river; ascend, therefore, from the cave to the light." But Priyá replied, "I cannot ascend from the cave; I am afflicted with the white leprosy." Then said the king, "I came to the forest on account of the same disease, but was cured by the eating of certain medicinal herbs; in the same way you may be cured; therefore at once come hither." To assist her in ascending, Ráma made her a ladder; and taking her to the tree in which he lived, he applied the medicine, and in a little time she was perfectly free from disease.

When the princess was thus restored to health, she became the wife of Ráma, and in the same year was delivered of two sons. Then, for the space of sixteen years, she had two sons every year, until the number amounted to thirty-two. It happened in the course of time that a man who knew the king saw him in the forest. When he said that he had come from Benares, Ráma enquired about his own family and the welfare of the city; and in the midst of their conversation the thirty-two princes gathered around them. The hunter asked in astonishment who they were; and when he was informed, he besought the king to leave the forest and come to the city; but Ráma was not willing to accede to this request. On his return to Benares, the hunter informed the reigning king that his father was alive. On receiving this intelligence, he went with a large retinue to the forest, and tried to prevail upon his father to return to the palace; but even his entreaties were in vain. The prince, therefore, commanded his servants to erect a city in that place, with walls, tanks, and every needful defence and ornament; and when this was done, he and his attendants returned to Benares. The newly-erected city was called Kóli, from the kolom tree (nauclea cordifolia) in which the king took refuge. It was also called Wyágrapura, (from wyágra, a tiger), because it was by means of a tiger that the princess was discovered in the cave. Another name that it received was that of Dewudaha. The descendants of the king received the name of Kóli.

The queen having informed her sons that there were four kings in Kapilawastu who were her brothers, and that they had thirtytwo daughters, they sent to ask the hand of the princesses in marriage; but the four kings replied that though the race of the princes was good, as they were born in the hollow of a tree they could not consent to the proposed marriages, adding insult to

their refusal. As it was known, however, that the princesses were accustomed to go to a certain place to bathe, the sons of Ráma sent letters to them privately, requesting an interview. A time being appointed, the princes, with their retinue, went thither, and taking the princesses by the hand, prevailed upon them to go to Kóli. When the four kings heard of this adventure, they were pleased with the courage of the young men; and as their race would still be kept pure, they became reconciled to the princes, and sent them presents.

From this time it became a custom for the Kóli and Sákya families to intermarry with each other. The thirty-two princes had separate establishments, and in due time thirty-two children were born to each family. After many generations Dewudaha was king, and was succeeded by his son Anusákya, whose principal queen was the younger sister of Singha-hanu. This queen had two sons, Suprabudha and Dandapání, and two daughters, Maha Máya Déwi and Maha Prajapati. These princesses were beautiful as the queens of a déwa-lóka; no intoxicating liquor ever touched their lips; even in play they never told an untruth; they would not take life, even to destroy insects; and they observed all the precepts. It was declared by a brahman who saw them that they would have two sons, one of whom would be a chakrawartti, and the other a supreme Budha. No sooner was this noised abroad, than all the 63,000 kings of Jambudwípa sent to ask them in marriage; but the preference was given to Sudhódana, king of Kapilawastu; and they became his principal queens. Maha Máya was in every respect faithful to the king, and lived in all purity. In a former age she had presented an offering to the Budha called Maha Wipassi, saying, "I present this with the hope that at some future time I may become the mother of a Budha, who like thee shall be ruler of the world." Of Sudhódana and Maha Máya, Gótama Budha was born. (Pújáwaliya, Amáwatura, &c.)

VII. THE LEGENDARY LIFE OF GÓTAMA BUDHA.

1. THE CONCEPTION, BIRTH, AND INFANCY OF GÓTAMA.-II. THE MARRIAGE
OF GÓTAMA, AND HIS SUBSEQUENT ABANDONMENT OF THE WORLD.-
III. GÓTAMA AS AN ASCETIC, PREPARATORY TO THE RECEPTION OF THE
BUDHASHIP.-IV. THE CONTEST WITH WASAWARTTI MÁRA.- -V. THE
RECEPTION OF THE BUDHASHIP.-VI. THE FIRST OFFERING RECEIVED
BY GÓTAMA AS BUDHA.-VII. THE FIRST DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY
BUDHA.-VIII. FIFTY-FOUR PRINCES AND A THOUSAND FIRE-WORSHIP-
PERS BECOME THE DISCIPLES OF BUDHA.—IX. BIMSARA, KING OF
RAJAGAHA, BECOMES A DISCIPLE OF BUDHA.-X. THE TWO PRINCIPAL
DISCIPLES OF BUDHA, SERIYUT AND MUGALAN.-XI. BUDHA VISITS
KAPILAWASTU, HIS NATIVE CITY.-XII. NANDA AND RAHULA BECOME
THE DISCIPLES OF BUDHA.-XIII. BUDHA VISITS THE ISLAND OF
CEYLON.XIV. BUDHA FORETELLS THE PROSPERITY OF A LABOURER'S
WIFE.-XV. BUDHA ATTENDS A PLOUGHING FESTIVAL.-XVI. THE
HISTORY OF ANÉPIDU.-XVII. THE HISTORY OF WISÁKHA.-XVIII.
ANURUDHA, ANANDA, DEWADATTA, AND OTHER PRINCES, BECOME
PRIESTS; AND ANANDA IS APPOINTED TO THE OFFICE OF UPASTHAYAKA.
-XIX. BUDHA VISITS THE CITY OF WISÁLÁ.-XX. THE HISTORY OF
JÍWAKA, WHO ADMINISTERED MEDICINE TO BUDHA.-XXI. THE HISTORY
OF ANGULIMÁLA.-XXII. THE HISTORY OF SABHIYA.-XXIII. THE
HISTORY OF SACHA.-XXIV. THE TWO MERCHANTS OF SUNAPARANTA.-

XXV. THE YAKÁ ALAWAKA OVERCOME BY BUDHA.-XXVI. THE
HISTORY OF UPÁLI.-XXVII. THE BRAHMAN KÚTADANTA EMBRACES
BUDHISM.-XXVIII. THE BRAHMAN SÉLA BECOMES A PRIEST.-XXIX.
BUDHA IS FALSELY ACCUSED OF INCONTINENCE BY THE FEMALE
UNBELIEVER, CHINCHI.-XXX. THE FEMALE RESIDENT IN MATIKA
BECOMES A RAHAT.-XXXI. THE PROWESS OF BANDHULA.-XXXII. THE
KING OF KOSOL MARRIES THE NATURAL DAUGHTER OF MAHA-NAMA.-
XXXIII. THE FLOWER-GIRL BECOMES A QUEEN.-XXXIV. THE PRIEST
WHOSE BREATH IS LIKE THE PERFUME OF THE LOTUS.-XXXV. THE FIVE
HUNDRED QUEENS OF KOSOL.-XXXVI. THE GIFTS PRESENTED TO BUDHA
ON HIS RETURN TO SEWET.-XXXVII, BUDHA IS VISITED BY THE DÉWA
SEKRA. XXXVIII. THE TIRTTAKAS ARE PUT TO SHAME; A LARGE TREE IS
MIRACULOUSLY PRODUCED; AND SEKRA MAKES A PAVILION FOR BUDHA.
-XXXIX. BUDHA VISITS THE DÉWA-LÓKA TAWUTISÁ.-XL. THE Nága,
NANDO-PANANDA, OVERCOME BY MUĢALAN.-XLI. THE SIXTEEN DREAMS
OF THE KING OF KOSOL.-XLII. THE QUEEN PRAJAPATI BECOMES A
PRIESTESS, AND OBTAINS NIRWANA.-
-XLIII. THE WICKED DEVICES OF
DÉWADATTA AND AJÁSAT.-XLIV. THE CONVERSION OF AJÁSAT.-XLV.
THE DESTRUCTION OF DEWADATTA.-XLVI. THE HISTORY OF PRINCE

THE

SUNAK HÁTA.-XLVII. THE HISTORY OF BAWÁRI.-XLVIII. BUDHA VISITS
BRAHMA-LÓKA.—XLIX. MUGALAN ATTAINS NIRWANA.-L. THE
PUNISHMENT OF SUPRA BUDHA.-LI. THE PRINCESS YASÓDHARÁ-DÉWI
ATTAINS NIRWÁNA.-LII. THE DEATH OF GÓTAMA BUDHA.

THERE are ample materials for an extended life of Gótama; and the incidents that are recorded of his more immediate disciples are almost of equal extent. Of this matter the greater part may be a mass of mere absurdity, with as little of interest as would be presented by the detail of a consecutive series of the dreams of a disturbed sleep: but it is probable that nearly every incident is founded upon fact; and if we were in possession of some talismanic power that would enable us to select the true and reject the false, a history might be written that would scarcely have an equal in the importance of the lesson it would teach. It is said by Niebuhr that "unless a boldness of divination, liable as it is to abuse, be permitted, all researches into the earlier history of nations must be abandoned;" and a gifted critic may one day arise, who, by his discriminating skill, will be enabled to arrange every subject under one or other of these four classes the pure fiction, the uncertain, the probable, and the established fact. In the mean time, we must be content with the legend in its received version, with all the accumulations it has gathered in successive ages. As no comment would be understood, until the legends have been read, I shall reserve all exegetical observations to the end of the chapter.

1. The Conception, Birth, and Infancy of Gótama.

After the Wessantara birth, Bódhisat was born in the déwalóka called Tusita, where he received the name of Santusita, and lived in the possession of every enjoyment for the space of 57 kótis and 60 lacs of years. At the end of this period, as it had been announced that a supreme Budha was about to appear, the déwas and brahmas of the various worlds enquired who it was to be; and when they discovered that it was Santusita, they went in a vast multitude to that déwa, and requested him to assume the high office, that the different orders of being might

be released from the sorrows connected with the repetition of existence. To this request Santusita made no reply, but exercised the five great perceptions,* pancha-maha-wílókana, that he might discover, first, the character of the period in which the Budhas are born; second, the continent; third, the country; fourth, the family; and fifth, the day. As to the first perception, he saw that the age of man was about a hundred years,† and that therefore it was an auspicious period in which for the Budha to be born. As to the second, he saw that the Budhas are born in Jambudwípa. As to the third, he saw that they are born in the Madhya-mandala, or Magadha.‡ As to the fourth, he looked first to see whether the royal caste or the brahman was then the superior, and when he saw that it was the royal, he looked to see which of the 63,000 kings of Jambudwípa possessed the requisite merit to become the father of a Budha; by which he perceived that Sudhódana, king of Kapilawastu, of the Sákya race, was alone worthy of this honour. As to the fifth perception, when he looked to see on what day the Budhas are born, as he knew that the queen of Sudhódana would be his mother, and that the mother of a Budha dies on the seventh day after her confinement, he saw that he must be conceived in the womb of Mahamáya, 307 days previous to the time at which it was foreknown that her death would take place.§

When a déwa is about to leave the celestial regions, there are

There are eight different kinds of beings who must look to the future before they attempt to carry into effect their intentions. The merchant, before he buys his goods; the elephant, before he makes use of his trunk; the traveller, before he commences a journey; the sailor, before he embarks on a voyage; the physician, before he administers medicine; the man who has to cross a bridge, before he ventures upon it; the priest, before he eats, that he may see whether there is sufficient time for him to finish his repast before the sun passes the meridian; and Bódhisat, before he receives his final birth.

The theology of the Romans taught that twelve times ten solar years was the term fixed by nature for the life of man, and beyond that the gods themselves had no power to prolong it; that fate had narrowed its span to thrice thirty; that fortune abridges even this period by a variety of chances: it was against these that the protection of the gods was implored.-Niebuhr's Rome.

This country was supposed to be situated in the centre of Jambudwípa. It would be difficult to define its limits, but it is generally regarded as answering to Central Bahar. In the reign of Bimsara, Rajagaha was its capital. It is called Makata by the Burmans and Siamese, Mo-ki-to by the Chinese, and Makala Kokf by the Japanese.

§ The matter contained in this chapter is principally translated from the Pújáwaliya; except in the few instances in which the name of a different work is inserted at the end of the section.