Those four great
topes are those at the places where Buddha was born; where he attained
to Wisdom; where he (began to) move the wheel of his Law; and where he
attained to pari-nirvana.
NOTES
[1] Gaya, a city of Magadha, was north-west of the present Gayah (lat.
24d 47s N., lon. 85d 1s E). It was here that Sakyamuni lived for seven
years, after quitting his family, until he attained to Buddhaship. The
place is still frequented by pilgrims. E. H., p. 41.
[2] This is told so as to make us think that he was in danger of being
drowned; but this does not appear in the only other account of the
incident I have met with, - in "The Life of the Buddha," p. 31. And he
was not yet Buddha, though he is here called so; unless indeed the
narrative is confused, and the incidents do not follow in the order of
time.
[3] An incident similar to this is told, with many additions, in
Hardy's M. B., pp. 166-168; "The Life of the Buddha," p. 30; and the
"Buddhist Birth Stories," pp. 91, 92; but the name of the ministering
girl or girls is different. I take Gramika from a note in Beal's
revised version; it seems to me a happy solution of the difficulty
caused by the {.} {.} of Fa-hien.
[4] Called "the tree of leaves," and "the tree of reflection;" a palm
tree, the /borassus flabellifera/, described as a tree which never
loses its leaves. It is often confounded with the pippala. E. H., p.
92.
[5] The kusa grass, mentioned in a previous note.
[6] See the account of this contest with Mara in M. B., pp. 171-179,
and "Buddhist Birth Stories," pp. 96-101.
[7] See chap. xiii, note 7.
[8] Called also Maha, or the Great Muchilinda. Eitel says: "A naga
king, the tutelary deity of a lake near which Sakyamuni once sat for
seven days absorbed in meditation, whilst the king guarded him." The
account (p. 35) in "The Life of the Buddha" is: - "Buddha went to where
lived the naga king Muchilinda, and he, wishing to preserve him from
the sun and rain, wrapped his body seven times round him, and spread
out his hood over his head; and there he remained seven days in
thought." So also the Nidana Katha, in "Buddhist Birth Stories," p.
109.
[9] This was Brahma himself, though "king" is omitted. What he
requested of the Buddha was that he would begin the preaching of his
Law. Nidana Katha, p. 111.
[10] See chap. xii, note 10.
[11] The other accounts mention only two; but in M. B., p. 182, and
the Nidana Katha, p. 110, these two have 500 well-laden waggons with
them.
