A notable instance of an antique votive offering is the necklace of valuable precious stones dedicated to the statue of Vesta. The Byzantine historian Zosimus attributes the tragic end of Stilicho’s widow, Serena, to her having despoiled the image of Vesta of this costly ornament, and finds a sort of poetic justice in the manner of her death, since she was strangled by a cord which encircled her neck.
It is not only in the works of the Fathers of the Christian Church that we find precious stones used as similes of religious virtue, in Buddhist writings also we have examples of this. In the “Questions of King Milinda,” composed perhaps as early as the third century of our era, occur the following passages:[354]
Just, O King, as the diamond is pure throughout; just so, O King, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, be perfectly pure in his means of livelihood. This, O King, is the first quality of the diamond he ought to have.
And again, O King, as the diamond cannot be alloyed with other substance; just so, O King, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, never mix with wicked men as friends. This, O King, is the second quality of the diamond he ought to have.
And again, O King, just as the diamond is set together with the most costly gems; just so, O King, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, associate with those of the highest excellence, with men who have entered the first or second or third stage of the Noble Path, with the jewel treasures of the Arahats, of the recluses of the threefold wisdom, or of the sixfold insight. This, O King, is the third quality of the diamond he ought to have. For it was said, O King, by the Blessed one,[355] the god over all gods, in the Sutta Nipâta:
Let the pure associate with the pure,
Ever in recollection firm;
Dwelling harmoniously wise,
Thus shall ye put an end to griefs.
The description of the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelations finds a curious parallel in the Hindu Puranas. Here we are told that the divine Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Vishnu, took up his abode in the wonderful city Devârakâ, and was visited there by the various orders of gods and geniuses.[356]
Gods, Asuras, Gandharas, Kinnaras began to pour into Dwáraká, to see Krishna and Valaráma.
Some descended from the sky, some from their cars—and alighting underneath the banyan tree, looked on Dwáraká, the matchless.
The city was square,—it measured a hundred yojonas, and over all, was decked in pearls, rubies, diamonds, and other gems.
The city was high,—it was ornamented with gems; and it was furnished with cupolas of rubies and diamonds,—with emerald pillars, and with court-yards of rubies. It contained endless temples. It had cross-roads decked with sapphires, and highways blazing with gems. It blazed like the meridian sun in summer.
As compared with the description in Revelations we cannot fail to note the lack of definiteness. Instead of the well-ordered scheme of color as represented by the twelve precious stones dedicated to the twelve tribes of Israel, the mystic Hindu city is simply a gorgeous mass of the most brilliant gems known in India.
The poetic description of the royal city Kusavati, given in the Maha Sudassana Suttanta, may perhaps have originated in some tradition regarding Ecbatana or Babylon. Seven ramparts surrounded Kusavati, the materials being respectively gold, silver, beryl, crystal, agate, coral and (for the last) “all kinds of gems.” In these ramparts were four gates—one of gold, one of silver, one of crystal and one of jade—and at each gate seven pillars were fixed, each three or four times the height of a man and composed of the seven precious substances that constituted the ramparts. Beyond the ramparts were seven rows of palm trees, the fourth row having trunks of silver and leaves and fruit of gold; then followed palms of beryl, with leaves and fruit of beryl; agate palms, whose fruit and leaves were of coral, and coral palms, with leaves and fruit of agate; lastly, the palms whose trunks were composed of “all kinds of gems,” had leaves and fruits of the same description, “and when these rows of palm trees were shaken by the wind, arose a sound sweet and pleasant, and charming and intoxicating.”[357]
In Greek literature also there is a “gem-city,”—namely, the city of the Islands of the Blessed, described by Lucian in his Vera Historia.[358] The walls of this city were of emerald, the temples of the gods were formed of beryl, and the altars therein of single amethysts of enormous size. The city itself was all of gold as a fit setting for these marvellous gems.
Hindu mythology tells of a wonderful tank formed of crystal, the work of the god Maya. Its bottom and sides were encrusted with beautiful pearls and in the centre was a raised platform blazing with the most gorgeous precious stones. Although it contained no water, the transparent crystal produced the illusion of water, and those who approached the tank were tempted to plunge into it and take a refreshing bath in what appeared to be clear, fresh water.[359]
The Kalpa Tree of Hindu religion, a symbolical offering to the gods, is described by Hindu poets as a glowing mass of precious stones. Pearls hung from its boughs and beautiful emeralds from its shoots; the tender young leaves were corals, and the ripe fruit consisted of rubies. The roots were of sapphire; the base of the trunk of diamond, the uppermost part of cat’s-eye, while the section between was of topaz. The foliage (except the young leaves) was entirely formed of zircons.[360]