time there had spread among the brahmans and laymen of Magadha such wicked and wrong beliefs as that (there would come a time when) the wind would not blow, rivers not run, embryos not be born, birds not fly, fire not burn, moon and sun not rise, and the whole habitable world be stricken with darkness.^[40] Then Great Brahmā, aware that such wicked and wrong beliefs had arisen among the brāhmans and laymen of Magadha, at dawn of day came to the Exalted One, in his surpassing beauty irradiating the whole of the ground at the foot of the Goatherd’s Banyan-tree with his radiance.

He bowed his head at the Exalted One’s feet, stood to one side, and recited this verse.^[41]

Already there has appeared in Magadha an impure doctrine devised by men unclean. Thou hast opened the door of immortality, so let them hear the dharma to which a stainless man has awakened.

Then the Exalted One, himself inwardly aware, through the insight gained by his enlightenment, (318) of the request of Great Brahmā, surveyed the whole world with his incomparable Buddha-eye.^[42] He saw beings high and low, mean and noble. He saw beings who were of a bad disposition and difficult to instruct and make pure; he saw beings who were of a good disposition and easy to instruct and make pure; he saw beings who were quick learners^[43] and beings who learnt only after a lengthy exposition^[44]; beings who had to be led on, and beings who were merely word-perfect^[45]; he saw beings who were astute of faculty and beings who were dull of faculty.^[46] He saw three categories^[47] of beings, the category in which good results are necessarily entailed, that in which evil results are necessarily entailed, and that in which no result is entailed. Just as a man of vision, standing on the brink of a lotus-pool, could see with little difficulty blue, red and white lotuses, some in the water, others on the surface, and others growing up out of the water, so did the Exalted One with his incomparable Buddha-eye see the whole world as he surveyed it.

Then this thought occurred to the Exalted One: “Whether I teach the dharma or whether I do not, the category of men in which evil results are necessarily entailed would not be able to understand it. Whether I teach the dharma or whether I do not, the category of men in which good results are necessarily entailed will in any case get to know what I preach. The category of men in which no result is necessarily entailed will learn if I preach the dharma to them, but they will not know it if I do not preach it to them.”

So the Exalted One, taking into consideration the category of men in which no result is necessarily entailed, and being aware of those wicked and wrong beliefs which had arisen among the brahmans and laymen of Magadha, aware of the entreaty of Great Brahmā, aware of his own vow made seven incalculable kalpas ago, conceiving a great compassion for men and remembering that those majestic lords of devas and rulers of the world had come to him and implored him to set rolling the noble wheel of dharma, (319) granted Great Brahma’s request^[48] that he should do so.

And on that occasion the Exalted One addressed Great Brahmā in a verse:

I have opened, the door of immortality, O Brahmā. Let those who list to hear the Exalted One shed the faith that is based on a harmful idea. For already there has arisen in Magadha a doctrine that is impure, based on a harmful idea, and wrong.^[49]

Then when the Exalted One had granted Great Brahmā’s request that he should set rolling the incomparable wheel of dharma, the devas of earth raised a shout.^[50] “Behold, friends,” said they, “the Exalted One has granted Brahmā’s request that he set rolling the incomparable wheel of dharma. This will confer welfare and happiness on mankind, compassion on the world, good, welfare and happiness on the great multitude, and on devas and men. The hosts of the Asuras will wane, the hosts of the devas will wax.” When they heard the shout of the devas of earth, the devas of the Four Great Kings, the devas of Trāyastriṃśa, the Yāma devas, the Tuṣita devas, the Nirmāṇarati devas and the Paranirmitavaśavartin devas raised a shout and made their cry heard. “Friends,” said they, “the Exalted One has granted Great Brahma’s request that he set rolling the incomparable wheel of dharma. This will confer welfare and happiness on mankind, compassion on the world, good, welfare and happiness on the great multitude and on devas and men. The hosts of the Asuras will wane, the hosts of the devas will wax.” And so on to^[51] at that time and on that occasion the shout rose up to reach Brahma’s world.

There is also the following tradition concerning this:

(320) At the moment that he set the wheel rolling, the Exalted One reflected on what kind of beings set rolling the noble wheel of dharma. “Those beings,” said he, “who have had association with former Buddhas^[52] set rolling the noble wheel of dharma. Now I have had association with former Buddhas, and therefore I am worthy to set rolling the noble wheel of dharma. Those beings who are endowed with peerless conduct set rolling the noble wheel of dharma. Now I am endowed with peerless conduct, and therefore I am worthy to set rolling the noble wheel of dharma. Those beings who are endowed with a peerless dwelling-place set rolling the noble wheel of dharma.^[53] Those beings who have the distinctive attributes^[54] set rolling the noble wheel of dharma. Those beings who have been able to pass away^[55] set rolling the noble wheel of dharma. Whatever beings have been able to descend into a womb^[56]; whatever beings have been able to stand in a womb^[57]; whatever beings have had such a birth; whatever beings are endowed with the characteristics;^[58] whatever beings are endowed with the lesser characteristics^[59]; whatever beings are endowed with merit, steadfastness and mindfulness; whatever beings are possessed of the current dharma^[60]; whatever beings are possessed of unimpaired^[61] dharma; whatever beings are pre-eminent in the world; whatever beings have the gift of investigating the world^[62]; whatever beings are endowed with the essence of being; whatever beings can with their perfect knowledge understand the sound conclusion that comes from sound premises, and the unsound conclusion that comes from unsound premises; whatever beings can with their perfect knowledge understand as it really is the way that leads everywhere and the way that leads here and there; whatever beings can with their perfect knowledge understand the various and several components of the world as they really are; whatever beings can with their perfect knowledge perfectly understand as it really is the diversity^[63] of the faculty of energy^[64] of other beings and individuals (321)—(all) these set rolling the wheel of dharma. Those who can, with their perfect knowledge, understand as they really are the various and several dispositions of men in the world, set rolling the wheel of dharma. Whatever beings perfectly understand as it really is the difference between present and future maturing of the karma attaching to all past, present and future deeds, contracted, stored up and unrequited, these set rolling the wheel of dharma. Whatever beings perfectly understand as it really is the riddance from all defilements that comes from the attainments of meditation, concentration, and freedom; whatever beings by means of their deva-eye, which has vision beyond that of the human eye, see beings passing away and coming to birth, beings fair and foul, fortunate and unfortunate, humble and exalted, and understand that they are duly reaping the fruits of karma—all these beings set rolling the noble wheel of dharma. Whatever beings remember their various past abodes; whatever beings understand as they really are the freedom of the heart and the freedom through intuitive wisdom which are rid of the āśravas because of the decay of the āśravas; whatever beings are long-lived, have the right way of life,^[65] morality, concentration, emancipation, the knowledge of emancipation; have given up the world, have conceived the great compassion, have won enlightenment, are skilled in the ways of the heart, have the wonder-working power of magic, mind-reading and instruction, and are gifted with all good qualities of character; whatever beings have mastered the analysis of meaning, of reasons, of definitions, and of understanding; whatever beings have attained the noble five-fold concentration,^[66] the concentration of the five knowledges,^[67] the noble, great five-fold perfect concentration, (322) the noble, great perfect concentration of the five knowledges, and are endowed with strength, the faculties and magic; whatever beings are gifted with polite speech,^[68] with distinct and faultless speech which makes the meaning clear, and have the ability to answer questions; whatever beings have the power to transform the despondency of others into confidence, and to restrain by means of the dharma the malevolence of others; whatever beings have the power to bestow on others the gift of happiness—it is beings like these that set rolling the noble wheel of dharma. It is beings who are endowed with all the attributes of a Buddha that set rolling the noble wheel of dharma. And I, again, am endowed with all the attributes of a Buddha, and therefore I am worthy to set rolling the wheel of dharma.”

Then the Exalted One, aware that he had himself acquired such virtue, reflected: “What if I were now to set rolling the peerless wheel of dharma? But I wonder who is competent to understand this dharma of mine when I first preach it and not be annoyed with me at the preaching of it?” He then said to himself, “Udraka Rāmaputra^[69] was^[70] pure, of little defilement and with little dust in his eyes.^[71] He had gone far, proceeded far, and taught as his doctrine the dogma concerning the sphere of what is neither consciousness nor unconsciousness.^[72] But Udraka Rāmaputra has been dead seven days. His death is a great loss^[73]. Now what other man is there who is pure, of little defilement, with little dust in his eyes,^[74] who is competent to understand the dharma when it is first preached and would not be annoyed on hearing it? Ārāḍa Kālāma^[75] was^[76] pure, of little defilement, and with little dust in his eyes,^[77] and he would be competent to understand the dharma when it was first preached and would not be annoyed with me when he heard it. The loss of Ārāḍa is great, for he has been dead these three days. What other man is there, then, who is pure, has little dust in his eyes,^[78] who is competent to understand this dharma of mine when it is first preached and will not be annoyed with me when he hears it?” He then thought to himself: “The good group of five^[79] are pure, of little defilement, and have little dust in their eyes.^[80] (323) They are competent to understand this dharma of mine when it is first preached and they will not be annoyed with me when they hear it. They accompanied me in days gone by when I was living my life of austerity. Now they are staying in Benares, in the Deer Park at Ṛṣipatana. What if I were now to go to Benares, to the Deer Park at Ṛṣipatana, and preach the dharma first to the good group of five?”

Then many of the powerful Śuddhāvāsa^[81] devas approached the Exalted One, bowed their heads at his feet, and stood to one side. And as they thus stood to one side, they said to the Exalted One, “As is known and recognised by the pupils^[82] of the Exalted One, we, too, are able to perform for the Exalted One various and divers wonders of magic. As the Exalted One goes from the bodhi-tree to Benares to set rolling the peerless wheel of dharma in the Deer Park at Ṛṣipatana, we will see to it that the whole way from the bodhi-tree to Benares is made level, even, like the palm of the hand, with an awning stretched over it, and is bordered with bright cloth, draped with festoons of fine cloth, sprinkled and swept, made fragrant with incense, scattered with heaps of flowers, strewn with golden sand and with powder of celestial pearls, crystal, white coral and ruby. And there, Lord, on the way from the bodhi tree to Benares we will create rows of celestial palm-trees. . .^[83] bright and beautiful, made of the seven precious substances, gold, silver, pearl, beryl, crystal, white coral and ruby. There too, Lord, on the left and on the right of the way we will create celestial streams, (324) transparent,^[84] unruffled, with sandy banks, attractive,^[85] their beds strewn with golden sands, with pools of fragrant blue, red and white lotuses and shaded by flourishing trees, mango, rose-apple, lakuca,^[86] bread-fruit, coconut, pālevatā,^[88] bhavya^[88] and pomegranate. There too, Lord, on the way from the bodhi-tree to Benares we will create celestial sunshades and celestial banners. We will create celestial gabled buildings, bright and beautiful, made of the seven precious substances, gold, silver, pearl, beryl, crystal, white coral and ruby. As the Exalted One moves on, these will move on; when he stops, they will stop. In front of him the Varṣavalāhaka devas^[89] will scatter celestial flowers; gently, gently will the devas throw them down.” Thus when the Exalted One set out from the bodhi-tree to the Deer Park at Ṛṣipatana in Benares, to set rolling the peerless wheel of dharma, the way had been made ready for him by the Śuddhāvāsa devas. They created a great army of the four arms, warriors on elephants, cavalry, charioteers and infantry, and escorted the Exalted One as he went to Benares. All the lords and kings of the Suvarṇas,^[90] whether born of eggs, or of the womb, or spontaneously, or of moisture, by their magic power created a great army of the four arms and escorted the Exalted One as he went on his way. Also all the Nāga lords and kings, whether born of eggs, or of the womb, or spontaneously, or from moisture, by means of their magic power created a great army of the four arms and escorted the Exalted One as he went to Benares. The Cāturmahārājika devas, the Trāyastriṃśa devas, the Yāma devas, the Tuṣita devas, the Nirmāṇarati devas, the Paranirmitavaśavartin devas, and the devas of Brahma’s world, by means of their magic power created a great army of the four arms and escorted the Exalted One as he went to Kāśi.

And so the Exalted One, honoured and escorted by a great host of several hundreds, several thousands, several hundreds of thousands went from Uruvilvā to Gayā and from Gayā to Aparagayā.^[91]

At Aparagayā there was a Nāga king named Sudarśana, and he invited the Exalted One (325) to lodge and eat with him at Aparagayā.^[92] When the Exalted One had lodged and eaten at the home of Sudarśana, the Nāga king, he went on to Vaśālā. At Vaśālā there was a brāhman named Nadin, and he was said to be of those who put faith in the sound “hum, hum^[93].” As the Exalted One was walking on he turned his left^[94] side to him and cried “hum-hum.”^[95]

The Exalted One in that circumstance, on that occasion, for that reason and at that time made this solemn utterance:

The brāhman who is outside the state of evil,^[96] who does not cry “hum-hum,” who is free of impurity,^[97] whose self is under control, who is rid of the āśravas and who is in his last bodily existence, it is that brāhman who can rightfully proclaim the religion of Brahmā.^[98]

At Vaśālā a certain householder invited the Exalted One to lodge and eat with him.^[99] And after the Exalted One had lodged^[100] and eaten there he left Vaśālā and came to a place called Cundadvīla.^[101]

And Upaka, the Naked Ascetic,^[102] saw the Exalted One when he was still some way off. Seeing him coming he went to meet him, and exchanged friendly and courteous greetings with him. He then stood to one side. As he thus stood to one side, Upaka, the Naked Ascetic, said to the Exalted One, “Very clear is the complexion of the exalted Gotama, very clear and very bright; very serene is his countenance.^[103] Like as, when a ripe palm-nut has just fallen from the tree, the stalk which supported it^[104] is very clear and bright with a golden sheen, just so is the complexion of Gotama the Exalted One very clear and bright and his countenance very serene. To-day, Gotama the Exalted One (326) has attained immortality, and the Way that leads to immortality.”^[105]

When this had been said the Exalted One replied to Upaka, the Naked Ascetic, “Yes, Upaka, I have attained immortality and the Way that leads to immortality.” Upaka then asked the Exalted One, “Under whom,^[106] O Gotama, dost thou live the brahma-life?”

The Exalted One replied to Upaka, the Naked Ascetic, in a verse^[107]:

All-conquering and all-knowing am I, in all things unde filed. Omniscient am I, freed through the decay of craving. Having won the higher knowledge, whom should I follow?^[108]

When this had been said, Upaka, the Naked Ascetic, asked the Exalted One, “Does Gotama, the Exalted One, claim to have no teacher?” And the Exalted One replied to Upaka, the Naked Ascetic, in a verse^[109]:

Without a teacher am I; none equal to me can he found. I alone in the world am perfect Buddha, having won the peerless enlightenment.

Upaka, the Naked Ascetic, then^[110] asked the Exalted One, “Does Gotama, the Exalted One, claim that he is an Arhan?” And the Exalted One replied to Upaka, the Naked Ascetic, in a verse:

I am an Arhan^[111] in the world; I am supreme in the world. In the world of devas and of men none equal to me can he found.

Upaka, the Naked Ascetic, then asked the Exalted One, “Does Gotama, the Exalted One, claim that he is a Conqueror^[112]?” And the Exalted One replied to Upaka, the

Naked Ascetic, in verse:

They are, like me, Conquerors, who have achieved the destruction of the āśravas. Evil things have I overcome, and hence, O Upaka, am I a Conqueror.

As the beauty of the lotus is not besmirched by the marshy soil^[113] so am I not besmirched by the world. Therefore, O Upaka, I am a Conqueror.^[114] I have won the higher knowledge that was to be won; I have declared the truth that was to be proclaimed; I have renounced what was to be renounced. Therefore, O Upaka, I am a Conqueror.

Upaka, the Naked Ascetic, then asked the Exalted One, “Whither is Gotama, the Exalted One, going?” And the Exalted One replied to Upaka, the Naked Ascetic, in verse:

I go to see Benares to beat the drum of immortality. I go to set rolling in the world the wheel of dharma that may not be rolled back.{GL_NOTE::}

The dharma that I have won to is passionless, tranquil and blest. This shall I promulgate^[116] for the weal of every creature.

The perfect Buddhas that have been, those yet to come, and those that now are, the dispellers of the sorrows of the multitude, all have taught, will teach and do teach^[117] dharma to men, for such is the obligation^[118] of Buddhas.

Devas in the sky recited a verse^[119]:

Whosoever, having seen that he was such a driver of tameable men, should shun^[120] the Great Seer, would be as one who should with hands and feet spurn great good luck.

At Cundadvīla there was a Yakṣa named Cunda, and he invited the Exalted One to lodge and eat at his abode. When the Exalted One had lodged for one night at the abode of Cunda, the Yakṣa, and had duly eaten, he went on to Lohitavastuka near Sārathipura. At Lohitavastuka there was a Nāga king named Kamaṇḍaluka, who (328) invited the Exalted One to lodge and eat at his abode. When the Exalted One had lodged there for one night and had duly eaten, he went on to Gandhapura. At Gandhapura there dwelt a Yakṣa named Kandha, who invited the Exalted One to lodge and eat at his abode. When the Exalted One had lodged there for one night and had duly eaten, he went on to Sārathipura. At Sārathipura the Exalted One was invited to lodge and eat with a certain householder. When the Exalted One had lodged there for one night and had duly eaten, he went on and reached the banks of the Ganges. The ferryman^[121] said to him, “Give me the fare for crossing.” The Exalted One replied, “How can I have the fare for crossing when the shining metal means no more to me than a clod of earth and when I have dispensed with silver and gold?^[122]” But the ferryman said, “If you give me the fare for crossing, you shall cross^[123]; if you do not give it, you shall not cross.”

The Exalted One replied:

“The swan on the banks of the Narmadā^[124] does not ask leave of the ferryman, but crosses by its own abundant strength.”

And with the words, the Buddha passed over like a king of swans; the Great Sage crossed the stream and stood on the further bank of the Ganges.

After he had crossed the Ganges the Exalted One came to Benares. He stayed at Saṅkhamedhī^[125] and at the proper time went to Benares to beg for alms.

For Buddhas are not unpunctual in their lives, but go the rounds of a village for alms at the proper time. Worldly leanings are strong in^[126] those who do their rounds at improper times. Therefore Buddhas do not go round at improper times.

At Ṛṣipatana were staying the good group of five,^[127] namely Ājñāta Kauṇḍinya, Aśvakin, Bhadraka, (329) Vāṣpa and Mahānāma.^[128] And when the Exalted One had made his alms-round in Benares and had duly eaten, he came to Ṛṣipatana. He was then seen by the good group of five, who, espying him when he was still some way off, resolved on a course of action.^[129] “Here,” said they, “comes Gotama the recluse, who is a profligate, living in abundance, and has strayed from his striving.^[130] No one is to rise up to greet him.” But when the Exalted One came up, they felt ill at ease in their places. Just as when birds in their nests or on the branches of trees, scorched by fire burning beneath them, fly off, so did the good group of five feel ill at ease in their seats when they saw the Exalted One coming, and rise up and go to meet him.^[131] “Come, venerable Gotama,” said they, “hail and welcome to the venerable Gotama.” But the Exalted One replied to them, “O monks of the good group, your vow is broken. But, O monks of the good group, do not address^[132] the Tathāgata as ‘venerable’.”

When the Exalted One had proclaimed them to be his disciples every mark of the heretic, every badge, every sign disappeared from their persons. They were seen to have the three robes, sumbhaka^[133] bowls, their hair in its natural state, and their deportment established, just like those of monks who had been ordained a hundred years.^[134] Such was the ordination into the religious life and the admission into monkhood of the good group of five.

At that place there was a lotus-pond named Buddhavicīrṇā. The Buddha bathed there, for exalted Buddhas know^[135]. . . Then the Exalted One reflected: “On what spot of earth did former perfect Buddhas set rolling the wheel of dharma?” And as soon as this thought occurred to the Exalted One that spot of earth on which he stood sank down.^[136] (330) The Exalted One again reflected: “Now did former perfect Buddhas set rolling the wheel of dharma as they walked or as they stood still, as they sat down or as they lay down?” And as soon as this thought occurred to the Exalted One there appeared in Ṛṣipatana five seats.^[137] The good group of five asked the Exalted One, “Lord, whose are these five seats?”. . .^[138]

The Exalted One replied, “Monks, this is an auspicious kalpa, which is named Puṣpika, and in an auspicious kalpa^[139] a thousand Buddhas must arise. Three have come and gone. I am the fourth. Krakutsanda had a radiance extending nine yojanas, Konākamuni one extending two yojanas, and Kāśyapa one extending four yojanas. I, Sarvasiddhārtha, have a radiance of one fathom. Ajita will have one of twelve yojanas, Siddhārtha one of twenty, Maitreya one of twelve, Maitrīyaśa one of eighteen, Sarvaprabha one of ten, Pṛthivīpāla one of twelve, Pṛthivīvijaya one of four, Pṛthivīpaśyin one of three, Jayamitra one of four, Sugrīva one of twelve, Sudarśana one of ten, Supaśyin one of ten, Sarvajaya one of eight, Sarvābhibhū one of a kos^[140] of yojanas, Sarvābhibhū^[141] one of eight, Sarvamitra one of two, Abhinnābha one of twelve, Atisūrya one of four, Abhibhūyaśa one of one yojana, Sudaya one of one, Sudarśana one of one, Sarvābhibhū one of sixty, Vairocana one of seven, Sarvapaśyin one of. . .^[142] and he who will be named Vairocanaprabha one of ten.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Or “city-washerwoman or woman who hangs out clothes (to dry),” nagara-avalambikā. This is the interpretation suggested by Edgerton (B.H.S.D.), who refers for confirmation to the statement below that the woman “hung out the robe on the branch of a tree,” where the verb used is olambitvā. In his Introduction, p. xxix, Senart himself translates the expression by “étendeuse de linge,” but in his note on the present passage he makes the less probable suggestion that avalambika is synonympus with velambika, “a musical instrument” (or its player). Against Edgerton’s interpretation is the fact mentioned later in the story that the robe needed washing!

[2]:

See vol. 2, p. 119, n. 2.

[3]:

Literally “hempen rags from the dust-heap,” śāṇapāṃsukūla. The details of this episode in Lal. Vist. 265ff. differ somewhat. V. 1.27 ff. does not say how the Buddha got the robe.

[4]:

I.e., reflection brought back to her mind her own past life.

[5]:

Deyadharma, Pali deyyadhamma.

[6]:

The text here is in oratio recta.

[7]:

Vikalpa “(specially) assigned.” Cf. Pali vihappetabba V. 1.297 and Miss I. B. Horner’s note on a-vikappita in Bk. of Disc., vol. 2, p. 7.

[8]:

Hakkārakilikilāni. The expression is found also at AvŚ. 1. 67 and Divy. 459. With the latter part of the compound cf. Pali hilikilāyati, denom. of kili. See P.E.D. for the etymology.

[9]:

Literally, “dug,” khalā.

[10]:

“Name of a sacred bathing-place,” (M.W.). In Lal. Vist. the name is Pāṇihatā.

[11]:

See p. 298.

[12]:

Unless the narrator’s geography is atrociously incorrect, the text can hardly mean that Śilukṣa and Śilā were the same, for Gandhāra is in the extreme north-west of India. The second name may be adduced here only as another example of a place-name of the same derivation. But possibly the explanation is that the stone was cast not to where Trapusa and Bhallika were temporarily staying in the neighbourhood of Uruvilvā, but to their permanent home, which according to the Mhvu. was in the north.

[13]:

“Sewing-place” from siv. “to sew.” In Lal. Vist. 267 it is called Pāṃsukūlasīvana “the sewing of the rag-robe.”

[14]:

Okasta, see vol. 1, p. 188, n. 6.

[15]:

Literally “would step out of,” uttariṣyati. Senart’s remark that the text here is obscure seems uncalled for. He takes bhagavān... uttariṣyati iti as words spoken by Kakubha, and is forced by this assumption to give a most unlikely pregnant meaning to prativasati (“to dwell”), making it connote a verb of “saying”. Even if this were in itself admissible, the arrangement of the whole long sentence is against it. For between the words assumed to be spoken by Kakubha and the verb (prativasti) on which, according to Senart, they depend, there intervene three independent clauses. It seems better therefore to take uttariṣyati as historic future, “he was about to,” “was intending to,” etc., and omit iti. Or, which would be quite in the style of our text, we might emend into uttariṣyāmī ti the Exalted One (said) “I will get out of the water.” Cf. Lat. Vist. 267.

[16]:

Akilanta, BSk. and Pali, past part, of kilamati, Sk. klamati.

[17]:

This sentence looks very much like a parenthesis inserted to avoid the implication of the story that the Buddha required help to come out of the water. Perhaps the Lokottaravādin theory is hinted at, namely, that a Buddha’s bodily ills are only apparent. It is to be noted that in Lal. Vist. the whole episode comes before the enlightenment, and not, as in the Mhvu., only that part of it in which he is offered the robe. In the latter text, by the time he had finally accepted it he was fully Buddha. But in Lal. Vist. he was a Bodhisattva to whom fatigue could be attributed. And the need for help is still greater there, because Māra is said to have raised the banks to make the ascent nore difficult.

[18]:

Spelt kakudha in V. 1.22, but kakubha in Lal. Vist. The Terminalia arjuna. See I. B. Horner: Bk. of Disc., 4, p. 38, n. 1.

[19]:

Senart rightly prints this passage in brackets. It is obviously a fragment of another version of the episode, which would seem to resemble closely that in V. 1.28 f., where the Buddha recounts the incident of the rag-robe and of its washing, etc., to Uruvela-Kassapa. Bodhim has no verb governing it. Either a verb like prāpnuvan has to be supplied or as Senart doubtfully suggests bodhim may be aorist meaning “I reached enlightenment.”

[20]:

The close verbal resemblance of the account of the events leading up to the first sermon as given in the Mahāvagga (V. 1.4ff.) and the Mahāvastu, respectively, will be found analysed by E. Windisch: Die Komposition des Mahāvastu, p. 13 ff. I. B. Horner: Bk. of Disc., 4, p. 6, gives in a note the following Pali references to the Buddha’s “Great Hesitation”—S. 1.136, D. 2. 36, M. 1.167, and refers to notes on the subject in K.S. 1.171, Dial. 2.29, and Further Dial. 1.118. See also Lal. Vist. 396 ff.

[21]:

Abhisambuddha. The Pali texts have adhigata.

[22]:

Sarvalokavipratyanīka. This expression is absent from the Pali texts.

[23]:

Ayam only in the Mhvu. The Pali texts have ayaṃ pajā.

[24]:

Pūrvasaṃskārasamathadharmopaccheda. Pali texts have for this formula sabbasaṃkhārasamatho. In the Mhvu. expression dharma is the phenomenal world of matter as it conditions sentient life.

[25]:

Vibhāvayensu. Pali texts have ājāneyyum.

[26]:

Vighāta, corresponding to the Pali vihesā. The Mhvu. omits the expression so mam’ assa kilamatho “this would be a weariness to me.”

[27]:

Araṇyaparvate. But the v.l. pavane, in a “wood” in the wilderness, may be better than parvate. For pavana see Vol. 2, p. 328, n. 3. This sentence does not appear in the Pali accounts.

[28]:

In the Mhvu. and Lal. Vist. 397, these two verses are in inverse order as compared with the Pali. Also, the Pali verse has dhamma where the Mhvu. has mārga.

[29]:

This last line, anuśrotaṃ hi vuhyanti kāmeṣu grasitā narāḥ, is utterly unlike anything in the Pali verses. Incidentally, it confirms Miss I. B. Horner’s remarks (Bk. of Disc., 4, p. 7, n. 3 and 4) that paṭisotagāmin means “up against the stream to the source (nibbāna)” and not, as Dial. 2. 30 renders it “against the stream of common thought.” She cites VA. 962 that paṭisota is called nibbāna. She also refers to Lamotte (op. cit.) 1, p. 50, n. 1.

[30]:

Adhigata here.

[31]:

Ājānsnsu here.

[32]:

For this appellation of Śakra (Indra), see vol. 2, p. 49, n. 4 and p. 60.

[33]:

This incident of Śakra first appealing to the Buddha is common to the Mhvu. and Lal. Vist. (396), but is not found in the Pali accounts.Cf. S. 1. 233.

[34]:

For these devas, see vol. 1, p. 165, n. 4.

[35]:

This line is identical with one of the lines spoken in the Pali accounts by Brahmā (see below), with the exception that it has pūrṇabhāro (?so read for -bharo) instead of satthavāha, “caravan-leader.” Senart suggests that the former word should be emended into prajñākaro “wisdom-maker,” as in Lal. Vist. But the Mhvu. word may be retained on the ground that it is not unrelated in meaning to satthavāha, i.e. the successful merchant is one who has a “full-load,” and is also free of debt. Or else, pūrṇabhāro may be a corruption of an original pannabhāro “one who has laid down his burden,” i.e. is saved or become an Arhan.

[36]:

The Mhvu. and Lal. Vist. throughout this episode speak of Mahā-Brahmā only and there is nothing to imply that a particularly Great Brahmā is alluded to. D. 2. 36 is similar in this respect. But V. 1. 4 and M. 1. 169 speak of a particular Great Brahmā, viz., Sahampati, which name Rhys Davids (Dial. 2.70) regards as a gloss. Lord Chalmers (Further Dial. 1, p. 118, n. 2) says, however, that “there is no justification for assigning seniority here to the Dīgha over the Majjhima and Vinaya.” The absence of any mention of Sahampati in Mhvu. and Lal. Vist. would seem to confirm the truth of this assertion.

[37]:

As in Lal. Vist. Great Brahmā here utters only one verse as compared with three in V. and M. and two in D. The second line is identical with the last of the Pali lines, with the exception that it has Sugata instead of Bhagavān.

[38]:

Ājñātāro bhaviṣyanti “the knowers will become,” corresponding to aññātāro bhavissanti of the Pali texts cited (add also S. 1.234). The rendering is that adopted in I. B. Horner: Bk. of Disc. 4, p. 8 after Mrs. Rhys Davids: Manual, p. 82.

[39]:

Literally, “This also is heard,” etthametam śrūyati, which corresponds to the expression “tatredam ucyate” so often used in vol. 1 to introduce variant versions of episodes.

[40]:

The Pali texts do not specify what the heresies which had arisen in Magadha were. Lal. Vist. describes them in the same terms as the Mhvu.

[41]:

This is another of those verses which in the Pali tradition were all recited at one and the same time by Great Brahmā. Lal. Vist. has here as many as twelve verses.

[42]:

This passage closely resembles the corresponding passages in the Pali texts already cited. The slight differences are common to the Mhvu. and Lal. Vist.

[43]:

Udghaṭitājña. See p. 259, n. 4.

[44]:

Vipañcitājña. Cf. Pali vipañcita (references as in preceding note).

[45]:

Padaparama. Cf. Pali, id. (Add J. 6. 131 to references in the two preceding notes). The three types of men referred to below are not enumerated in the Pali parallels to this passage.

[46]:

The text has ṛddhīndriya, but mention of the possession of a faculty of magic is entirely out of place here; an antonym of tīkṣṇendriya is wanted. Hence emendation into mṛdindriya has been made. Cf. mudindriya in the corresponding place in the Pali texts.

[47]:

Rāśīyas, BSk. pl. of rāśi, “heap”. See vol. 1, p. 138, n. 5. Lal. Vist. also alludes to these categories, but the Pah parallels do not.

[48]:

Literally, “gave him leave,” avakāśamakārṣīt.

[49]:

The sense of this verse as a whole is pretty much the same as that of the corresponding verse in the Pali texts (V. 1.7, D. 2.39, M. 1.169, S. 1.138). There are, however, differences such as oral tradition in the course of time may be expected to have brought about. Words in the original are replaced by others of like sound. For example, the Pali line vihiṃsasaññi paguṇaṃ na bhāsiṃ (dhammam), “Thinking of fatigue I did not preach the correct dhamma,” becomes in the Mhvu., viheṣṭhasaṃjño (a)praguṇo abhūṣi dharmo. As E. Lamotte (op. cit., vol. 1, p. 60, n. 1) points out praguṇo in the Mhvu. line must be read (a)praguṇo. But the run of the Pali verse demands paguṇaṃ. With some variations the verse is also found at Lal. Vist. 400. The Pali version has the greater claim to represent the original tradition in that it makes more explicit the Buddha’s consent to teach the dharma, na bhāsim, “I did not preach,” implying that he is now ready to do so.

[50]:

This exultation of the devas is absent from the Pali parallels, but appears in Lal. Vist.

[51]:

I.e., according to the stock account of the devas’ exultation when a future Buddha was proclaimed. See vol. 1, passim.

[52]:

Literally, “are endowed with former association,” pūrvayogasampannā. See vol. 2, p. 245, n. 2. This reflection of the Buddha’s is not found either in the Pali parallel texts or in Lal. Vist.

[53]:

The corollary, “I am endowed, etc.,” is omitted in the text from here on.

[54]:

Āveṇikā, sc., buddhadharmā, the eighteen distinctive attributes of a Buddha. See Vol. 1, p. 33, n. 4.

[55]:

Literally “are endowed with a passing-away” sc. from among the devas, cyutisampanna.

[56]:

Garbhāvakrāntisampanna.

[57]:

Garbhasthitisampanna.

[58]:

I.e., the thirty-two marks (lakṣaṇāni) of a Mahāpuruṣa. See Vol. I, p. 80 ff.

[59]:

I.e., the eighty anuvyañjanāni of a Mahāpuruṣa. See Vol. 2, p. 40 f.

[60]:

Pratyupasthitadharmasampanna.

[61]:

Reading aduṣya for duṣya.

[62]:

Lokapravicaya.

[63]:

Vaimātratā. Senart refers to P.W. which cites Mvyut. Ci. Pali vematratā.

[64]:

Taking indriyavīrya as being for vīrya-indriya as at S. 1.437.

[65]:

Ājiva. The adjective “right” is inserted as being implied by the context.

[66]:

See vol. 2, p. 273, n. 4.

[67]:

Pañcajñānikasamādhi. Cf. D. 3. 278.

[68]:

Paurī vācā, Pali porī vācā.

[69]:

The second teacher resorted to by Gotama after he had left home.

[70]:

The past tense is used in translation, because there is nothing in the Mhvu. text to indicate that the Buddha did not know that Udraka was dead. In the Pali texts and Lal. Vist. the news that Udraka (and below, Ārāḍa) was dead was brought just as the Buddha had decided on communicating the dharma to him.

[71]:

Senart prints aparokṣajātīyo, which could only mean “of evident good birth,” a sense not quite apposite to the context. The corresponding adjective applied below to Ārāḍa Kālāma is, however, alparajaskajātīyo, which is clearly the equivalent of the Pali apparajakkhajātiko applied to both teachers at V. 1.7 and M. 1.169, 170. I. B. Horner, op. cit. p. 10 and Lord Chalmers, Further Dial. 1, 120, take this to be a compound of appa (alpa) -rajas -akkha (akṣa) i.e. “an eye with little dust.” P.E.D., however (s.v. rajakkha) explains -kkha as an adjectival suffix, rajo (rajas) -ka, giving rajakkha, and compares purakkhata from puras-kata. The translation adopts the former interpretation, although doing so involves taking rajas in both its literal and metaphorical senses in the same sentence. In any case, it would seem justifiable to emend aparokṣajātīyo into alparajaskajātiko, in spite of the fact that Lal. Vist. 403 has in the corresponding place aparo-kṣavijñāna. But it is to be noted that, when the Buddha, continuing his pondering, asks again who is aparokṣajātīyo, in his answer this adjective has become alparajaskajātīyo, and the latter is also the adjective applied to the group of five monks. But now see Edgerton (B.H.S.D.).

[72]:

See vol. 2, p. 114, n. 2.

[73]:

Literally “Udraka R. is a great loss,” mahāhāni, Lal. Vist. 403, has mahāhānir vattate Udrakasya. For mahāhāni the Pali texts have mahājāniyo, from jāni = hāni.

[74]:

Reading alparajaskajātiko, for aparokṣajātīyo. See n. 3.

[75]:

The first teacher resorted to by Gotama after he had left home. It is to be noted that the Mhvu., like Lal. Vist., has inverted the order in which the Buddha mentions him and Udraka Rāmaputra in vol. 2, p. 118 and at V. 1.7 and M. 1.169 f. I. B. Homer: Bk. of Disc., Vol. 4, p. 10, n. 4 gives the following references to these two teachers—Mrs. Rhys Davids: Manual, 57 ff., E. J. Thomas: Life of Buddha, 184 (add 62 and 229), Miln. 236, and ThigA. 2.

[76]:

See n. 2, for the tense used in translation.

[77]:

Alparajaskajātīyo, here.

[78]:

Alparajaskajātīyo. The text omits alparajo, “of little defilement,” here.

[79]:

Pañcakā bhadravargiyā. The group of five religious seekers, probably pupils of Ārāḍa and Udraka, who had been Gotama’s companions during his austerities, but who deserted him when he decided that asceticism was not the way. Why the group is described as bhadra it is impossible to say. They are first alluded to, in exactly the same terms, both in the Mhvu. and Lal. Vist., on the occasion of their desertion of Gotama, so that there is some ground for supposing that bhadra is there used ironically in the sense of “fine” (See vol. 2 (trans.), p. 228). It has been rendered in a variety of other ways, “wealthy” (Rhys Davids and E. J. Thomas), “de bonne caste” (Foucaux) and “die schöne Gruppe bildend” (Pischel). On the whole it would seem safer to give bhadra here the general, if vague, sense of “good”. (See E. J. Thomas: Life of Buddha, p. 80, 91; Mrs. Rhys Davids: Manual, p. 62 f., and J.R.A.S., 1922, pp. 193 ff.; and D.P.N.) The Pali texts do not describe them as bhadra, but call them simply pañcavaggiyā bhikkhū (V. 1. 8; M. 1. 171), although they were not yet “monks” in the Buddhist sense. The Pali expression bhaddavaggiyā is applied to a totally different group of thirty (not five), who were converted and ordained by the Buddha on a later occasion (V. 1.23. See I. B. Horner, op. cit., p. 31, n. 2, where the rendering of bhadra by “of good standing” is shown to have the support of the Commentaries. Miss Horner, in a letter, suggests that bhadra applied to the five is due to contamination from the group of thirty).

[80]:

Alparajaskajātīyo.

[81]:

See vol. 1, p. 28, n. 4. The intervention of the devas at this point is not found either in the Pali texts or in Lal. Vist.

[82]:

Antevāsinas.

[83]:

There is here what must be regarded as a copyist’s error, for four adjectives acchā, samā, saiketā and sukhopanitā are applied to the palm-trees, which are properly only applicable to streams and are so applied immediately below.

[84]:

Accha P.E.D. relates it to root ṛc and compares Sk. ṛkṣa, “bald,” “bare” and Vedic ṛkvan, “bright.” M.W., however, derives it a + chad, “not covered,” “not shaded.”

[85]:

? Sukhopanītā “where one is led to pleasure.” The corresponding adjective et p. 288⁵(text) is sukhopatīrtha.

[86]:

See vol. 1., p. 205 (trans.).

[87]:

Ibid.

[88]:

Ibid.

[89]:

The rain-making class of the Vahālakāyika or “Cloud” devas. See D.P.N.

[90]:

See vol. 2, p. 165, n. 2.

[91]:

Not mentioned in the Pali texts nor in Lal. Vist.

[92]:

This incident at this point is peculiar to the Mhvu. In Lal. Vist., 406, it occurs after the meeting with Upaka.

[93]:

Huhuṅkajātiko vuccati “he was said to be a Huhuṅkajātiko”. Hardy, quoted by Mrs. Rhys Davids in J.P.T.S., 1901, p. 42, says that huhuṅka is apparently the designation of a class of brahmins uttering and putting their confidence in the sound hum, and he cites an Āraṇyaka passage which would seem to show that the sound was considered to possess a great power. Dr. E. H. Johnstone also thinks it may refer to confidence in ritual-syllables. See F. L. Woodward: Verses of Uplift, p. 3, n. 1 and the references there and in I. B. Horner, op. cit., p. 3, n. 3. According to P.E.D. huhuṅkajātiko means “one who has a grumbly nature.” Cf. DA. and UdA. cited in Verses of Uplift, l.c. But in the Mhvu. the brāhman utters the sound “hum” before the Buddha speaks a word at which he can carp.

In V. 1.2, cf. Ud. 3, this incident takes place earlier, namely, when the Buddha was staying near the Goatherd’s Banyan-tree. The Mhvu. alone gives the brāhman a name.

[94]:

Apasavyīkaroti. See P.E.D., s.v. apasavya; also Edgerton (B.H.S.D.).

[95]:

Huhun-ti karoti.

[96]:

Bāhitapāpadharma. Bāhitapāpa is a “traditional and fanciful etymology of brāhmaṇa” (F. L. Woodward, op. cit., p. 4, n. 3.).

[97]:

Niṣkaṣāya. Pali nikasāva.

[98]:

Literally “speak the brahma-speech,” brahmavādaṃ vadeya. I. B. Horner, op. cit., p. 4, n. 3, quotes VA. 958 = UdA. 55 as saying that this means he can rightly say “I am a brāhman.” She also refers to Mrs. Rhys Davids: Manual p. 85, where brahmavāda is rendered “Brahma-faith.”

Only the first two and the last pādas of this verse are found at V. 1. 3 and Ud. 3.

[99]:

This incident again is peculiar to the Mhvu.

[100]:

Vusta, past part, of vasati. Cí. Pali vuttha.

[101]:

A village near Benares, but on the other side of the river. A variant Pali form of the name is Cundaṭṭhila (D.P.N.). The Pali texts and Lal. Vist. do not specify the exact spot where the Buddha met Upaka.

[102]:

Ājīvaka, literally “man of the livelihood.” For their beliefs and practices see Rhys Davids: Buddhist India, p. 143; D.P.N.; and A. L. Basham: History and Doctrines of the Ājiīikas.

[103]:

Unlike the Pali texts and Lal. Vist. the Mhvu. does not allude to the Buddha’s indriyāni, “faculties or organs of sense.”

[104]:

Bandhanāśraya. Cf. Lal. Vist., which has two other similes at this point. The Pali parallel passages have none.

[105]:

This allusion to immortality is not found either in Lal. Vist. or in the Pali texts.

[106]:

Or “where” kahim.

[107]:

This verse is practically identical, word for word, with the corresponding verse at V. 1.8 and M. 1.171. Cf. also Dh. 353.

[108]:

For aham as the subject of uddiśeyam the Pali texts have sayam, i.e. having gained the higher knowledge “myself”.

[109]:

In Pali this verse and the following one form a continuous whole with the first two, containing the answers to a series of questions asked in the prose. In the Mhvu. and Lal. Vist. the questions are given one by one with a verse in reply to each.

[110]:

Evamukte, “when this was spoken,” omitted in the translation of the rest of this dialogue.

[111]:

In Pali this verse appears as the second in the whole series and is not a reply to any specific question about Gotama’s Arhantship. However, the fifth verse in Pali is introduced by a question in the form of a statement, yathā... paṭijānāsi arah’ asi anantajino ti, “according to what you claim you ought to be victor of the unending.” “But there is also the reading arahā asi (You are an Arhan) as at Kvu. 289, and cf. Pss. Sisters, 129 f.” (I. B. Horner: op. cit., p. 12, n. 3). In the Mhvu., as also in Lat. Vist., this verse has been transferred to form the answer to an additional question. It would seem as though the question was suggested by the statement in the original verse, the second in the Pali series.

[112]:

This corresponds to the question introducing the fifth verse in Pali.

[113]:

Literally, “watery land,” anopa, a BSk. variant of Sk. anūpa, which is also the predominant form in Pali, from anu + āpa (See P.E.D.). Cf. B.H.S.D.

[114]:

This simile and the following verse are not found either in the Pali texts or in Lal. Vist.

[115]:

This verse, with some variations, corresponds to the fourth in the Pali series. The two following verses have nothing corresponding to them in the Pali or in Lal. Vist.

[116]:

Literally “set rolling,” pravartayiṣyāmi.

[117]:

The text has the present, deśenti, only, but it is necessary in translation to repeat the verb in the other two tenses.

[118]:

Dharmatā.

[119]:

This and the other incidents described in the Mhvu. as taking place on the way to Ṛṣipatana are not alluded to in the Pali texts. Lal. Vist. 406, says simply that after being entertained by Sudarśana the Nāga king at Gayā (cf. above, p. 315, n. 3), the Buddha passed successively through Rohitavastu, Uruvilvākalpa, Aṇāla and Sārathipura, at each of which places he was entertained; but it is not said by whom.

[120]:

Parivarjayeya. Senart, however, gives this the opposite sense of “satisfaire, rendre favorable,” on the analogy of the problematical āvarjanā for which he refers to his notes on p. 377, 482 of vol. 1. But it would seem better to give it its normal sense of “to shun, avoid,” etc., and the point of the simile is retained simply by giving praṇāmye (from praṇāmeti) the meaning it has e.g., at V. 1. 54, namely “to dismiss, send away,” hence “spurn”.

[121]:

Nāvika. This encounter with the ferryman is also found in Lal. Vist. 407, but the account of it varies in the two texts, that in the Mhvu. being for more circumstantial and interesting.

[122]:

Kuto mama samaleṣṭukāñcanasya vyapagatajātārūparajatasya tarapaṇyam.

[123]:

Tarīhasi, BSk. fut. of tarati. Edgerton, Gram. § 31. 3, explains the form as fut. of the MIndic pass., tarīyati, from the same verb.

[124]:

Pali Nammadā, the modern Nerbudda.

[125]:

This place is not mentioned in the Pali texts and Lal. Vist.

[126]:

Literally, “dwell in,” vasanti, unless we read va (=eva) santi “are.”

[127]:

See p. 313, n. 2. From this point the Mahāvastu and the Mahāvagga, V. 1.6 ff. are closely parallel. For a detailed comparison of the two texts, with references to Lal. Vist., see Windisch, op. cit., p. 19 ff.

[128]:

Corresponding to the Pali Aññā (or Aññāta-) Koṇṇañña, Bhaddiya, Vappa, Mahānāma, Assaji (V. 1.12ff.). Lal. Vist., 408, mentions only Ājñātakauṇḍinya by name, and elsewhere, 245ff., mentions them only as a group. For the supposed etymology of his name see V. 1.12 and I. B. Horner, op. cit., 18, n. 4.

[129]:

Kriyākāraṃ karonti. Lal. Vist. 407 has kriyābandham akārṣa. V. 1.8 has aññamaññaṃ saṇṭhapesum, “they agreed among themselves.”

[130]:

The text has prahāṇavikrānto. Prahāṇa is, of course, the BSk. form of Sk. pradhāna, Pali padhāna. But vikrānto, “heroic,” can hardly be correct, as it would give the compound a sense contrary to what is demanded by the context. The right reading is evidently vibhrānto corresponding to the Pali vibbhanto in the same expression, i.e., the participle of vibhramati; or we could restore the synonymous vibhraṣṭo (vi-bhraṃś) as at Lal. Vist. 407.

[131]:

This simile is also given in Lal. Vist. 408, but not in the Pali texts, not even at J. 1.68.

[132]:

Samācaratha vādena. Cf. p. 178, n. 1. Lal. Vist. 409 uses the verb samudācarati here, as also does V. 1.9 and M. 1.171.

[133]:

See p. 67, n. 3.

[134]:

This detail is given at Lal. Vist. 409, but not in the Pali texts. For similar passages in the Mhvu. see vol. 2, 234; vol. 3, 65, 92 (text).

[135]:

There must be a lacuna here, if, that is, the words jānantā ca buddhā bhagavanto are in place. Possibly they form the beginning of a stock description of the Buddha’s knowledge of due times for various actions. Lal. Vist. 410, mentions the bathing but does not give a name to the pool, merely describing it as bahuvicitra, which is suspiciously like the proper name of it in our text.

[136]:

The miraculous answer to the Buddha’s question is different in Lat. Vist. 410. All these details are absent from the Pali accounts.

[137]:

I.e., one for each of the Buddhas of the kalpa, including the future Buddha Maitreya. But immediately below the Buddha is made to allude to the later doctrine that a thousand Buddhas appear in a bhadrakalpa, a doctrine which Lal. Vist. would seem to refer to when it speaks of the thousand seats which appeared when former Buddhas preached the dharma.

[138]:

Lacuna in text.

[139]:

Bhadrakalpa. According to the more usual doctrine only five Buddhas appeared in such a kalpa. See B.H.S.D. and D.P.N.

[140]:

See vol. 1, p. 36, n. 2.

[141]:

It is strange to find two Buddhas of the same name juxtaposed. Perhaps the reading of MS.M. should be adopted here. This runs sa sarvābhibhū no aṣṭayojanaprabho, which could be interpreted as a parenthesis correcting some other tradition. “It is not a radiance of eight yojanas that this Sarvābhibhū (will have).”

[142]:

Lacuna.