ing the Grand Láma himself, have their heads covered. 22. The corpse of the Great Teacher was escorted by the Mallians of Kusinára with music, singing, and dancing, to the east side of the city. It was first wrapped in a new cloth, then wound about with floss cotton, and again wrapped in numerous other cloths. Thus prepared, the corpse was laid in a metal oil vessel, covered by another, and placed upon a funeral pile of sandal wood. At this moment the venerable Mahá Kássapo, having arrived from Páwá, approached the funeral pile. With one shoulder bare (the right), and, with clasped hands, having performed the padakhinán (perambulation) three times; and, after opening the pile at the end, he reverentially bowed down at the feet of Bhagawá.* The five hundred Bhikshus did the same; and the pile was lighted. When the body was consumed, the metal vessel was escorted back to the town; where, with music, song, and dance, and with garlands of sweet flowers, the people for seven days showed their reverence and devotion to Bhagana's mortal remains. 23. After this, the burnt bones were divided into eight portions by the Bráhman Dono (Drona), and Turnour's Extracts in Prinsep's Journal, vol. vii. p. 1012. This act of Kasyapa I believe to have been the origin of the worship of Buddha's feet. The reverence shown to the feet is undoubtedly old, as the feet are represented on the central architrave of the Eastern Gateway at Sánchi, in a procession. distributed amongst those who applied for them. Eight Stupas or Topes were erected over the relics at the following places :-* 1st. At RAJAGRIHA, in Magadha, by Ajáta satta. 2nd. At VISÁLI, by the Lichawi family. 8th. At KUSINÁRA, by the Malliyans. The Moriyans of PIPPHALIWANO having applied too late for a share of the relics, received some charcoal from the funeral pile, over which they built Stupa the 9th. At PIPPHALIWANO; Turnour's Extracts in Prinsep's Journal, vol. vii. p. 1013. The whole of these places, including Allakappo, although it has not been identified, were situated in Tirhut and Bahar.-1. RAJAGRIHA was the ancient capital of Magadha, or Bahar Proper. 2. The ruins of VISALI still exist at Bassahr, to the north of Patna. 3. KAPILAVASTU was somewhere between Ayodhya and Gorakhpur. 5. RÁMAGRÁMA was in the neighbourhood of Gorakhpur it was most likely the Selampura of Ptolemy, or Sri-Rámpura. 6. WETTHADIPO was most probably Bettiya. 7. Pawi was to the west of Visáli, on the high road to Kusinára. 8. KUSINÁRA was about equi-distant between Benares and Visáli, or in the position of Kusia on the Little Gandak. 9. PIPPHALIWANO, or the place of the Charcoal Tope, was between Kapilavastu and Kusinára. The people of Visáli are called Passale by Ptolemy. and lastly the Bráhman Dono, over the vessel (kumbha) in which he had measured the relics, built the 10th Stupa. 24. The relics which remained uninjured by the fire were the four canine teeth, two collar bones, and one frontal bone with a hair attached to it, which was therefore called the renhisa, or hair relic. One of the teeth was ultimately enshrined in Gandhára, the country on the lower Kâbul river around Pesháwur; a second in Kalinga, at Dántapura, or "tooth-town;" and the others are said to have been worshipped by the Devas and Nágas. 25. But within twenty years after the death of Sákya, his relics were all brought together, excepting the portion at Rajagrâma, by Ajatasatta, King of Magadha, through the influence of Maha Kásyapa, the patriarch or head of the Buddhist religion, and a great Stupa was erected over them to the southeast of Rajagriha.* 26. In the reign of Priyadarsi or Dharmmásoka, King of Magadha, about 250 B. C., these relics were again distributed over the whole of India. *Turnour's Extracts in Prinsep's Journal, vol. vii. p. 1014. See also the Mahawanso, p. 185. In one of the Topes opened at Bhojpur, we found, amongst numerous fragments of bone, four teeth, all in good order. CHAPTER III. FAITH OF SÁKYA. 1. In the infancy of the world, when Man was left to his own unaided reason to solve the mysteries of nature, and the destiny of his race, the most casual observer must have seen that nothing of this earth is lasting; that the loftiest tree, the loveliest flower, the strongest animal, the hardest rock, are all subject to decay; nay, that man himself is nought but dust, and that to dust does he return. Closer observers would have been struck with the perpetual recurrence of seasons; the ever-changing yet unchanged moon; the continued production of plants; and, above all, with the never-failing stream of human life. 2. Such observations would naturally lead to the discrimination of the various elements-earth, water, fire, and air; to a belief in the eternity of matter, and to the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. And thus the material elements, or Nature, with her supposed inherent power of combination and reproduction, became the Deity of this world. But even the most thoughtless man must at times have felt conscious that he possessed within himself an unseen power which controlled the actions of his body. Hence arose a belief in the existence of Spirit, which was at first made only an inherent power of Nature, but was afterwards preferred before her; and was eventually raised to the position of the Great First Cause and Creator of all things. 3. Such is the course which the human mind most probably went through both in India and in Greece. In process of time the more commanding spirits, who ruled the passions of their fellow-men by the ascendancy of genius, and by unbending firmness of will, were held to be mortal emanations or avatárs of the Supreme Being; and, after death, were exalted to the rank of demigods. Thus, in both countries, heroworship had prevailed from remote antiquity; and the tombs of the mighty had become objects of reverence. In India, the Topes or Tumuli of Krakuchanda, Kanaka, and Kasyapa, existed before the preaching of Sákya; and the ancient elemental deities of the Vedas preceded the worship of Dharma, or concrete Nature. 4. The religious systems of India are all deeply imbued with metaphysical speculations; and the close agreement between these and the philosophical systems of Greece would be an interesting subject to the classical scholar. A strict analysis and comparison of the systems of both countries would most probably tend to mutual elucidation. The Indians have the advantage in point of time; and I feel |