He
was king of Kosala, the son and successor of Prasenajit, and the
destroyer of Kapilavastu, the city of the Sakya family. His hostility
to the Sakyas is sufficiently established, and it may be considered as
certain that the name Shay-e, which, according to Julien's "Methode,"
p. 89, may be read Chia-e, is the same as Kia-e ({.} {.}), one of the
phonetisations of Kapilavastu, as given by Eitel.
[24] This would be the interview in the "Life of the Buddha" in
Trubner's Oriental Series, p. 116, when Virudhaha on his march found
Buddha under an old sakotato tree. It afforded him no shade; but he
told the king that the thought of the danger of "his relatives and
kindred made it shady." The king was moved to sympathy for the time,
and went back to Sravasti; but the destruction of Kapilavastu was only
postponed for a short space, and Buddha himself acknowledged it to be
inevitable in the connexion of cause and effect.
CHAPTER XXI
THE THREE PREDECESSORS OF SAKYAMUNI IN THE BUDDHASHIP.
Fifty le to the west of the city bring (the traveller) to a town named
Too-wei,[1] the birthplace of Kasyapa Buddha.[1] At the place where he
and his father met,[2] and at that where he attained to pari-nirvana,
topes were erected. Over the entire relic of the whole body of him,
the Kasyapa Tathagata,[3] a great tope was also erected.
Going on south-east from the city of Sravasti for twelve yojanas, (the
travellers) came to a town named Na-pei-kea,[4] the birthplace of
Krakuchanda Buddha. At the place where he and his father met, and at
that where he attained to pari-nirvana, topes were erected. Going
north from here less than a yojana, they came to a town which had been
the birthplace of Kanakamuni Buddha. At the place where he and his
father met, and where he attained to pari-nirvana, topes were erected.
NOTES
[1] Identified, as Beal says, by Cunningham with Tadwa, a village nine
miles to the west of Sahara-mahat. The birthplace of Kasyapa Buddha is
generally thought to have been Benares. According to a calculation of
Remusat, from his birth to A.D. 1832 there were 1,992,859 years!
[2] It seems to be necessary to have a meeting between every Buddha
and his father. One at least is ascribed to Sakyamuni and his father
(real or supposed) Suddhodana.
[3] This is the highest epithet given to every supreme Buddha; in
Chinese {.} {.}, meaning, as Eitel, p. 147 says, "/Sic profectus
sum/." It is equivalent to "Rightful Buddha, the true successor in the
Supreme Buddha Line." Hardy concludes his account of the Kasyapa
Buddha (M. B., p. 97) with the following sentence: - "After his body
was burnt, the bones still remained in their usual position,
presenting the appearance of a perfect skeleton; and the whole of the
inhabitants of Jambudvipa, assembling together, erected a dagoba over
his relics one yojana in height!"
[4] Na-pei-kea or Nabhiga is not mentioned elsewhere. Eitel says this
Buddha was born at the city of Gan-ho ({.} {.} {.}) and Hardy gives
his birthplace as Mekhala. It may be possible, by means of Sanskrit,
to reconcile these statements.
CHAPTER XXII
KAPILAVASTU. ITS DESOLATION. LEGENDS OF BUDDHA'S BIRTH,
AND OTHER INCIDENTS IN CONNEXION WITH IT.
Less than a yojana to the east from this brought them to the city of
Kapilavastu;[1] but in it there was neither king nor people. All was
mound and desolation. Of inhabitants there were only some monks and a
score or two of families of the common people. At the spot where stood
the old palace of king Suddhodana[2] there have been made images of
the prince (his eldest son) and his mother;[3] and at the places where
that son appeared mounted on a white elephant when he entered his
mother's womb,[4] and where he turned his carriage round on seeing the
sick man after he had gone out of the city by the eastern gate,[5]
topes have been erected. The places (were also pointed out)[6] where
(the rishi) A-e[7] inspected the marks (of Buddhaship on the body) of
the heir-apparent (when an infant); where, when he was in company with
Nanda and others, on the elephant being struck down and drawn to one
side, he tossed it away;[8] where he shot an arrow to the south-east,
and it went a distance of thirty le, then entering the ground and
making a spring to come forth, which men subsequently fashioned into a
well from which travellers might drink;[9] where, after he had
attained to Wisdom, Buddha returned and saw the king, his father;[10]
where five hundred Sakyas quitted their families and did reverence to
Upali[11] while the earth shook and moved in six different ways; where
Buddha preached his Law to the devas, and the four deva kings and
others kept the four doors (of the hall), so that (even) the king, his
father, could not enter;[12] where Buddha sat under a nyagrodha tree,
which is still standing,[13] with his face to the east, and (his aunt)
Maja-prajapati presented him with a Sanghali;[14] and (where) king
Vaidurya slew the seed of Sakya, and they all in dying became
Srotapannas.[15] A tope was erected at this last place, which is still
existing.
Several le north-east from the city was the king's field, where the
heir-apparent sat under a tree, and looked at the ploughers.[16]
Fifty le east from the city was a garden, named Lumbini,[17] where the
queen entered the pond and bathed. Having come forth from the pond on
the northern bank, after (walking) twenty paces, she lifted up her
hand, laid hold of a branch of a tree, and, with her face to the east,
gave birth to the heir-apparent.[18] When he fell to the ground, he
(immediately) walked seven paces.
