15. According to the Japanese chronology, this wisest of the disciples of Buddha embraced a monastic life, four years after Sákya's attainment of Buddhahood, that is in 584 B. C. He, and his fellow-student Maudgalyayana, had attended all the philosophical schools of the day without obtaining conviction, until they heard the preaching of Buddha, when they gave up all and followed him.

16. In a Mongolian work translated from the Sanskrit, and entitled Uligerün dalaï (the Sea of Parables), we read,* "When SÁRIPUTRA learnt that Buddha was bent on entering nirvána, he experienced profound sorrow, and said to himself, It is soon indeed, and contrary to all expectation, that the Tathágata hath resolved upon entering nirvána; who after him will be the protector and shield of souls and of beings enveloped in darkness?' He then said to Buddha,It is impossible for me to witness the nirvána of Buddha.' Thrice he repeated these words, when Buddha replied, If thou believe thy time come, then do thy will, like all the Khutukhtu (in Sanskrit, Nirmmánkáya, incarnations), who enter the Nirvána of tranquillity. Sáriputra, having heard these words of Buddha, arranged his dress; and, having a hundred times walked round Buddha, he repeated a great number of verses in praise of him. He then embraced the feet of the latter, placed them thrice upon his head, and joining the palms of his hands, said, 'I have been found worthy to ap

* Fo-kwe-ki, c. xxviii., note 7, Laidlay's translation.

proach the gloriously accomplished Buddha.' He then worshipped Buddha, and proceeded with his servant, the monk Yonti, to Rájagriha, his native town. When arrived there, he said to Yonti, 'Go into the town, into the suburbs, and to the palace of the king, and to the houses of the high functionaries, and of such as give alms, and thus say to them : “The Kutukhtu SÁRIPUTRA hath resolved upon entering nirvana-come and prostrate yourselves before him." The monk Yonti executed the orders of his master, went to the places indicated, and thus delivered his message: The Kutukhtu SÁRIPUTRA hath arrived here; if you would visit him, come without delay.' When the king Ajátasatra, the dispenser of alms, the great dignitaries, the officers of the army, and the heads of families, heard this announcement, they were all filled with sorrow, and with heavy hearts said, 'Ah! what will become of us when the second head of the law, the leader of so many beings, the Kutukhtu SARIPUTRA shall have entered nirvána. Hurriedly they proceeded towards him, bowing down and saying, Kutukhtu! if thou becomest nirvána who shall be our protector, and that of so many other beings?' Sáriputra then addressed them the following words:

Since all is As ye, too,

perishable, the end of all is death. belong to this world of torment, ye, too, will not remain long; death will come and terminate your career. But as you all, in consequence of meritorious works in a former existence, have had the happiness

of being born in the world with Buddha, and that too in the human form, do you add other accumulative merits, and accomplish such works as shall save you from Sansára.' When SARIPUTRA had finished preaching thus to the bystanders the inexhaustible law, and had comforted their spirits with salutary medicaments, they bowed down before the Kutukhtu, and each returned to his home. After midnight, SÁRIPUTRA sat in a perfectly erect position; gathered all the faculties of his soul; directed these upon one point, and entered the first Dhyána. Thence he entered the second; thence the third; and from the third the fourth. From the fourth he passed into the Samadhi of the births of boundless celestial space; then into the Samadhi of the births of complete nihility. From this Samadhi he entered that of 'neither thinking, nor not thinking;' then into that of limitation; and lastly into Nirvúna.

17. "When Khourmousda, the king of the Gods, learnt of the Nirvána of SARIPUTRA, he came with several hundreds of thousands in his suite, bearing flowers, perfumes, and other objects meet for sacrifice. They diffused themselves through the whole space of heaven; their tears fell like rain; they scattered their flowers so as to cover the earth, saying, 'Oh! he whose wisdom was as the depth of the sea, who had passed through all the gates of knowledge, whose musical speech flowed sweetly as a running stream, who was perfect in the fulfilment of every duty, in self contemplation, in all wisdom-the sublime chief of

the doctrine, the excellent Khutukhtu SARIPUTRA— hath too hastily entered nirvána. Who shall succeed the gloriously accomplished Buddha and Tathágata to spread abroad the law?' All the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood, as soon as they were apprised of the nirvána of SÁRIPUTRA, came, bearing much oil, perfumes, flowers, and other things appropriate for sacrifice. They wept loudly with accents of woe and sorrow, placing upon the ground the objects fit for the sacrifices. Khourmousda, the prince of the Gods, then commanded Vishwamitra to prepare a car of various precious materials for the body of SARIPUTRA. When the car was finished, the corpse of SÁRIPUTRA was placed thereon in a sitting position, and taken forth to a beautiful plain, all the while the Nágas, the Yakshas, the king, the commanders of the army, the officers, and the whole people, uttering cries of sorrow. pile of chandana (sandal) wood. with oil and butter, they placed Sáriputra, and applied fire. Then all bowed down, and each went to his home. When the fire was completely extinguished, the priest Yonti collected from the ashes the sárira of his master, and conveyed them, as well as his pot and ecclesiastical dress, to Buddha. He placed these things at the feet of Buddha, announcing, at the same time, the death of his master. When Ananda learnt this from the lips of Yonti, he was much grieved, and said to Buddha, Oh, Buddha! the first of our band has entered

There they raised a After moistening it upon it the body of

nirvána; to whom now shall we unbosom ourselves, and whom shall we regard as our protecting sun?' Buddha replied, Ananda! although SÁRIPUTRA hath entered nirvána, neither the charge of your duties, nor samádhi, nor understanding, nor plenary redemption, nor the prajna of plenary redemption, nor the nature of occult properties, hath become so; moreover, many generations ago Sáriputra once became nirvána, because he could not endure to see me enter upon nirvána.""

18. As the funeral pile was formed of chandana, or sandal, it seems highly probable that the two pieces of this fragrant wood, which we found along with SÁRIPUTRA's relics, must have been taken from the pile. We know that a Tope was built over the charcoal with which Buddha's body was burned, and that the Moriyans of Pipphaliwano celebrated a festival* in honour of their much-prized acquisition. From this account there would seem to be nothing improbable in supposing that fragments of sandalwood from the funeral pyre of Sáriputra should have been held in almost equal estimation.

19. MOGALÁNA, or MAHA MOGALÁNA as he was usually called to distinguish him from others of the same name, was the son of the Brahman Mudgala. His proper name was KÁLIKA or KOLITA, but he was generally called by his patronymic MAUDgalYÁYANA, or MOGALÁNA. Csoma de Korost calls

Turnour, in Prinsep's Journal, vii. 1013.

+ Asiatic Researches of Bengal, xx. 49.

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