Eitel says that he attained to nirvana a few moments before
Sakyamuni; but see the full account of him and his conversion in
"Buddhist Suttas," p. 103-110.
[7] Thus treating the dead Buddha as if he had been a Chakravartti
king. Hardy's M. B., p. 347, says: - "For the place of cremation, the
princes (of Kusinara) offered their own coronation-hall, which was
decorated with the utmost magnificence, and the body was deposited in
a golden sarcophagus." See the account of a cremation which Fa-hien
witnessed in Ceylon, chap. xxxix.
[8] The name Vajrapani is explained as "he who holds in his hand the
diamond club (or pestle=sceptre)," which is one of the many names of
Indra or Sakra. He therefore, that great protector of Buddhism, would
seem to be intended here; but the difficulty with me is that neither
in Hardy nor Rockhill, nor any other writer, have I met with any
manifestation of himself made by Indra on this occasion. The princes
of Kusanagara were called mallas, "strong or mighty heroes;" so also
were those of Pava and Vaisali; and a question arises whether the
language may not refer to some story which Fa-hien had heard, -
something which they did on this great occasion. Vajrapani is also
explained as meaning "the diamond mighty hero;" but the epithet of
"diamond" is not so applicable to them as to Indra.
