Page:The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 4-1875.djvu/107

 94 TEE INDIAN ANTIQUABY. [ICasce, 1875. lest, his heart should become indisposed to re- ligion, Buddha then recites some verses to the same effect. On this, C h a m a h removes from his neck a beautiful string of pearls and precious stones, and offers them to Buddha. Buddha, by his spiritual power, causes them to ascend into the air, and form a canopy over his head. And now, from each precious stone, there appears as it were a man, to the number of 500, each wear- ing a similar necklace On this, h a m a h asks whence these persons came — to which Buddha replies, They come from nowhere ; they are un- real and apparitions! only, as a figure in a glass, • it- the reflection in a lake : and such is the nature of all phenomena, they are unreal, projected on the surface of the one reality. Supreme Wisdom (/>'<"//")" Such is the belief of the Son of Buddha, i.e. Bodhisatwa. On hearing this, Cham ah, the four kinds of disciples, and all the N ai g a s, rejoice and accept it* Fo-shwo-ckuvn-yeQii-kitv] (Buddha delivers the Sutra which Telates to the revolution of existence). This Sutra was delivered in the Kalaudavenuvananear Rajagriha, in the pre si nee of 1250 disciples and innumerable Bodhisat- was. Bimbasara Raja having approached the place where Buddha was seated, saluted him and stood on one side. On this Buddha ad- dressed him thus, " Maharaja, suppose a man in a dream beheld a lovely maiden, bedecked with jewels ; and suppose he dreamt of joys and pleasures partaken with her, would there be any solid truth in such fancied enjoyments ?" a dream." " And ifa man were, nevertheless, to hold the fancy that there way such a real maiden as he had seen in his sleep (or that the maiden were a real one), would tins be a mark of wisdom?" "No,'* answered the king, "for tlnu dream-thought had no substance and was utterly ran." " Such," continued the Buddha, " is the nature of the teaching of the heretical OS of religion. They use words to describe tilings which exist not. They receive certain impressions from without, and then they lay hold of these vain impressions and call them realities. They are thus bound by their own fictions, and, being bound, they become subject to all the evil consequences of their own inven- tions, viz. — covetous desire, anger, doubt (raga t, trishna), and perpetual cycles of birth and death. By giving up such hnaginary names and laying hold of one reality, a man escapes these consequences and is set free." (j) Ta-fan<j'tan^-su"ou-to-lo-wang-liii ./. This is another translation of the previous work ; the title is a singular one, and may be translated thus — The Mtthd-vaij'it!t/a-, % <i'iri/-rilj %-Sitra. (k) Slian-Tiing-fa-siang-hing (The Sutra whieh relates to the thoughts present to those who practise Dhyana). Delivered at Sravasti, in the Jetavana j Buddha spoke thus to the Bhik- shus : " If a man, in the snapping of a finger, can realize in his mind the thought of death, andrememberperfectly that all M*hich exists must die, this is no small progress to have made — this is not the hesitation of the foolish, or the charity of the Arab (sth . }. How much more if he Can grasp in a moment tlie thought of the sorrow, the impermanency, the vanity, the folly, etc., of earthly things — how much mom has such a man advanced in the power of Dhyana." hiurf (The Sutra that describes the great merit attaching to the tin w&na, the five moral rales, a loving heart, and rejecting the evil). Delivered at Sr&vasti, in the Jeta- vana, for the sake of A n i r u d d h a ; Boddha speaks of a rich Brahman, called V i r a m a, and! explains that, though he gave away all his wealth in charity, his merit would not be nearly bo great as one who professed belief in Buddha, Dharma, and S a n g h a, and undertook to observe the five roles of a disciple. (»H ) Fo-sJaco-hi-ycou-kan-liang-k ung iih-king (Buddha delivers a discourse concerning the supremo source of merit). This sermon is directed to show the infinitely superior character oi" merit resulting from a profession of I in the three gems to all others. (n) Li-hu^nrui-^H^ii.h^hu-viau-b'.fo-ji-ki'ug (Questions asked by a Bodhisatwa, called I as to the right way of paying worship fa Buddha). This Butrn was delivered at Sravasti, in the Jetavana. The interlocutor is the Bo- dMsatwa named in the title. He asks Bud- dha to explain the right method of worship. On this Buddha tells him that he should, with all his heart, pay adoration to all the BuddhaB of the ten quarters, and afterwards prostrate li- on his knees, hands, and head to Buddha him- self, beseeching him to bring about the salva- tion of all men, and cause an end to be put to
 * No," answered the Kaja, " for it would be only