Reading section 6

[Footnote 54: For a somewhat similar reason the veneration of relics is prevalent among Moslims. Islam indeed provides an object of worship but its ceremonies are so austere and monotonous that any devotional practices which are not forbidden as idolatrous are welcome to the devout.]

[Footnote 55: Dig. Nik. XVI. v. 27.]

[Footnote 56: Plutarch mentions a story that the relics of King Menander were similarly divided into eight portions but the story may be merely a replica of the obsequies of the Buddha.]

[Footnote 57: IV. 3, 24. The first text is from Mahâparinibbâna Sutta, V. 24. The second has not been identified.]

[Footnote 58: _Journal des Savants_, Oct. 1906.]

[Footnote 59: See Norman, "Buddhist legends of Asoka and his times," in _J.A.S._ Beng. 1910.]

[Footnote 60: Just as the Tooth was considered to be the palladium of Sinhalese kings.]

[Footnote 61: Record of Buddhist kingdoms. Legge, pp. 34, 35. Fa-Hsien speaks of the country not the town of Peshawar (Purûshapura).]

[Footnote 62: _Ibid._ p. 109. Fa-Hsien does not indicate that at this time there was a rival bowl in Ceylon but represents the preacher as saying it was then in Gandhara.]

[Footnote 63: Watters, I. pp. 202, 203. But the life of Hsüan Chuang says Benares not Persia.]

[Footnote 64: Marco Polo trans. Yule, II. pp. 320, 330.]

[Footnote 65: For the history of the tooth see _Mahâvaṃsa_, p. 241, in Turnour's edition: the Dathavaṃsa in Pali written by Dhammakitti in 1211 A.D.: and the Sinhalese poems Daladapujavali and Dhatuvansaya. See also Da Cunha, _Memoir on the History of the Tooth Relic of Ceylon_, 1875, and Yule's notes on Marco Polo, II. pp. 328-330.]

[Footnote 66: _I.e._ about 361 or 310, according to which chronology is adopted, but neither Fa-Hsien or Hsüan Chuang says anything about its arrival from India and this part of the story might be dismissed as a legend. But seeing how extraordinary were the adventures of the tooth in historical times, it would be unreasonable to deny that it may have been smuggled out of India for safety.]

[Footnote 67: Various accounts are given of the disposal of these teeth, but more than enough relics were preserved in various shrines to account for all. Hsüan Chuang saw or heard of sacred teeth in Balkh, Nagar, Kashmir, Kanauj and Ceylon. Another tooth is said to be kept near Foo-chow.]

[Footnote 68: Plausibly supposed to be Puri. The ceremonies still observed in the temple of Jagannath are suspected of being based on Buddhist rites. Dantapura of the Kâlingas is however mentioned in some verses quoted in Dîgha Nikâya XIX. 36. This looks as if the name might be pre-Buddhist.]

[Footnote 69: They are called Ranmali and Danta in the Râjâvaliya.]

[Footnote 70: There is a striking similarity between this rite and the ceremonies observed at Puri, where the images of Jagannâtha and his relatives are conveyed every summer with great pomp to a country residence where they remain during some weeks.]

[Footnote 71: See Tennent's _Ceylon_, vol. II. pp. 29, 30 and 199 ff. and the Portuguese authorities quoted.]

[Footnote 72: Fortune in _Two Visits to Tea Countries of China_, vol. II. pp. 107-8, describes one of these teeth preserved in the Ku-shan monastery near Foo-chow.]

[Footnote 73: This practice must be very old. The Vinaya of the Mûlasarvâstivâdins and similar texts speak of offering flowers to a tooth of the Buddha. See _J.A._ 1914, II. pp. 523, 543. The Pali Canon too tells us that the relics of the Buddha were honoured with garlands and perfumes.]

[Footnote 74: Chap. XXXVII.]

[Footnote 75: Both probably represent the tradition current at the Mahâvihâra, but according to the Talaing tradition Buddhaghosa was a Brahman born at Thaton.]

[Footnote 76: The Mahâvaṃsa says he composed the Jñânodaya and Atthasâlinî at this time before starting for Ceylon.]

[Footnote 77: Fa-Hsien is chary of mentioning contemporary celebrities but he refers to a Well-known monk called Ta-mo-kiu-ti (? Dhammakathi ) and had Buddhaghosa been already celebrated he would hardly have omitted him.]

[Footnote 78: In the Coms. on the Dîgha and Dhammasangani.]

[Footnote 79: See Rhys Davids and Carpenter's introduction to _Sumangalavi_, I. p. x.]

[Footnote 80: In the _Journal of Pali Text Soc._ 1891, pp. 76-164. Since the above was written the first volume of the text of the Visuddhi magga, edited by Mrs. Rhys Davids, has been published by the Pali Text Society, 1920.]

[Footnote 81: Bhagavato Sâsanam. See Buddhaghosuppatti, chap. I.]

[Footnote 82: It appears to be unknown to the Chinese Tripitaka. For some further remarks on the Sinhalese Canon see Book III. chap. XIII. § 3.]

[Footnote 83: That is according to Geiger 386-416 A.D. Perhaps he was the Ta-mo-kiu-ti mentioned by Fa-Hsien.]

[Footnote 84: The tendency seems odd but it can be paralleled in India where it is not uncommon to rewrite vernacular works in Sanskrit. See Grierson, _J.R.A.S._ 1913, p. 133. Even in England in the seventeenth century Bacon seems to have been doubtful of the immortality of his works in English and prepared a Latin translation of his _Essays._]

[Footnote 85: It is reported with some emphasis as the tradition of the Ancients in Buddhaghosuppatti, chap. VII. If the works were merely those which Buddhaghosa himself had translated the procedure seems somewhat drastic.]

[Footnote 86: Mahâv. XXXIII. Dhammasokova so kasi Piṭakattaye Saṇgahan. Dhâtusena reigned from 459-477 according to the common chronology or 509-527 according to Geiger.]

[Footnote 87: Mahâv. XLII. 35 ff.]

[Footnote 88: Mahâv. LXXVIII. 21-23.]

[Footnote 89: Mahâv. XXXVIII. Akâsi patimâgehe bahumangalacetiye boddhisatte ca tathâsun. Cf. Fa-Hsien, chap. XXVIII. _ad fin._]

[Footnote 90: Or Parakkama Bâhu. Probably 1153-1186.]

[Footnote 91: Mahâvaṃsa LX. 4-7.]

[Footnote 92: Mahâvaṃsa LXXVIII. 21-27.]

[Footnote 93: Mahâv. LXXXIV. If this means the region of Madras, the obvious question is what learned Buddhist can there have been there at this period.]

[Footnote 94: _J. Ant_. 1893, pp. 40, 41.]

[Footnote 95: I take this statement from Tennent who gives references.]

[Footnote 96: See _Ceylon Antiquary_, I. 3, pp. 148, 197.]

[Footnote 97: Râjasinha I (1581) is said to have made Śivaism the Court religion.]

[Footnote 98: His reign is dated as 1679-1701, also as 1687-1706. It is remarkable that the Mahâvaṃsa makes _both_ the kings called Vimala Dharma send religious embassies to Arakan. See XCIV. 15, 16 and XCVII. 10, 11.]

[Footnote 99: See for some details Lorgeou: Notice sur un Manuscrit Siamois contenant la relation de deux missions religieuses envoyées de Siam à Ceylon au milieu du xviii Siècle. _Jour. Asiat_. 1906, pp. 533 ff. The king called Dhammika by the Mahâvaṃsa appears to have been known as Phra Song Tham in Siam. The interest felt by the Siamese in Ceylon at this period is shown by the Siamese translation of the Mahâvaṃsa made in 1796.]

[Footnote 100: Râmañña is the part of Burma between Arakan and Siam.]

[Footnote 101: See Spence Hardy, _Manual of Buddhism_, chap. VII.]

[Footnote 102: A translation by S.Z. Aung and Mrs. Rhys Davids has been published by the Pali Text Society. The author Anuruddha appears to have lived between the eighth and twelfth centuries.]

[Footnote 103: The Sinhalese had a special respect for the Abhidhamma. Kassapa V (_c._ A.D. 930) caused it to be engraved on plates of gold. _Ep. Zeyl._ I. p. 52.]

[Footnote 104: See Coomaraswamy in _J.R.A.S._ 1909, pp. 283-297.]

[Footnote 105: For intercourse with Camboja see _Epigr. Zeylanica_, II. p. 74.]

[Footnote 106: A dubious legend relates that they were known in the north and suppressed by Harsha. See Ettinghausen, _Harsha Vardhana_, 1906, p. 86. Nil Sâdhana appears to be a name for tantric practices. See Avalon, _Principles of Tantra_, preface, p. xix.]

[Footnote 107: In the reigns of Vohâratissa, Goṭhâbhaya, Mahâsena and Ambaherana Salamevan. The kings Matvalasen and Mungayinsen are also known as Sena I and II.]

[Footnote 108: Secret Vinaya.]

[Footnote 109: _Epigraphia Zeylan_. I. p. 4.]

[Footnote 110: One of the king's inscriptions says that he reconciled the clergy of the three Nikâyas. _Ep. Zeyl_. I. p. 134.]

[Footnote 111: See Bowden in _J.R.A.S._ 1893, pp. 159 ff. The account refers to the Malwatte Monastery. But it would appear that the Pâtimokkha is recited in country places when a sufficient number of monks meet on Uposatha days.]

[Footnote 112: Even the poets were mostly Bhikkhus. Sinhalese literature contains a fair number of historical and philosophical works but curiously little about law. See Jolly, _Recht und Sitte_, p. 44.]

[Footnote 113: _E.g._ in the Aṭânâṭiya sutta (Dig. Nik. XXXII.) friendly spirits teach a spell by which members of the order may protect themselves against evil ones and in Jâtaka 159 the Peacock escapes danger by reciting every day a hymn to the sun and the praises of past Buddhas. See also Bunyiu, _Nanjios Catalogue_, Nos. 487 and 800.]