The next subject is the performance of the great Buddhist rite, the “Confession and Expiation,” which should be observed every new and full moon in a public place, and before the whole congregation of monks. The ceremony is fully detailed.
The rest of the volume contains a number of precepts and prohibitions; some of them are of a whimsical character.
The second volume treats on matters of dress, fitness of leather or hides for shoes to be worn by the priests. There is a treatise on such drugs as the disciples are permitted to use and to carry about them. There is also an account of how the King of Magadha entertained Shakya for three months. Various legends are told, and in the course of them the six chief cities of India are mentioned, namely, Sravasti and Saketana in Oude, Varanasi (the Benares of to-day), Vaisali (now Allahabad), Champa (Bhagulpore), and Rajagriha (Behar, Gaya).
From Magadha Shakya went to Vaisali upon invitation of the Lichchavi inhabitants of that city, who appear to have been republicans and very wealthy. The peregrinations of Shakya are continued, in which he made many converts, relating the events of their present and previous lives, as well as those of his own, and how he became a Bodhisatvan or a sage. The conclusion of the second volume leaves him, with thirty-six of his principal disciples, at the lake Mansarowar, or Manassarovara, in the northern Himalayas, near the source of the Ganges and the Indus.
The third volume continues in the same strain. At a place in Kosala, Shakya and his followers were entertained by [[173]]certain people with the view of ascertaining the habits of the Buddhist monks; they were found moderate in their enjoyments and easily satisfied. Their opponents, the Brahmans, on the contrary, showed greediness and insatiability.
Special lessons are given to the priests, as in the preceding volumes. They are permitted to eat treacle, to cook for themselves in time of famine, to eat meat under certain restrictions, and to accept gifts from the laity. These lessons are interspersed with notices on medicines and on the mode of administering them; the employment of charms and incantations is inculcated.
Next are laid down rules for the proper attire to be worn by the disciples of Shakya. They are directed to wear not more than three pieces of cloth of a red colour, to use cotton garments when bathing, to be clean in their dress and in their bedding, and never to go about naked as the Brahmin fakirs do. The subject of dress is followed up by directions as to the use of mats or sheets to lie upon.
Important injunctions are given regarding the conduct to be observed towards refractory and quarrelsome brethren. They are first to be admonished in the congregation, and if still impenitent, to be expelled from the community. The mode in which confession, repentance, and absolution are to be practised is explained and illustrated by examples.
The residences and furniture of the monks are next described, and the dissensions of religious communities considered; other miscellaneous matters are discussed, and a historical account is given of the origin of the Shakya race, and of the master’s birth and education.
The fourth volume continues the story of Shakya’s life, and mentions the circumstances which led to his becoming an ascetic. In this book the Shakyas are called inhabitants of Kosala (a country bordering on the Kailas mountains), and are said to be descendants of the Hindú king Ikshwaku. The birthplace of Shakya is declared to be Kapila-vastu, near the Himalayas, on the banks of the river Bhagirathi.