him and exclaimed: "Welcome! world-honoured, whence come you thus unexpectedly? Deign to enter my boat, that I may transport you to the other side!" Then Buddha, having gone on board, began to instruct the ferryman according to the purport of the following Gâthas

"If you should allow your boat to lie useless in the sun (on the shore),

Little the profit that your calling would bring you;

So if you can let go your hold on the shore of desire and

appetite,

Soon shall you attain the reward of your enterprise, and arrive at Nirvâna," etc.. etc.1

Having thus preached to the ferryman, suddenly there appeared in his hands an alms bowl, and his hair seemed as though it had only just been shaved, and his appearance altogether was like that of an old Bhikshu; and thus, having preached further to him, this man, too, became a Rahat.

So, by degrees approaching nearer to Uravilva, Buddha saw before him a Brahman youth, very beautiful to behold, in his left hand a golden ewer, in his right a precious staff. This was Sâkra, who had assumed this shape. And so going on his way thus prepared before him, he arrived at length at the village of the soldierchief, and, approaching his house, he entered it and sat down. Now this illustrious Brahman had two daughters, one called Nandi, the other Bala, who went forth on beholding the venerable one, and escorted him with much reverence within the house. On their account Buddha began to explain the four sacred truths, and so they also became disciples. And forthwith they took from his hand the alms-dish which he carried, and filling it with every sort of tasty food, they brought it again to him, and desired him to eat.

Then the world-honoured one, having received the food, at once left the village, and proceeded onwards.

At this time, the great Brahman called Deva, having heard from some other quarter that Buddha, the great Shaman, had returned to the neighbourhood of Uravilva, forthwith began to reflect thus

1 These Gâthas are obscure.

U

with himself "I remember, in former days, having asked this great Shaman to accept at my hands an offering of food; and now I am so poor that I can present him with nothing worth his acceptance. What expedient shall I adopt ?" Reflecting thus, he returned to his house, and laid the case before his wife, asking her advice. Then the woman advised him to do as follows: "I remember," she said, "not long ago that the rich Brahman, Senayana, came to my house, and used blandishments, and made promises, to tempt me to permit him soft dalliance with me; but I would not allow it, or permit him so much as to touch me; but now, my master, seeing that things are as they are, and that you have made a vow to provide entertainment for this great Shaman, you had better let me go to the house of Senayana, and, by my art and per. suasiveness, I will get from him what money I please, yielding to his dalliance as I think fit." On this, the Brahman Deva replied— 'Far be such a thing from me; it would be entirely contrary to the purity of my caste to permit you so to behave yourself. Such a thing can never be !"

Then Deva proceeded to the house of Senayana, and entering within, he addressed the latter as follows-" My dear friend Senayana! I beseech you lend me for a short time five hunded pieces of money. I will do my best to return it to you very soon; and if not, my two wives will undertake to repay you by working for you as slaves in your house!" On this, Senayana having lent him the money, Deva returned to his house, and bade his wife prepare a sumptuous repast for the morrow, whilst he himself went out into the neighbouring wood, to invite the great Shaman to partake of his hospitality. This having been done and his invitation accepted, Deva returned to his house and made all ready. On the morrow, going forth, he acquainted Buddha that the offering was prepared, and besought him at once to come to his house to partake of it. Escorting him thus, Deva and his guest returned home, and there his wife, having dressed the food made of the most delicious ingredients, herself waited on Buddha and placed the offering before him. After accepting it the world-honoured one arranged his seat, and proceeded to expound the system of his teaching for the sake of the Brahman and his wife. Deva, meanwhile, placed his seat close to the feet of Buddha and attentively listened. After this,

the world-honoured one arose and left the house, escorted as before by the Brahman Deva.

Now it came to pass that, after they had gone, the Brahman's wife took off a robe she had worn during the feast, and which she had borrowed from a neighbour, and putting it on one side by itself, she began to sweep and clean the house and attend to other domestic duties.

Just then a thief spying about saw the robe which the woman had borrowed lying by itself, and, seeing it was a costly one, he slyly entered the room and went off with it. Then the wife of Deva, discovering her loss, was greatly distressed, and in sad perplexity. Meantime, the Brahman returned home, and seeing his wife looking so disconsolate, he inquired the reason; on which she told him all about her loss, and how she had borrowed the robe that had been stolen. On this, Deva was greatly cast down, and addressed the woman thus-"You know that I had to borrow that money to buy the food necessary for the offering that the great Shaman has accepted, and now you have borrowed a robe, and it is lost! how shall I ever be able to repay all this, seeing we are so poor ?"

On this, Deva went out, and going into the wood, where dead bodies are placed, he got up into a high tree, determined to kill. himself by throwing himself down.

Just then, he saw a man approaching the spot, and he detected at once that he was the very thief who had stolen the borrowed robe, which in fact he was carrying in his hand. Stopping underneath the tree where Deva was, the thief dug a hole and put the garment there, and then, having covered it, he departed. On this Deva came down, and removing the earth, he took the garment up and returned with it to his house. Meantime, his wife, searching and sweeping through every corner of the abode, found unexpectedly the mouth of a sort of hole in the ground, of which she knew nothing before; and clearing away the opening and looking down into it she saw a red copper vessel full of gold pieces, and to her great surprise, on examining further, she saw one and two and three more, all full of gold, and underneath these, others. Seeing this, she set up a great shout, and beckoning to her husband, she cried out, "My lord! my lord! come quickly! hasten with all your speed!" Deva, hearing his wife's shouts, began to think-" What

is the matter with the woman now? why is she bellowing out like a madwoman, 'I've found it! I've found it ?' Found what? for it is I who have found the garment and not she!" So, entering into his house, he asked his wife what she meant by saying, 'she had found it'; "why here, you see, it is I who have found it, and not you." On this, the woman continued to exclaim, "Oh! I have found it! I have found it ;" and at last she led her husband to the place, and pointed to the crocks full of gold. On this, he bade his wife take back the robe to the person from whom she had borrowed it, whilst he, taking some of the money out of one of the pots, went straight to Senayana to repay him the five hundred pieces he had borrowed, On arriving at Senayana's house and offering him the money, the latter addressed Deva thus-"I agreed with you that you should not borrow this money of any one for the purpose of repaying me; but that you should wait till you could by your own effort save it from your labour, and then give it back." On this, Deva assured him that he had borrowed it of no one; and, being further questioned, he said the earth had given it to him, and at last he told Senayana all about it, and took him back to his house, and showed him all the crocks full of gold. At first, Senayana said he was mad, for the stuff was not gold, but only charred wood! But Deva, at last, taking up some of the pieces, showed them to Senayana and said, "See what good fortune is mine, and it is all in consequence of my offering made to that great Shaman!"

[On this, Deva invites Buddha a second time to his house; and, finally, both he and his wives become faithful disciples.] [This story is intended to show the folly of covetousness, and the reward of liberality in religious matters.]

The History of the Three Kâsyapas.

§ 2. At this time, the world-honoured one thought thus with himself" What man of distinguished character is there whom I may convert to my doctrine, so that by his conversion he may bring over with him a body of disciples ?" Now it so happened that there dwelt near the village of Uravilva, three celebrated Rishis of the Brahman caste (Brahmacharis), who wore their hair as a

spiral head-dress; their names were these-the first, Uravilva Kasyapa, the chief of the three, who had five hundred spiralhaired followers. The second, Nâdi Kâsyapa, who had three hundred followers. The third, Gâya Kâsyapa, who had two hundred followers. Altogether there were one thousand of these disciples, all of whom were learners at the feet of these three Rishis.

Then the world-honoured thus reflected: "the fame of this Uravilva Kâsyapa is spread throughout all Magadha, and all the people hold him to be a great Rahat. I must convert this man first, so that all his followers and those who believe in his sanctity may come over to me, and so there may be much happiness conferred on the world." Then reflecting that these Rishis made much ado about self-mortification and penance, the world-honoured one transformed himself into a spiral-haired Yogi, and with 500 followers he came flying through the air to the place where Uravilva Kâsyapa and his followers were located. Alighting thus in their midst, there was no small stir amongst the followers of the Rishi, as they hurried here and there to bring water and mats and other necessaries for the new arrivals, and meantime they addressed them in hurried language saying, "Whence come ye, so suddenly, oh sirs? Why did ye not tell us beforehand of your coming?" [and so on]. Then all at once, Buddha assumed his own appearance, and stood there alone in their midst, his head shaven, with his Kashaya-coloured robe over his shoulders.

Then Uravilva Kâsyapa began to think thus-"Doubtless this great Shaman is possessed of considerable spiritual power and is of great personal dignity; but he is not a Rahat like myself."

Then he addressed Buddha as follows:-"Your excellency has doubtless come from far; if it seem good to you to stay here awhile, we will welcome you with our best; dwell in whatever place you wish, there is a pansal for you to sleep in, and a hall for worship." To whom Buddha replied, "Thanks, oh Kâsyapa! if it be not disagreeable to you, I will enter the place where you worship the Fire Spirit, whose votaries you are!" Now it had so happened that one of Kasyapa's disciples, in years gone by, had

1 This style of head dress is observable throughout the Sanchi and Amravati sculptures.