into the forest, thinking to die in some lonely cave.*

After walk

ing about some time, he was overcome by hunger, and ate of the root, leaves, fruit, and bark of a certain tree; but these acted medicinally, and his whole body became free from disease, pure as a statue of gold. He then sought for a proper tree in which to dwell, and seeing a kolom with a hollow trunk, he thought it would be a secure refuge from the tigers. Accordingly he made a ladder, sixteen cubits high, by which he ascended the tree; and cutting a hole in the side for a window, he constructed a frame on which to repose, and a small platform on which to cook his food. At night he heard the fearful roaring of wild beasts around; but his life was supported by the offal left by the lions and tigers after they had eaten their prey. One morning a tiger that was prowling about for food, came near the place where the princess was concealed; and having got the scent of human flesh, he scraped with his paw until the earth that covered the cave was removed, when he saw the princess, and uttered a loud roar. The princess trembled with fear at the sight of the tiger, and began to cry. As all creatures are afraid of the human cry, the tiger slunk away without doing her any injury. The cry was heard by Ráma as well; and when he went to see from whom it proceeded, he beheld the princess. The king asked who she was, and she said that she had been brought there that she might not defile her relatives. Ráma then said to her, “ I am Ráma, king of Benares; our meeting together is like that of the waters of the rain and the 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.

66

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

The Ganésa Purána commences with the misfortune of Sómakánka, king of Surat, who, on account of the affliction of leprosy, left his house and kingdom to wander in the wilderness.-Dr. Stevenson, Journ. Royal As. Soc. viii.

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 thirty-two 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 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.)

may

66

VII. THE LEGENDARY LIFE OF GÓTAMA BUDHA.

1. THE CONCEPTION, BIRTH, AND INFANCY OF GÓTAMA.—UI. THE MARRIAGE of GóTAMA, AND HIS SUBSEQUENT ABANDONMENT OF THE WORLD.-111. 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-WORSHIPPERS 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, DÉWADATTA, 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 OE ANGULIMALA.-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 UPALI.—XXVII. THE BRAHMAN KUTADANTA EMBRACES BUDHISM.-XXVIII. THE BRAHMAN SELA BECOMES A PRIEST.-XXIX. BUDHA 18 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.-XXXIV. THE GIFTS PRE

SENTED TO BUDHA ON HIS RETURN TO SEWET.-XXXVII, BUDHA IS VISITED

BY THE DEWA 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 DEWA-LÓKA TAWUTISA.XL. THE NÁGA, NANDO-PANANDA, OVERCOME BY MUGALAN.-XLI. THE SIXTEEN DREAMS OF THE KING OF KOSOL.-XLII. THE QUEEN PRAJAPATI BECOMES A PRIESTESS, AND OBTAINS NIRWANA.-XLIII. THE WICKED DEVICES OF DEWADATTA AND AJÁSAT.-XLIV. THE CONVERSION OF AJÁSAT, -XLV. THE DESTRUCTION OF DEWADATTA.-XLVI. THE HISTORY OF PRINCE SUNAKHÁTA.—XLVII, THE HISTORY OF BAWÁRI.-XLVIII. BUDHA VISITS THE BRAHMA-LÓKA.—XLIX. MUGALAN ATTAINS NIRWANA.-L. THE PUNISHMENT OF SUPRA BUDHA.-LI. THE PRINCESS YASÓDHARÁ-DEWI ATTAINS NIRWANA.— -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 carlier 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