Queen Thiwalee was tired of having been so long deprived of her husband’s company. She summoned seven hundred of the handsomest damsels of the palace to go with her to the king, and by the efforts of their united charms entrap him in the net of passion and prevail upon him to come back to their society. When they ascended the stair-case, they met with Dzanecka in his new attire. None recognised him; but all paid him due reverence as some holy personage that had come to give instructions to the king. Having reached the apartment and seen the royal dress set aside, and the beautiful and long black hairs laid on one of the sofas, the queen and her attendants soon understood the sad and heart-rending intimation which these objects were designed to convey. She ran in all haste with all her retinue down the stairs and overtook the new Rahan at the moment he was crossing the outer gate of the palace. Every means that could be devised to make impression on the king’s heart were resorted to by the queen and the damsels, in order to prevail upon him to forego his resolution. Tears, cries, wailings, striking of the breast, display of the most graceful and seducing forms, supplications, entreaties, were all used in vain; the new Rahan, unmoved and firm, continued his course, protesting that passions and concupiscence were dead in him, and that what could be said or done to engage him to change his resolution was in vain. During his progress towards the solitude of Himawonta, he was comforted and encouraged by the advice and instruction of two Rathees, who from their solitude flew through the air to witness the beautiful struggle between passions and virtue, and help him not to flinch before the repeated obstacles the queen put in his way, to retard, impede, and prevent the execution of his holy design. The names of these two instructors were Narada and Migalzein; they were clothed in the skins of panthers. They instructed him in the duties of his new calling, and exhorted him to root out of his heart with perseverance all passions, and in particular concupiscence and pride.
Comforted with such timely instructions, the new Rahan felt himself more than ever fixed in his resolution. On his way to the solitude, Dzanecka arrived one evening at the gates of a town called Daunu. He passed the night under a tree, at a distance from the queen and the crowd that followed her. On the morning he entered the town, and went, as usual, along the streets to beg his food. He happened to stop for a while at the shop of a man that was fabricating arrows. Dzanecka, seeing the workman shutting one eye and looking with the other to see if the shaft of the arrow was straight, asked him the reason of his doing so, as he would see better with both eyes than with one. The workman told him that it was not always good that each object in this world should have a match. “Should I,” said he, “look on this shaft with both eyes, my sight, distracted by several objects, could not perceive the defects of the wood, &c., but by looking on it with only one eye the least irregularity is easily detected. When we have a work to perform, if there be two opposite wills in us, it cannot be regularly made. You have put on the habit of Rahan; you have apparently renounced the world; how is it that you are followed by such a large retinue of women and other attendants? It is impossible to attend well to the duties of your profession, and at the same time keep such a company.” This cutting remark made a deep impression on Dzanecka. He had gone over a little distance, when he met a number of little girls playing together. One of them had a silver bangle on each hand, with one of gold on the right hand. When she agitated the right hand, the two bangles hitting each other produced a sound. Dzanecka, willing to try the wit of the little creature, asked her the reason why the movement of one hand produced a sound, whilst that of the other did not. She replied, “My left hand, that has but one bangle, is the image of the Rahans who ought to be alone. In this world, when an object has its match, some collision and noise inevitably result. How is it that you, who have put on the habit of Rahan, allow yourself to be followed by that woman who is still full of freshness and beauty? Is she your wife or sister? Should she be only your sister, it is not good that she should be with you. It is dangerous for Rahans to keep the company of women.”
This sharp lecture, from the mouth of a little girl, produced a deep impression on our Rahan. He left the city. A large forest was in the vicinity: he resolved to part company with the queen at once. At the entrance he stopped awhile, and paused for a moment. There, on a sudden, stretching his arm, he broke the small branch of a tree, and showing it to Thiwalee he said, “Princess, you see this small branch; it can never be reunited to the stem it has been taken from. In like manner, it is impossible that I should ever go back with you.” On hearing the fatal words the queen fainted. All her attendants crowded round her, to afford her some relief. Dzanecka himself, in the tumult and confusion that was going on, stole away with rapidity and disappeared in the forest. The queen was then carried back to Daunu by her attendants, whence they all returned to Mitila. Alone in the solitude, Phralaong enjoyed the sweets of perfect contemplation during a period of three thousand years. Thiwalee, on her part, resolved to renounce the world and follow the example of her husband. She became a Rahaness, in one of the royal gardens, during the same period of years, and subsequently migrated to one of the seats of Brahmas, called Brahma-parithitsa.
At the conclusion of the narrative Buddha added: “Mani-megala, the daughter of Nats, who saved me in the midst of the sea, is now my beloved fair disciple of the left, Oopalawon. The little girl who gave me such a wholesome instruction, at the gate of the town of Daunu, is now Kema, my fair disciple of the right. The Rathee Narada has since become my great disciple Thariputra, whose wisdom is second only to my own. The other Rathee Miga-dzein is now my disciple Maukalan, whose power for displaying wonders yields only to mine. The arrow-maker has since become Ananda, my faithful and dutiful attendant. Queen Thiwalee has become the Princess Yathaudara. As to Prince Dzanecka, he is now the Phra who is before you and addresses you, who is perfectly acquainted with all the laws and principles, and who is the teacher of men, Nats, and Brahmas.”
REMARKS
ON
THE SITES AND NAMES OF THE PRINCIPAL PLACES MENTIONED IN THE LEGEND.
The identification of the places mentioned in the course of the Life of Gaudama is certainly a great desideratum. This difficult and laborious task has been boldly undertaken by several government servants of both services. Great and important successes have attended their efforts. One of the most successful among them has been Major-General Cunningham, the archæological surveyor to the government of India. The sphere of his laborious and scientific researches has extended over north and south Behar, the cradle of Buddhism, and some parts of the Punjaub and Peshawar. Under his direction excavations have been made, inscriptions found and deciphered, the nature and dimensions of old ruined monuments correctly ascertained. In his valuable reports may be found important elements for reconstructing the history and geography of ancient India. He has been greatly assisted by the history of the voyages of the Chinese pilgrim, Hwen Thsang, who spent sixteen years in travelling throughout India, and visiting all the places rendered famous by the actions connected with the life of Buddha, and the spread of his doctrines and institutions. The voyage began in 629 and ended in 645 of the Christian era. The itinerary begins with the starting of the traveller from a city on the banks of the Hoang-ho. He shaped his course through the centre of Tartary, entered by the northern extremity of the plateau of Panin into what is called now Independent Tartary, visited Samarcand, where there were no Buddhists, but only fire worshippers. Thence he passed over to Balk, where he found religion in a flourishing condition. He ascended the mighty Hindu Kush mountains, penetrated into Cabul and Peshawar, crossed the Indus at Attock, and turning abruptly to the north, visited Oudiana, where he found dzedis and monasteries on the grandest and most magnificent scale, and came back to Attock, following the western bank of the Indus. He then proceeded through the Punjaub to Mathura, and minutely examined all the Buddhistic monuments to be found in the territories situated between the Ganges, the Gunduck, and Nepaul. He went to Benares, Pataliputra, and all the places in Magatha, or south Behar, where his religious curiosity could be satisfied. Thence he shaped his course in an eastern direction, and visited the whole of Bengal. He passed to Orissa, visited many places in Central India and a portion of the Upper Deccan. He went to Molwa and Guzerat, returned to Magatha, and began his homeward voyage. He recrossed the Indus at Attock, followed up the valley of the Cabul river, and with unheard-of difficulties and dangers passed over the Hindu Kush range. His route across Chinese Tartary led him back through Kashgar, Yarkand, and Khotan, to his native place.
It is a matter of surprise to see how acute in his observations, correct in his descriptions, and exact in his measurements, our pilgrim has been. With his book in hand, the above-named eminent archæologist was enabled, in many instances, to identify at once mere mounds of ruins, and satisfy himself that they were the remnants of the monuments described by our pilgrim. When he entertained any doubts in his mind, he had recourse to excavations, which, in most instances, demonstrated the perfect accuracy of Hwen Thsang.
Nearly two hundred years previous to the voyage of Hwen Thsang, another Chinese pilgrim named Fa-hian had undertaken a similar journey. Impelled by a purely religious zeal, he came to India for the sole purpose of visiting the places rendered famous and venerable by the birth, life, doings, and death of Foe, the same personage who is known in these parts under the name Buddha Gaudama. His object was also to make a complete collection of all the religious books acknowledged as genuine in India, and carry them with him to China. The errand of Hwen Thsang had a similar object.