- H.C.] Marignolli,
on the other hand, says that he measured it and found it to be 2-1/2
palms, or about half a Prague ell, which corresponds in a general way with
Hardy's tradition. Valentyn calls it 1-1/2 ell in length; Knox says 2
feet; Herman Bree (De Bry ?), quoted by Fabricius, 8-1/2 spans; a Chinese
account, quoted below, 8 feet. These discrepancies remind one of the
ancient Buddhist belief regarding such footmarks, that they seemed greater
or smaller in proportion to the faith of the visitor! (See Koeppen, I.
529, and Beal's Fah-hian, p. 27.)
The chains, of which Ibn Batuta gives a particular account, exist still.
The highest was called (he says) the chain of the Shahadat, or Credo,
because the fearful abyss below made pilgrims recite the profession of
belief. Ashraf, a Persian poet of the 15th century, author of an
Alexandriad, ascribes these chains to the great conqueror, who devised
them, with the assistance of the philosopher Bolinas,[1] in order to
scale the mountain, and reach the sepulchre of Adam. (See Ouseley, I.
54 seqq.) There are inscriptions on some of the chains, but I find no
account of them. (Skeen's Adam's Peak, Ceylon, 1870, p. 226.)
NOTE 2. - The general correctness with which Marco has here related the
legendary history of Sakya's devotion to an ascetic life, as the
preliminary to his becoming the Buddha or Divinely Perfect Being, shows
what a strong impression the tale had made upon him. He is, of course,
wrong in placing the scene of the history in Ceylon, though probably it
was so told him, as the vulgar in all Buddhist countries do seem to
localise the legends in regions known to them.
Sakya Sinha, Sakya Muni, or Gautama, originally called Siddharta, was the
son of Suddhodhana, the Kshatriya prince of Kapilavastu, a small state
north of the Ganges, near the borders of Oudh. His high destiny had been
foretold, as well as the objects that would move him to adopt the ascetic
life. To keep these from his knowledge, his father caused three palaces to
be built, within the limits of which the prince should pass the three
seasons of the year, whilst guards were posted to bar the approach of the
dreaded objects. But these precautions were defeated by inevitable destiny
and the power of the Devas.
When the prince was sixteen he was married to the beautiful Yasodhara,
daughter of the King of Koli, and 40,000 other princesses also became the
inmates of his harem.
"Whilst living in the midst of the full enjoyment of every kind of
pleasure, Siddharta one day commanded his principal charioteer to prepare
his festive chariot; and in obedience to his commands four lily-white
horses were yoked. The prince leaped into the chariot, and proceeded
towards a garden at a little distance from the palace, attended by a great
retinue.
