following morning. But in the night, as he was walking in the ball of ambulation, he saw a déwa near the steps at the entrance, weeping. On asking who he was, he said that he was the déwa who resided in the tree midháta, near that place. The priest then enquired why he wept, and he said, "Whilst you have remained here, the priests have been at peace with each other; but when you depart, they will again begin to quarrel; therefore I weep." The priest, listening to the complaint of the déwa, resolved not to leave the wihára, and abode there until he attained nirwána. 6. The Unfortunate Priest. There was formerly in Ceylon, in the province of Ruhuna, a wihára, or temple, called Kshíranága, in which a number of priests resided, one of whom was indifferent, and absent in mind. Unknown to the rest of the association, this negligent priest, to suit his own purpose, cut down a ná-tree, that grew within the sacred enclosure, which was the residence of a déwa. The déwa resolved upon revenge, but knew that he could only accomplish it by practising some artifice. He therefore caused the priest to dream that something very fortunate was about to happen to him. Not long after, the déwa appeared to him in his own shape, and in seeming grief said to him, "In seven days a great calamity will happen to you." The priest enquired what it was; and he said, "In seven days your great benefactor, the king of the city, will die; and you are required to announce the event to the people." The citizens, on receiving this intelligence, as the priest without hesitation obeyed the command he had received, began to lament greatly, which attracted the attention of the king, and he enquired the cause. Upon being informed, he said that if the priest had declared the truth, the citizens must reward him accordingly; but that if the announcement was false, he would himself know how to deal with the traitor. The seventh day arrived, and passed away, without any misfortune happening to the king; and he therefore gave orders, on the eighth day, that the priest should be taken out of the city, and deprived of his arms and legs. By this means the priest died, and his next birth was in a place of misery. (Sadharmmaratnakáré.) 7. The Legends of Kisawacha and Nalikéra. At the time that Sarabhanga Bódhisat was the chief of a company of ascetics, one of his followers, Kisa wacha, left the Giwulu forest, near the river Gódáwari, where the fraternity resided, and took up his abode in a grove belonging to Dandakí, who reigned in the city of Khumbáwatí, in Kálinga. It happened in the course of time, that 500 courtezans passed through the city, in gay procession; and the people flocked in such numbers to see them, that the street of the city was completely filled. The crowd was observed by the king from the upper story of his palace, and when he learnt that it was caused by the beauties of the city, he was offended that they should thus seek to captivate the people, and commanded that they should be dismissed from their office. One day, when the same courtezans were walking in the royal garden, they saw the ascetic, Kisawacha, his face covered with hair, and his beard flowing over his breast; and as if they had been polluted by the sight of this miserable object, they called for water to wash their eyes, and spat upon the ascetic's body. Soon afterwards they were restored to their office, and concluded that this good fortune had happened to them in consequence of their having spat upon Kisawacha. About the same time the puróhita, or vizier, lost his office; but he went to the courtezans and asked them by what means they had regained the king's favour; and when they told him that it was through nothing else but their having spat upon a miserable ascetic, he went to the garden, and did the same. The king then remembered that he had dismissed the brahman without having properly enquired into his case, and commanded him to be restored; so he concluded that he also had been assisted through the insult he had shown to the ascetic. By and bye some of the provinces rebelled against the king, who collected an army to quell them. The brahman went to him, and said that if he wished to conquer his enemies, he must spit upon an ascetic who was in his garden, as it was by this means he and the courtezans had been restored to favour. The king took this advice, and went to the garden, accompanied by his courtezans, all of whom spat upon the ascetic; and an order was given to the warders that no one should be admitted to the palace who had not previously done the same. A noble who heard of the indignity went to Kisawacha, cleansed his body from the filth, and gave him other garments; after which he enquired what would be the punishment of the king, in consequence of the crime that had been committed. To this enquiry he replied, that the déwas were divided in opinion upon the subject; some were determined that the king alone should suffer; others that the king and the people should be punished in common; whilst others were resolved upon the entire destruction of the country. But he also informed the noble, that if the king would come and ask his forgiveness, the threatened calamities would be averted. The noble therefore went to the king and made known to him what was taking place; but as he refused to listen to his advice, he resigned his office; after which he again went to the ascetic, who recommended him to take all he had and go to some place at the distance of seven days' journey from the city, as it would most assuredly be destroyed. The king fought his enemies, and conquered them; and on the day on which he returned to the city it began to rain, so that the people were led to remark that he had been fortunate from the time he spat upon the ascetic. The déwas then rained flowers, money, and golden ornaments, at which the people were still more pleased; but this was succeeded by a shower of weapons that cut their flesh; then by showers of white burning charcoal, that emitted neither smoke nor flame, which was succeeded by a fall of stones, and then by sand so fine that it could not be taken up in the hand, which continued to fall until it covered the whole country to the depth of 87 cubits. The ascetic, the noble, and a certain merchant who received merit through the assistance he rendered to his mother, were the only persons saved. (Amáwatura). In a former age, Nálikéra reigned in Kálinga, and at the same time 500 brahmanical ascetics took up their abode in the forest of Himála, where they lived upon fruits, and dressed themselves in the bark of trees; but they had occasionally to visit the villages, in order to procure salt and condiments; and in the course of their wanderings they came to Kálinga. The people of the city gave them what they required, in return for which they said bana; and the citizens were so much captivated with what they heard, that they requested them to remain, and say bana in the royal garden. The king observing a great crowd, enquired if they were going to some theatrical exhibition; but he was informed that they were going to hear bana, upon which he resolved that he also would be present. When the brahmans heard that the king had arrived, they appointed one of their cleverest speakers to officiate. The bana was on the subject of the five sins, and the consequences of committing them were set forth; such as birth in the form of worms, beasts, or asúrs, or in hell, where the misery will have to be endured during many hundreds of thousands of years. These things were like an iron piercing the ears of the king, and he resolved that he would have his revenge. At the conclusion he invited the brahmans to a repast at the palace; but before their arrival he commanded his servants to fill a number of vessels with filth, and cover them with plantain leaves. The brahmans, on their way to the place of refection, said among themselves that as they were about to receive food at the palace, it would be necessary for them to be very circumspect in their behaviour. When all were ready, the leaves were taken from the vessels at the king's command and the stench was most offensive; but he further insulted the brahmans by saying, "As much as you please you may eat, and as much as you like you can take home, as it is all provided for you alone. You derided me before the people, and this is your reward." So saying, he ordered his ruffians to take them by the shoulders, and hurl them down the stairs, that had previously been smeared with honey and the gum of the kumbuck tree, so that they speedily slid to the bottom, where they were attacked by fierce dogs. A few attempted to make their escape, but they fell into pits that had been dug to entrap them, or were devoured by the dogs. Thus perished the whole of the 500 brahmans; but for this crime the déwas destroyed the country by causing the nine kinds of showers to fall, until a space of 60 yojanas was covered with sand to the depth of 87 cubits. (Amáwatura). 8. Sampati Maha Brahma. The ruler of the brahma-lókas is 192 miles high; his foot is 30 miles long; from his elbow to the tip of his finger is 48 miles; his span is 24 miles; his robes are 256 miles in length; and he can illumine 10,000 sakwalas at once, by the stretching forth of his finger. 9. The Yakás. There are Yakás in the world of men as well as those which reside upon Méru. They die here, and passing away from the state of a yaká, receive some other birth; but their dead bodies are never seen, nor is any stench from them ever perceived. The reason is, that they assume the appearance of dead chamelions, worms, ants, grasshoppers, serpents, scorpions, centipedes, or some bird or beast. In the time of Gótama Budha there resided a merchant at Snáparanta, who was called Punna; but he embraced the priesthood, and become a rahat. After his attainment of this high state, 300 of his former associates embarked on a distant voyage, with his younger brother at their head, who had previously taken upon himself the five obligations. But the merchants were overtaken by a storm, and were carried along until they arrived at a certain island. In the morning they set about preparing their food, but could find no kind of fuel except red sandal-wood, as there were no other trees in the forest. One of them, when this was discovered, said to his companions, "We may go further, but can find nothing more valuable than red sandal-wood; so it will be well for us to heave our present cargo overboard, and load our ship with this timber, four inches of which are worth a lac of treasure." The others were willing to follow this advice, and many trees were cut down. But there were yakás in that island, who became angry with the merchants for destroying their habitations, as they thus invaded their rights. They would have killed the intruders at once, but for the stench that was to be apprehended from their dead bodies; and they therefore resolved upon punishing them after they had re-embarked. For this purpose they raised a violent storm, and appeared to the mariners in frightful shapes, so that they became greatly afraid, and each one cried to his déwas; but the younger brother called for the assistance of Punna, the rahat. This was perceived by Punna, who went to their assistance through the air; and when the yakás saw him coming, they became afraid in their turn, and fled away, After encouraging the mariners, he asked them to what port they were going, and when they said their own, he directed the head of the vessel towards it, and conveyed them thither by his supernatural |