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Vyasa
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 3/14/21

For the title for the divider of Vedas, see Vyasa (title). For the crater on Mercury, see Vyasa (crater). For the Brahmin community often pronounced as Vyas, see Bias Brahmin. For other uses, see Vyasa (disambiguation).

To what purpose, it may be asked, have we ascertained the age of Munis? Who was Parasara? Who was Garga? With whom were they contemporary, or with whose age may theirs be compared? What light will these inquires throw on the history of India or of mankind? I am happy in being able to answer those questions with confidence and precision.

All the Brahmens agree, that only one Parasara is named in their sacred records; that he composed the astronomical book before cited, and a law-tract, which is now in my possession; that he was the grandson of Vasishtha, another astronomer and legislator, whose works are still extent, and who was the preceptor of Rama, King of Ayodhya; that he was the father of Vyasa, by whom the Vedas were arranged in the form which they now bear, and whom Crishna himself names with exalted praise in the Gita; so that, by the admission of the Pandits themselves, we find only three generations between two of the Ramas, whom they consider as incarnate portons of the divinity; and Parasara might have lived till the beginning of the Caliyuga, which the mistaken doctrine of an oscillation in the cardinal points has compelled the Hindus to place 1920 years too early. This error, added to their fanciful arrangement of the four ages, has been the source of many absurdities; for they insist that Valmic, whom they cannot but allow to have been contemporary with Ramachandra, lived in the age of Vyasa who consulted him on the composition of the Mahabharat, and who was personally known to Balarama, the brother of Crishna. When a very learned Brahmen had repeated to me an agreeable story of a conversation between Valmic and Vyasa, I expressed my surprize at an interview between two bards, whose ages were separated by a period of 864,000 years; but he soon reconciled himself to so monstrous an anachronism, by observing that the longevity of the Munis was preternatural, and that no limit could be set to divine power. By the same recourse to miracles or to prophesy, he would have answered another objection equally fatal to his chronological system. It is agreed by all, that the lawyer Yagyawalcya was an attendant on the court of Janaca, whose daughter Sita was the constant but unfortunate wife of the great Rama, the hero of Valmic's poem; but that lawyer himself, at the very opening of his work, which now lies before me, names both Parasara and Vyasa among twenty authors, whose tracts form the body of original Indian law. By the way, since Vasishtha is more that once named in the Manavisahhita, we may be certain that the laws ascribed to Menu, in whatever age they might have been first promulgated, could not have received the form in which we now see them, above three thousand years ago. The age and functions of Garga lead to consequences yet more interesting: he was confessedly the purohita, or officiating priest, of Crishna himself, who, when only a herdsman’s boy at Mathura, revealed his divine character to Garga, by running to him with more than mortal benignity on his countenance, when the priest had invoked Narayan. His daughter was eminent for her piety and her learning, and the Brahmans admit, without considering the consequence of their admission, that she is thus addressed in the Veda itself: Yata nrdhwan no va samopi, Gargi, esha adityo dyamurdhanan tapati, dya va bhumin tapati, bhumya subhran tapati, locan tapati, antarah tapatyanantaran tapati; or, “That Sun, O daughter of Garga, than which nothing is higher, to which nothing is equal, enlightens the summit of the sky; with the sky enlightens the earth; with the earth enlightens the lower worlds; enlightens the higher worlds, enlightens other worlds; it enlightens the breast, enlightens all besides the breast.” From these facts, which the Brahmans cannot deny, and from these concessions, which they unanimously makes, we may reasonably infer, that, if Vyasa was not the composer of the Vedas, he added at least something of his own to the scattered fragments of a more ancient work, or perhaps to the loose traditions which he had collected; but whatever be the comparative antiquity of the Hindu scriptures, we may safely conclude that the Mosaic and Indian chronologies are perfectly consistent; that Menu, son of Brahma, was the Adima, or first, created mortal, and consequently our Adam; that Menu, child of the Sun, was preserved with seven others, in a bahitra or capacious ark, from an universal deluge, and must therefore be our Noah; that Hiranyacasipu, the giant with a golden axe, and Vali or Bali, were impious and arrogant monarchs, and most probably our Nimrod and Belus; that the three Ramas, two of whom were invincible warriors, and the third not only valiant in war but the patron of agriculture and wine, which derives an epithet from his name, were different representations of the Grecian Bacchus, and either the Rama of scripture, or his colony personified, or the Sun first adored by his idolatrous family; that a considerable emigration from Chaldea into Greece, Italy, and India, happened about twelve centuries before the birth of our Saviour; that Sacya or Sisak, about two hundred years after Vyasa, either in person or by a colony from Egypt, imported into this country the mild heresy of the ancient Bauddhas; and that the dawn of true Indian history appears only three or four centuries before the Christian era, the preceding ages being clouded by allegory or fable.

-- XXVII. A Supplement to the Essay on Indian Chronology, by the President (Sir William Jones), Asiatic Researches, Volume 2, 1788, Page 306-314

Vyasa
A painting of Vyasa sitting on a throne.
Personal
Born: Krishna Dvaipayana
Religion: Hinduism
Spouse: Vatikā[a]
Children: Shuka (son); Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura (Niyoga sons)
Parents: Parashara (father); Satyavati (mother)
Notable work(s): Mahabharata; Bhagavata Gita
Known for Compilation of the four Vedas; Mahabharata
Religious career
Disciples: Shuka, Paila, Jaimini, Vaishampayana, Sumantu
Honours Festival of Guru Purnima, is dedicated to him, and also known as the Vyasa Purnima

Krishna Dvaipāyana, also known as Vyasa (/ˈvjɑːsə/; Sanskrit: व्यासः, romanized: Vyāsa, lit. 'Compiler') and Veda Vyāsa (वेदव्यासः, Veda-vyāsaḥ, "the one who classified the Vedas"), is a rishi (sage). He is best known as the traditional author of the Mahabharata, one of the two most important epics of India. He is also credited as the traditional compiler of the Vedas, as well as the writer of other important works including the Puranas.

As per the Mahabharata, Vyasa is the son of rishi Parashara and a fisherwoman named Kali (Satyavati), who later marries king Shantanu of Kuru. Throughout the epic, Vyasa appears occasionally helping the Kuru kingdom. His spiritual career includes compiling many texts and spreading the knowledge through his disciples.

The festival of Guru Purnima is dedicated to him. It is also known as Vyasa Purnima, the day believed to be both of his birth and when he divided the Vedas.[3][4] Vyasa is considered one of the seven Chiranjivis (long-lived, or immortals), who are still in existence according to Hindu tradition.

Spiritual life and disciples

Vyasa is believed to be an expansion of the God Vishnu, who came in Dvapara Yuga to make all the Vedic knowledge from oral tradition available in written form. According to the Mahabharata, he was the son of Satyavati, daughter of a fisherman chief and the wandering sage Parashara, who is credited with being the author of the first Purana, Vishnu Purana.[5] He was born on an island in the river Yamuna and was named Krishna Dvaipayana because of his dark complexion and birthplace.[6] It is believed that the name "Veda Vyasa" (lit "compiler of the Vedas") is a title rather than an actual name. Dvaipayana was given the title as he mastered the one combined Vedic scripture and divided it into four parts — Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda.[7][8]

Vyasa had a son named name Shuka, who was his spiritual successor and heir.[ b] As per Skanda Purana, Vyasa married Vatikā, alias Pinjalā, who was the daughter of a sage named Jābāli. It is described that Vyasa's union with her produced his heir, who repeated everything that he heard, thus receiving the name Shuka (lit. Parrot).[1][2][9] Other texts including the Devi Bhagavata Purana also narrate the birth of Shuka but with drastic differences. Vyasa was desiring an heir, when an apsara (celestial damsel) named Ghritachi flew in front of him in form of a beautiful parrot, causing him sexual arousal. He discharges his semen, which fell on some sticks and a son developed. This time, he was named Shuka because of the role of the celestial parrot.[7] Shuka appears occasionally in the story as a spiritual guide to the young Kuru princes.

Besides his heir, Vyasa had four other disciples — Paila, Jaimini, Vaishampayana and Sumantu.[8] Each one of them was given the responsibility to spread one of the four Vedas. Paila was the made the incharge of Rigveda, Jaimini of the Samaveda, Vaishampayana of the Yajurveda and Sumantu of Atharvaveda.[10]

Vyasa is believed to have lived on the banks of Ganga in modern-day Uttarakhand. The site was also the ritual home of the sage Vashishta, along with the Pandavas, the five brothers of the Mahabharata.[11]

In the Mahabharata

Birth

During her youth, Satyavati was a fisherwoman who used to drive a boat. One day, she helped Parashara to cross the river Yamuna. He was enchanted by her beauty and wanted an heir from her. Initially, Satyavati did not agree, telling that if others would see them, then her purity would be questioned. Parashara created a secret place in bushes of a nearby island and a blanket of thick fog. She conceived and immediately gave birth to a son. Parashara named him Krishna Dvaipayana, referring to his dark complexion and birthplace.[12] Dvaipayana became an adult and promised his mother that he would come to her when needed. Parashara restored Satyavati's virginity, gifted her an enchanting smell and left with his son. Satyavati kept this incident a secret, not telling even King Shantanu whom she was married to later.[7]

Niyoga and birth of Vichitravirya's sons


Vyasa with his mother (Satyavati)

Shantanu and Satyavati had two sons, named Chitrāngada and Vichitravirya. Both of them died early without leaving an heir, but Vichitravirya had two wives — Ambika and Ambalika. A widowed Satyavati initially asked her stepson, Bhishma, to marry both the queens, but he refused, citing his vow of celibacy. Satyavati revealed her secret past and requested him to bring her firstborn to impregnate the widows under a tradition called Niyoga.[13] By this time, Vyasa had compiled the Vedas.

Sage Vyasa was unkempt because of months of meditation in the forest. Hence upon seeing him, Ambika who was rather scared shut her eyes, resulting in their child, Dhritarashtra, being born blind. The other queen, Ambalika, turned pale upon meeting Vyasa, which resulted in their child, Pandu, being born pale. Alarmed, Satyavati requested that Vyasa meet Ambika again and grant her another son. Ambika instead sent her maid to meet Vyasa. The duty-bound maid was calm and composed; she had a healthy child who was later named Vidura.

Connection with the Pandavas and Kauravas


Gandhari serving Vyasa

When the children of 'Vichitravirya' grew up. Bhishma got them married to different women. Dhritarashtra was married to Gandhari, princess of Gandhara. Pandu married Kunti and Madri. Pandu left the kingdom, leaving Dhritarashtra as the acting king. Gandhari, during her adolescence, received a boon to have a hundred children but her pregnancy was taking a long period of time. After two years of pregnancy, Gandhari aborted her developing fetus, giving birth to a hard mass that looked like an iron ball. Vyasa came to the kingdom and using his knowledge, he asked to divide the mass into one hundred and one-pieces and put them into pots for incubation. After a year, 101 babies were born. Meanwhile, Kunti was blessed with two sons and later three more children were born upon Pandu's requests.

While everybody was rejoiced by the news of the birth of the Pandavas and Kauravas, misery took place in the forest. Pandu, who was cursed, died because of his attempt to make love with Madri. Kunti and the Pandavas returned to Hastinapur. Vyasa, feeling sorrow for his mother's fate, asked her to leave the kingdom and come with him to live a peaceful life. Satyavati, along with her two daughters-in-law, went to the forest.

The title "Vyasa"

Main article: Vyasa (title)

Hindus traditionally hold that Vyasa categorized the primordial single Veda into three canonical collections and that the fourth one, known as Atharvaveda, was recognized as Veda only very much later. Hence he was called Veda Vyasa, or "Splitter of the Vedas," the splitting being a feat that allowed people to understand the divine knowledge of the Veda. The word Vyasa means split, differentiate or describe.

The Vishnu Purana elaborates on the role of Vyasa in Hindu chronology.[14] The Hindu view of the universe is that of a cyclic phenomenon that comes into existence and dissolves repeatedly. Each kalpa cycle is presided over by a number of Manus, one for each manvantara, and each manvantara has a number of Yuga Cycles, each with four yuga ages of declining virtues. The Dvapara Yuga is the third yuga. The Vishnu Purana (Book 3, Ch 3) says:

In every third world age (Dvapara), Vishnu, in the person of Vyasa, in order to promote the good of mankind, divides the Veda, which is properly but one, into many portions. Observing the limited perseverance, energy and application of mortals, he makes the Veda fourfold, to adapt it to their capacities; and the bodily form which he assumes, in order to effect that classification, is known by the name of Veda-Vyasa. Of the different Vyasas in the present Manvantara and the branches which they have taught, you shall have an account. Twenty-eight times have the Vedas been arranged by the great Rishis in the Vaivasvata Manvantara... and consequently, eight and twenty Vyasa's have passed away; by whom, in the respective periods, the Veda has been divided into four. The first... distribution was made by Svayambhu (Brahma) himself; in the second, the arranger of the Veda (Vyasa) was Prajapati... (and so on up to twenty-eight).[15]

According to the Vishnu Purana, Guru Drona's son Aswatthama will become the next sage (Vyasa) and will divide the Veda in 29th Maha Yuga of 7th Manvantara.[16]

Works

The Mahabharata

Main article: Mahabharata


Ganesha writing the Mahabharat


Vyasa narrating the Mahabharata to Ganesha, his scribe, Angkor Wat.

Vyasa is traditionally known as the chronicler of this epic and also features as an important character in Mahābhārata, Vyasa asks Ganesha to assist him in writing the text. Ganesha imposes a precondition that he would do so only if Vyasa would narrate the story without a pause. Vyasa set a counter-condition that Ganesha understands the verses first before transcribing them. Thus Vyasa narrated the entire Mahābhārata and all the Upanishads and the 18 Puranas, while Lord Ganesha wrote.

Vyasa's Jaya (literally, "victory"), the core of the Mahabharata, is a dialogue between Dhritarashtra (the Kuru king and the father of the Kauravas, who opposed the Pāndavas in the Kurukshetra War) and Sanjaya, his adviser and charioteer. Sanjaya narrates the particulars of the Kurukshetra War, fought in eighteen days, chronologically. Dhritarashtra at times asks questions and expresses doubts, sometimes lamenting, fearing the destruction the war would bring on his family, friends and kin.

Large and elaborate lists are given, describing hundreds of kingdoms, tribes, provinces, cities, towns, villages, rivers, mountains, forests, etc. of the (ancient) Indian subcontinent (Bhārata Varsha). Additionally, he gives descriptions of the military formations adopted by each side on each day, the death of individual heroes and the details of the war-races. Eighteen chapters of Vyasa's Jaya constitute the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred text in Hinduism. The Jaya deals with diverse subjects, such as geography, history, warfare, religion and morality.

The final version of Vyasa's work is the Mahābhārata. It is structured as a narration by Ugrasrava Sauti, a professional storyteller, to an assembly of rishis who, in the forest of Naimisha, had just attended the 12-year sacrifice known as Saunaka, also known as Kulapati.

Other texts attributed


Narada meets Vyasa

Puranas

Main article: Puranas

Vyasa is also credited with the writing of the eighteen major Purāṇas, which are works of Indian literature that cover an encyclopedic range of topics covering various scriptures. His son Shuka narrates the Bhagavata Purana to Arjuna's grandson Parikshit.

Yoga Bhashya

The Yoga Bhashya, a commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, is attributed to Vyasa.[17]

Brahma Sutras

Main article: Brahma Sutras

The Brahma Sutras are attributed to Badarayana — which makes him the proponent of the crest-jewel school of Hindu philosophy, i.e., Vedanta. Vaishnava Acharyas acknowledge that Badarayana is indeed Vyasa and he is known as Badarayana as he had his ashram in Badari kshetram. Others believe the name to be because the island on which Vyasa was born is said to have been covered with badara (Indian jujube/Ber/Ziziphus mauritiana) trees.[18] Some modern historians,[who?] though, suggest that these were two different personalities.

There may have been more than one Vyasa, or the name Vyasa may have been used at times to give credibility to a number of ancient texts.[19] Much ancient Indian literature was a result of long oral tradition with wide cultural significance rather than the result of a single author. However, Vyasa is credited with documenting, compiling, categorizing and writing commentaries on much of this literature.

In Sikhism

In Brahm Avtar, one of the compositions in Dasam Granth, the Second Scripture of Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh mentions Rishi Vyas as an avatar of Brahma.[20] He is considered the fifth incarnation of Brahma. Guru Gobind Singh wrote a brief account of Rishi Vyas's compositions about great kings— Manu, Prithu, Bharath, Jujat, Ben, Mandata, Dilip, Raghu Raj and Aj[20][21]— and attributed to him the store of Vedic learning.[22]

Legacy

Vyasa is widely revered in Hindu traditions. A grand temple in honour of Sri Veda Vyasa has been built in Orai, Uttar Pradesh. The temple is known as Shri Bal Vyas Mandir. Shrimad Sudhindra Teerth Swamiji, the erstwhile spiritual guru of Sri Kashi Math Samsthan, Varanasi, had the vision to construct this temple in 1998. The temple is managed by the Chitrapur Sarasawath Brahmin (CSB) community who belongs to the said Sri Kashi Math Samsthan. This beautiful temple has now also become a popular tourist destination.

See also

• Hinduism portal
• Poetry portal
• Purana
• Parashara
• Guru Gita
• Gnana Saraswati Temple, Basar
• Vedic mythology

References

1. Dalal, Roshen (6 January 2019). The 108 Upanishads: An Introduction. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-5305-377-2.
2. Pattanaik, Devdutt (1 September 2000). The Goddess in India: The Five Faces of the Eternal Feminine. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-59477-537-6.
3. Awakening Indians to India. Chinmaya Mission. 2008. p. 167. ISBN 978-81-7597-434-0.
4. What Is Hinduism?: Modern Adventures Into a Profound Global Faith. Himalayan Academy Publications. 2007. p. 230. ISBN 978-1-934145-00-5.
5. "Rishi Ved Vyas – Trikal Darshi Rajender Bhargav". Retrieved 14 September 2019.
6. Essays on the Mahābhārata, Arvind Sharma, Motilal Banarsidass Publisher, p. 205
7. Mani, Vettam (1975). Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary With Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 885 (Vyāsa). ISBN 0-8426-0822-2.
8. Sullivan, Bruce M. (1999). Seer of the Fifth Veda: Kr̥ṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa in the Mahābhārata. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 978-81-208-1676-3.
9. Skanda Purāṇa, Nāgara Khanda, ch. 147
10. Shastri, J. L.; Tagare, Ganesh Vasudeo (1 January 2004). Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Volume 7: The Bhagavata-Purana Part 1. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-3874-1.
11. Strauss, Sarah (2002). "The Master's Narrative: Swami Sivananda and the Transnational Production of Yoga". Journal of Folklore Research. Indiana University Press. 23 (2/3): 221. JSTOR 3814692.
12. Monier-Williams, Sir Monier (1875). Indian Wisdom, Or, Examples of the Religious, Philosophical, and Ethical Doctrines of the Hindūs: With a Brief History of the Chief Departments of Sanskṛit Literature, and Some Account of the Past and Present Condition of India, Moral and Intellectual. Wm. H. Allen & Company.
13. Bhawalkar, Vanamala (2002). Eminent women in the Mahābhārata. Sharada.
14. Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Puranas, Volume 1 (2001), page 1408
15. "Vishnu Purana". Retrieved 15 March 2014.
16. Vishnu Purana -Drauni or Asvathama as Next Vyasa Retrieved 2015-03-22
17. Ian Whicher. The Integrity of the Yoga Darsana: A Reconsideration of Classical Yoga. SUNY Press. p. 320.
18. Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 74.
19. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Edwin F. Bryant 2009 page xl
20. Dasam Granth, Dr. SS Kapoor
21. Line 8, Brahma Avtar, Dasam Granth
22. Line 107, Vyas Avtar, Dasam Granth

Notes

1. Though the Mahabharata doesn't record Vyasa's wife, other text including the Skanda Purana refer sage Jabali's daughter Vatikā or Pinjalā as his wife[1][2]
2. Later, Vyasa became the surrogate father of Kuru princes — Pandu and Dhritrashtra

Sources

• The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, published between 1883 and 1896
• The Arthashastra, translated by Shamasastry, 1915
• The Vishnu-Purana, translated by H. H. Wilson, 1840
• The Bhagavata-Purana, translated by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, 1988 copyright Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
• The Jataka or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births, edited by E. B. Cowell, 1895

External links

• Quotations related to Vyasa at Wikiquote
• Media related to Vyasa at Wikimedia Commons
• Works written by or about Vyasa at Wikisource
• The Mahābhārata – Ganguli translation, full text at sacred-texts.com

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Parasara
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 1/28/23

Parāśara was a maharshi and the author of many ancient Indian texts. He is accredited as the author of the first Purana, the Vishnu Purana, before his son Vyasa wrote it in its present form. He was the grandson of Vasishtha, the son of Śakti Maharṣi. There are several texts which give reference to Parāśara as an author/speaker. The various texts attributed to him are given in reference to Parāśara being the speaker to his student.[4]

Etymology

When Parāśara's father, Sakti Maharishi died after being devoured by the king Kalmashapada along with Vashistha's other sons, Vashistha resorted to ending his life by suicide. Hence he jumped from Mount Meru but landed on soft cotton, he entered a forest fire only to remain unharmed, then he jumped into the ocean who saved him by casting him ashore. Then he jumped in the overflowing river Vipasa, which also left him ashore. Then he jumped into the river Haimavat, which fled in several directions from his fear and was named Satadru. Then when he returned to his asylum, he saw his daughter-in-law pregnant. When a son was born he acted as his father and hence forgot completely about destroying his life. Hence, the child was named Parāśara which meant enlivener of the dead.[5]

Genealogy

According to the Vedas, Brahma created Vasishtha (reborn to Mitra-Varuna), who, with his wife Arundhati, had a son named Śakti Mahariṣhi who sired Parāśara. With Satyavati of Kaivartta clan[6] Parāśara is father of Vyasa. Vyāsa sired Dhritarashtra and Pandu through his deceased step brother's wives, Ambika and Ambalika and Vidura through a hand-maiden of Ambika and Ambalika. Vyāsa also sired Shuka through his wife, Jābāli's daughter Pinjalā. Thus Parāśara was the biological great-grandfather of both the warring parties of the Mahābhārata, the Kauravas and the Pandavas.[citation needed]

Legends

There is a story of Rishi Parāśara: Śakti Maharṣi died in his early age. This made Vasishtha, his father live in his hermitage with Adrushyanti (wife of Shakti Maharishi). Vasistha heard the chanting of the Vedas and Adrushyanti told him that Vedic hymn sounds were coming from the child of his son, Sakti, that was developing in her womb. Vasistha was happy to hear this. Adrushyanti gave birth to a son and the child grew up to become Parāśara.[7]

Parāśara was raised by his grandfather Vasishtha because he lost his father at an early age. His father, Śakti Muni, was on a journey and came across an angry rākṣasa (demon) who had once been a king but was turned into a demon feeding on human flesh as a curse from Vasishtha. The demon devoured Parāśara's father. In the Vishnu Purana, Parāśara speaks about his anger from this:[8]

I had heard that my father had been devoured by a Rākṣasa employed by Vishwamitra: violent anger seized me and I commenced a sacrifice for the destruction of the Rākṣasas: hundreds of them were reduced to ashes by the rite, when, as they were about to be entirely exterminated, my grandfather Vasishtha said to me: Enough, my child; let thy wrath be appeased: the Rākṣasas are not culpable: thy father's death was the work of destiny. Anger is the passion of fools; it becometh not a wise man. By whom, it may be asked, is anyone killed? Every man reaps the consequences of his own acts. Anger, my son, is the destruction of all that man obtains by arduous exertions, of fame, and of devout austerities; and prevents the attainment of heaven or of emancipation. The chief sages always shun wrath: be not subject to its influence, my child. Let no more of these unoffending spirits of darkness be consumed. Mercy is the might of the righteous.[citation needed]

Parāśara Muni (Sage) once halted for a night in a little hamlet on the banks of the river Yamuna. He was put up in the house of the fisherman-chieftain Dasharaj. When dawn broke, the chief asked his daughter, Matsyagandha, whose name means "one with the smell of fish", to ferry the sage to his next destination. When in the ferry, Parāśara was attracted by the beautiful girl and asked her to fulfill his desire of giving a son to her. Matsyagandha refused fearing the other people and sages who were standing on the bank of river at the other side.[1]

He then created an island within the river by his mystic potency and asked her to land the boat there. On reaching the other side, the sage once again chanted the mantra to make her pregnant, but she declared that her body stank and Parāśara granted her the boon that the finest fragrance may emit from her person. She was thereafter known as Satyavati (pure fragrance).[1] Matsyagandha was transformed (by the powers of the sage) into Yojanagandha ("she whose fragrance can be smelled from across a yojana").[9] She now smelled of musk, and so was called Kasturi-Gandhi ("musk-fragrant").[1] Then, she insisted that the act of getting a child was not appropriate in broad daylight, as her father and others would see them from the other bank; they should wait till night. The sage, with his powers, shrouded the entire area in fog. Before Parāśara gave her a child, Satyavati again interrupted him to say that he would enjoy his child and depart, leaving her shamed in society. She asked Parāśara to promise her that the childbirth would be a secret and her secret intact; the son born from their union would be as famous as the great sage, and her fragrance and youth would be eternal. Parāśara granted her these wishes and was satiated by the beautiful Satyavati. Parāśara then gave her a child who was a son called Krishna Dvaipāyana was born, who was dark-complexioned and hence may be called by the name Krishna (black) and also the name Dwaipayana, meaning 'island-born'. He later compiled the classic Vedic literatures of India, and so is called Vyasa who is the 17th incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Leaving Satyavati, Parāśara proceeded to perform Tapas (intense meditation). Later Vyasa also became a Rishi and Satyavati returned to her father's house and in due course, married Śantanu.[1]

In Anushasana Parva of Mahabharata, Parāśara told Yudhisthira that he prayed to Shiva. His desire was to obtain a son with great ascetic merit, endued with superior energy, earn world-wide fame, and arrange the Vedas. Shiva appeared and granted him his wishes and in addition, he told him that his son Krishna will be one of the Saptarshis of Savarni manvantara, be immortal by being freed of diseases, and he will be friend of Indra.[10]

Parāśara was known as the "limping sage". He had his leg wounded during an attack on his āśrama. When a ṛṣi dies he merges back into an element or an archetype. When Sage Parāśara was walking through a dense forest he and his students were attacked by wolves. He was unable to get away in his old age with a lame leg and he left this world merging into the wolves.[11]

The Monument of Parāśara Muni is available at Junha - Panhala fort in Tal Kavathe Mahankal Sangli district of Maharashtra. A cave supposed to be of Parāśāra Muni is present at the fort.

Ṛgveda

In the Ṛgveda, Parāśara, son of Śakti Muni (Parāśara Śāktya), is the seer of verses 1.65-73 which are all in praise of Agni (the sacred fire), and part of 9.97 (v.31-44) which is in praise of Soma. Below is 1.73.2

devo na yaḥ savitā satyamanmā kratvā nipāti vṛjanāni viṣvā
purupraṣasto amatirna satya ātmeva Sevo didhiṣāyyo bhūt

He who is like the divine Sun, who knows the truth (of all things), preserves by his actions (his votaries) in all encounters; like nature, he is unchangeable and, like soul, is the source of all happiness: he is ever to be cherished.[12]

Texts attributed to Parāśara

• Seer of verses in the Ṛgveda: recorded as the seer of RV 1.65-73 and part of RV 9.97.
• Parāśara Smṛti (also called Parāśara Dharma Saṃhitā): a code of laws which is stated in the text (1.24) to be for Kali Yuga.[13]
• Speaker of Viṣṇu Purana to Maitreya.[14]
• Speaker of the Bṛhat Parāśara Horāśāstra, abbreviated as BPHS. It is considered a foundational text of Hindu astrology.
• Speaker of the Vṛkṣāyurveda ("the science of life of trees"), one of the earliest texts on botany.[15] This text was considered to be an ancient botany primer for students of Traditional Indian Medicine.
• Krishi Parāśaram, a book that dealt with agriculture and weeds.[citation needed]

Notes

1. Mani, Vettam (1975). Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary With Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 885 (Vyāsa). ISBN 0-8426-0822-2.
2. Dalal, Roshen (18 April 2014). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. ISBN 9788184752779.
3. Bhiḍe, Śrīpāda Raghunātha (1996). Wife of Sakti Maharsi. ISBN 9788185080987.
4. "Rishi Parashara - Speaking Tree".
5. Pratap Chandra Roy's Mahabharata Adi Parva Pages: 406-410
6. Sen, Kshitimohan (1997). Jatived (in Bengali). Shantiniketan: Visva-Bharati University. pp. 46, 49.
7. "Puranic encyclopaedia: comprehensive dictionary with special reference to the epic and Puranic literature". archive.org. 1975.
8. Wilson, H. H. The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition.
9. Bhattacharya, Pradip (May–June 2004). "Of Kunti and Satyawati: Sexually Assertive Women of the Mahabharata" (PDF). Manushi (142): 21–25.
10. "The Mahabharata, Book 13: Anusasana Parva: Anusasanika Parva: Section XVIII". http://www.sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
11. Munshi, K. M. The Book of VedaVyaasa: The Master.
12. Rgveda 1.73.2 Translation by H.H.Wilson
13. https://archive.org/download/ParasharaS ... thiPdf.pdf[bare URL PDF]
14. Flood, Gavin. An Introduction to Hinduism.
15. Ancient Indian Botany and Taxonomy

References

• Flood, Gavin (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43878-0.
• Ganguli, Kisari Mohan. "The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa" published between 1883 and 1896, http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12c049.htm
• Monier-Williams, Sanskrit Dictionary (1899).
• Munshi, K.M. "The Book of VedaVyaasa: The Master". Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1971.
• Wilson, H. H. (2006). The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition. Cambridge: Read Country Books. ISBN 1-84664-664-2.
• Translation and commentary Brihat Parāśara Hora Sastra
• Translation to Portuguese Brihat Parāśara Hora Shastra

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Parijaat tree, Kintoor
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 3/16/21

For the species of flowering tree, see Parijat.


Parijat tree at Kintoor, Barabanki


Parijat tree at Kintoor, Barabanki


Parijat tree at Kintoor, Barabanki

The Parijaat tree is a sacred baobab tree in the village of Kintoor, near Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, India, about which there are several legends.[1][2]

It is a protected tree situated in Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh, India. By the order of local district magistrate, any kind of damage to the tree is strictly prohibited. The tree is known as baobab in modern science which is originated in Sub-sahara Africa and hence its presence in the fertile land of India makes it rare. Also the age of the tree is still not determined, which makes it quite possible that the tree may have been planted by someone who used to travel between India and Africa. The tree needs international attention of scientists to find out more about it. The tree is also known as 'the tree from paradise' due to its mythological significance.

Ancient facts

Kintur, about 38 kilometres (24 mi) east of the district headquarters, Barabanki, was named after Kunti, mother of the Pandavas. There are a number ancient temples and their remains around this place. Near a temple established by Kunti, is a special tree called Parijaat which is said to grow from Kunti's ashes.[3] The radiocarbon date in 2019 of the oldest samples was 793±37 BP for the baobab of Kintoor. The corresponding calibrated age is 775±25 calendar years.[4]

There are a number of legends about this tree which have popular acceptance. One being that Arjun brought this tree from heavens and Kunti used to offer and crown Lord Shiva with its flowers. Another saying being, that Lord Krishna brought this tree for his beloved queen Satyabhama or Rukmini.[5] Historically, though these saying may have some bearing or not, but it is true that this tree is from a very ancient background.[6]

According to the Harivansh Puraan the Parijaat Tree is a Kalpavriksha, or wish bearing tree, which, apart from this tree, is only found in heaven.[2] Newly-weds visit the tree for blessings, and every Tuesday a fair is held where local people worship the tree. In Sikhism's Sukhmani Sahib the tree is mentioned "PaarJaat Eh Har Ko Naam The name of Lord is the mythological tree"[7]

References

• Trees portal
1. https://barabanki.nic.in/tourist-place/parijaat/
2. Wickens, Gerald E.; Pat Lowe (2008). The Baobabs: Pachycauls of Africa, Madagascar and Australia. Springer Science+Business Media. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-4020-6430-2.
3. Kameshwar, G. (2006). Bend in the Sarayu: a soota chronicle. Rupa & Co. p. 159. ISBN 978-81-291-0942-2.
4. Patrut A, Garg A, Woodborne S, Patrut RT, Rakosy L, Ratiu IA, et al. (2020). "Radiocarbon dating of two old African baobabs from India". PLOS One. 15 (1): e0227352. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0227352.
5. "Experts to save ancient Parijat tree". The Times of India. 26 October 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
6. Uttar Pradesh District Gazetteers: Bara Banki. Government of Uttar Pradesh. 1993. p. 21. OCLC 7625267.
7. "Tree From Paradise". Indiatimes. Archived from the original on 6 March 2005. Retrieved 27 November 2009.

External links

• Parijata tree in Vedic scriptures
• Parijat Tree in Hindi, Parijat Tree History and Parijat Tree Benefits. (Parijat Tree Significance)

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Kondanna Buddha
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 3/16/21

Kauṇḍinya Buddha
Sanskrit: Kauṇḍinya
Pāli: Koṇḍañña
Burmese: ကောဏ္ဍညဘုရား
Chinese: 智调佛 (Pinyin: Zhìdiào Fó); 憍陳如佛 (Pinyin: Jiāochénrú Fó)
Korean: 교진여불 (RR: Gyojinyeo Bul)
Sinhala: කොණ්ඩඤ්ඤ බුදුන් වහන්සේ
Thai: พระโกณฑัญญพุทธเจ้า Phra Konthanya Phutthachao
Vietnamese: Kiều Trần Như Phật

Information
Preceded by: Dīpankara Buddha
Succeeded by: Maṃgala Buddha

Kaundinya or Koṇḍañña was born in Rammavati. His father was King Sunanda and his mother Sujata. He belonged to the Kondannagotta, and was twenty eight cubits tall [18" x 28 = 42 feet]. For ten thousand years he lived as a layman in Ruci, Suruci and Subha. His wife was Rudidevi and his son Vijitasena.

He left home and performed austerities for ten months until he was given milk rice by Yasodhara, daughter of the merchant Saundana. He was given grass for his seat by Ajivaka Sundana. His Tree of Enlightenment was a Salakalyani tree, and his first sermon was to ten choirs of monks in the Devavana near Amaravati. He had three assemblies of his disciples, the first led by Subhadda, then by Vijitasena, and finally Udena.

He died aged one hundred thousand years at Canarama, where a Stupa seven leagues tall [1.5 miles x 7 = 10.5 miles = 55,440 feet] was constructed over his relics. In the Buddhavamsa commentary it is said that Koṇḍañña Buddha's relics were not dispersed but kept in a single mass.[1]

His chief disciples were Bhadda and Subhadda among the monks and Tissa and Upatissa among the nuns, with Anurudda his attendant. His chief patrons were Sona and Upasona among the laymen and Nanda and Sirima among the laywomen. He was King Vijitavi and of Candavati.[2]

References

1. John S. Strong (2007). Relics of the Buddha. p. 45. ISBN 978-0691117645.
2. G.P. Malalasekera (15 August 2004). Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, Volume 1. p. 683. ISBN 0691117640.

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Anathapindika
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 3/16/21

-- The Bible Unearthed: The Making of a Religion, directed by Thierry Ragobert

-- False Testament: Archaeology Refutes the Bible's Claim to History, by Daniel Lazare

Anathapindika
Anathapindika covers Jetavana with coins (Bharhut, Brahmi text: jetavana ananthapindiko deti kotisanthatena keta
Title: Chief Male Patron
Other names: Sudatta
Personal
Religion: Buddhism
Nationality: Kosala
Spouse: Puññalakkhanā
Children: Kāla, Mahā-Subhaddā, Cūla-Subhaddā and Sumanā
Other names: Sudatta
Profession: Merchant, banker
Senior posting
Teacher: Gautama Buddha
Profession: Merchant, banker

Anathapindika (Pali: Anāthapiṇḍika; Sanskrit: Anāthapiṇḍada);[1] born Sudatta, was a wealthy merchant and banker, believed to have been the wealthiest merchant in Savatthi in the time of Gautama Buddha. He is considered to have been the chief male patron of the Buddha. Anathapindika founded the Jetavana Monastery in Savatthi, considered one of the two most important temples in the time of the historic Buddha, the other being Migāramātupāsāda.

Anathapindika was born into a wealthy merchant family in Savatthi with the birth name Sudatta, and was a relative of Subhūti, one of the Buddha's principal disciples. He received the nickname Anathapindika, literally "one who gives alms (piṇḍa) to the unprotected (anātha)", due to his reputation of loving to give to those in need. Anathapindika met the Buddha while on a business trip in Rājagaha after being told about him by his brother-in-law. He reached sotapanna, a stage of enlightenment, after listening to the Buddha preach. Following the encounter, Anathapindika became a devoted lay follower and purchased land to build the Jetavana Monastery from the prince of Kosala by covering the park grounds with coins. After building Jetavana Monastery, Anathapindika continued to generously support the Buddha and his monastic community throughout his life and became known as the Buddha's greatest patron and benefactor along with his female counterpart, Visakha.

As chief patron, Anathapindika fed large numbers of the Buddha's monks daily and regularly maintained and supplied Jetavana Monastery, as well as served as one of the Buddha's primary aides in dealing with the general public. He is known as the male lay disciple of the Buddha who was foremost in generosity. Anathapindika is frequently referred to as Anathapindika-setthi (setthi meaning "wealthy person" or "millionaire"),[2] and is sometimes referred to as Mahā Anāthapindika to distinguish him from Cūla Anāthapindika, another disciple of the Buddha.[3]

Background

In Buddhist belief, when a fully enlightened Buddha appears in the world, he always has a set of chief disciples that fulfill different roles. On top of the pair of chief Arahant disciples such as Gautama Buddha's chief male disciples Sariputta and Moggallana, and his chief female disciples Khema and Uppalavanna, all Buddhas have a set of chief patrons as well. Gautama Buddha's chief male patron was Anathapindika, with his chief female patron being Visakha.[4]

According to the Pali Canon, in the time of Padumuttara Buddha, a householder was inspired when Padumattara Buddha spoke of his own lay disciple who was foremost in generosity. The householder then resolved in that lifetime to become the disciple foremost in generosity of a future Buddha himself, and did many good deeds in hopes of becoming one. His wish was fulfilled in this lifetime when he was reborn as Anathapindika and became the chief patron of Gautama Buddha.[3]

Biography

Early Life and Family

Anathapindika was born with the given name Sudatta and was the son of a wealthy merchant named Sumana. He was a relative of Subhūti, who would later become the disciple of the Buddha who was foremost in being worthy of gifts (dakkhiṇeyyānaṃ).[5][3][note 1] When Sudatta grew up, he married a woman named Puññalakkhanā, the sister of a wealthy merchant in Rājagaha. Sudatta was known for his generosity even before his conversion to Buddhism, and was known to the public by the nickname "Anathapindika", or "one who gives alms to the unprotected", due to his love for giving. Anathapindika had one son, Kāla, and three daughters, Mahā-Subhaddā, Cūla-Subhaddā and Sumanā. His daughter-in-law was Sujātā, the youngest sister of his female counterpart, Visakha.[3][8]

Meeting the Buddha

Buddhist texts describe Anathapindika's first encounter with the Buddha as being in Rājagaha. While on business, Anathapindika went to visit his brother-in-law, who was already a follower of the Buddha. When he arrived at his brother-in-law's house, he noticed that the household was preparing for an elaborate feast, and mistook it as preparation for a wedding or a visit from the king.[8] When Anathapindika asked about the preparations, his brother-in-law explained that they were preparing for a visit from the Buddha (the Enlightened One) and his monks. Upon hearing this, Anathapindika became overjoyed, exclaiming "You mean that a fully enlightened being had arisen in the world?", and immediately resolved to go meet him.[9]

The following day Anathapindika arose early to meet the Buddha, but realized it was still dark. He still continued however, after a friendly yakka whispered in his ear and urged him to continue. Anathapindika eventually reached a figure which called him "Sudatta" and asked him to come forward. Surprised to hear his birth name, which was not known to the public, he concluded it could only be the Buddha, and went forward. The Buddha then had a discussion with him and expounded the Four Noble Truths, afterwards Anathapindika achieved the state of sotapanna, a stage of enlightenment.[10][8][9]


Anathapindika's great act of charity

Building Jetavana Monastery

Following Anathapindika's first encounter with the Buddha, he requested to offer him a meal, which the Buddha accepted, and then asked to build a temple for him and his monks in his hometown of Savatthi, to which the Buddha agreed.[8]

Shortly after, Anathapindika went back to Savatthi to search for a place to build the monastery. Looking for a place that was both accessible to followers and peacefully secluded, he came across a park belonging to Prince Jeta, the son of King Pasenadi of Kosala. Anathapindika offered to buy the park from the prince but the prince refused, after Anathapindika persisted, the prince said he will sell him the park if he covers it with coins, thinking nobody would accept such a price. To the prince's surprise, Anathapindika agreed.[11][9][12]

When Prince Jeta stated that he was not being serious and still would not sell the park, Anathapindika and the prince went to arbitrators who concluded that Prince Jeta had to sell the park at the agreed price.[13][12][11][note 2] The coins Anathapindika brought covered all of the park except for one spot at the entrance. Anathapindika sent the order for more pieces to be brought, but having been inspired by the merchant's resolve and wanting to share in the merit of the offering, Prince Jeta donated the remaining land and offered to build a wall and gate for the monastery as well as provide trees for timber.[17][12] Afterwards, Anathapindika spent several million more pieces building the temple and its furnishings. According to German Pali scholar Hellmuth Heckler, the merchant ended up spending about three-fifths of his total fortune purchasing the land and building the temple that would come to be known as Jetavana (literally "Jeta's Wood" or "Jeta's Grove").[8][9] The temple is often referred to in Buddhist scriptures as "Anathapindika's Monastery in Jeta's Wood" to give recognition to both benefactors.[8][9]

Chief Patron

The Buddha designated Anathapindika as his chief patron, along with Visakha. He is considered to be the male Buddhist lay disciple who was foremost generosity. Buddhist texts relate that throughout his life, Anathapindika regularly sent food, medicine and supplies to Jetavana monastery, as well as received monks at his house for alms daily.[note 3] The temple was also regularly maintained by Anathapindika's servants.[8] When Anathapindika was away from home, he would assign his oldest daughter to give alms in his place.[19]

Whenever the Buddha was in Savatthi, Anathapindika would visit him twice a day. After first meeting the Buddha, Anathapindika committed to following the teachings and strictly observing the five precepts, as well as encouraged his family, friends, employees, and everybody around him to do the same.[8] According to Buddhist commentaries, Anathapindika never asked the Buddha a question, out of fear of troubling him. Instead the Buddha would preach to him on his own accord.[20] Anathapindika was also well versed in the Dhamma, and an excellent debater. Buddhist scriptures describe a time when he visited a temple of another religious tradition and a debate ensues, with Anathapindika skillfully defeating the followers of the other religious tradition.[8][3]

Anathapindika and Visakha were not only the greatest donors to Gautama Buddha but also his primary aides when dealing with the general public. The Buddha frequently turned to one of the two chief patrons whenever there needed to be something arranged with the lay community.[8]

Encounter with the Earth Spirit


Scene of some remains at Jetavana Monastery.

According to texts, at one time Anathapindika lost a significant amount of his fortune in a flash flood which washed away large amounts of his gold, and was reduced to poverty due to his love of giving as well as due to lending out large amounts to his friends. Despite this, Anathapindika continued his patronage and support of Buddhism, although more modestly. It is said he later returned to his wealthy status, however, due to the help of a redemptive deva, or spirit.[9][8]

Based on accounts from the Buddhist scriptures, there was a deva living in Anathapindika's house at the time. According to the laws of his realm, the deva had to leave his abode whenever the Buddha or a monk was in the house, as a form of respect. Annoyed by this, the deva appeared before Anathapindika and suggested he preserve his remaining treasure and stop his patronage of Buddhism since he was no longer wealthy. Appalled by this suggestion, Anathapindika explained that the only treasures he knew of were the Three Jewels; the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, and that he would continue to support Buddhism so long as he had something to give. Anathapindika then ordered the deva to leave his house, stating that enemies of the Buddha were not welcome, forcing the deva to find a new place to live. The homeless deva went to several authorities, eventually reaching Sakka, the king of the devas in Trāyastriṃśa, who suggested he must atone by retrieving Anathapindika's lost gold, convincing his debtors to repay their debts, and by giving Anathapindika a buried treasure, which had no owner. This resulted in Anathapindika returning to wealth, even richer than he was before.[9][21][8]

The Story of Kalakanni

One famous story described in the Buddhist scriptures is the story of Kalakanni. Kalakanni (whose name means "unlucky bird")[8] was a childhood friend of Anathapindika who was impoverished. When Kalakanni asked Anathapindika for aid, the setthi offered him a job at his house. This decision was met with backlash from Anathapindika's household, due to Kalakanni's low status and the superstition at the time of Kalakanni's name being a bad omen. Anathapindika ignored this superstition and his status however, and granted his friend a job. This eventually worked in the favor of the household however, when a group of thieves attempted to rob Anathapindika while he was away on a business trip. When the vigilant Kalakanni noticed the thieves, he started making loud noises, convincing the thieves that the household was full and causing them to leave.[8]

Death

When Anathapindika grew ill later in life he was visited by Sariputta and Ananda, two of the Buddha's principal disciples. Sariputta delivered a sermon, recommending Anathapindika focus on freeing his mind from clinging and to reflect on the impermanence of existence. The setthi later proclaimed this sermon to have been the most profound sermon he has ever heard, which Sariputta explained was because this teaching was not normally given to laypeople.[21] Shortly after Sariputta and Ananda left, Anathapindika died. According to the Buddhist scriptures, Anathapindika was reborn as a deva in Tusita heaven after his death, where he would live as long as his female counterpart Visakha, and the king of Tavatimsa heaven, Sakka.[22][23]

Legacy


The remains of a section of Jetavana Monastery.

Anathapindika is considered to be one of the most exemplary adherents of the Buddhist virtue of generosity. Not only did he regularly provide alms and necessities to the monks at Jetavana, he hosted hundreds of monks at his residence for meals daily.[8] Referring to Anathapindika, the Buddha stated that for one who was dedicated to perfecting the virtue of generosity, nothing in the world is capable of stopping him from giving.[8] Anathapindika's love of giving, combined with some misfortune, at one point reduced the setthi to poverty. But even in times of hardship, Anathapindika was described as continuing his patronage of Buddhism, although with much more modest gifts. His wealth was eventually restored to him however, due to the power of the merit of his generosity.[21]

Anathapindika's patronage had a significant impact on Buddhism. Anathapindika's hometown of Savatthi was considered to be the center of Buddhism at the time, being the location of a significant number of the Buddha's sermons.[24] On top of that, the Buddha spent nineteen rainy seasons at Jetavana monastery, more than any other temple during his lifetime.[24][25][8] After the building of Migāramātupāsāda monastery in Savatthi by Visakha, the Buddha would alternate between Anathapindika's monastery and Visakha's monastery whenever he was staying in Savatthi.[17][26] Anathapindika's generosity even inspired King Pasenadi, another follower of the Buddha, to himself start generous patronage of Buddhism.[8]

According to religious studies scholar Todd Lewis, Anathapindika is one of the most popular figures in Buddhist art and storytelling in Asian Buddhist tradition.[27] Buddhist scholars George D. Bond and Ananda W.P Guruge, point to the story of Anathapindika as evidence that the Buddhist path for lay people and the rewards of generosity in Buddhism are not distinct from the path to Nirvana that is the focus of Buddhist monastics.[21]

See also

• Visakha
• Almsgiving
• Dāna
• Citta (disciple)
• Hatthaka of Alavi

Notes

1. Pali texts state Subhūti was Anathapindika's younger brother,[6] while northern Buddhist texts identify him as Anathapindika's nephew.[7]
2. Some sources state that Prince Jeta said that he would sell the park not even if Anathapindika covered the park with a large price of coins, but arbitrators still ruled in favor of Anathapindika.[14][15] According to Indologist Hans Wolfgang Schumann, the court decided that naming a price, even in a refusing way, constituted a sale since one who didn't want to sell would not name a price.[16] In another source Prince Jeta refuses to sell altogether and it is the arbitrator that states Anathapindika can purchase the park if he covers the grounds with money.[8]
3. Some sources indicate the number of monks as being in the hundreds,[8] but the Dhammapada commentary states 2,000 daily.[18]

References

1. Jr, Robert E. Buswell; Jr, Donald S. Lopez (2013-11-24). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. p. 383. ISBN 978-0-691-15786-3.
2. Dhammika, Shravasti (2005-12-01). The Buddha and His Disciples. Buddhist Publication Society. p. 64. ISBN 978-955-24-0280-7.
3. "Anāthapindika". http://www.palikanon.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-30. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
4. Hastings, James; Selbie, John Alexander; Gray, Louis Herbert (1921). Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. Scribner. p. 49.
5. "Subhūti Thera". http://www.aimwell.org. Archived from the original on 2019-07-07. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
6. Davids., rhys (1913). Psalms Of The Early Buddhists Part-ii.
7. Morgan, Joyce; Walters, Conrad (2012-08-22). Journeys on the Silk Road: A Desert Explorer, Buddha's Secret Library, and the Unearthing of the World's Oldest Printed Book. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-7627-8733-3.
8. "Anathapindika: The Great Benefactor". http://www.accesstoinsight.org. Archived from the original on 2017-10-08. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
9. Dhammika, Shravasti (2005-12-01). The Buddha and His Disciples. Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 9789552402807. Archived from the original on 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
10. "Anathapindiko". obo.genaud.net. Archived from the original on 2017-10-08. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
11. Soeng, Mu (2011-03-17). The Diamond Sutra: Transforming the Way We Perceive the World. Simon and Schuster. p. 74. ISBN 9780861718290.
12. "Jetavana, The Vihara". http://www.sacred-texts.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-09. Retrieved 2017-10-15.
13. Kohn, Sherab Chodzin (2009-03-10). A Life of the Buddha. Shambhala Publications. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-8348-2251-1.
14. Saddhaloka (2014-06-25). Encounters with Enlightenment. Windhorse Publications. ISBN 978-1-909314-48-1.
15. "Jetavana". http://www.palikanon.com. Archived from the original on 2019-06-08. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
16. Schumann, Hans Wolfgang (2004). The Historical Buddha: The Times, Life, and Teachings of the Founder of Buddhism. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 105. ISBN 978-81-208-1817-0.
17. Jump up to:a b "Jetavana". palikanon.de. Archived from the original on 2018-03-18. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
18. Burlingame, Eugene Watson; Lanman, Charles Rockwell (1921). Buddhist Legends: Introd., synopses, trans. of books 1 and 2. Harvard University Press. p. 242.
19. sciences (1910). proceedings of the american academu of arts and sciences. american academy of arts and sciences. p. 506.
20. Burlingame, Eugene Watson; Lanman, Charles Rockwell (1921). Buddhist Legends: Introd., synopses, trans. of books 1 and 2. Harvard University Press. p. 147.
21. Ilchman, Warren Frederick; Katz, Stanley Nider; Queen, Edward L. (1998). Philanthropy in the World's Traditions. Indiana University Press. p. 89. ISBN 025333392X. Archived from the original on 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2017-10-08.
22. "Anáthapindika". palikanon.de. Archived from the original on 2017-10-13. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
23. "Anathapindika: The Great Benefactor". http://www.accesstoinsight.org. Archived from the original on 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
24. Badiner, Allan Hunt. "Sravasti: Diamond in the Rough". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Archived from the original on 2017-10-13. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
25. "Anáthapindika". palikanon.de. Archived from the original on 2017-10-13. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
26. "Migáramátupásáda". palikanon.de. Archived from the original on 2018-03-18. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
27. Lewis, Todd (2014-04-02). Buddhists: Understanding Buddhism Through the Lives of Practitioners. John Wiley & Sons. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-118-32208-6.

External links

• Access to Insight: Anathapindika- The Great Benefactor
• What the Buddha Said: Anathapindika
• Biography of Anathapindika Series - Thai with Eng Sub

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Jetavana
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 3/16/21

-- The Bible Unearthed: The Making of a Religion, directed by Thierry Ragobert

-- False Testament: Archaeology Refutes the Bible's Claim to History, by Daniel Lazare

On 2 February 1898 — that is to say, when Fuhrer was still deeply entrenched in his main dig at Sagarwa — the Government of Burma wrote to the Government of the NWP&O concerning complaints it had received from a monk named U Ma. These involved a certain Dr. A. A. Fuhrer, Archaeological Surveyor to the Government of the NWP&O. Shin U Ma had first taken the complaints to a local government official in Burma, Brian Houghton, and had then backed them up with tangible evidence in the form of letters received from Dr. Fuhrer. Houghton had duly passed U Ma's complaints and copies of his letters on to government headquarters in Rangoon, as a consequence of which they arrived on the desk of the Chief Secretary to the Government of the NWP&O, who passed them on to the Secretary of the Department of Revenue and Agriculture, Archaeology and Epigraphy. From there they made their way to the desk of the Commissioner of Lucknow.

As soon as he returned to his offices at the Lucknow Museum in early March Fuhrer was confronted with the communication from Burma and asked to explain himself. According to the file, his letters to the Burmese monk went back as far as September 1896, when he had written to U Ma about some Buddhist relics he had sent him, allegedly obtained from Sravasti. The contents of this first letter indicate that the two had met while the Burmese was on a pilgrimage to the holy sites in India and had struck up a friendship not unlike that described by Rudyard Kipling in his novel Kim (then in the process of being written in England), which begins with a wandering Tibetan lama being greatly moved by the knowledge of Buddhism shown by the Curator of the Lahore Museum (Rudyard's father J. L. Kipling).

Dr. Fuhrer and U Ma had then come to some arrangement for the one to send the other further relics. On 19 November 1896 Fuhrer wrote again to U Ma to say that:

The relics of Tathagata [Sakyamuni Buddha] sent off yesterday were found in the stupa erected by the Sakyas at Kapilavatthu over the corporeal relics (saririka-dhatus) of the Lord. These relics were found by me during an excavation of 1886, and are placed in the same relic caskets of soapstone in which they were found. The four votive tablets of Buddha surrounded the relic casket. The ancient inscription found on the spot with the relics will follow, as I wish to prepare a transcript and translation of the same for you.

This letter of 19 November 1896 was written more than a year after Fuhrer's first trip into Nepal made in March 1895 (during which he made his discovery of the Asokan inscription on the stump at Nigliva Sagar), but just before he set out on his second foray into Nepal (where he would meet up with General Khadga Shumsher Rana at Paderiya on 1 December 1896). Yet already, it seems, he had found Kapilavastu. In the year referred to in his letter — 1886 — he was still a relative newcomer to the NWP&O Archaeological Department and had yet to conduct his first excavation.

Fuhrer's next letter to U Ma was dated 6 March 1897, three months after his much trumpeted Lumbini and Kapilavastu discoveries. In it he referred to more Buddha relics in his keeping which he would hold on to until U Ma returned to India. Seven weeks later, on 23 June, there was a first reference to a 'tooth relic of Lord Buddha', and five weeks on, on 28 August, a further reference to 'a real and authentic tooth relic of the Buddha Bhagavat [Teacher, thus Sakyamuni]' that he was about to post to U Ma.

The letters now began to come thick and fast. On 21 September Dr. Fuhrer despatched 'a molar tooth of Lord Buddha Gaudama Sakyamuni ... found by me in a stupa erected at Kapilavatthu, where King Suddhodana lived. That it is genuine there can be no doubt.' The tooth was followed on 30 September by an Asokan inscription Fuhrer claimed to have found at Sravasti. Then on 13 December Fuhrer wrote to say that he was now encamped at Kapilavastu, in the Nepal Tarai, where he had uncovered 'three relic caskets with dhatus [body relics] of the Lord Buddha Sakyamuni, adding that he would send these relics to U Ma at the end of March. What is most odd here is that on 13 December 1897 Fuhrer had not yet entered the Nepal Tarai, having been given strict instructions that he was not to do so until 20 December.

This bizarre hoaxing — for no element of financial fraud seems to have been involved — could not go on. The arrival in Burma of the Buddha's molar tooth seems to have been too much for the hitherto credulous Burmese monk, who soon afterwards wrote what sounds like a very angry letter protesting at the remarkable size of the tooth in question. This letter was evidently forwarded from Lucknow to Basti and then probably carried by mail runner to Fuhrer's 'Camp Kapilavastu' at Sagarwa. It was replied to on 16 February 1898, when the Archaeological Surveyor was still encamped at Sagarwa. Writing at some length, Fuhrer went to great pains to mollify the Burmese, declaring that he could quite understand why `the Buddhadanta [Buddha relic] that I sent you a short while ago is looked upon with suspicion by non-Buddhists, as it is quite different from any ordinary human tooth' — as indeed it was, since it was most probably a horse's tooth — 'But you will know that Bhagavat Buddha was no ordinary being, as he was 18 cubits in height [18" x 18 = 27 feet] as your sacred writings state. His teeth would therefore not have been shaped like others: In a further bid to shore up the credibility of the tooth, Fuhrer went on to say that he would send U Ma —

All The Buddha We Could Handle
by Tara Carreon

an ancient inscription that was found by me along with the tooth. It says, 'This sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha is the gift of Upagupta.' As you know, Upagupta was the teacher of Asoka, the great Buddhist emperor of India. In Asoka's time, about 250 BC, this identical tooth was believed to be a relic of the Buddha Sakyamuni. My own opinion is that the tooth in question is a genuine relic of Buddha.

This supposed Asokan inscription was afterwards found to be written in perfectly accurate Brahmi Prakrit, its most obvious models being the many similar relic inscriptions found at Sanchi and other Buddhist sites, with which Fuhrer was very familiar through his work on Epigraphia Indica.

-- The Buddha and Dr. Fuhrer: An Archaeological Scandal, by Charles Allen

Mulagandhakuti. The remains of Buddha's hut in Jetavana Monastery.

Jetavana (lit. 'Jeta's grove')[1][2] was one of the most famous of the Buddhist monasteries or viharas in India (present-day Uttar Pradesh). It was the second vihara donated to Gautama Buddha after the Venuvana in Rajgir. The monastery was given to him by his chief male lay disciple, Anathapindika.

Jetavana is located just outside the old city of Savatthi. There was also an important vihara named Jetavana in Sri Lanka.

Jetavana was the place where the Buddha gave the majority of his teachings and discourses, having stayed at Jetavana nineteen out of 45 vassas, more than in any other monastery.[3] It is said that after the Migāramātupāsāda, a second vihara erected at Pubbarama close to Savatthi was built by the Buddha's chief female lay disciple, Visakha, the Buddha would dwell alternately between Jetavana and Migāramātupāsāda, often spending the day in one and the night in the other (SNA.i.336).

Donation of Jetavana


Anathapindika covers Jetavana with coins (Bharhut)

Following Anathapindika's first encounter with the Buddha, he requested to offer him a meal, which the Buddha accepted, and then asked to build a temple for him and his monks in his hometown of Savatthi, to which the Buddha agreed.[4]

Shortly after, Anathapindika went back to Savatthi to search for a place to build the monastery. Looking for a place that was both accessible to followers and peacefully secluded, he came across a park belonging to Prince Jeta, the son of King Pasenadi of Kosala. Anathapindika offered to buy the park from the prince but the prince refused, after Anathapindika persisted, the prince joking said he will sell him the park if he covers it with gold coins, to which Anathapindika agreed.[5][6]

Anathapindika later came back with wagons full of gold pieces to cover the park with. When Prince Jeta stated that he was merely joking and still would not sell the park, Anathapindika and the prince went to arbitrators who concluded that Prince Jeta had to sell the park at the mentioned price.[4][5]

The money brought in the first journey was found insufficient to cover one small spot near the gateway. So Anāthapindika sent his servants back for more, but Jeta, inspired by Anāthapindika's earnestness, asked to be allowed to give this spot. Anāthapindika agreed and Jeta erected there a gateway, with a room over it. Anāthapindika built in the grounds dwelling rooms, retiring rooms, store rooms and service halls, halls with fireplaces, closets, cloisters, halls for exercise, wells, bathrooms, ponds, open and roofed sheds, etc. (Vin.ii.158f).

It is said (MA.i.50; UdA.56f) that Anāthapindika paid eighteen crores for the purchase of the site, all of which Jeta spent in the construction of the gateway gifted by him. (The gateway was evidently an imposing structure; see J.ii.216).

Jeta gave, besides, many valuable trees for timber. Anāthapindika himself spent fifty-four crores in connection with the purchase of the park and the buildings erected in it.

The ceremony of dedication was one of great splendour. Not only Anāthapindika himself, but his whole family took part: his son with five hundred other youths, his wife with five hundred other noble women, and his daughters Mahā Subhaddā and Cūla Subhaddā with five hundred other maidens. Anāthapindika was attended by five hundred bankers. The festivities in connection with the dedication lasted for nine months (J.i.92ff).

The vihāra is almost always referred to as Jetavane Anāthapindikassa ārāma (Pali, meaning: in Jeta Grove, Anathapindika's Monastery). The Commentaries (MA.ii.50; UdA.56f, etc.) say that this was deliberate (at the Buddha's own suggestion pp. 81–131; Beal: op. cit., ii.5 and Rockhill: p. 49), in order that the names of both earlier and later owners might be recorded and that people might be reminded of two men, both very generous in the cause of the Religion, so that others might follow their example. The vihāra is sometimes referred to as Jetārāma (E.g., Ap.i.400).

Description of ancient Jetavana

Inside Jetavana


Jetavana of Sravasti, showing the three preferred residences of the Buddha. Sanchi.

Some of the chief buildings attached to the Jetavana are mentioned in the books by special names, viz., Mahāgandhakuti, Kaverimandalamāla, Kosambakuti and Candanamāla. SNA.ii.403. Other buildings are also mentioned - e.g., the Ambalakotthaka-āsanasālā (J.ii.246). According to Tibetan sources the vihāra was built according to a plan sent by the devas of Tusita and contained sixty large halls and sixty small. The Dulva (Vinaya-pitaka in Tibetan) also gives details of the decorative scheme of the vihāra (Rockhill: op. cit.48 and n.2).

All these were built by Anāthapindika; there was another large building erected by Pasenadi and called the Salalaghara (DA.ii.407). Over the gateway lived a guardian deity to prevent all evildoers from entering (SA.i.239). Just outside the monastery was a rājayatana-tree, the residence of the god Samiddhisumana (Mhv.i.52f; MT 105; but see DhA.i.41, where the guardian of the gateway is called Sumana).

In the grounds there seems to have been a large pond which came to be called the Jetavanapokkharanī. (AA.i.264; here the Buddha often bathed (J.i.329ff.). Is this the Pubbakotthaka referred to at A.iii.345? But see S.v.220; it was near this pond that Devadatta was swallowed up in Avīci (J.iv.158)).

The grounds themselves were thickly covered with trees, giving the appearance of a wooded grove (arañña) (Sp.iii.532). On the outskirts of the monastery was a mango-grove (J.iii.137). In front of the gateway was the Bodhi-tree planted by Anāthapindika, which came later to be called the Anandabodhi (J.iv.228f). Not far from the gateway was a cave which became famous as the Kapallapūvapabbhāra on account of an incident connected with Macchariyakosiya (J.i.348).

According to the Divyāvadāna (Dvy.395f), the thūpas of Sāriputta and Moggallāna were in the grounds of Jetavana and existed until the time of Asoka. Both Fa Hien (Giles: p. 33ff) and Houien Thsang (Beal.ii.7ff) give descriptions of other incidents connected with the Buddha, which took place in the neighbourhood of Jetavana - e.g., the murder of Sundarikā, the calumny of Ciñcā, Devadatta's attempt to poison the Buddha, etc.

The Gandhakuti: Buddha's dwelling in Jetavana

The space covered by the four bedposts of the Buddha's Gandhakuti in Jetavana is one of the four avijahitatthānāni; all Buddhas possess the same, though the size of the actual vihāra differs in the case of the various Buddhas. For Vipassī Buddha, the setthi Punabbasumitta built a monastery extending for a whole league [1.5 miles x 5280 = 7,920 feet], while for Sikhī Buddha, the setthi Sirivaddha made one covering three gavutas. The Sanghārāma built by Sotthiya for Vessabhū Buddha was half a league [.75 miles x 5280 = 3,960 feet] in extent, while that erected by Accuta for Kakusandha Buddha covered only one gāvuta [league: 1.5 miles x 5280 = 7,920 feet]. The monastery of the Koṇāgamana Buddha, built by the setthi Ugga, extended for half a gāvuta [league: .75 miles x 5280 = 3,960 feet], while that of the Kassapa Buddha built by Sumangala covered sixteen karīsas [a square measure of land having that much space on which a karisa of seed can be sown = 1 acre?: 16 acres x 43,560 = 696,960 square feet]. Anāthapindika's monastery covered a space of eighteen karīsas [ 18 acres x 43,560 = 784,080 square feet] (BuA.2, 47; J.i.94; DA.ii.424).

According to a description given by Faxian (Giles, pp. 31, 33), the vihāra was originally in seven sections (storeys?) and was filled with all kinds of offerings, embroidered banners, canopies, etc., and the lamps burnt from dusk to dawn.

One day a rat, holding in its mouth a lamp wick, set fire to the banners and canopies, and all the seven sections were entirely destroyed. The vihāra was later rebuilt in two sections. There were two main entrances, one on the east, one on the west, and Faxian found thūpas erected at all the places connected with the Buddha, each with its name inscribed.

Near Jetavana

Near Jetavana was evidently a monastery of rival teachers where Ciñcāmānavikā spent her nights as she was hatching her paternity-fraud smear campaign against the Buddha.[7]

There seems to have been a playground just outside Jetavana used by the children of the neighbourhood, who, when thirsty, would go into Jetavana to drink (DhA.iii.492). The high road to Sāvatthi passed by the edge of Jetavana, and travellers would enter the park to rest and refresh themselves.[8]

Discovery and current situation

The remains of Jetavana and Savatthi were locally known as Sahet-Mahet. Alexander Cunningham used the ancient (6th century AD) accounts of Chinese pilgrim-monks to determine that Sahet-Mahet actually referred to Jetavana and Savatthi.[9]

Jetavana is currently a historical park, with remains of many ancient buildings such as monasteries, huts (such as the Gandhakuti and the Kosambakuti) and stupas. In Jetavana is also located the second-holiest tree of Buddhism: the Anandabodhi Tree. A visit to Savatthi and Jetavana is part of the Buddhist pilgrim route in North-India. The most revered place in Jetavana is the Gandhakuti, where Buddha used to stay. Jetavana is located at 27°30′34″N 82°02′24″ECoordinates: 27°30′34″N 82°02′24″E.

Photo gallery


Anandabodhi tree in Jetavana monastery.


Gandhakuti (Buddha's hut) in Jetavana.


Scene in Jetavana.


Scene in Jetavana, showing some small stupas.


Buddhist monks meditating under the Anandabodhi tree.

See also

• Anathapindika
• Kassapa Buddha
• Koṇāgamana Buddha
• Kakusandha Buddha
• List of the twenty-eight Buddhas

References

1. "Anathapindika: The Great Benefactor". http://www.accesstoinsight.org. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
2. Dhammika, Shravasti (1 December 2005). The Buddha and His Disciples. Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 9789552402807. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
3. DhA.i.3; BuA.3; AA.i.314
4. "Anathapindika: The Great Benefactor". http://www.accesstoinsight.org. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
5. Dhammika, Shravasti (1 December 2005). The Buddha and His Disciples. Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 9789552402807.
6. "Jetavana, The Vihara". http://www.sacred-texts.com. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
7. DhA.iii.179; behind Jetavana was a spot where the Ajivakas practised their austerities (J.i.493). Once the heretics bribed Pasenadi to let them make a rival settlement behind Jetavana, but the Buddha frustrated their plans (J.ii.170).
8. J.ii.203, 341; see also vi.70, where two roads are mentioned.
9. Arch. Survey of India, 1907-8, pp.81-131

External links

• Entry on Jetavana in the Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names
• Description of Jetavana by the Chinese pilgrim monk Faxian (399-414 AC)
• Suttas spoken by Gautama Buddha concerning Jetavana: (more)
1. Potthapada Sutta - About Potthapada
2. Bhaya-bherava Sutta - Fear & Terror''

• Extracts from books on the subject of Jetavana
• Dedication ceremony of the Jetavana monastery by Anathapindika

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The Journey of Faxian to India
by Daniel C. Waugh
© 1999

Between 399 and 414 CE, the Chinese monk Faxian (Fa-Hsien, Fa Hien) undertook a trip via Central Asia to India seeking better copies of Buddhist books than were currently available in China. Although cryptic to the extent that we cannot always be sure where he was, his account does provide interesting information on the conditions of travel and the Buddhist sites and practices he witnessed. For example, he indicates clearly the importance of the seven precious substances for Buddhist worship, the widespread practice of stupa veneration, and his aquaintance with several of the jataka tales about the previous lives of the Buddha Sakyamuni, tales which are illustrated in the paintings at the Dunhuang caves. The extracts below, covering the early part of his journey, are from James Legge, tr. and ed., A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of His Travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline (Oxford, 1886), pp. 9-36. I have inserted occasional explanations in brackets, rather than attempt to footnote the text.

------------------

Fa-hien had been living in Ch'ang-gan. Deploring the mutilated and imperfect state of the collection of the Books of Discipline....he entered into an engagement with Hwuy-king, Tao-ching, Hwuy-ying and Hwuy-wei that they should go to India and seek for the disciplinary Rules.

After starting from Ch'ang-gan, they passed through Lung [in eastern Gansu]...and reached the emporium of Chang-yih [north and west of Lanzhou, near the Great Wall]. There they found the country so much disturbed that travelling on the roads was impossible for them. Its king, however, was very attentive to them [and] kept them (in his capital)...

Here they met with Che-yen, Hwuy-keen, Sang-shao, Pao-yun, and Sang-king; and in pleasant association with them, as bound on the same journey with themselves, they passed the summer retreat (of that year [i.e., 400 CE])together, resuming after it their traveling, and going on to T'un-hwang, (the chief town) in the frontier territory of defence extending for about 8o li from east to west, and about 40 from north to south. Their company, increased as it had been, halted there for some days more than a month, after which Fa-hien and his four friends started first in the suite of an envoy, having separated (for a time) from Pao~yun and his associates.

Le Hao, the prefect of T'un-hwang, had supplied them with the means of crossing the desert (before them), in which there are many evil demons and hot winds. (Travellers) who encounter them perish all to a man. There is not a bird to be seen in the air above, nor an animal on the ground below. Though you look all round most earnestly to find where you can cross, you know not where to make your choice, the only mark and indication being the dry bones of the dead (left upon the sand).

After travelling for seventeen days, a distance we may calculate of about 1500 li, (the pilgrims) reached the kingdom of Shen-shen [=?Lou-lan, near Lop Nor], a country rugged and hilly, with a thin and barren soil. The clothes of the common people are coarse, and like those worn in our land of Han, some wearing felt and others coarse serge or cloth of hair;--this was the only difference seen among them. The king professed (our) Law, and there might be in the country more than four thousand monks, who were all students of the Hinayana [Thereavada]. The common people of this and other kingdoms (in that region), as well as the sramans [monks], all practise the rules of India, only that the latter do so more exactly, and the former more loosely. So (the travellers) found it in all the kingdoms through which they went on their way from this to the west, only that each had its own peculiar barbarous speech. (The monks), however, who had (given up the worldly life) and quitted their families, were all students of Indian books and the Indian language. Here they stayed for about a month, and then proceeded on their journey, fifteen days walking to tho north-west bringing them to the country of Woo-e [near Kucha or Karashahr on the northern edge of the Tarim?]. In this also there were more than four thousand monks, all students of the Hinayana. They were very strict in their rules, so that sramans from the territory of Ts-in [i.e., northern China] were all unprepared for their regulations. Fa-hien, through the management of Foo Kung-sun, overseer, was able to remain (with his company in the monastery where they were received) for more than two months, and here they were rejoined by Pao-yun and his friends. (At the end of that time) the people of Woo-e neglected the duties of propriety and righteousness, and treated the strangers in so niggardly a manner that Che-yen, Hwuy-keen, and Hwuy-wei went back towards Kao-ch'ang [Khocho, near Turfan], hoping to obtain there the means of continuing their journey. Fa-hien and the rest, however, through the liberality of Foo Kung-sun, managed to go straight forward in a south-west direction. They found the country uninhabited as they went along. The difficulties which they encountered in crossing the streams and on their route, and the sufferings which they endured, were unparalleled in human experience, but in the course of a month and five days they succeeded in reaching Yu-teen [Khotan].

Yu-teen is a pleasant and prosperous kingdom, with a numerous and flourishing population. The inhabitants all profess our Law, and join together in its religious music for their enjoyment. The monks amount to several myriads, most of whom are students of the Mahayana. They all receive their food from the common store. Throughout the country the houses of the people stand apart like (separate) stars, and each family has a small tope [stupa]reared in front of its door. The smallest of these may be twenty cubits high [30 feet], or rather more. They make (in the monasteries) rooms for monks from all quarters, the use of which is given to travelling monks who may arrive, and who are provided with whatever else they require.

The lord of the country lodged Fa-hien and the others comfortably, and supplied their wants, in a monastery called Gomati, of the Mahayana school. Attached to it there are three thousand monks, who are called to their meals by the sound of a bell. When they enter the refectory, their demeanour is marked,by a reverent gravity, and they take their seats in regular order, all maintaining a perfect silence. No sound is heard from their alms-bowls and other utensils. When any of these pure men require food, they are not allowed to call out (to the attendants) for it, but only make signs with their hands.

Hwuy-king, Tao-ching, and Hwuy-tah set out in advance towards the country of K'eeh-ch'a; but Fa-hien and the others, wishing to see the procession of images, remained behind for three months. There are in this country four great monasteries, not counting the smaller ones. Beginning on the first day of the fourth month, they sweep and water the streets inside the city, making a grand display in the lanes and byways. Over the city gate they pitch a large tent, grandly adorned in all possible ways, in which the king and queen, with their ladies brilliantly arrayed, take up their residence (for the time).

The monks of the Gomati monastery, being Mahayana students, and held in greatest reverence by the king, took precedence of all the others in the procession. At a distance of three or four li from the city, they made a four-wheeled image car, more than thirty cubits high [45 feet high], which looked like the great hall (of a monastery) moving along. The seven precious substances [i.e., gold, silver, lapis lazuli, rock crystal, rubies, diamonds or emeralds, and agate] were grandly displayed about it, with silken streamers and canopies hanging all around. The (chief) image [presumably Sakyamuni] stood in the middle of the car, with two Bodhisattvas in attendance on it, while devas were made to follow in waiting, all brilliantly carved in gold and silver, and hanging in the air. When (the car) was a hundred paces from the gate, the king put off his crown of state, changed his dress for a fresh suit, and with bare feet, carrying in his hands flowers and incense, and with two rows of attending followers, went out at the gate to meet the image; and, with his head and face (bowed to the ground), he did homage at its feet, and then scattered the flowers and burnt the incense. When the image was entering the gate, the queen and the brilliant ladies with her in the gallery above scattered far and wide all kinds of flowers, which floated about and fell promiscuously to the ground. In this way everything was done to promote the dignity of the occasion. The carriages of the monasteries were all different, and each one had its own day for the procession. (The ceremony) began on the first day of the fourth month, and ended on the fourteenth, after which the king and queen returned to the palace.

Seven or eight li to the west of the city there is what is called the King's New monastery, the building of which took eighty years, and extended over three reigns. It may be 250 cubits in height [375 feet high], rich in elegant carving and inlaid work, covered above with gold and silver, and finished throughout with a combination of all the precious substances.

120 Wall Street is a skyscraper in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City... The building is 399 ft (122 m) tall, and has 34 floors.

-- 120 Wall Street, by Wikipedia

Behind the tope there has been built a Hall of Buddha of the utmost magnificence and beauty, the beams, pillars, venetianed doors, and windows being all overlaid with goldleaf. Besides this, the apartments for the monks are imposingly and elegantly decorated, beyond the power of words to express. Of whatever things of highest value and preciousness the kings in the six countries on the east of the (Ts'ung) range of mountains [probably this means southwestern Xinjiang] are possessed, they contribute the greater portion (to this monastery), using but a small portion of them themselves.

When the processions of images in the fourth month were over, Sang-shao, by himself alone, followed a Tartar who was an earnest follower of the Law, and proceeded towards Kophene [Kabul region?], Fa-hien and the others went forward to the kingdom of Tsze-hoh [?Tashkurgan, ?Baltistan in northern Pakistan], which it took them twenty-five days to reach. Its king was a strenuous follower of our Law, and had (around him) more than a thousand monks, mostly students of the Mahayana. Here (the travellers) abode fifteen days, and then went south for four days, when they found themselves among the Ts'ung-ling mountains, and reached the country of Yu-hwuy, where they halted and kept their retreat. When this was over, they went on among the hills for twenty-five days, and got to K'eeh-ch'a [?Skardu, or a town to the east in Ladak], there rejoining Hwuy-king and his two companions.

It happened that the king of the country was then holding the pancha parishad, that is, in Chinese, the great quinquennial assembly. When this is to be held, the king requests the presence of the sramans from all quarters (of his kingdom). They come (as if) in clouds; and when they are all assembled, their place of session is grandly decorated. Silken streamers and canopies are hung out in it, and waterlilies in gold and silver are made and fixed up behind the places where (the chief of them) are to sit. When clean mats have been spread, and they are all seated, the king and his ministers present their offerings according to rule and law. (The assembly takes place) in the first, second, or third month, for the most part in the spring.

After the king has held the assembly, he further exhorts the ministers to make other and special offerings. The doing of this extends over one, two, three, five, or even seven days; and when all is finished, he takes his own riding-horse, saddles, bridles, and waits on him himself, while he makes the noblest and most important minister of the kingdom mount him. Then, taking fine white woollen cloth, all sorts of precious things, and articles which the sramans require, he distributes them among them, uttering vows at the same time along with all his ministers; and when this distribution has taken place, he again redeems (whatever he wishes) from the monks.

The country, being among the hills and cold, does not produce the other cereals, and only the wheat gets ripe. After the monks have received their annual (portion of this), the mornings suddenly show the hoar-frost, and on this account the king always begs the monks to make the wheat ripen before they receive their portion. There is in the country a spittoon which belonged to Buddha, made of stone, and in colour like his alms-bowl. There is also a tooth of Buddha, for the people have reared a tope, connected with which there are more than a thousand monks and their disciples, all students of the Hinayana. To the east of these hills the dress of the common people is of coarse materials, as in our country of Ts-in, but here also there were among them the differences of fine woollen cloth and of serge or haircloth. The rules observed by the sramans are remarkable, and too numerous to be mentioned in detail. The country is in the midst of the Onion range.

As you go forward from these mountains, the plants, trees, and fruits are all different from those of the land of Han, excepting only the bamboo, pomegranate, and sugar-cane.

From this (the travellers) went westwards towards North India, and after being on the way for a month, they succeeded in getting across and through the range of the Onion mountains. The snow rests on them both winter and summer. There are also among them venomous dragons, which, when provoked, spit forth poisonous winds, and cause showers of snow and storms of sand and gravel. Not one in ten thousand of those who encounter these dangers escapes with his life. The people of the country call the range by the name of 'The Snow mountains.' When (the travellers) had got through them, they were in North India, and immediately on entering its borders, found themselves in a small kingdom called T'o-leih, where also there were many monks, all students of the Hinayana.

In this kingdom there was formerly an Arhat [a disciple of the Buddha who has attained nirvana], who by his supernatural power took a clever artificer up to the Tushita heaven [where bodhisattvas are reborn before appearing on earth as buddhas], to see the height, complexion, and appearance of Maitreya Bodhisattva [the "Buddha of the Future"], and then return and make an image of him in wood. First and last, this was done three times, and then the image was completed, eighty cubits in height [120 feet], and eight cubits [12 feet] at the base from knee to knee of the crossed legs. On fast-days it emits an effulgent light. The kings of the (surrounding) countries vie with one another in presenting offerings to it. Here it is--to be seen now as of old.

The travellers went on to the south-west for fifteen days (at the foot of the mountains, and) following the course of their range. The way was difficult and rugged, (running along) a bank exceedingly precipitous which rose up there, a hill-like wall of rock, 10,000 cubits [15,000 feet] from the base. When one approached the edge of it, his eyes became unsteady; and if he wished to go forward in the same direction, there was no place on which he could place his foot; and beneath were the waters of the river called the Indus. In former times men had chiselled paths along the rocks, and distributed ladders on the face of them, to the number altogether of 700, at the bottom of which there was a suspension bridge of ropes, by which the river was crossed, its banks being there eighty paces apart. The (place and arrangements) are to be found in the Records of the Nine Interpreters, but neither Chang K'een [Chang Ch'ien, the Han emissary to the Western Regions] nor Kan Ying [sent west in 88 CE] had reached the spot.

The monks asked Fa-hien if it could be known when the Law of Buddha first went to the east. He replied, 'When I asked the people of those countries about it, they all said that it had been handed down by their fathers from of old that, after the setting up of the image of Maitreya Bodhisattva, there were sramans of India who crossed this river, carrying with them sutras and Books of Discipline. Now the image was set up rather more than 300 years after the nirvana of Buddha, which may be referred to the reign of king P'ing of the Chow dynasty. According to this account we may say that the diffusion of our great doctrines (in the east) began from (the setting up of) this image. If it had not been through that Maitreya, the great spiritual master (who is to be) the successor of the Sakya, who could have caused the "Three Precious Ones" [the precious Buddha, the precious Law, and the precious Monkhood] to be proclaimed so far, and the people of those border lands to know our Law? We know of a truth that the opening of (the way for such) a mysterious propagation is not the work of man; and so the dream of the emperor Ming of Han had its proper cause. [This refers to the belief that a dream of this Han emperor in 61 CE led him to seek out Buddhism and establish it in China.]

After crossing the river, (the travellers) immediately came to the kingdom of Woo-chang [Udyana, north of the Punjab--i.e., Swat in northern Pakistan], which is indeed (a part) of North India. The people all use the language of Central India, 'Central India' being what we should call the 'Middle Kingdom.' The food and clothes of the common people are the same as in that Central Kingdom. The Law of Buddha is very (flourishing in Woo-chang). They call the places where the monks stay (for a time) or reside permanently sangharamas; and of these there are in all 500, the monks being all students of the Hinayana. When stranger bhikshus [i.e., mendicant monks] arrive at one of them, their wants are supplied for three days, after which they are told to find a resting-place for themselves.

There is a tradition that when Buddha came to North India, he came at once to this country, and that here he left a print of his foot, which is long or short according to the ideas of the beholder (on the subject). It exists, and the same thing is true about it, at the present day. Here also are still to be seen the rock on which he dried his clothes, and the place where he converted the wicked dragon. The rock is fourteen cubits high, and more than twenty broad, with one side of it smooth.

Hwuy-king, Hwuy-tah, and Tao-ching went on ahead towards (the place of) Buddha's shadow in the country of Nagara; but Fa-hien and the others remained in Woo-chang, and kept the summer retreat. That over, they descended south, and arrived in the country of Soo-ho-to.

In that country also Buddhism is flourishing. There is in it the place where Sakra [Indra], Ruler of Devas, in a former ages, tried the Bodhisattva, by producing a hawk (in pursuit of a) dove, when (the Bodhisattva) cut off a piece of his own flesh, and (with it) ransomed the dove. [This is the well-known Sibi Jataka, a jataka being a tale relating to an incident involving the Buddha in one of his previous incarnations. The Sibi Jataka is depicted on one of the petroglyphs at Shatial in the Hunza Valley and in several of the caves at Dunhuang.] After Buddha had attained to perfect wisdom, and in travelling about with his disciples (arrived at this spot), he informed them that this was the place where he ransomed the dove with a piece of his own flesh. In this way the people of the country became aware of the fact, and on the spot reared a stupa, adorned with layers of gold and silver plates.

The travellers, going downwards from this towards the east, in five days came to the country of Gandhara, the place where Dharma-vivardhana, the son of Asoka [the Mauryan emperor known as a great patron of Buddhism in the third century BCE], ruled. When Buddha was a Bodhisattva, he gave his eyes also for another man here [another jataka tale]; and at the spot they have also reared a large stupa, adorned with, layers of gold and silver plate The people of the country were mostly students of the Hinayana.

Seven days journey from this to the east brought the travellers to the kingdom of Taxila, which means 'the severed head ' in the language of China. Here, when Buddha was a Bodhisattva, he gave away his head to a man [another jataka tale], and from this circumstance the kingdom got its name.

Going on further for two days to the east, they came to the place where the Bodhisattva threw down his body to feed a starving tigress [the Mahasattva Jataka]. In these two places also large stupas have been built, both adorned with layers of all the precious substances. The kings, ministers, and people. of the kingdoms around vie with one another in making offerings to them. The trains of those who come to scatter flowers and light lamps at them never cease. The nations of those quarters call those (and the other two mentioned before) 'the four great stupas.'

Going southwards from Gandhara, (the travellers) in four days arrived at the kingdom of Purushapura [Peshawar]. Formerly, when Buddha was travelling in this country with his disciples, he said to Ananda, 'After my pari-nirvana, there will be a king named Kanishka [the famous Kushan emperor], who shall on this spot build a stupa. This Kanishka was afterwards born into the world; and (once), when he had gone forth to look about him, Sakra, Ruler of Devas, wishing to excite the idea in his mind, assumed the appearance of a little herd-boy, and was making a stupa right in the way (of the king), who asked what sort of a thing he was making. The boy said, 'I am making a stupa for Buddha. The king said, 'Very good;' and immediately, right over the boy's stupa, he (proceeded to) rear another, which was more than four hundred cubits high [600 feet high], and adorned with layers of all the precious substances. Of all the stupas and temples which (the travellers) saw in their journeyings, there was not one comparable to this in solemn beauty and majestic grandeur. There is a current saying, that this 'is the finest stupa in Jambudvipa'. When the king's stupa was completed, the little stupa (of the boy) came out from its side on the south, rather more than three cubits in height.

Buddha's alms-bowl is in this country. Formerly, a king of Yüeh-shih raised a large force and invaded this country, wishing to carry the bowl away. Having subdued the kingdom, as he and his captains were sincere believers in the Law of Buddha, and wished to carry off the bowl, they proceeded to present their offerings on a great scale. When they had done so to the Three Precious Ones, he made a large elephant be grandly caparisoned, and placed the bowl upon it. But the elephant knelt down on the ground, and was unable, to go forward. Again he caused a four-wheeled wagon to be prepared in which the bowl was put to be conveyed away. Eight elephants were then yoked to it, and dragged it with their united strength, but neither were they able to go forward. The king knew that the time for an association between himself and the bowl had not yet arrived, and was sad and deeply ashamed of himself. Forthwith he built a stupa at the place and a monastery, and left a guard to watch (the bowl), making all sorts of contributions.

There may be there more than seven hundred monks. When it is near midday, they bring out the bowl, and, along with the common people, make their various offerings to it, after which they take their midday meal. In the evening, at the time of incense, they bring the bowl out again. It may contain rather more than two pecks, and is of various colours, black predominating, with the seams that show its fourfold composition distinctly marked. Its thickness is about the fifth of an inch, and it has a bright and glossy lustre. When poor people throw into it a few flowers, it becomes immediately full, while some very rich people, wishing to make offering of many flowers, might not stop till they had thrown in hundreds, thousands, and myriads of bushels, and yet would not be able to fill it.

Pao-yun and Sang-king here merely made their offerings to the alms-bowl, and (then resolved to) go back. Hwuy-king, Hwuy-'tah, and Tao-ching had gone on before, the rest to Nagara, to make their offerings at (the places of) Buddha's shadow, tooth, and the flat-bone of his skull. (There) Hwuy-king fell ill, and Tao-ching remained to look after him while Hwuy-tah came alone to Purushapura, and saw the others, and (then) he with Pao-yun and Sang-king took their way back to the land of Ts'in. Hwuy-king came to his end in the monastery of Buddha's alms-bowl, and on this Fa-hien went forward alone toward the place of the flat-bone of Buddha's skull.

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Part 1 of 2

Chronicle of Twenty-four Buddhas [Excerpt]
by Mingun Sayadaw
Edited and Translated by Professor U Ko Lay and U Tin Lwin, Yangon, Myanmar
https://www.wisdomlib.org/buddhism/book ... of-buddhas

The Great Chronicle of Buddhas: The State Buddha Sasana Council's Version, by the Most Venerable Mingun Sayadaw; Bhaddanta Vicittasarabhivamsa; Tipitakadhara Dhammabhandagarika; Agga Mahapandita; Abhidhaja Maharatthaguru, Translated into English by U Ko Lay U Tin Lwin
-- Volume 1, Part 1
-- Volume 1, Part 2

1 Buddha Dipankara
2 Buddha Kondanna
3 Buddha Mangala
4 Buddha Sumana
5 Buddha Revata
6 Buddha Sobhita
7 Buddha Anomadassi
8 Buddha Paduma
9 Buddha Narada
10 Buddha Padumuttara
11 Buddha Sumedha
12 Buddha Sujata
13 Buddha Piyadassi
14 Buddha Atthadassi
15 Buddha Dhammadassi
16 Buddha Siddhattha
17 Buddha Tissa
18 Buddha Phussa
19 Buddha Vipassi
20 Buddha Sikhi
21 Buddha Vessabhu
22 Buddha Kakusandha
23 Buddha Konagamana
24 Buddha Kassapa

1. DIPANKARA BUDDHAVAMSA

(The author discusses briefly the Myanma word Buddhavan derived from the Pali Buddhavamsa. Then he goes on to say as follows:) The definition of Buddhavamsa is this: ito hettha kappasatasahassadhikesu catusu asankhyeyyesu uppannanam pancavisatiya Buddhanam uppannakappadi paricchedavasena pavenivittharakatha Buddhavamso nama.

From this definition the meaning of Buddhavamsa should be understood as "a description and exposition of the lineage of the twenty-five Buddhas, who had come into being over the past four asankheyya and one hundred thousand aeons, with their thirty-two particulars such as the crores concerned, their names, clans, families, is Buddhavamsa."

Though the chronicle of all these Buddhas with their particulars such as the aeons, etc. is called Buddhavamsa, when each individual or them is spoken of, the same term Buddhavamsa is applicable to the life-story of each Buddha. (For example) though the word Sangha is a term for the whole Order or Noble Ones, each and every one of them can also be called Sangha.

Therefore it should be understood that in this section called Dipankara Buddhavamsa, the life story (with the aeon to which he belonged, etc.) of Buddha Dipankara will be dealt with.

In the Buddhavamsa Text, the account of Buddha Dipankara does not contain in detail the events that took place at the time of his conception and birth. Only this much is mentioned about him in the Sumedhakatha, Story of Sumedha.

Evam me siddhipattassa vasibhuwssa sasane

Dipankaro nama jino uppajji lokanayako.

Uppajjante ca jayante bujjhante dhmmadesane

caturo nimitte naddasim jhanarati samappito.

[The Bodhisatta Sumedha the Hermit says:] "When I have thus become accomplished in asceticism [Jhanas and Abhinnas] there appeared Buddha Dipankara, Lord of the whole world.

"Being totally absorbed in the bliss of Jhana, I have not seen the wondrous phenomena that took place on the four occasions of his conception, birth, Enlightenment and delivery of the First Sermon."

Thus the Buddhavamsa Text refers only briefly to the appearance of Buddha Dipankara in the story of Sumeda. It is only in the Buddhavamsa Commentary that we find the full story of Buddha Dipankara with details of events in serial order starting from the episode of his rebirth in the abode of Tusita Gods.

Four asankhyeyya and one hundred thousand aeons before the present Bhadda Kappa1 there appeared in one Saramanda Kappa the three Buddhas -- Tanhankara, Medhankara and Saranankara -- one after another. After that came an Antara Kappa, an aeon of decrease with the human life-span of one hundred thousand years. Then in the city of Rammavati reigned King Sudeva. During his reign Buddhisatta Dipankara was enjoying life in the celestial abode of Tusita after his fulfilment of the Perfections. Deities from the ten-thousand world-system approached him with a request, in compliance with which the Bodhisatta took conception in the womb of Sumedha, Queen of Sudeva, on the full-moon day of Asalha [June-July] when the moon was in conjunction with the planet of Uttarasalha. Having been tended upon by a great retinue and after ten full months the Bodhisatta was born.

At the moments of his conception and birth there appeared thirty-two portentous phenomena, such as trembling of the thousand world systems, etc.

(These thirty-two phenomena usually take place on the four occasions of every Bodhisatta's conception, birth, Enlightenment, and teaching of the First Sermon. These phenomena [are] common to all.

Bodhisattas will be described when we come to the Chronicle of Buddha Gotama. In the Buddhavamsa Commentary, however, these thirty-two phenomena and their subsequent happenings are elaborately told in the chapter on Bodhisatta Dipankara's conception.)

Thereafter Prince Dipankara was brought up in luxury, and when he came of age, he ascended the throne.

As a king he lived in three golden palaces -- Hamsa Palace (Hamsa Pasada), Heron Palace (Konca Pasada) and Peacock Palace (Mayura Pasada) -- by rotation for ten thousand years. There were about three hundred thousand well ornamented female attendants. His Chief Consort was Paduma and his son Prince Usabhakkhandha.

Enjoying a divine-like kingly life in the three palaces, Prince Dipankara went out to the royal garden to enjoy himself; on the way [he] saw an old man, a sick man and a dead man who were Deva messengers. Overcome by religious emotion (samvega), he returned from the garden and entered the city. When he wanted to go out again to the garden for the fourth time, he summoned his elephant-keeper and said: "Today I will visit the royal garden for sightseeing. Get the elephants ready." "Very well, Your Majesty," said the royal elephant-keeper and had eighty-four thousand elephants prepared. Dressed in a costume offered by Deva Vissakamma and accompanied by eighty-four thousand elephants and a large army of troops, he entered the garden, riding the state elephant. Having descended from the elephant's back, he roamed sightseeing all over the garden, sat on a cool and pleasant stone slab, and aspired to go forth from the world. Then Maha Brahma, an Arahat of Suddhavasa abode, brought the eight requisites and appeared at a place where he could be seen. Seeing the eight requisites, the Bodhisatta asked what they were; when told that they were the paraphernalia of a monk, he took off his royal attire and handed it over to the royal treasurer, cut of his hair with his sword, and threw it up into the sky.

Then Sakka, king of [the] Devas, took the hair knot in a golden receptacle and enshrined it in a cetiya [memorial] called Makuta; it is three yojanas [yojana - approx. 14 km.: 3 x 14 km. = 42 km. = 26 miles = 137,712 feet] in size and built of emerald stones on Mount Meru.

The Bodhisatta then put on the robes offered by the Brahma and threw up into the sky his old raiment which was received and enshrined by the Brahma in a cetiya (called Dussa), twelve yojanas in size [12 x 14 km. = 168 km. = 104 miles = 549,000 feet], in the Suddhavasa Brahma abode.

A crore [10 Million] of people who had heard of the prince's donning of the robe followed his example and became monks themselves.

Together with these monks who had thus followed in his footsteps, Bodhisatta Dipankara practised austerity called dukkaracariya. On the full-moon day of Vesakha on which he was to become a Buddha, He entered a town for alms-food. It was the day that townsfolk happened to be making pure milk-food for propitiating gods; nevertheless, the food was offered to the Bodhisatta and his one crore [10 million] of followers.

Having taken the milk-food, the Bodhisatta spent the daytime in sala grove of the neighbourhood and in the evening, leaving behind all his followers, headed alone for the great Bodhi Tree.

Enlightenment and Teaching of the Dhammacakka Discourse

On the way the Bodhisatta accepted eight handfuls of grass from an heretic, Sunanda by name, and no sooner had he spread out the grass at the foot of the Bodhi tree than the "Aparajita Pallanka, Unconquered Seat," fifty-three cubits [18 in. x 53 = 79.5 feet] in size, appeared.

(With regard to the size of the seat which was fifty-three cubits, some say the size means the height and others say it means the breadth as found in the Sub-Commentaries of the Inwa Period. These commentarial statements in detail will be dealt with when we come to the story of Buddha Gotama.)

Sitting cross-legged on the "Unconquered Seat", under the Bodhi tree (pipphala,) the Bodhisatta put forth energy of four levels2 and overcame Mara and his army; he gained Pubbenivasa Nana (Wisdom that enables one to know the series of previous existences) in the first watch of the night; Dibbacakkhu Nana (Wisdom that helps one see even the most subtle form from a far distance like a divine eye) in the middle watch; and contemplated in the last watch the doctrine of Paticcasamuppada, "Dependent Origination", in the forward order, revolving of the wheel of samsara and in the backward order, stopping of it; thereafter he entered upon the Fourth Jhana through Anapana Meditation; emerging from it and reflecting on the five aggregates, he discerned the fifty characteristics concerning rise and fall of these aggregates and developed Vipassana Insight, up to the stage of Gotrabhu Nana3 . As soon as the sun rose, this Vipassana development led to the penetration of the Path and Fruition of Arahatship, of all the attributes of a Buddha and to the incomparable Buddhahood which is supreme in the three worlds.

After attaining Buddhahood the Buddha passed seven days at each of the seven sites around the Bodhi Tree enjoying the bliss of Fruition (Phala-samapatti). Having granted the Brahma's request for his teaching, the Buddha delivered the First Sermon, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, at Sunandarama and one hundred crores [10 Million x 100 = 1 Billion] of humans, Devas and Brahmas realized the Four Truths.

At the time of his Enlightenment and that of his teaching the Dhammacakkappavatta Sutta, thirty-two portentous phenomena occurred.

These phenomena (on the four occasions) when Bodhisatta Dipankara was conceived, born, attained Buddhahood, and taught the First Sermon occurred unknown or unseen by Sumedha the Hermit as he was absorbed in the bliss of Jhanas. (This has been stated above.)

The Buddha's journey

After teaching the First Sermon, Buddha Dipankara set out on a journey for the benefit of humans, Devas and Brahmas; while staying at Sudassana Monastery in Rammavati at the invitation of the citizens, the Buddha went out to accept the alms-food offered by them; while he was partaking of the food there took place a violent earthquake as a result of Sumedha's contemplation of the Perfections; the people present on that occasion were frightened and asked the Buddha about the cause of the earthquake; on hearing from the Buddha that there was nothing to fear as the cause was Sumedha's contemplation of the Paramis, they visited and acclaimed him, who thereafter entered the forest. All this has been told in the story of Sumedha. What remains to be told is the following:

When the citizens of Rammavati had finished their offering of alms-food to Buddha Dipankara and his four hundred thousand bhikkhus, they paid obeisance to the Buddha with flowers, scents, etc., and assembled to listen to his sermon.

Dipankara Buddha then addressed the assembly:

1. Danam nama sukhadinam nidanam paramam matam

dibbanam pana bhoganam patitthati pavuccati.

"Dana should be understood as the noble cause of human, divine and Nibbanic happiness; it is said to be the basis of divine enjoyments".

"Beginning with these words the pleasant talk on the practice of dana (Danakatha) [almsgiving] was given".

2. Silam nam etam idhaloka-paraloka sampattinam mulam.

Slia means the root of various forms of prosperity in this life and the next.

In this and many other ways the talk on morality (Silakatha) was given in detail.

3. Next, Buddha Dipankara gave a talk on divine abodes (Saggakatha) to explain as to which sila [morality] leads to which divine happiness. "This divine abode is desirable, pleasant and delightful, and indeed happy. This abode provides constant merriment and gaiety. Catumaharajika Devas enjoy celestial happiness for nine million years in terms of human reckoning". In this way the benefit of heavenly attainment was taught.

4. After persuading, convincing and inspiring the people with this teaching so that they might be inclined to perform Dana and Sila, the Buddha proceeded to teach that even such heavenly bliss was not permanent and that one should not crave it very passionately. In this way the Buddha pointed out the disadvantages, unworthiness and foulness of sensual pleasures, and also the advantages of emancipation from them; he ended his discourse with a talk on Deathless Nibbana.

With this discourse given to the people, the Buddha established some of them in the Three Refuges, some in the Five Precepts, some in the Sotapatti-phala (Fruition of the 'Stream-Winner'), in the Sakadagamiphala (Fruition of the 'once Returner' in the Anagami phala (Fruition of the non-Returner). Some in the Arahatta-phala (Fruition of Arahatship). Some in the threefold knowledge, in the Sixfold Higher Knowledge, or in the eight attainments4; the Buddha then left the city of Rammavati and entered Sudassana Monastery.

Three occasions of the Buddha's teaching

(Dhammabhisamaya)

Having spent forty-nine days in the neighbourhood of the Bodhi Tree after his Enlightenment, Buddha Dipankara delivered the First Sermon of Dhammacakka at Sunandarama at the request of Maha Brahma and administered the Dhamma, Elixir of Immortality to one hundred crores [10 Million x 100 = 1 Billion] of Devas and men.

(This was the first Dhammabhisamaya.)

Next, knowing that his son Prince Usabhakkhandha had become intellectually mature, Buddha Dipankara gave a sermon and administered the Dhamma, Elixir of Immortality, to ninety crores [10 Million x 90 = 900 Million] of Devas and men headed by the prince (just like our Buddha taught his son Rahula the Cula Rahulovada Sutta that led him to Fruition of Arahatship).

(This is the second Dhammabhisamaya.)

Finally, after defeating the heretics near the sirisa tree [Albizia lebbeck] at the city-gate of Rammavati and displaying the Twin Miracle of water and fire, the Buddha taught the Abhidhamma, sitting on the stone slab of Pandukambala at the foot of [a] parichattaka tree [Parijaat tree, sacred baobab] in Tavatimsa Abode, and administered the Dhamma, Elixir of Immortality, to ninety crores [10 Million x 90 = 900 Million] of Devas and men headed by the Deva who in his previous existence had been the Buddha's mother Sumedha Devi.

(This is the third Dhammabhisamya.)

Three occasions of the Disciples' meeting

(sannipata)

There were three occasions of meeting of Buddha Dipankara's Disciples, one of them being Sunandarama where Arahats numbering about one hundred thousand crores [10 Million x 100,000 = 1 Trillion] from all regions specially met for the first time.

(This was the first sannipata.)

Next, the Disciples' meeting took place on Mount Nirada. Once while wandering from place to place with four hundred thousand bhikkhus, Buddha Dipankara arrived at the delightful Mount Narada which was full of marvellous features.

The mountain was occupied by a divine yakkha [yaksha] named Naradeva and people brought annually even human beings as sacrificial offering in his honour.

Seeing that the people were endowed with the merits of their past deeds to rely upon, the Buddha ascended the mountain alone leaving behind his bhikkhus. Thereupon the yakkha became furious and caused the trembling of the mountain to scare the Buddha away. On seeing the Buddha serene and undisturbed although he had used all his might to frighten the Buddha, it occurred to him thus: "Ths great monk is indeed wonderful! Powerful indeed is he! The evil consequences of what I have done will come back to me. There is no refuge for me other than this great monk. Like a man who slips and falls onto the ground has to rely on the same ground to get up, I will now take refuge in this very monk."

With this thought he bowed before the Buddha touching with his head the Buddha's feet, the soles of which were adorned with one hundred and eight signs; he also begged the Buddha's pardon and took refuge in him. Then the Buddha gave him Danakatha, Silakatha, etc. in serial order at the end of which Naradeva and his retinue of ten thousand yakkhas were established in Sotapattiphala.

On the day Naradeva thus became a Sotapanna [stream-enterer], people from all over Jambudipa [Jambudvipa] brought a man from each village to make sacrificial offerings to the yakkha. They also brought with them large quantities of sesamum, rice, beans of various kinds, butter, ghee, honey, molasses, etc. Naradeva handed back all these food-stuffs to the people and entrusted the men, originally meant for sacrifice, to the Buddha.

Then the Buddha ordained these men by the "Ehi bhikkhu" formula and helped them all achieve Arahatship within seven days: on the full-moon day of Magha (January-February), staying in the middle of one hundred crores [10 Million x 100 = 1 Billion] of Arahats, the Buddha gave instructions of Patimokkha at the Disciples' meeting of four features.

An "Ehi bhikkhu' monk does not need to seek the bowl, robes, etc. to become a recluse; on being invited by the Buddha "Come, O monk", his appearance of a lay man vanishes, and he assumes the appearance of a monk of sixty years' standing in the Order.

The four features of a Disciples' meeting are:

(1) all participants are "Ehi bhikkhu monks

(2) all participants are winners of Chalabhinna (Sixfold Higher Knowledge);

(3) all participants come together without being summoned by the Buddha, and

(4) the congregation takes place on the full moon of the month, the fifteenth day Uposatha.

The above-mentioned story of the divine yakkha Naradeva comes from the Buddhavamsa Commentary.

In the Buddhavamsa Text, however, just this simple narration is given: "Again, when Buddha Dipankara had gone into quietude on the top of Narada Mountain, there gathered one hundred crores [10 Million x 100 = 1 Billion] of Arahats who were free from defilements."

(This was the second sannipata.)

Once Buddha Dipankara observed vassa (rains retreat) on Mount Sudassana. When the vassa was over, people of Jambudipa came to the mountain to celebrate their annual mountain-top festival. They then happened to encounter the Buddha, listened to his sermon and, were so delighted with it that they became monks. When the Buddha taught them again on the Maha Pavarana Day (the full moon of Assayuja (September-October) the newcomers won Arahatship through the stages of Vipassana Insight and of the Path as a result of their contemplation of conditioned things in the three planes of existence. The Buddha held Pavarana ceremony5 [Pavarana (Sanskrit: Pravāraṇā) is a Buddhist holy day celebrated on Aashvin full moon of the lunar month. It marks the end of the 3 lunar months of Vassa, sometimes called "Buddhist Lent."] with ninety thousand crores [10 Million x 90,000 = 900 Billion] of Arahats.

(This was the third sannipata.)

The ordinary sermons given by Buddha Dipankara led to realization of the Four Truths (attainment of Liberation) by thousands of beings, by countless individuals.

At that time, the thoroughly purified Teaching of the Buddha spread far and wide; it was understood by innumerable beings -- humans, Devas and Brahmas; it was full and complete with exhortation on noble Sila and such virtues.

Buddha Dipankara, the Knower of the Three Realms, was always attended upon by four hundred thousand Arahat-Disciples, who are immensely powerful with the sixfold Abhinna.

During the Dispensation of Buddha Dipankara, those who died as learners (sekkhas) while trying for Arahatship in vain become the scorn of all.

The teaching of Buddha Dipankara spread throughout the whole world and remained glorious for ever with Arahats who had extirpated their foe, namely defilements, and who were not disturbed by various sense-objects, and thus free of impurities and asavas.

Particulars of Buddha Dipankara

Buddha Dipankara's birth place was the city of Rammavati.

His father was King Sudeva and his mother Queen Sumedha.

His two Chief Disciples were Sumangala Thera and Tissa Thera.

His attendant was Sagata Thera.

His two female Chief Disciples were Nanda Theri and Sunanda Theri

His Bodhi Tree was a pipphala tree.

His male supporters were Tapussa and Bhallika.

His female supporters were Sirima and Sona.

His height was eighty cubits. [18" x 80 = 120 feet] He was a splendour like a pillar of blazing light and a great sala tree in full bloom.

(The advantage of giving these particulars is this: Had they not been given, he might have been mistaken for a Deva, Mara, a demon, or a Brahma. One could think, it is not strange at all that the wonderful events should occur to such a divine being. This would have led to the wrong notion that it was not worthwhile to listen to his Teaching. Then there would have been no possibility of realization of the Truth (attainment of Liberation). On the other hand, the particulars would give rise to the right belief that "Powerful thus is indeed a human being." With this belief beings would listen to his Teaching and could understand the Truth (or could attain Liberation. Hence such details.)

Buddha Dipankara's rays spread by themselves (i.e. without his exercising of power) to all the directions reaching twelve yojanas. [12 x 14 km = 168 km = 104 miles] His life-span was one hundred thousand years.

(This much is given in the Pali Text.)

There are also some more particulars in the Commentaries which are not contained in the Text but which, the Commentaries state, must be told.

While leading a lay man's life, Buddha Dipankara had three palaces: Hamsa, Konca, and Mayura.

He had three hundred thousand female attendants.

His Chief Consort was Paduma Devi, his son Usabhakkhandha.

The duration of his reign was ten thousand years.

When he renounced the world he went forth on an elephant. When he became Buddha he lived at Nandarama (Nanda Park).

Living throughout such a long period, Buddha Dipankara saved large numbers of beings (from suffering).

Having made the three divisions of the True Dhamma such as Learning (Pariyatti), Practice (Patipatti) and Penetration (Pativedha) shine forth throughout the world, and having liberated beings, Buddha Dipankara and his Disciples realized flnal Peace the way a mass of fire went out after blazing with bright flames.

Contemplation on impermanence, etc.(samvega)

The glory of that Buddha Dipankara, his assemblage of four hundred thousand Arahats, etc. who were all his Disciples, the signs on both his feet -- all had ceased to exist. Impermanent are all conditioned things! They are indeed insubstantial!

Erection of a cetiya

In this way Buddha Dipankara who had penetrated all the Four Noble Truths without exception attained Pannibbana at Nandarama Park. In the same Park was erected a cetiya, thirty yojanas in height [14 km. x 30 = 420 km. = 260 miles = 1,372,800 feet] and dedicated to Buddha Dipankara. It was of powdered red orpiment mixed with oil and butter, and in it were enshrined the Buddha Dipankara's relics which were in an indestructible and undispersed mass, a natural phenomenon common to all long-lived Buddhas. People of Jambudipa came together and completed the cetiya with decorations of seven kinds of gems.

Here ends Dipankara Buddhavamsa.

1. Bhadda Kappa: see p 12, and for kappa in general, see pp 4 ff. Vol 1, Part 1, Anudipani.

2. Energy of four levels: the levels where one would be reduced to (i) skin, (ii) sinews, (iii) bones and (iv) where ones flesh and blood would dry up. See also Vol 1, Part 1, Anudrpani, pp 238-239.

3. Gotrabhu Nana: the wisdom that helps one cut off the heritages of kama- consciousness and evolve the lineage of the Rupa-class of exalted consciousness.

4. Eight attainments: eight samapatti-attainments of four Rupa Jhanas and Arupa Jhanas.

5. Formal ceremony concluding the rains-retreat in which each bhikkhu invites criticism from his brethren in respect of what has been seen, heard or suspected about his conduct.

[admin]

Part 2 of 2

22. KAKUSANDRA BUDDHAVAMSA

After Buddha Vessabhu's attainment of Parinibbana, when the aeon in which he appeared had come to an end, twenty-nine sunna kappas, aeons of no Buddhas, elapsed and there emerged the present Bhadda-kappa of five Buddhas. In this kappa had appeared four Buddhas -- Kakusandha, Konagamana, Kassapa and Gotama. The Buddha yet to come definitely is Metteyya.

The chronicle of Buddha Kakusandha, the first of these five Buddhas, is as follows. The Bhadda-kappa comprises sixty-four antara-kappas; (in the eighth antara-kappa according to the Maha Rajavamsa or in the first antara-kappa according to the Hmannan Rajavamsa,) when the human life-span decreased from asankhyeyya to forty thousand years, Kakusandha Bodhisatta, on complete fulfilment of the Perfections, was reborn in Tusita. Having complied with the request made by Devas and Brahmas for becoming a Buddha he descended to the human world and was conceived in the womb of a Brahmin woman, Visakha by name, wife of the Purohita Aggidatta who was advisor to King Khemankara of the city of Khemavati. When ten months had elapsed the Bodhisatta was born in Khemavati Park.

Note:

As has been mentioned above the series of Buddhas from Dipankara down to Vessabhu belonged to royal families, but Kakusandha Buddha was born in a Brahmin family.

In the society which is composed of four classes of people: aristocrats, brahmins, traders and lowly ones, never is a Buddha conceived in his final existence in the womb of a woman of the latter two classes.

As for aristocrats and Brahmins, sometimes aristocrats enjoy superiority and at other times brahmins do. At a time when people show the highest honour to aristocrats, Bodhisattas are born in their class, for they are considered the best. At other times when people show the greatest honour to the Brahmins, Bodhisattas are born in their families, for they are then supposed to be the foremost.

In this way Buddhas hailed only from aristocratic and brahmanical families; since recognition of the former as the most superior is more frequent, Buddhas are generally aristocrats by birth; and because it is only sometimes that Brahmins gain superiority, Buddhas of Brahmanical birth are fewer. Thus the greater number of aristocratic Buddhas and the smaller number of Brahmin Buddhas should be understood.

Royal household life

When the youthful Bodhisatta Kakusandha came of age, he lived in three mansions, namely, Kama, Kamavanna and Kimasuddhi, being entertained and served by his brahmin wife, Rocini by name, who had thirty thousand brahmin maids, and enjoying a divine-like household life for four thousand years.

Renunciation

When he had seen the four omens and when Rocini had given birth to a son named Uttara, Brahmin Kakusandha renounced the world riding a chariot drawn by a thoroughbred and became a recluse. Following his example forty-thousand men became recluses themselves.

Attainment of Buddhahood

With those forty thousand recluses, Bodhisatta Kakusandha practised dukkaracariya for eight months. On the full moon of Vesakha, the day he would become a Buddha, he partook of the milk-rice offered by the daughter of a Brahmin, Vajirinda, of the market-town of Vajirinda and spent the daytime in the local acacia grove. In the evening he went alone to the Maha Bodhi and accepted on the way eight handfuls of grass from Subhadda, a watchman of barley fields. As soon as he spread the grass at the foot of the sirisa Maha Bodhi Tree (which was as big and fair as the aforesaid patali Maha Bodhi) measuring twenty-six cubits. Sitting cross-legged on the pallanka he concentrated his energy of four levels and attained Buddhahood the way mentioned previously.

Three occasions of the Buddha's teaching
(Dhammabhisamaya)

After his attainment of Buddhahood, Buddha Kakusandha stayed in the neighbourhood of the sirisa Maha Bodhi Tree forty-nine days. Having accepted with the request made by the Brahma for teaching he contemplated as to whom he should teach first and saw his companions in renunciation and went to their residence, Isipatana Deer Park, near the town of Makila; when in their midst he delivered the Dhammacakka sermon as previous Buddhas had done numerous Devas and Brahmas came to listen to it respectfully. At that time forty thousand crores [10 Million x 40,000 = 400 Billion] of Devas and humans attained the Path and Fruition.

(This was the first Dhammabhisamaya.)

At a later time Buddha Kakusandha displayed the Twin Miracle near a sala tree close to the city-gate of Kannakujja and taught Dhamma; thirty-thousand crores [10 Million x 33,000 = 330 Billion] of Devas and humans penetrated the Four Noble Truths and gained Emancipation.

(This was the second Dhammabhisamaya.)

Still at a later time another Dhammabhisamaya took place in the following manner. At a Deva shrine not too far away from the town of Khemavati lived a divine ogre named Naradeva. At the time of propitiation he received in his visible frame honour done to him by people; he was, however, in the habit of catching human beings who through a difficult road approached a big pond in the middle of a huge forest to fetch various species of lotus. If there were no people there he went back to his great forest-abode and caught those who happened to be there and devoured them.

In fact, the road through the forest was notorious for its difficult terrain. At one time, at both ends of the forest, people were discussing among themselves how to get through the wilderness. At that time, after emerging from his Maha Karunasamapatti early in the morning, Buddha Kakusandha surveyed the world and saw the ogre Naradeva and those people in his vision of wisdom; so he went through space and, while the people were looking up, displayed various forms of miracle; then he descended into Naradeva's mansion and took a seat on the ogre's splendid couch.

Naradeva became delighted the moment he saw the Buddha coming on his aerial journey and emitting rays of six colours from his body, for he thought to himself: "The Buddha is coming here out of compassion for me." With his attendant ogres he went to the Himalayas and brought back aquatic and terrestrial flowers of various hues and scents with which he honoured the Buddha; singing in praise of him who was remaining on the couch, Naradeva stood with his clasped hands touching his forehead in salutation.

On seeing the Buddha's miracles, the people's minds became serene and they all came to the Buddha and encircling him paid obeisance to him. By explaining to the ogre how wholesome deeds are related to wholesome results, Buddha Kakusandha made the ogre inspired and by giving a talk on abodes of intense suffering, he made him frightened; thereafter the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths. At that time countless Devas and humans penetrated the Truths and gained Emancipation.

(This was the third Dhammabhisamaya.)

Single meeting of the Disciples (sannipata)

There was only one meeting of Buddha Kakusandha's Disciples. And it took place like this. In the Isipatana Deer Park near the city of Kannakujja on the full moon of Magha, amidst forty thousand Arahats who had been his companions in renunciation, Kakusandha Buddha recited the Ovada Patimokkha.

Future Buddha Gotama as King Khema received prophecy from Buddha Kakusandha

Meanwhile, our Future Buddha Gotama was King Khema; having made grand offering of bowls and robes to the Sangha headed by the Buddha, and also having offered them such medicinal materials as minerals for preparing eye-ointment etc., and herbs including liquorice among others, he became so immensely pleased with the Dhamma taught by the Buddha that he renounced the world and became a monk in the Buddha's presence. With reference to him, the Buddha prophesied: "This monk Khema will indeed become a Buddha named Gotama in this very Bhadda Kappa."

Having heard the Buddha's prophecy, the Bodhisatta Khema became overjoyed and determined to fulfil the ten Perfections even more energetically.

Particulars or Buddha Kakusandha

Buddha Kakusandha's birthplace was Khemavati City; his father was Brahmin Aggidatta, Purohita to King Khemankara, and his mother Visakha, a brahmin lady.

He lived a household life for four thousand years; his three palaces were Kama, Kamavanna and Kamasuddhi.

His wife was Rocini, a Brahmin lady, who had thirty thousand attendants; his son was Uttara.

The vehicle he used in renunciation after seeing the four omens was a chariot drawn by a thoroughbred; he practised dukkaracariya for eight months.

His two Chief Disciples were Vidhura Thera and Sanjiva Thera; his attendant was Buddhija Thera.

His two female Chief Disciples were Sama Theri and Campa Theri; his Bodhi Tree was a sirisa.

His noble supporters were the wealthy men Accuta and Sumana; his noble female supporters were Nanda Upasika and Sunanda Upasika.

Buddha Kakusandha's height was forty cubits [18" x 40 = 60 feet high]; the rays from his body spread around up to ten yojanas [14 km. x 10 = 140 km = 87 miles].

The human life-span in his time was forty thousand years; he lived for four-fifths of the life-span [40,000 x .8 = 32,000 years], rescuing such beings as humans, Devas and Brahmas from samsaric waters to place them on Nibbanic shores.

In the world of humans and Devas he opened the 'shop of Dhamma' for the virtuous, male and female alike, and bravely roared a lion's roar: "I am an Omniscient Buddha indeed; The defilements and mental intoxicants with their latent tendencies have all been rooted out from me." After that, with his disciples of the Sangha Buddha Kakusandha attained Parinibbana and became extinct.

Samvega

The Buddha who was endowed with a voice of eight qualities' voice, such as clearness, sweetness, legibilty, pleasantness, firmness, fullness, depth and echo, and his two Chief and other Disciples who were possessed of morality that was unbreached, untorn, unmottled, free at all times - they had all disappeared. Unsubstantial and futile indeed are all conditioned things!

Cetiya

In this manner Buddha Kakusandha attained Parinibbana in Khema Park. In that very Park, as has been said before, a cetiya was erected over the relics of Buddha Kakusandha; it was exactly one yojana high [14 km. = 8.5 miles = 44,880 feet high].

Mount Everest is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. Its elevation (snow height) of 8,848.86 m (29,031.7 ft) was most recently established in 2020 by the Nepali and Chinese authorities.

-- Mount Everest, by Wikipedia

Here ends Kakusandha Buddhavamsa.

23. KONAGAMANA BUDDHAVAMSA

After Buddha Kakusandha's attainment of Parinibbana, in the present Bhadda Kappa, the life-span of human beings gradually decreased from forty thousand years to ten years and increased up to asankhyeyya. When it reached thirty thousand years on its next decline, Bodhisatta Konagamana, on his complete fulfilment of the Perfections was reborn in Tusita. Having complied with the request made by Devas and Brahmas for becoming a Buddha, he descended to the human world and was conceived in the womb of a Brahmin lady named Uttara, wife of Yannadatta Brahmin, in the city of Sobhavati. When ten months had elapsed he was born in Subhavati Park.

At the time of the boy's birth, there fell a heavy shower of gold over the whole of Jambudipa and taking the significance of this event, "coming down of gold from the sky", framed readers of omens and his relatives named him Kanakagamana (Kanaka means 'gold', agamana 'coming'; hence Kanakagamana "the boy for whom gold has come (down)." Owing to its antiquity, the original name Kanakagamana has taken the corrupt form of Konagamana. Or by means of derivation, the first syllable ka is changed into ko, na into na and the final ka elided.

Royal household life

When the boy Konagamana came of age, he lived in three palatial mansions of Tusita, Santusita and Santuttha, being entertained and served by his wife Rucigatta, a Brahmin lady, and her host of sixteen thousand Brahmin women and enjoying a divine-like household life for three thousand years.

Renunciation

When Konangamana Brahmin had seen the four omens while living a household life and when his wife Rucigatta had given birth to a son named Satthavaha, he renounced the world, riding an elephant. Thirty thousand men, following his example, also renounced the world.

Attainment of Buddhahood

With his thirty thousand recluses Konagamana practised dukkaracariya; on the full moon of Vesakha, the day on which be would become a Buddha, he partook of the milk-rice offered by Aggisona, daughter of Aggisona, and spent the daytime in the local grove of acacia. In the evening he went alone to the Mahabodhi and on the way accepted eight handfuls of grass offered by Jatatinduka, a watchman of barley fields. As soon as he spread the grass at the foot of the (udumbara) Maha Bodhi Tree there arose the Aparajjita Pallanka [Throne] measuring twenty cubits [18" x 20 = 30 feet]. Sitting cross-legged on the pallahka he concentrated his energy of four levels and, as has been said previously, attained Buddhahood.

Three occasions of the Buddha's teaching
(Dhammabhisamaya)

After his attainment of Buddhahood, Buddha Konagamana stayed in the neighborhood of the Maha Bodhi Tree for forty nine days. Having accepted the Brahma's request for his teaching he contemplated as to whom he should teach first, and saw the thirty thousand recluses who were his companions in renunciation and immediately went through space to their residence, Isipatana Deer Park, near the city of Sudassana. Staying in the middle of those recluses, when he delivered the Dhammacakka sermon which was taught traditionally by previous Buddhas, several Devas and Brahmas came to listen. At that time thirty thousand crores [10 Million x 30,000 = 300 Billion] of Devas and men attained the Path and Fruition.

(This was the first Dhammabhisamaya.)

At a later time when Buddha Konagamana displayed the Twin Miracle of water and fire near the sala tree close to the city-gate of Sundara, and eradicated the wrong views and taught Dhamma, twenty thousand crores [10 Million x 20,000 = 200 Billion] of Devas and humans attained the Path and Fruition.

(This was the second Dhammabhisamaya.)

After displaying the Twin Miracle when Buddha Konagamana went up to Tavatimsa and staying on the stone-slab placed at the foot of the paricchattaka tree and taught the seven books of Abhidhamma to Devas and Brahmas who had assembled there from the ten-thousand world-system. At that time ten thousand crores [10 Million x 10,000 = 100 Billion] of them attained the Path and Fruition.

(This was the third Dhammabhisamaya.)

Single occasion of the Disciples' meeting (sannipata)

The only meeting of Buddha Konagamana's Disciples took place like this. When staying in a park named Surindadeva near the city of Sundaravati, the Buddha taught Dhamma to Princes Bhiyyosa and Uttara who were to become his Chief Disciples, together with thirty thousand strong retainers and called them, "Come, monks", they became Ehi bhikkhus and attained Arahatship. In the middle of those thirty thousand Arahats on the full moon of Magha Buddha Konagamana recited the Ovada Patimokkha.

(This was how the only sannipata took place.)

Future Buddha Gotama as King Pabbata received prophecy from Buddha Konagamana

Meanwhile our Future Buddha Gotama was King Pabbata in the city of Mithila; he was a powerful ruler associated with strong allies. Hearing that Buddha Konagamana had come to his city, he welcomed the Buddha with his retinue and army, invited him respectfully and performed a ceremony of grand alms-giving. He also requested the Buddha to observe vassa in his city and looked after the Buddha and his Sangha for the three months of the rainy season. Besides, he offered the Sangha headed by the Buddha, cotton cloth, silk cloth, woolen cloth, golden sandals and many other things made in Pattunna country and Cina country. The Buddha then prophesied of him: "In this very Bhadda Kappa this King Pabbata will indeed become a Buddha named Gotama."

Having heard the Buddha's prophecy the Bodhisatta King Pabbata was so pleased that he firmly resolved to fulfil the Ten Perfections even more energetically.

Since he was a man who had been seeking Omniscience, he made a great offering of gifts to Buddha Konagamana, renounced his magnificent kingship, and became a monk in the presence of the Buddha.

Particulars or Buddha Kakusandha

Buddha Konagamana's birthplace was Sobhavati City ruled over by King Sobha; his father was Brahmin Yannadatta and his mother Uttara, a Brahmin lady.

He reigned for three thousand years; he lived in three palatial mansions: Tusita, Santusita and Santuttha.

His wife was Rucigatta, a Brahmin lady having a retinue of sixteen thousand Brahmin women; his son was Satthavaha.

He renounced the world riding an elephant after seeing the four omens; he practised dukkaracariya for six months.

His two Chief Disciples were Bhiyyosa Thera and Uttara Thera; his attendant was Sotthija Thera.

His two female Chief Disciples were Samudda Theri and Uttara Theri; his Bodhi Tree was an udumbara.

His noble supporters were the wealthy men Ugga and Somadeva; his female supporters were Sivala Upasika and Sama Upasika.

Buddha Konagamana's height was thirty cubits [18" x 30 = 45 feet] ; he was adorned with the rays of six colours like the pure gold in the goldsmith's crucible.

The life-span during Buddha Konagamana's time was thirty thousand years. For four-fifths of the life-span he lived [30,000 x .8 = 24,000 years], rescuing beings -- humans, Devas and Brahmas -- from the waters of samsara to place them on the shores of Nibbana.

In order that beings could stay and worship on the cetiya platform of Insight Wisdom (Vipassana Nana Panna), Buddha Konagamana constructed the cetiya of thirty-seven constituents of Enlightenment (Bodhipakkhiya Dhamma), that was adorned with the banner of the Four Noble Truths, and made the 'bouquet of Dhamma', after which with his Sangha Disciples he attained Parinibbana and became extinct.

Samvega

Buddha Konagamana's Disciples who had accomplished in the exercise of supernatural powers and Buddha Konagamana who had expounded supramundane Dhamma -- all of them had vanished. Unsubstantial and futile are all conditioned things!

Cetiya

In this way Buddha Konagamana who had penetrated the Four Noble Truths and others Dhammas that should be known attained Parinibbana in the pleasance named Pabbata. As has been mentioned before, his relics dispersed in accordance with his resolve, reached everywhere in Jambudipa, and were paid homage by beings -- humans, Devas and Brahmas.

Here ends Konagamana Buddhavamsa.

24. KASSAPA BUDDHAVAMSA

After Buddha Konagamana's attainment of Parinibbana in this very Bhadda Kappa, the life-span of human beings gradually decreased from thirty thousand years down to ten years and increased up to asankhyeyya, when it reached twenty thousand years on its next decline Bodhisatta Kassapa was reborn in Tusita. Having complied with the request made by Devas and Brahmas for becoming a Buddha he descended to the human world and was conceived in the womb of Dhanavati, a Brahmin lady and wife of Brahmadatta Brahmin in the city of Baranasi ruled over by King Kiki. When ten months had elapsed the Bodhisatta was born in Isipatana Deer Park.

On his naming day learned readers of omens and his relatives named him Kassapa, for he was a descendant of the clan of that name.

Royal household life

When the boy Kassapa came of age he lived in three mansions, Hamsa, Yasa and Sirinanda, being entertained and served by his wife Sunanda, a Brahmin lady, who had forty eight thousand women as attendants and enjoying a divine-like household life for two thousand years.

When he had seen the four omens while living a household life and when his wife Sunanda had given birth to a son named Vinjitasena, he was stirred with religious emotion and he thought to himself; "I shall renounce the world even today."

No sooner had he thought than the Bodhisatta's mansion rotated like a potter's wheel and flew up to the sky and, like the moon coming out in the company of stars in autumn and producing a very delightful light, the mansion moved on with hundreds of people accompanying it as though adorning the vault of heavens, as though exhibiting its glory, as though attracting spectators and captivating their hearts and as though lending splendour to the tree-tops. Finally it came down to the ground with the nigrodha Bodhi Tree in its centre.

Then the Bodhisatta got down from the mansion; standing on the ground, he accepted the robes offered by the Brahma and put them on. The Bodhisatta's wife and female attendants also got down from the mansion and went to a distance of forty usabhas (half a gavuta [league = 1.5 miles]) where they erected temporary shelters like barracks of an army. Following the Bodhisatta's example, all the men who had come along with him renounced the world.

Attainment of Buddhahood

With the recluses who had followed his example, Bodhisatta Kassapa practised dukkaracariya; on the full moon of Vesakha, the day on which he would become a Buddha, he partook of the milk-rice offered by his wife Sunanda and spent the daytime in the local grove of acasia. In the evening he proceeded alone to the Maha Bodhi and on the way accepted eight handfuls of grass offered by Soma, a watchmen of barley fields. As soon as he spread the grass at the foot of the Maha Bodhi Tree, there arose the Aparajita Pallanka [Throne] measuring fifteen cubit feet [18" x 15 = 22.5 feet]. Sitting cross-legged on the pallanka, he concentrated his energy of four factors and as has been said before he attained Buddhahood.

Five occasions of the Buddha's teaching
(Dhammabhisamaya)

After his attainment of Buddhahood, Buddha Kassapa stayed in the vicinity of Maha Bodhi Tree for forty-nine days. Having complied with the Brahma's request for teaching he contemplated as to whom he should teach first and saw the crore [10 Million] of recluses, his companions in renunciation who were endowed with the merits of their past deeds leading to the Path and Fruition and immediately went through space to their residence, Isipatana Deer Park, near the city of Baranasi. Staying in the middle of the recluses when the Buddha delivered the Dhammacakka sermon following the tradition of previous Buddhas, several Devas and Brahmas came to listen respectfully. At that time two crores [10 Million x 2 = 20 Million] of Devas and humans attained the Path and Fruition.

(This was the first Dhammabhisamaya.)

At a later time when Buddha Kassapa taught Dhamma while touring from town to town, from village to village, and from market-town to market-town, ten thousand crores [10 Million x 10,000 = 100 Billion] of Devas and humans attained the Path and Fruition.

(This was the second Dhammabhisamaya.)

Still at a later time when Buddha Kassapa displayed the Twin Miracle of water and fire and taught Dhamma near the asana tree close to the gate of Sundara city and five thousand crores [10 Million x 5,000 = 50 Billion] of Devas and humans penetrated the Four Noble Truths and gained Emancipation.

(This was the third Dhammabhisamaya.)

Having displayed the Twin Miracle of water and fire, when Buddha Kassapa, in the celestial assembly hall, named Sudhamma in Tavatimsa, taught Abhidhamma of seven books in order to benefit Devas and Brahmas who had assembled there respectfully to listen to the Dhamma which was especially intouch for the Deva, who had been his mother. At that time three thousand crores [10 Million x 3,000 = 30 Billion] of Devas and Brahmas penetrated the Four Noble Truths and gained Emancipation.

(This was the fourth Dhammabhisamaya.)

There was once an ogre who was powerful like the one named Naradeva of Buddha Kakusandha's lifetime. He was well known by the same name of Naradeva. Assuming the appearance of a king ruling in a city outside Jambudipa and also assuming the king's voice, behaviour and other characteristics, he killed the king and devoured him; then he ruled over the whole kingdom slaying man people for food. He also indulged into debauchery pleasures with women.

When intelligent queens, maids of honour and members of retinue discovered that "This man is not our master, not our king. He is indeed a yakkha," he felt awkward, killed and devoured them all and moved on to another city where he made himself king in the aforesaid manner.

Killing and devouring people in this way, Naradeva arrived at Sundara City. Having heard of his reign of terror, the citizens became scared of the danger of death and fled from their city. Seeing the tumultous situation of the people, Buddha Kassapa went and stood before the yakkha. When he saw the Buddha standing in front of him, he defied the Buddha by roaring thunderously; unable to frighten the Buddha he approached him for refuge. He also put forward some questions which the Buddha answered to his satisfaction. When the Buddha admonished him and gave a sermon, innumerable Devas and humans, who had assembled there respectfully to listen to it, penetrated the Four Noble Truths and gained Emancipation.

(This was the fifth Dhanimabhisamaya.)

The single occasion of the Disciples' meeting
(sannipata)

The meeting of Buddha Kassapa's Disciple-Arahats took place just once like this. In the city of Baranasi, when Tissa, son of the Purohita, saw the thirty-two marks of a superman on the body of Bodhisatta Kassapa, he remembered his father's word that "only those who would become Buddhas can have such marks"; as he had not one iota of doubt about it, he thought to himself: "This Kassapa will become a Buddha through supreme renunciation. I shall work hard to be free from suffering of samsara after becoming a monk in the presence of that Buddha Kassapa".

The 32 major characteristics are:

1. Level feet
2. Thousand-spoked wheel sign on feet
3. Long, slender fingers
4. Pliant hands and feet
5. Toes and fingers finely webbed
6. Full-sized heels
7. Arched insteps
8. Thighs like a royal stag
9. Hands reaching below the knees
10. Well-retracted male organ
11. Height and stretch of arms equal
12. Every hair-root dark colored
13. Body hair graceful and curly
14. Golden-hued body
15. Ten-foot aura around him
16. Soft, smooth skin
17. Soles, palms, shoulders, and crown of head well-rounded
18. Area below armpits well-filled
19. Lion-shaped body
20. Body erect and upright
21. Full, round shoulders
22. Forty teeth
23. Teeth white, even, and close
24. Four canine teeth pure white
25. Jaw like a lion
26. Saliva that improves the taste of all food
27. Tongue long and broad
28. Voice deep and resonant
29. Eyes deep blue
30. Eyelashes like a royal bull
31. White ūrṇā curl that emits light between eyebrows
32. Fleshy protuberance on the crown of the head

-- Physical characteristics of the Buddha, by Wikipedia

Accordingly he went to the Himalayas and became an ascetic even before Bodhisatta Kassapa renounced the world. The ascetics of his company were twenty thousand in number.

Later on when he heard that "Kassapa after renouncing the world, has now become a Buddha", he left the Himalayas with his company of twenty thousand ascetics, and requested for monkhood in the presence of the Buddha. Being pronounced then by the Buddha, "Come, monks", Tissa the ascetic with his twenty thousand companions became "Ehi bhikkhus" and attained Arahatship. In the assembly of these twenty thousand monks, on the full moon of Magha, Buddha Kassapa recited the Ovada Patimokkha.

(This was the only sannipata.)

Future Buddha Gotama as Jotipala the Youth received prophecy from Buddha Kassapa

Meanwhile our Future Buddha Gotama was famous as Jotipala the Youth; he recited the Veda texts continuously, learned various hymns by heart, reached perfection in the Vedas and was accomplished in treatises on prognostication that explain physical marks of a superman, etc., treatises on legends that narrate ancient tales and all arts and crafts that had been handed down by generation after generation of teachers. No less accomplished, but fully well-versed and skilful was he in terrestrial science and celestial science.

In Buddhism the idea of superman completely replaces the idea of the Deity; because Buddha is not God, he is only a superman.

-- A New Model of the Universe, by Pyotr Ouspenskii

Jotipala was an intimate friend of Ghatikara the Potter, who being a noble supporter of Buddha Kassapa was greatly devoted to the Three Gems, and famous as an Anagami devotee. Ghatikara the Potter took him to Buddha Kassapa.

After listening to the Buddha's Dhamma, Jotipala became a monk in the Buddha's presence. Highly energetic, clever in performing duties big and small, and not negligent in any matter associated with the three trainings of morality, concentration, and wisdom, he shouldered responsibilities in the Buddha's Dispensation.

Having learned the Teachings (Pariyatti) of the Buddha comprising nine divisions, he glorified the Buddha's Dispensation. Discerning Jotipala's aforesaid marvellous qualities, Buddha Kassapa prophesied of him: "This Jotipala bhikkhu will indeed become a Buddha named Gotama even in this Bhadda Kappa."

On hearing the Buddha's prophecy the noble bhikkhu Jotipala became overjoyed and resolved to fulfil the ten perfections even more energetically.

On account of his only wish which was attainment of Omniscience, our Bodhisatta who would become the inconceivable Lord of the three worlds, he kept himself far away from all demeritorious deeds that are to be avoided throughout samsara, repeated existences, and put efforts unflinchingly to perform meritorious deeds, which ordinary people can hardly do, in absolute fulfilment of the Ten Perfections.

Note:

From the above-quoted Buddhavamsa Text, it seems that Ghatikara the Potter brought his friend, Jotipila the Youth, to Kassapa Buddha without difficulty. In reality, however, he did not succeed easily in so doing. He had to persuade him again and again, and finally used force by dragging him along by his hair. This is mentioned in the Ghatikara Sutta, Raja Vagga of the Majjima Pannasa. The detailed story of Ghatikara and that of Jotipala should be known from that Sutta.

Particulars of Buddha Kassapa

Buddha Kassapa's birthplace was Baranasi City where King Kiki reigned; his father was Brahmin Brahmadatta and his mother Dhanavati, a Brabmin lady.

He lived household life for two thousand years; his three mansions were Hamsa, Yasa and Sirinanda.

His wife was Sunanda, a Brahmin lady who had forty-eight thousand Brahmin women as attendants; his son was Vijitasena.

The vehicle in which he renounced the world was a mansion; he practised dukkaracariya for seven days.

His two Chief Disciples were Tissa Thera and Bharadvaja Thera; his attendant was Sabbamitta Thera.

His two female Chief Disciples were Anula Theri and Uruvela Theri; his Bodhi Tree was a nigrodha.

His noble supporters were Sumangala and Ghatikara the Potter; his female supporters were Vijitasena Upasika and Bhadda Upasika.

Buddha Kassapa's height was twenty cubits [18" x 20 = 30 feet high]; he was glorious like forceful lightning and the full moon surrounded by planets and stars.

The life-span in his time was twenty thousand; he lived for four-fifths of the life-span [20,000 x .8 = 16,000 years] rescuing numerous beings from samasric waters to place them on the shores of Nibbana.

Buddha Kassapa created the big pond of Pariyatti Dhamma for several beings -- humans, Devas and Brahmas -- and gave the 'unguent of Catu Parisuddhi Sila' for them to beautify their minds, made them put on the garments of Hiriand Ottappa, distributed among them the flowers of thirty seven Bodhipakkhiya Dhamma, and placed the spotless mirror of Sotapatti Magga Nana so that they could see clearly for themselves, distinguishing between faulty things and faultless things, between acts of merit and acts of unwholesomeness. He placed the mirror as though he were inviting those who were wandering in search of Nibbana near the aforesaid pond, "Behold (yourselves in) all kinds of adornment."

By providing those who listened to his admonishment with the raiments of the five precepts, ten precepts, and the four Catu parisuddhi Sila so that they could fight against their enemy of defilement; by making them fasten their coats of mail of the four mundane and five supramundane jhanas; by making them wear the leather robe of Sati and Sampajanna; by supplying them with the full military equipment of sublime energy of four levels by giving them the shield of four Satipatthanas so that they could defend themselves from various enemy-defilements; (by making his army of Disciples) wield the lances of very sharp Vipassana Nana, and gave them the sword of Magga Panna, the swords that had been sharpened on the whet stone of viriya; by handing to them the supramundane precepts so that they could eradicate their inclinations to associate with defilements; by giving them various dressing articles of three Vijjas and six Abhinnanas, having fashioned the crowning flower of supramundane Fruitions so that they could adorn and beautify themselves with; and by making a big cluster of the flowers of nine supramundane Dhammas, and together with it he gave them the white umbrella of Arahattaphala so that they could protect themselves against the sun of demerits, Buddha Kassapa created the great bloom of the eightfold Magga leading happily to the heaven of Nibbana. That Buddha Kassapa and his numerous Disciple-Arahats attained Parinibbana and came to the end of his final existence.

Samvega

That Buddha Kassapa, the embodiment of unmeasured qualities, whom others could hardly approach; the gem of Dhamma taught by that Buddha, the Dhamma that was in a position to extend its bold invitation saying, "Come, have a look, and try it as a practice."; the gem of Sangha, the Order of Disciples who were most excellent, for they had well practised that Gem of Dhamma -- all this had vanished. Unsubstantial and futile indeed are all conditioned things!

Cetiya

In this way Buddha Kassapa, Conqueror of the five Maras, Teacher of humans and Devas, attained Parinibbana in a great park called Setavya near Setavya City, in the country of Kasi. People of Jambudipa unanimously held a meeting and for worship erected a cetiya with bricks, each brick to lay externally cost a crore [10 Million] (of money) and each brick to lay internally five millions; (as has been said above) the cetiya was one yojana high [14 km. = 8.6 miles = 45,408 feet high].

Our Bodhisatta had thus received the prophecy predicting his Buddhahood from the former twenty-four Buddhas beginning with Dipankara and ending with Kassapa and this has been composed briefly in the 'Dhammarasi Pyo' (vv. 7, 8 and 9). (The author then gives pertinent extracts from the 'pyo' which we leave untranslated.)

[admin]

Archibald Campbell L. Carlleyle [Archibald Carleyle]
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 3/17/21

-- Craniometry, by Wikipedia

[O]ne of Prinsep's helpers in Calcutta was a young engineer officer named Alexander Cunningham, who in the 1850s began a systematic search to rediscover the ancient Buddhist sacred sites, beginning with Sarnath, the scene of Buddha Sakyamuni's first sermon, known subsequently among Buddhists as the First Turning of the Wheel of the Dharma.

Cunningham's work was greatly assisted by the appearance of French translations from the Chinese of accounts of journeys into India made many centuries earlier by Chinese Buddhist monks. The first of these to become accessible in the West was written by the greatly revered scholar monk and collector of Buddhist texts who first became known in the West as Yiouen Tsang, Yuan Chwang or other variations of that name -- now standardised as Xuanzang. The Orientalist Stanislas Julien's French translation of Xuanzang's journey appeared in 1853 as Voyages du pelerin Hiouen-tsang. The book set out in great detail how the Chinese monk had reached India in 631 CE after a long and perilous journey across central Asia. He had then spent some fifteen years on the sub-continent, travelling from one Buddhist location to another before settling at the great Buddhist monastic university of Nalanda, where he spent two years studying the sutras. Xuanzang had kept a detailed record of where he went and what he saw and, crucially, how he got there, which on his return to China he set down in his Journey to the West in the Great Tang Dynasty.

With Julien's French translation in his hands Alexander Cunningham was able to locate and excavate a great many ancient cities and locations associated with the Buddha, most notably at Rajgir, the ancient Rajagriha of Gautama Sakyamuni's royal patrons King Bimbisara and his cruel son Ajatashatru. Here the first Buddhist monastery had been built and the First Buddhist Council held after the Buddha's Maharaparinirvana. After his retirement from the Indian Army in 1861 as a Major-General, Cunningham returned to India to become Director-General of the newly established Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). In 1863 the directions supplied by Xuanzang led Cunningham to Sahet-Mahet, north-west of the town of Balrampur, in the Gonda District of Oude and just over sixty miles due west of Birdpore. Contained within a massive brick wall three miles in circumference were the ruins of what was clearly an ancient city now covered in dense forest. After cutting a series of tracks through the jungle Cunningham excavated some of the larger mounds, which revealed themselves to be the remains of stupas built of fired brick, together with attendant monasteries. A magnificent standing Buddha was also uncovered, with a damaged inscription at the base which included the word 'Sravasti.' More stupas and viharas were unearthed just south of the city walls, which Cunningham concluded had to be the Jetavana Garden, the monastic centre that had served the Buddha and his disciples for so many years as their summer rains retreat.

Indian archaeology then suffered a second setback in 1865 when the ASI was disbanded for financial reasons, but five years later Cunningham returned to India as Sir Alexander Cunningham, KCIE, to resume his work as the revived ASI's director. In 1873 he made a second visit to the Sahet-Mahet site which only strengthened his opinion that this important site had to be Sravasti and its associated monastery of Jetavana, as seen and described by Xuanzang more than fourteen centuries earlier.

Cunningham's main efforts thereafter were concentrated elsewhere, initially in the Sanchi area near Bhopal in central India and latterly at Bodhgaya, the seat of Sakyamuni's enlightenment, where he has to take some responsibility for the botched reconstruction of the Mahabodi temple we see today. The work of tracking down the remaining lost sites of Buddhism was now delegated to Cunningham's assistants, one of whom was the eccentric Archibald Carleyle, who soon after his arrival in India chose to add another 'I' to his name and spell it 'Carlleyle.' His main claim to fame today is his pioneering work on India's prehistory, but in the cold weather months of 1874-75 and 1875-76 Carlleyle travelling through northern Bihar and what had now become the united provinces of the North-Western Provinces and Oude (NWP&O). His first tour took him to the lake of Buila Tal, fifteen miles north-west of Gorakhpur, first noted by Buchanan in 1814. Here his exploration of the site was greatly impeded by the hostility of the local people who were determined to destroy whatever he uncovered. 'This,' he reported, 'is the invariable policy of the brutish, ignorant, and evil-disposed natives of this part of the country, who have, moreover, already destroyed some ancient monuments since I have been here, simply because they knew I wanted to preserve them.'

Despite the local hostility Archie Carlleyle was able to convince himself that what he saw beside the lake at Buila Tal matched the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang's descriptions of Kapilavastu, the city in which the young prince Siddhartha had grown up. General Cunningham then visited the site himself. 'The result of my examination,' he concluded, 'was the most perfect conviction of the accuracy of Mr. Carlleyle's identification of Bhuila Tal with the site of Kapilavastu, the famous birthplace of Sakya Muni.'

A year later Carlleyle did even better when he located the ruins of Kushinagara, the scene of Sakyamuni's Maharaparinirvana and cremation, which he placed near Kasia, thirty-three miles due east of Gorakhpur in a 'great long mound of ruins called the Matha Kunwar ka kot' -- in other words, the fort or abode of Matakumar, the chieftain or prince described to Buchanan in 1814 as 'a person of the military order.' Here Carlleyle had the enormous satisfaction of finding precisely what he was looking for: 'The famous colossal statue of the [Mahapari-] Nirvana of Buddha' -- famous, because this was what the Chinese traveller Xuanzang had seen and described in the course of his visit to Kushinagara some twelve centuries earlier. 'After digging to a depth of about 10 feet,' wrote Carlleyle in his report to Cunningham, 'I came upon what appeared to be the upper part of the legs of a colossal recumbent statue of stone ... I then hurried on the excavations, until I had uncovered the entire length of a colossal recumbent statue of Buddha, lying in a chamber.'


Archibald Carlleyle's rebuilt Buddha Maharaparinirvana statue at Kasia, the ancient Kushinagara, drawn by his draftsman Ram Narayan Bhaggat. (IOL, BL)

Much of the statue was damaged but further excavation uncovered most of the missing parts, which Carlleyle restored with the aid of Portland cement. In his enthusiasm for reconstruction, he went on to paint the statue as he thought it ought to be: 'I coloured the face, neck and hands, and feet a yellowish flesh colour, and I coloured the drapery white; and I also gave a black tint to the hair. Thus I really made the statue as good and as perfect as ever it was -- or perhaps even better than it ever was.' Carlleyle then rebuilt the temple that had held the statue, adding a vaulted roof to his own design, after which he affixed a large notice above the Maharapari nirvana statue, proclaiming himself its finder and restorer. He concluded his report to Cunningham by explaining that all this had been done at his own expense and that he was now out of pocket to the tune of 1,200 rupees. 'And finally to all I would say,' he ended, 'Let those who cavil come and see the complete work with their own eyes, and then I shall be satisfied!'

But this was not the full extent of Carlleyle's triumphs. From Kushinagara he led his survey party eastwards across the Gandak River into northern Bihar and to the district town of Bettiah, not far from which stood the two inscribed Asokan pillars first observed and reported upon by Brian Hodgson some forty years earlier: one at Lauriya Araraj, twenty miles south east of Bettiah; the other at Lauriya Nandangarh, fifteen miles north-west of Bettiah. Here Carlleyle encountered a party of Tharu tribesmen who told him that in their home country to the north there was 'a stone sticking in the ground which they called Bhim's Lat, and which they said resembled the top or capital of the pillar at Laoriya.' Guided by the Tharus, Carlleyle hurried northwards some twenty miles, 'although I had heard that the locality was most unhealthy, and a most dangerous place for my native servants.' Half a mile outside the little village of Rampurva he came upon 'the upper portion, to about 3 feet in length, of the capital of a pillar ... sticking out of the ground in a slanting position, and pointing towards the north.' With the Tharus' help he managed to expose the upper part of the pillar to a length of about forty feet. The ground was too waterlogged and the stone column itself too heavy to be moved so he had to content himself with an imperfect impression of the Asokan edict it carried, achieved by his men 'standing up to their waists in water.'

The Rampurva edict turned out to be identical in lettering and content with the inscription carried on the Lauriya Nandangarh pillar, which led Carlleyle to propose that Emperor Asoka had erected these pillars to mark his royal pilgrimage:

Four different pillars of Asoka are now known to be situated along the line of the old north road which led from Magadha to Nipal, or from the Ganges opposite Pataliputra or Patna, through Besarh or Vaisali, in a northern or rather north-north-westerly direction, keeping at a moderate distance to the east of the Gandak, to the Tarai and hills of Nipal ... The fourth pillar is the fallen and buried pillar discovered by me close to Rampurva. 21-1/2, to the north-north-half-north-east from the pillar at Laoryia Naondangarh ... Now it is evident that the inscriptions on these pillars were intended to be read by passing travellers and pilgrims passing along the old north road from the Ganges opposite Pataliputra to Nipal. I should therefore expect to find either another pillar. or else a rock-cut inscription, still further north somewhere in the Nipal Tarai.

The Rampurva Asokan pillar, first uncovered close to the Nepali border by Archie Carlleyle in 1876, but not fully excavated until 1904, when its missing lion capital (upper left) was located -- and when this photograph was taken by John Marshall. (IOL, BL)

With the publication of the ASI's annual report for 1876 it seemed that all the major Buddhist sites had been satisfactorily located. Much of Carlleyle's field-work thereafter was taken up with palaeontology in the wild hill country known as Bundelkhand but already his behaviour had become increasingly irrational and in May 1885 Sir Alexander Cunningham ordered his compulsory retirement at the age of fifty-four.

-- The Buddha and Dr. Fuhrer: An Archaeological Scandal, by Charles Allen

[x]
Archibald Campbell Carlyle (1831–1897)[1] was an English archaeologist active in India.

The Archaeological Survey of India was revived as a distinct department of the government and Sir Alexander Cunningham was appointed as Director General, taking office in February 1871. Cunningham was given two assistants: J. D. Beglar and Carlleyle. They were later joined by H. B. W. Garrik. Carlleyle handled the Agra region for the Report of 1871–72, while Beglar was responsible for Delhi.

In 1867–68, Carlleyle discovered paintings on the walls and ceilings of rock shelters in Sohagighat, in the Mirzapur district. He was the first to claim a Stone Age antiquity for these. He also made many other important contributions to archaeology in India.[2][3] He is credited with finding of 20 copper and 4 silver punch-marked coins at Bahraich, near the ancient city of Benaras (modern Varanasi).[4]

References

1. Kennedy, Kenneth A. R. (2000). God-Apes and Fossil Men: Paleoanthropology of South Asia. University of Michigan Press. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-472-11013-1.
2. Kennedy, Kenneth A. R. (2000). God-Apes and Fossil Men: Paleoanthropology of South Asia. University of Michigan Press. p. 386. ISBN 978-0-472-11013-1.
3. Bhattacharyya, Narendra Nath (1993). Buddhism in the history of Indian ideas. Manohar Publishers & Distributors. p. 27. ISBN 81-7304-017-6.
4. Imperial Gazetteer of India (1909) Published by Oxford University. V. 2, P. 152

External links

• Works by or about A. C. L. Carlleyle at Internet Archive

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The Rock Art of India [Excerpt]
by Dr. Meenakshi Dubey Pathak
Bradshaw Foundation
Accessed: 3/18/21

The earliest discovery of prehistoric rock art was made in India, twelve years before the discovery of Alta Mira in Spain. Archibald Carlleyle discovered rock paintings at Sohagihat in the Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh in 1867 and 1868. Unfortunately he did not publish. J Cockburn rightly commented that Carlleyle’s knowledge died with him (Smith, 1906: 187). Fortunately, Carlleyle had placed some of his notes with a friend, Reverend Regionald Gatty, and V A Smith published these later, which is the only record of his discovery of Rock paintings. In his note he wrote “Lying along with the small implements in undisturbed soil of the cave floors, pieces of a heavy red mineral-coloured matter called geru were frequently found, rubbed down on one or more facets, as if for making paint. Geru is evidently a partially decomposed hematite (Iron peroxide). “On the uneven sides or walls and roofs of many caves or rock shelters, there are rock paintings apparently of various ages. Though all evidently of great age, done in red colour called geru. Some of these rude paintings appeared to illustrate in a very stiff and archaic manner scenes in the life of the ancient stone chippers. Others represent animals or hunts of animals by men with bows and arrows, spears and hatchets. With regard to the probable age of these stone implements I may mention that I never found a single ground or polished implements not a single ground ring stone or hammer stone in the soil of the floors of any of the many caves or rock shelters I examined.” (Smith 1906: 187).

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Prehistoric India at Manchester Museum I: Archibald Campbell Carlyle
by Bryan Sitch, Deputy of Head of Collections
Manchester Museum
June 23, 2017


Cover design of British Museum occasional paper about the Carlyle collection (1994)

Manchester Museum is working on an HLF Courtyard extension project that opens in 2020, and collections curators are looking through their collections for anything that comes from the Indian subcontinent in preparation for the new South Asia Gallery. The new gallery will comprise eight ‘chapters’ ranging chronologically from prehistoric times to Partition, the diaspora and the founding of South Asian communities in the UK, especially Manchester. All of the disciplines represented in the Museum collections are contributing to this exciting project and doubtless other curators will report in due course about what they have in their collections. In the archaeology collection it’s been an exciting journey of discovery and revelation as I began to realise how significant some of the collectors and donors represented in Manchester Museum’s collection were in the history of Indian archaeology.


Palaeolithic stone tool from the Vindhya Hills, India with a A.C.Carlyle label (Manchester Museum)


Detail of a Carlyle label (Manchester Museum)

Perhaps the most important of the collectors who gave us material from the Indian sub continent was Archibald Campbell Carlyle (1831-1897). Carlyle (or Carlleyle) was First Assistant to the Archaeological Survey of India from 1871 until his retirement in 1885. Carlyle went to India to seek his fortune, initially as a tutor. At this time employment in the colonies offered security and career prospects. Carlyle worked in the Indian Museum in Calcutta, the Riddell Museum in Agra and then joined the Archaeological Survey of India. He was appointed by Alexander Cunningham (1814-1893), Director General of the Survey. The Archaeological Survey was part of the British imperial and colonial project in India, to survey, record, and catalogue the antiquities of the country in order to understand, administer and control them more effectively. As Dilip Chakrabarti puts it: Cunningham ‘…was trying to justify the systematic archaeological exploration of India on the grounds that politically it would help the British to rule India.’ (see Prof.Chakrabarti’s ‘The development of archaeology in the Indian subcontinent’, in World Archaeology 13.3, Feb.1982).


Upinder Singh’s book The Discovery of Ancient India Early Archaeologists and the Beginnings of Archaeology (Permanent Black, 2004) and a British Museum occasional paper on The Carlyle Collection of Stone Age Artefacts from Central India by Jill Cook and Hazel Martingell (1994) provide a lot of information about Carlyle from which the following summary is extracted.


Occasional paper about the Carlyle collection at the British Museum

At a time when Cunningham and the other assistants were understandably preoccupied by ancient Indian sculpture, temples and coins, Carlyle was one of the few people making an effort to recover and record prehistoric stone tools. Jill Cook and Hazel Martingell’s occasional paper paints a vivid picture of Carlyle as a field archaeologist sleeping rough in ruined temples and upsetting the polite conventions of Raj society, on one occasion threatening an enquirer sent by the Raja of Nagod with a gun. Carlyle seems to have been rather prickly about his status, which may explain the alternative spelling of his name as Carlleyle, to suggest he was from an aristocratic family. His ‘psyche-evaluation’ described him as ‘not ordinarily insane, but liable to outbursts of eccentric action and evil temper’ (Cook and Martingell:13).

The work took Carlyle into the landscape for long periods at a time, travelling on horseback, accompanied by servants on foot and camels to carry the baggage and surveying equipment. He was in eastern Rajastan in 1871-3, the Vindhya Hills and then northwards into the plains with seasons in Gorkhpur, Saran and Ghazipur during the 1870s. He excavated a site at Joharganj in 1879. In the early 1880s he worked in the Vindhya Hills again when complaints were made about him. As Cook and Martingell put it: ‘In 1882, a European with one servant, living rough, without bed and bedding and without a change of clothes or proper food for six weeks had to be mad.’ There is more than a hint of the Indiana Jones about him.


Charles Seidler’s letter in Manchester Museum

When Cunningham proposed that the Archaeological Survey be disbanded, Carlyle lost his job and came back to Britain in 1885. He was 54. Living in straitened circumstances in London, Carlyle disposed of his archaeological collection by sale or by donation to a number of museums and individuals. A dealer in antiquities, Charles Seidler, wrote letters to collectors including Sir John Evans, and Canon Greenwell, antiquarian societies, and the Manchester Museum. David Gelsthorpe, Curator of Palaeontology, found some archive correspondence from Seidler relating to the sale of prehistoric stone artefacts from Carlyle’s collection (see image above). The slips of paper that accompany the letter give details of the objects and where they found. Presumably, the various objects were wrapped in these slips of paper. This information was used to compile the entries in the Manchester Museum accession register (the ‘O’ register) and from these we learn that some of the flints came from a very important site called Morhana Pahar in Mirzapur District, Uttar Pradesh. Bridget Allchin identified this as one of a group of sites in the Vindhya Hills escarpment overlooking the Ganga Valley about five miles north of Hanmana village near Bhainsaur. Carlyle excavated the site but didn’t publish it in full (B.Allchin and R.Allchin -1982 –The Rise of Civilisation in India and Pakistan, p.82). He may have kept the information to himself, thinking he would go back some day to investigate it in detail but his ‘retirement’ prevented further work.


Chariot rider ambushed by bowmen at Morhana Pahar. It appears that Carlleyle painted over the original red pigment with white paint in order to capture the details photographically. Photo: courtesy of Prof Ajay Pratap, Head of Dept of History, Banaras Hindu University

The cave or rock shelter site at Morhana Pahar yielded thousands of worked flints and there were cave paintings or mural art. Some of the images must have been painted later in prehistory because they show men driving chariots being ambushed by men on foot using bows. Carlyle’s notes described them as showing ‘in a very stiff and archaic manner scenes in the life of the ancient stone chippers, others represent animals or hunts of animals by men with bows and arrows, spears and hatchets…’ They seem to depict people living a hunter-gather lifestyle confronting chariot-drivers of the Indian Iron Age, so there must have been considerable overlap of what might be considered chronologically distinct material cultures. Chenchu hunter-gatherers in India were photographed during the 1930s, showing how resilient this way of life is (see Allchin and Allchin p.85). Carlyle seems to have been the first to propose that the cave art was undertaken by people in prehistory. When he was working it was commonly supposed that cave paintings couldn’t have survived for such a long time, and it was only the discovery of Altamira later in the 19th century that opened people’s eyes to the existence of prehistoric cave art. It is a shame that so far we have not been able to find a photograph of Archibald Campbell Carlyle. Over to you gentle reader….


Carlyle Collection microliths from Morhana Pahar in the Vindhya Hills, in northern central India

The flints from Morhana Pahar are known as microliths and include lunates or crescent shaped artefacts, rhomboids, trapezes, trapezoids triangles, bladelets, drill points and so on. Some of them were mounted in wooden shafts to create barbed weapons. Some were found still ‘glued’ in position in their wooden armatures using bitumen at the prehistoric site of Mehrgarh in Pakistan. The tools are very small and some archaeologists assumed that the people who made them must have been themselves of small stature or pygmies, hence the name for the tools: pygmy flints. They are very similar to the stone tools found on the Pennines around Manchester and during the early 2oth century an associate of William Boyd Dawkins at Manchester Museum, Revd Gatty, argued that northern Britain had been settled by so-called pygmy people from northern India! The flints date from the Mesolithic period, c.9,000-4,000 BC.

Other material includes more microliths from Gharwa Pahari, Baghe Khor and Likhneya Pahar, Palaeolithic implements and Neolithic axeheads from Marfa in Bundelkhand, and other stone artefacts, including a Madras type hatchet from the Gaur River.

As a footnote to this discussion I might also add that the list of museums holding Carlyle material in Cook and Martingell’s occasional paper in 1994 does not include Manchester Museum. So far 82 artefacts that Carlyle collected have been catalogued, one of the largest of the collections after the British Museum and National Museums of Scotland (Edinburgh).

I leave the last words to Carlyle:

‘The question now, therefore, is not -‘where are stone implements to be found?’ but rather – where are they not to be found?’ For so far as my own experience goes, they appear findable almost everywhere in India.’

Dilip Chakrabarti (1999) India an Archaeological History Palaeolithic Beginnings Early Historic Foundations (O.U.P.), p.95

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Letter to Mr. Rivett-Carnac [Colonel John Henry Rivett-Carnac 1838-1923]
by Archibald Campbell Carlleyle
Camp, near Chapra
April 23, 1879

J. H. Rivett Carnac, C.I.E., Colonel of the Indian Volunteers and A.D.C. to the Queen

British employee of the Indian Colonial Service. Researched rock art in India and donated a large collection of stone tools from north-west India in 1883. From 1858-94 he worked in the Bengal Civil Service, as a secretary to R.C. Temple (q.v.). Married to Annie Marian Durant (Mrs Rivett-Carnac q.v.) in 1868.

Bibliography

https://whowaswho-indology.info/5226/rivett-carnac-h/

RIVETT-CARNAC, John Henry (Harry). London 16.9.1838 — Vevey, Switzerland 11.5.1923. British Colonial Officer and Scholar of Indian Prehistory. Colonel. Son of Admiral John Edward R.-C. and Maria Jane Davis, in a family with long tradition of Indian service. In 1858–94 worked in Bengal Civil Service (i.a. as secretary to R. C. Temple), also raised and commanded the Ghazipur volunteer regiment. C.I.E. 1878. Retired and settled in Switzerland. Married 1868 with Annie Marian Durant, no children. Publications: Report on the Cotton Department: For the Year 1868-1869. 1869; . – articles on prehistoric antiquities in JASB and PrASB. – Many Memories of Life in India, at Home and Abroad. 1910. Sources: Buckland, Dictionary; H.M. Durand, JRAS 1923, 491f. (eloquent, but almost no information); https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Rivett-Carnac-25 (quoting The Spectator) with photo

-- Persons of Indian Studies, by Prof. Dr. Klaus Karttunen.

-- Colonel J H Rivett-Carnac, by The British Museum

John Henry Rivett-Carnac C.I.E. (1838 - 1923)
Colonel John Henry (Harry) "Lord Harry" Rivett-Carnac C.I.E.
Born: 16 Sep 1838 in Marylebone, London, England
Son of John Edward Rivett-Carnac and Maria Jane (Davis) Rivett-Carnac
Brother of James Davis Rivett-Carnac, Henrietta Rivett-Carnac, Anna Maria Rivett-Carnac, Elisa Mary (Rivett-Carnac) Tilghman-Huskisson, Edward Stirling Rivett-Carnac and Arthur Boileau Rivett-Carnac
Husband of Annie Marian (Durant) Rivett-Carnac — married 1868 [location unknown]
Died: 15 May 1923 in Vevey Switzerland

Biography

John Henry “Harry” was born in 1838, the second son of Admiral John and Maria Jane's four son's and seven children. In 1868 he married Annie Marian Durant but they did not have any children. He spent most of his very full and successful life in India, where he was Secretary to Sir Richard Temple, Private Secretary to Viceroy Lord Lytton, as well as holding many other distinguished posts in India. In 1894 he was appointed A.D.C. to Queen Victoria and later King Edward Vll. He retired to Switzerland, where he died in Vevey in 1923. He was a prolific writer with 52 works in 100 publications in 2 languages and with 307 library holdings. His work ranged through Bibliography, Folklore, History, Criticism and Interpretation. His best known work was "Many Memories of Life in India, at Home, and Abroad" (Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1910.

The following article appeared in The Spectator in May 1923. "The death of Colonel John Henry Rivett-Carnac at Vevey (on the north bank of Lake Lausanne Switzerland) on Friday, May 11th, is a matter of especial regret to readers of the Spectator, who will remember the many letters from him that we have published. In accordance with the family tradition of the Rivetts he spent most of his life in India, where he had a very distinguished career, in both civil and military capacities. In addition to his public life in the Indian Civil Service, he had many private hobbies of a more purely intellectual nature, in any of which he would have obtained eminence had it held his somewhat over-versatile attention for longer than a few years at a time. One of the practical results of his interest in archaeology is the possession of several valuable coins by the British Museum, a gift from him. The latter part of his life, practically since his retirement, he spent in Switzerland, where he did valuable work during the War for British prisoners. His death has deprived us of one of those all too rare combinations of personal charm and practical ability." He also wrote the book - still available on Amazon - "Many Memories of life in India, at home and abroad." In 1878 he was made a Companion of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire (C.I.E.) and was Aide de Camp to both her Majesty Queen Victoria and His Majesty King Edward VII. The Times of May 14 1923 had this obituary. We regret to announce that Colonel John Henry Rivett-Carnac C.I.E V.D., distinguished member of a family famous for its service in India died on Friday at Vevey, Switzerland, aged 84. ....... He was the second son of Admiral John Rivett-Carnac, by his wife Maria, daughter of Captain Samuel Davis, who in 1799, the narrow winding staircase to the roof of Nandesur House, Benares, kept at bay, until relieving troops arrived, Wazir Ally, the deposed Nawab of Oudh, after he had massacred Mr Cherry the Resident, and most of the European inhabitants. On his fathers side Rivett-Carnac belonged to the old Suffolk family of Ryvet, or Rivett. Both his paternal grandfather , who assumed the additional surname of Carnac, and his uncle were Governors of Bombay. .. He was thus born into the innermost circle of old Haileybury Civilians, belonging to one and being closely related to another of the four families mentioned by Kipling in “The Day’s Work”, the Plowdens, the Trevors, the Beadons and the Rivett-Carnac’s.......... He was appointed to the Bengal Service..... Early training would have taught him the method and discipline he somewhat lacked to supplement his great abilities as an administrator ....... but he had influential connections ......... Appointed to the Cotton Commission ... he did very good service, writing a valuable report on cotton cultivation and trade ....." During the great famine in Behar when appointed to "purchase grain for the famine-stricken. Rivett-Carnac’s methods were lavish” and it was remarked by Lord Mayo that “if told to do a thing he could be trusted to get it done, but seldom reckoned on the expense either to himself or anyone else.”....... “He was appointed to the Benares Opium Agency - a post generally reserved for senior men. He soon revolutionised and improved the machinery.....” an impulsive man, he was apt to tire of an enterprise, and spells of strenuous official work would sometimes be succeeded by a period of lethargy. ...... he prized no distinction so much as that of Aide-de-Camp to queen Victoria and afterwards King Edward - an honour never before attained by an Indian civilian. ..... A born raconteur, as his delightful volume of “Many Memories of life in India” abundantly shows, he had an extraordinarily wide circle of friends in all classes of society. ....He married at the end of 1868, and is survived by his wife Marion, daughter of General Sir Henry Durand .... He lived some time in Suffolk, where he was Lord of the Manor Stanstead Hall, but later purchased and for years exercised generous hospitality at the Chateau de Rougement, Vaud, once a celebrated Cluny Benedictine priory, and later the Castle of the Berne Governors. But it was too great an altitude for his health and his last years were spent at the Hotel des Trois Couronnes, at vevey, where he died. My grandfather ‘Pop' was always rather scathing of “Lord Harry” despite his many achievements - and my father ‘Jack’ had this to say about him in his “Story”. “My Great Uncle Harry must have been quite an able individual and even for Victorian times was a most unmitigated snob. He was, according to some tales, always excusing himself as he had to go to see 'some Duke or Lord so and so'. One story told against 'Lord Harry’ as he was fondly known, was that around the 1890’s a certain confidence trickster was had up in London for fraud. It appeared that this gentleman, who called himself Rivett-Carnac had, among other things, chosen from a well know jeweller, various diamond rings and bracelets, which he had asked to be sent up to his hotel so that his wife could chose one for a birthday present. The jeweller most impressed, duly obliged, only to find that the rings, bracelets AND Mr Rivett-Carnac had disappeared without trace. Apparently the newspapers took up the the story with headlines “A Rivett-Carnac goes wrong. Member of a well-known Anglo-Indian family steals jewels etc.” Naturally Lord Harry was furious and wrote to the papers denying that the accused was a Rivett-Carnac, and eventually attended the court at which the accused was found guilty. This proved too much for ‘Lord Harry’ who stood up in court, and after emphatically denying that the man was a Rivett-Carnac ended by challenging him to say what right he had to use this distinguished name. Quite unperturbed, the accused rose and said, “My Lord, I am the illegitimate son of Sir Harry!

Great Uncle Harry did however make up a really good - if not thoroughly accurate record of the Family Tree, the authenticity of which he managed to get both Burkes and Debretts to accept.” My grandfather goes on to say that "It seems sad to have to accept Douglas’s more mundane, but certainly more accurate family Hat, than Great Uncle Harry’s sparkling Crown, even though most of the jewels have proved to be common glass.” Here, I would like to add that Douglas (who had our branch of the family decended from Blacksmiths rather than the Aristocracy of Lord Harry’s account) later added an apology in a Supplementary Note, which says in brief ”Proof that it listed the Derby family among relatives of the Brandeston Revetts has recently come to light” therefore “Elizabeth Rivett had every reason to believe herself entitled to adopt the Suffolk Rivett/Revett on behalf of her son Thomas” his negation of which had led him to the Blacksmith theory! After further research it can be reliably established that our branch of the family did indeed descend from the noble Derby Branch of the Rivett’s rather than the Blacksmith branch. The following is a summary of his life John F. Riddick, Who Was Who in British India (Westport, Connecticut, London: Greenwood Press, 1998), p. 308; RIVETT-CARNAC, John Henry Indian Civil Service; b 16 Sept. 1838 in London; s of Adm. John Rivett-Carnac and Maria Davis; m 1868, Marian Durand. Educ: Germany; Haileybury. 1859 joined ICS and assigned to Bengal; 1862 was Sec. to Sir Richard Temple [q.v.], Chief Comr. of Central Provinces; 1866-68 made Cotton Comr.. CP; 1872 assigned as Comr. of Cotton and Commerce. Govt, of India: made Special Comr. during Bengal Famine of 1874; 1875 was Opium Agent at Benares; 1877 selected Privt. Sec. to Viceroy Lord Lytton [q.v.J; 1885 named ADC to C-in-C. India, Sir Donald Stewart [q.v.); 1885 and 1887 led an Indian Rifle Team at Wimbledon: 1885 raised and commanded Ghazipur Lt. Horse and Rifles; 1894 named ADC to the Queen. Publications: Many Memories of Life in India, at Home and Abroad. 1910; and several Journal articles addressing mainly archaeological subjects. Honors: CEE. VD. FSA. d 11 May 1923.

Sources

[http://thepeerage.com/p55952.htm#i559520 The Peerage.com (M, #559520) Article in The Spectator Obituary in The Times of May 14 1923. Information contained in his personal "Notes on the family of Rivett-Carnac" for private circulation in 1909. John F. Riddick, Who Was Who in British India (Westport, Connecticut, London: Greenwood Press, 1998), p. 308 World Cat Identities

-- John Henry Rivett-Carnac C.I.E. (1838 - 1923), by WikiTree

Camp, near Chapra
April 23rd 1879

My dear Mr. Rivett-Carnac,

In continuation of my last letter, dated the 20th April (& finished on the 22nd), I now proceed to notice some of the other subjects, which some of the books and papers, &c., which you sent me, bear reference to.

With regard to the Queries of Professor Schaffhausen, Nos I., II., and III, as anent Crania: There have been elongated skulls found in India, and also small crania. There are no doubt good specimens of such, for reference, in the Indian Museum, at Calcutta; and the Museum would no doubt be the best place to apply to for information on this subject.

I should say that small skulls, were of more common occurrence than elongated skulls in India. But I have never yet heard of any artificial means being used in India, either to depress, or to elongate, or otherwise to modify, the cranium!

Your quotation from the information of an officer who had been in the Punjab, is the first rumour that I ever heard of, of such a practice being followed in India. But I should think it was very doubtful! Perhaps among such a totally savage people as the Andamanese, and just barely possibly among the farthest distant and least known of the barbarous north-eastern mountaineers, on the boundary between India and China, such a practice might prevail. But, if so, we have never heard of it, -- we have no reason to suppose it, -- and we have no information to go upon. And it would be strange if we were found to be ignorant of characteristic usages among the tribes of India, while we profess to be sufficiently well informed of those of the aborigines of America! We feel pretty certain about the existence of American Indian "Flatheads"; but we are ignorant of the existence of any East-Indian tribe who could merit the application of a similar term!

I had written thus far, when I happened to be reminded of a peculiar custom which is practiced by nearly all of the natives of India, generally; though, I believe, not exclusively by any one tribe in particular (as far as I know). I refer to the common practice, prevalent among native Indian mothers and nurses, of modifying the shape of the head of native infants, by pressure, for the sake of beauty! From the very hour in which a native infant is born, up to the eighth, tenth or twelfth day after birth, the native nurses keep the infant's head tightly bandaged round, horizontally, (that is, from the back, or occiput, to the forehead, round by the sides). And the natives say that this is intended to make the head round-shaped; or to prevent it from being long-shaped! After the bandages have been taken off; the head of the child is then, next oiled, three times every day, and pressed between the hands of the nurse; the pressure being applied, alternately, first with the right hand on the forehead and the left hand behind, on the occiput, -- and then with the left hand on the forehead and the right hand behind the head.




Symbol of a circle with a cross drawn through the middle, and a dot placed in the middle of each quadrant. Drawn in red ink.

This last operation continues to be performed for several months!

These various operations are not always fully and strictly carried out to the letter, in every household alike; for some natives are less particular or less observant of them, or pay less attention to them, than others, who adhere to the custom more rigidly. But the "custom", however, does not seem to be confined to any one particular caste, or class, or tribe, at all; but it appears, rather to be general!

On the whole, the entire process just described, including both the bandaging and the manipulation of the head, appears to me to be simply a very mild mode of slightly modifying the shape of the cranium, in order to suit some ideal type, of form or beauty!

The suspicion next arises, that owing to this (however slight) artificial modification of form, in human crania, in India, the consequence or result thereof may be, that most of the crania of natives of India are of an artificial or unnatural shape; or that very few crania of a natural shape can be found in India! And that consequently no criterion, whatever, can be formed, from crania, of the original, natural, or normal form or contour of the heads or skulls of the people of India, who might therefore be called "diametrio-entechno-cephalic", or "entechno-diametriocephalic" (artificially-modified-headed).

Vipassi and Patali Tree, Bharhut Stupa at the Indian Museum, Kolkata Photograph from the Indian Museum in West Bengal taken by Anandajoti.

But then, in that case, also our theoretical Indian craniological scheme or system, must be all at fault, and so vitiated as to be nearly utterly useless; because any proposed diagnosis must rest either upon doubtful characteristics, which may be of more or less artificial or semi-artificial origin, or at least, variable characteristics which can not be relied on!

Very curiously and sometimes even abnormally shaped human skulls, may occasionally be picked up along the banks of the river Ganges, that great watery cemetery of the Hindus! --

I will now give you a description of two ancient skulls which I found in Rajputana.

On the south-western borders of the Bhartpur state, on a high rocky hill, near a place called Jontpur in a sort of aboriginal grave or tomb in a crevice of the rock, I found a remarkably shaped, elongated, dolichocephalic, skull, which had apparently belonged to a young person, a boy, or a girl! --

Again, in an excavation which I made in the side of a mound, at "Nagar", near Uniyara, in Rajputana, I found a very thick, strong skull, of an adult of a very remarkable shape. This skull was of great antiquity, buried beneath the ruins of a very ancient city. This skull was not remarkable for its length, at all; but it was remarkable for the shape of its very receeding frontal bone, and for the fact that the central suture was almost entirely obliterated, by solidification!

The shape of the frontal bone was abnormal. The bones of the eyebrows projected very much and formed a raised overhanging ridge. From the brows, the frontal bone at once sloped backwards, or receeded at once, with a very great slope, so that really there was no forehead left at all! There were somewhat acute projections towards the after part of the sides of the skull, above the ear orifices, or just about where the phrenologists pretend that the organ of "caution" is situated. There was also a rather acute projection posteriorly, on the occiput. The lower jaw was gone; but the bone of the upper jaw projected very much outwards, so that the profile must have been very prognathous!



With regard to Query No "V.", about the "Thor's hammer", the Scandinavian mystical symbol called the "Thor's Hammer", vizt, thus,



is, in its form, apparently identical with the Indian Swastika



(See sketch of the "Thor's hammer" and other mystic symbols, in Baring Gould's "Iceland, its Scenes and Sagas"!)

The mystical symbol of the "Thor's hammer" really bore reference to three things (or three natural phenomena), or had a triple signification; vizt:

1. The Sun's power and course;
2. The revolution of the four seasons; and of time
3. The four quarters of the compass.
1.a. Rising, striking, setting, absence.
2.a. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.
2.b. Morning, mid-day, evening, night.
3.a. East, South, West, North

Thus:





Top -- Rising. Spring, Morning, East. Birth & Youth. Beginning.
Right -- Striking. Summer. Mid-day. South. Manhood, Present.
Bottom -- Setting. Autumn. Evening. West. Old Age. End.
Left -- Absence. Winter. Night. North. Death. Past. Future. Chaos.
 
I myself have never seen "hammers" or "axes" worshipped in India!

Round a Linga, or Mahadeo, when it happened to be situated in the open air, I have very frequently seen many naturally smoothed or rounded, stones, and oval stones, and pebbles, collected, in a crowd; and I have sometimes seen so many, that the big "Mahadeo" appeared to be standing in the midst of a forest of little ones of all shapes and sizes! But I have never yet seen any genuine "celt", or axe, in that position!

A kind of "green stone' is used as a medicine, in India. I saw it, or rather had authentic knowledge of its being so used, in Agra (as a tonic?)!

There are, however, three kinds of stones used in India, as medicine; namely:

1. A green stone, called "Dahâna Feringh", which is scraped, and the powder thus obtained, is mixed with water, and drunk, for diseases of the kidneys! This stone is probably true "Nephrite".

II. A green stone, with occasionally red and yellow marks in it (a kind of Blood-stone?), which the natives call "Pitoniya". This stone is merely dipped or washed in water; and then the water in which the stone has been dipped, is drunk as a remedy for heat or eruption of the skin; and for pimples, "prickly heat", & irritation of the skin.





Query? "Eagle-stone"? Or fossil spines of Fossil Echini?

III. A kind of stone, or pebble, called "Hazrat Zahûr" It is said to be a stone of an oval form, and of a drab or clay colour. It is ground down and the powder of it is mixed with water, and drunk as a remedy for heat, inflammation, stricture or stoppage, in certain organs; especially for "strangury".--

I am not sure about your the correctness of your definition of "green-stone". Common "green-stone," the common "Green-stone" of geologists, is simply a kind of Trap rock; and it is not "Nephrite" !

So also "Serpentine" is quite a different mineral from the "Greenstone Trap" rock of geologists.

"Jade" I understand to be much harder stone than "Serpentine". The usual colour of "Jade", is a pretty uniform dark green. Jade "celts" have been found. -- I believe one of the names by which "Jade" is known in India, is "Zabarjad"; but this name is also applied to other minerals and precious stones such as "Beryl", and Green "Jasper", yea, -- (and also greenish "Chalcedony"!?) --

What is the meaning or signification, and what is the etymology of the word "Jade"? Does it mean a hard stone, which "jades" the person who tries to work it? Or is not the name perhaps rather derived from the Arabic word "jad", meaning good fortune, felicity, prosperity, -- and thus meaning "the lucky stone"; -- or from the Arabic word "jud", meaning munificence or beneficence, -- and thus meaning -- "the beneficial stone"? And hence, it's Perso-arabic name of "Zabar-jad", or "Zabar-jud"? (For the name is spelt both ways.) Literally meaning, -- the stone of "powerful beneficial efficacy"! --

I have now to make a few remarks about your silver coin of the Saurashtran type, and supposed by Rajendra Lall Mitra to be of "Toramana".

On account of the face, or profile, of the king's head, being turned to the left, as in another coin of Toramana, cited by Thomas (see Prinsep's Essays, Vol. 1 page 340), it would seem likely that your coin would be of Toramana, also! But as the legend, or inscription appears in the figure of the coin, as engraved in the Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, for December 1878, I can not read the name as "Toramana" and I regret to say that at present, I totally disagree with Rajendra Lall's reading.



In the engraving, the letters appear to be as follows:



This, in modern Deva-Nagari, would be as follows:





Or,



This I would translate as follows:

(By) "The auspicious Bhama, sprung from Janardan (Vishnu?), by intent victorious over Eran, in righteous battle." --

The term, "mato-vyita" if liberally translated, might mean, -- "who, by his own will", or "according to his premeditated intention, was victorious." --

But "victorious" over what, or where?

The answer is "Eranâ", -- "at", or "over", Eran"! --

And how? The answer is -- "by a just, or righteous war:" "Ranâ bhalah."



The name of this victorious King, I read as



-- "Bhama", on the coin, (in modern Nagari, from "Bham",



(which means - passion; anger, wrath, fury?, rage?, temper?, fierceness, frightfulness, terribleness,? terrificness?)



Hence "Bhamin", angry passionate:

Rajendra Lall Mitra read the same word as "Naya", which I read as "Bhama". But, in the old numismatic alphabetic character of the period, the word "Naya" would have been written as



which is not on the coin at all! --



On the contrary, the word on the coin, is plainly



(Bhâ mâ) and which I can not read any other way, except as "Bhâmâ"! The next letter,



"Jâ" (or "Jo,"), Rajendra Lall reads as "Se";



but which, if it were so, would be written as



("Se")! The actual letter on the coin, however, is really the letter "J"; with an up-stroke attached to it, for a vowel "a"!

At any rate, there is one thing quite certain, and that is -- that the name of "Toramâna" does not appear upon the coin, at all; and that therefore it is not a coin of "Toramâna"!


 
The letters on the coin, which Rajendra Lall took to form the name of "Toramâna," are the following:



which I read as, (taErana) or (Gupta na).



But it is quite impossible to manufacture the name of "Toramâna" out of these letters, even with the greatest stretch of imagination! For, in the later, or Gupta letters, of the Saurâshtrân alphabet, the name of "Toramâna" would be as follows:



or,



(Toramâna which it is not, on the coin!

(Other coins, of the Indo Scythictype, have



or,





Other coins, of the Indo-Sassanian type, have simply the first part of the name, as: --



(Tora) and



Sri To ra.



But on Thomas' coin, of the Saurashtran type, the name is given in full as:



(Srî Toramâ na.)

You will now, therefore, perceive that there is no such name on your coin!

As I before intimated, in my previous tentative reading of the inscription on your coin, I am inclined to read the name of the King as "Bhâma".



But I myself have good reason to prefer to read the name as "Bhâmâ".



("Bhâmâ".)

In some of the similar Gupta coins, of the Saurashtran type, the letter "Bh" is formed like



and



as in the titles of Kumâra Gupta on his silver coins; where Prinsep read "Bhânuvîra", and Wilson read Bhattâraka", and Thomas reads "Bhagavata"; while I read -- "Bhânudhara", on one coin and "Bhatârana", on another! (Thus do doctors differ!)

Now, if the name of the king, on your coin be "Bhâmâ"; then the next question is -- whether there was any king of that name among the later Guptas?

I think it will be found that there was! And I would place a "Bhâma Gupta", after "Buddha Gupta", and before "Vishu Gupta", say about A.D. 260 to 270, and nearly contemporary with Toramâna! (whose date is probably about A.D. 261? or 262? or 264?)

This puts me in mind that, in the month of January 1877, I received a letter from General Cunningham, in which he informed me that "two silver coins of Bhânu Gupta" had "come to light"; and that he had "an inscription of him, dated in S. 191". (of the Gupta era; = A.D. 270) I.e. S. 79 - 191 = 270

Now General Cunningham's writing of the name of the king is not distinct and I can not make out whether it is "Bhâme" (for "Bhâma") or "Bhânu"; but the date of the reign of this king, is "A.D. 270", or about contemporary with Toramâna.

I therefore think it is possible that your coin may belong to the very same king who is mentioned by General Cunningham! --

It must, however, be borne in mind that my version of the reading of the "legend" on your coin, and my interpretation of it, are merely tentative or provisional; and that my reading is founded solely and entirely upon the form, or shape, of the letters, as they appear in the figure or engraving of the coin, in the Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, for December 1878. My opinion is formed simply on the mechanical conformation of the letters in the legend, as shown in that drawing of the coin. But it is, of course, just possible that the drawing, or the engraving may not be true to the original or may be faulty in some of its details, (that is, if the drawing was done by a native!); and that thus, consequently, it may have given me a false or erroneous impression of the forms of the letters on the coin! But, if that be the case, it will be utterly useless and exceedingly unsafe for me to presume to express any opinion about your coin, without having ever seen, handled, or examined the piece itself! -- But if the coin be in your own possession now, perhaps I may have the privilege of examining it, when I reach Ghazipur! --

I have read through Mr Cust's book, with much interest; and I will give you my humble opinion o of its merits, with a few remarks on particular points, in my next letter.

But it is really frightfully hot now, in tents, and I suffer very much from the heat, and find it very difficult to get through much writing, or any such work. The heat addles ones brains! And "cool judgment" can hardly be expected from brains which have been stewed and roasted and grilled and scorched into a state of exhausted listlessness.

Your paper on "Cup Marks" &c. is most interesting, and excites curiosity while it certainly raises some new trains of thought in ones mind. But more of this anon!

I am very much obliged to both Mrs Rivett-Carnac and your good self, for all your kind wishes. I think I shall probably do my best to reach Ghazipur!

With best and kindest regards to Mrs. Rivett-Carnac,

Believe me,
Yours
Very sincerely
Archi C. Carlleyle

[admin]

All The Buddha We Could Handle
by Charles and Tara Carreon
3/17/21



We are all familiar with the concept of the Procrustean Bed, that cross between hospitality and torture, wherein an individual is provided a bed smaller than necessary to accommodate his length, and is made to fit the furniture by amputation. As a child whose parents traveled often, I preferred to stay in high quality hotels for this reason. Alas, western society has not been so friendly to the faiths of foreign nations, that have been adapted to our local customs through drastic surgery of which we often remain blissfully unaware.

A case in point is the evolution of the "Cosmological Buddha," whose manifold personages cover the cave walls of a thousand devotional enclaves throughout Asia, into the "Historical Buddha," a humble fellow from just down the way who pulled his socks up, knows his prajna from his jnana, has no fear of death due to his serene view of life, and doesn't buy into this ego stuff, but is otherwise just like you and me. Now this sort of easygoing bloke is exactly the kind of guru I want, but I wager that a humble peasant praying for rain as opposed to famine, looking up at the enormous expanse of earth and sky up at the Himalayas to the north, would have no interest in following another fella. He wants an enormous Being, bigger than the sky, stronger than the wind, able to cool the heat of the sun, able to stop hail, bring rain, nurture life. Managing his mental dusty bunnies? Not actually on his list of things to do today. He's got clods to break, seeds to sow, seedlings to attend to, animals to feed, and no time for silly nonsense that the rich might be interested in.

But we have none of those problems. We are plagued by mental dust bunnies, loneliness, a society inclined to homicidal solutions, the fear of homelessness and abandonment. And the soil can't help us, the wind and the rain and stars are just window dressing for our misery. Maybe when climate change has reduced our pride a little, we'll need real gods again. Meanwhile, we can get by with pop Buddhism, which you might just call a "head trip."

Notes:

1. Jetavana, by Wikipedia

Mulagandhakuti. The remains of Buddha's hut in Jetavana Monastery.

2. The Buddha and Dr. Fuhrer: An Archaeological Scandal, by Charles Allen
On 2 February 1898 — that is to say, when Fuhrer was still deeply entrenched in his main dig at Sagarwa — the Government of Burma wrote to the Government of the NWP&O concerning complaints it had received from a monk named U Ma. These involved a certain Dr. A. A. Fuhrer, Archaeological Surveyor to the Government of the NWP&O. Shin U Ma had first taken the complaints to a local government official in Burma, Brian Houghton, and had then backed them up with tangible evidence in the form of letters received from Dr. Fuhrer. Houghton had duly passed U Ma's complaints and copies of his letters on to government headquarters in Rangoon, as a consequence of which they arrived on the desk of the Chief Secretary to the Government of the NWP&O, who passed them on to the Secretary of the Department of Revenue and Agriculture, Archaeology and Epigraphy. From there they made their way to the desk of the Commissioner of Lucknow.

As soon as he returned to his offices at the Lucknow Museum in early March Fuhrer was confronted with the communication from Burma and asked to explain himself. According to the file, his letters to the Burmese monk went back as far as September 1896, when he had written to U Ma about some Buddhist relics he had sent him, allegedly obtained from Sravasti. The contents of this first letter indicate that the two had met while the Burmese was on a pilgrimage to the holy sites in India and had struck up a friendship not unlike that described by Rudyard Kipling in his novel Kim (then in the process of being written in England), which begins with a wandering Tibetan lama being greatly moved by the knowledge of Buddhism shown by the Curator of the Lahore Museum (Rudyard's father J. L. Kipling).

Dr. Fuhrer and U Ma had then come to some arrangement for the one to send the other further relics. On 19 November 1896 Fuhrer wrote again to U Ma to say that:

The relics of Tathagata [Sakyamuni Buddha] sent off yesterday were found in the stupa erected by the Sakyas at Kapilavatthu over the corporeal relics (saririka-dhatus) of the Lord. These relics were found by me during an excavation of 1886, and are placed in the same relic caskets of soapstone in which they were found. The four votive tablets of Buddha surrounded the relic casket. The ancient inscription found on the spot with the relics will follow, as I wish to prepare a transcript and translation of the same for you.

This letter of 19 November 1896 was written more than a year after Fuhrer's first trip into Nepal made in March 1895 (during which he made his discovery of the Asokan inscription on the stump at Nigliva Sagar), but just before he set out on his second foray into Nepal (where he would meet up with General Khadga Shumsher Rana at Paderiya on 1 December 1896). Yet already, it seems, he had found Kapilavastu. In the year referred to in his letter — 1886 — he was still a relative newcomer to the NWP&O Archaeological Department and had yet to conduct his first excavation.

Fuhrer's next letter to U Ma was dated 6 March 1897, three months after his much trumpeted Lumbini and Kapilavastu discoveries. In it he referred to more Buddha relics in his keeping which he would hold on to until U Ma returned to India. Seven weeks later, on 23 June, there was a first reference to a 'tooth relic of Lord Buddha', and five weeks on, on 28 August, a further reference to 'a real and authentic tooth relic of the Buddha Bhagavat [Teacher, thus Sakyamuni]' that he was about to post to U Ma.

The letters now began to come thick and fast. On 21 September Dr. Fuhrer despatched 'a molar tooth of Lord Buddha Gaudama Sakyamuni ... found by me in a stupa erected at Kapilavatthu, where King Suddhodana lived. That it is genuine there can be no doubt.' The tooth was followed on 30 September by an Asokan inscription Fuhrer claimed to have found at Sravasti. Then on 13 December Fuhrer wrote to say that he was now encamped at Kapilavastu, in the Nepal Tarai, where he had uncovered 'three relic caskets with dhatus [body relics] of the Lord Buddha Sakyamuni, adding that he would send these relics to U Ma at the end of March. What is most odd here is that on 13 December 1897 Fuhrer had not yet entered the Nepal Tarai, having been given strict instructions that he was not to do so until 20 December.

This bizarre hoaxing — for no element of financial fraud seems to have been involved — could not go on. The arrival in Burma of the Buddha's molar tooth seems to have been too much for the hitherto credulous Burmese monk, who soon afterwards wrote what sounds like a very angry letter protesting at the remarkable size of the tooth in question. This letter was evidently forwarded from Lucknow to Basti and then probably carried by mail runner to Fuhrer's 'Camp Kapilavastu' at Sagarwa. It was replied to on 16 February 1898, when the Archaeological Surveyor was still encamped at Sagarwa. Writing at some length, Fuhrer went to great pains to mollify the Burmese, declaring that he could quite understand why 'the Buddhadanta [Buddha relic] that I sent you a short while ago is looked upon with suspicion by non-Buddhists, as it is quite different from any ordinary human tooth' — as indeed it was, since it was most probably a horse's tooth — 'But you will know that Bhagavat Buddha was no ordinary being, as he was 18 cubits in height [18" x 18 = 27 feet] as your sacred writings state. His teeth would therefore not have been shaped like others: In a further bid to shore up the credibility of the tooth, Fuhrer went on to say that he would send U Ma —

an ancient inscription that was found by me along with the tooth. It says, 'This sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha is the gift of Upagupta.' As you know, Upagupta was the teacher of Asoka, the great Buddhist emperor of India. In Asoka's time, about 250 BC, this identical tooth was believed to be a relic of the Buddha Sakyamuni. My own opinion is that the tooth in question is a genuine relic of Buddha.

This supposed Asokan inscription was afterwards found to be written in perfectly accurate Brahmi Prakrit, its most obvious models being the many similar relic inscriptions found at Sanchi and other Buddhist sites, with which Fuhrer was very familiar through his work on Epigraphia Indica.

3. One Buddha, 15 Buddhas, 1,000 Buddhas, by Richard Salomon
Now I'll come to the main point, context and significance of the Library of Congress scroll. What's it about? Well, I call the "Many Buddhas Sutra." I would describe it as a combined comparative biographical summary of the lives of 15 Buddhas beginning with Dipankara, who lived many billions of years ago, and ending with Sakyamuni or Siddharta or "our Buddha" as he's sometimes called. And then going on one more to Maitreya or Ajita who is the next Buddha. So those 14 Buddhas in the past and one Buddha in the future. So these are the 15 Buddhas involved. Start with Dipankara. Number 14 is Sakyamuni who actually is Sakyamuni the second, surprisingly. And then on to Maitreya in the future...

There's another related text which contains these lists of buddhas and their times and their characteristics. It's called the Bhadrakalpikasutra. Some of you might be familiar with it. And Bhadrakalpika means it talks about the bhadrakalpa, kalpa means eon. And it's a list of buddhas but not from the past but looking ahead in the future. So it actually starts with the first Buddha in the bhadrakalpa that is Kakusandha and goes through Sakyamuni, our Buddha, and Maitreya and then 996 more buddhas are still to come within this Bhadra era. ... So at this point, you might be wondering the text that I'm primarily concerned with contains 15 buddhas. I mentioned another one that enumerates 1001 buddhas and there are many other numbers. There's a famous early sutra, the [inaudible] sutra, which has seven buddhas which seems to be the original number. There's another polytext called Buddhavamsa which lists 25 buddhas. And significantly in that case, it lists 25 buddhas but it begins with Dipankara and that's particularly an important moment within the history of the buddhas plural, Dipankara has a special importance which I will explain in a few minutes. Just I'll mention one other number, the Mahavastu which is a Sanskrit biography of the Buddha, also has a list of buddhas. It has a long list, 331,140,263 buddhas from the remote inconceivable past down to the present time of Sakyamuni...

So how many buddhas are there? I finally come back to the question. Infinite number. Why infinite? Because time is infinite in the Buddhas conception both in the past and the future. There is no beginning. There is no end. And throughout history, buddhas are either present or most of the time in the process of forming at some time. And that's why the Mahavastu can say in all seriousness that there are 331 million et cetera buddhas. There're actually much more than that. There are an infinite number. But these different texts or these different presentations, usually by the Buddha himself, simply address the issue or explain the issue in a limited scope because you can't, well the Buddha can talk about, understand eternity but we can't. So it takes -- These different texts are really slices of history, slices of Buddha history, which is infinite from beginning to end. Some of them talk about the recent past. Some of them talk about a little farther in the past. Some go into the future. Some are concerned mainly with the future. But they're all just pieces of the big picture. I call them slices of history...

In the list of 15, there's Sakyamuni the first and of course it doesn't say the first. I just put together those numbers. He was number eight. I don't know. I'm not sure. And then Sakyamuni the second. But there's another point about that which I didn't mention. I talked about that list in the Mahavastu of 331,140,263 buddhas. What I didn't say is that out of the 300 million, out of the 331, 300 million were named Sakyamuni. And according to that text, there was a stretch of 30 million buddhas in a row that were all had the same name. And I have thought about and failed to understand what that, why that is and what that means. But there is -- You know, buddhas are and by impression, they're more or less the same and their images, I don't think I have one here, but you see in Gandhari and other sculptures, you see sets of buddhas like the seven buddhas or sometimes eight buddhas and they're all almost exactly the same. So there seems to be a range of possibilities that buddhas are always similar and they can be very similar and sometimes they are absolutely identical.