“I saw the marks of feet that had gone down,
I saw no marks of feet that had returned.”
(But then he said to the monkeys)—
“We’ll drink the water through a reed,”
(And turning to the demon, he added)—
“And yet I’ll not become your prey!”
So saying, the Bodisat had a Naḷa-cane brought to him, and appealing in great solemnity to the Ten Great Perfections (generosity, morality, self-denial, wisdom, perseverance, patience, truth, resolution, kindness, and resignation) exorcised by him in this and previous births, he blew into the cane.[298] And the cane became hollow throughout, not a single knot being left in it. In this manner he had another, and then another, brought, and blew into it.[299] Then the Bodisat walked round the pond, and commanded, saying, “Let all the canes growing here be perforated throughout.” And thenceforward, since through the greatness of the goodness of the Bodisats their commands are fulfilled, all the canes which grew in that pond became perforated throughout.
There are four miracles in this Kalpa (the period which elapses between the commencement of the formation of the world and its final destruction) which endure throughout a Kalpa—the sign of the hare in the moon will last the whole Kalpa:[300] the place where the fire was extinguished in the Quail-birth will not take fire again through all the Kalpa:[301] the place where the potter lived will remain arid through all the Kalpa: the canes growing round this pond will be hollow through all the Kalpa. These four are called the Kalpa-lasting Wonders.