Fā-hien (chap. xxiii) alludes to the building of the eight Stūpas, and adds that king Aṡoka destroyed them, and in their place built 84,000 others—one for the conservation of each atom of the elements of the Buddha’s body; the belief being that the bodies of all human beings consist of that number of elementary particles (see [p. 423]). The eight-fold division is described in ‘Buddhist Suttas,’ pp. 133-136 (S. B. E. vol. xi).
It appears probable that the earliest relics of his burnt body held in honour were his teeth; and of these again the most celebrated seem to have been his four eye-teeth. One of the four is said to have been appropriated by the gods and another by the Nāgas, while the third was taken to Gāndhāra in the north-west, and the fourth to Kaliṅga in the south-east.
The first two eye-teeth have only mythical histories, and little is recorded of the third, but the fourth has gone through a series of terrestrial adventures, which have been much written about and would fill several volumes. One of the immediate followers of Gautama is said to have gained possession of it on the occasion of the eight-fold distribution of the great sage’s relics ([p. 499]), and to have conveyed it to a place afterwards called Danta-pura, ‘tooth-city[264],’ the capital of Kaliṅga (Orissa), where it is believed to have remained undisturbed for about 800 years. After that period it was seized, at the instigation of some Brāhmans, by a powerful Hindū king who reigned at Pāṭaliputra. Its vicissitudes and adventures for centuries afterwards were very varied. It was conveyed surreptitiously to Ceylon about the year 311 of our era by a princess of Kaliṅga, who concealed it in her hair. There it remained till 1315, when it was carried back to Southern India. After a time it was taken back to Kandy in Ceylon. Next it was seized by the Portuguese and carried off to Goa. Thence it was transported to Pegu, and finally the precious tooth-relic (dāṭhā-dhātu), or at least some imitation of it, was restored to the good people of Kandy, where it is still preserved by them as a veritable Palladium, with every possible precaution against further outrage, although under the protecting ægis of our government its security ought not any longer to be matter of anxiety.
Every native of Ceylon (Laṅkā), whether Buddhist or Hindū, seems to feel that the welfare of his country depends on its careful conservation. At any rate the Sinhalese have placed their tooth-temple—called Dalada Māligāwa—in the loveliest part of their beautiful island (see [p. 454]), amid richly wooded hills, from which may be obtained some of the most enchanting views in the world. The eye-tooth is in appearance like a piece of discoloured ivory about two inches[265] long, and one inch across in the thickest part. Indeed, all the supposed relics of the Buddha’s body, and the dress and implements he used, are of such a size as to make his worshippers believe that his stature far exceeded that of ordinary men.
The tooth is enclosed in nine bell-shaped, jewelled golden cases, one within the other, each locked by a key, and each key consigned to the custody of a separate official. The interior cases increase in costliness till the most highly jewelled of all is reached, and within this on a golden lotus lies the relic. When I visited the tooth-temple in 1877, the cases were kept within iron bars in a dimly-lighted shrine—redolent with flower-offerings which exhaled an overpowering perfume—and in the very centre of the buildings of the temple. When the Prince of Wales visited Kandy in 1876, all the officials assembled to unlock the cases and exhibit the treasured relic.
A detailed account of the tooth is given in a book called Dalada-vaṉṡa or Dāṭhā-vaṉṡa, said to have been written originally in ancient Sinhalese (Elu) about the year 310 of our era, and translated into the sacred Pāli about the year 1200. This book has been rendered into English by the late Sir Coomāra Swāmy. The tooth is also described in many other Pāli and Sinhalese books, including the Mahā-vaṉṡa.
And here it may be remarked that one feature of the Buddha’s relics was that they gave forth on special occasions celestial light, and had the power of working miracles. Sometimes a reverent circumambulation of the shrine which contained the relics was believed to be sufficiently efficacious in stimulating their miraculous powers. Sometimes they were taken out and exhibited. The following extract from Fā-hien reminds one of what takes place at Kandy in the present day:—
In the city of He-lo (the present Hiḍḍa, west of Peshawar) there is the flat-bone of Buddha’s skull, deposited in a Vihāra adorned all over with gold-leaf and the seven sacred substances. The king of the country revering the bone, and anxious lest it should be stolen, has selected eight individuals representing great families, and committed to each a seal with which he should seal the shrine and guard the relic. At early dawn these men come, and after each has inspected his seal, they open the door. This done they wash their hands with scented water, and bring out the bone, which they place on a lofty platform, where it is supported on a pedestal of the seven precious substances. The king every morning makes his offerings and performs his worship. The chiefs of the Vaiṡyas also make their offerings. Then they replace the bone in the Vihāra, under a Stūpa of the seven precious substances ([p. 528] of this volume) more than five cubits high (Legge, pp. 36-38, abridged).
Fā-hien records a similar exhibition of the Buddha’s alms-bowl in the country near Peshawar:—
When it is mid-day they bring out the bowl and make offerings to it. It may contain about two pecks, and it has a bright lustre. When poor people throw into it a few flowers, it becomes full. If the rich throw in myriads of flowers, they are not able to fill it.