that is done they wrap it in cotton wool. When that is done they wrap it
in a new cloth,--and so on till they have wrapped the body in five
hundred successive layers of both kinds. Then they place the body in an
oil vessel of iron, and cover that close up with another oil vessel of
iron. They then build a funeral pile of all kinds of perfumes, and burn
the body of the king of kings. And then at the four cross roads they
erect a dagaba to the king of kings. This, Vasetthas, is the way in
which they treat the remains of a king of kings. And as they treat the
remains of a king of kings, so, Vasetthas, should they treat the remains
of the Tathagata. At the four cross roads a dagaba should be erected to
the Tathagata. And whosoever shall there place garlands or perfumes or
paint, or make salutation there, or become in its presence calm in
heart--that shall long be to them for a profit and a joy."
Therefore the Mallas gave orders to their attendants, saying, "Gather
together all the carded cotton wool of the Mallas!"
Then the Mallas of Kusinara wrapped the body of the Blessed One in a new
cloth. And when that was done they wrapped it in cotton wool. And when
that was done, they wrapped it in a new cloth,--and so on till they had
wrapped the body of the Blessed One in five hundred layers of both
kinds. And then they placed the body in an oil vessel of iron, and
covered that close up with another vessel of iron. And then they built a
funeral pile of all kinds of perfumes, and upon it they placed the body
of the Blessed One.
Now at that time the venerable Maha Kassapa was journeying along the
high road from Pava to Kusinara with a great company of the brethren,
with about five hundred of the brethren. And the venerable Maha Kassapa
left the high road, and sat himself down at the foot of a certain tree.
Just at that time a certain naked ascetic who had picked up a Mandarava
flower in Kusinara was coming along the high road to Pava. And the
venerable Maha Kassapa saw the naked ascetic coming in the distance; and
when he had seen him he said to the naked ascetic: "O friend! surely
thou knowest our Master?"
"Yea, friend! I know him. This day the Samana Gautama has been dead a
week! That is how I obtained this Mandarava flower."
And immediately of those of the brethren who were not yet free from the
passions, some stretched out their arms and wept, and some fell headlong
on the ground, and some reeled to and fro in anguish at the thought:
"Too soon has the Blessed One died! Too soon has the Happy One passed
away from existence! Too soon has the Light gone out in the world!"
But those of the brethren who were free from the passions (the Arahats)
bore their grief collected and composed at the thought: "Impermanent are
all component things! How is it possible that they should not be
dissolved?"
Now at that time a brother named Subhadda, who had been received into
the order in his old age, was seated there in their company. And
Subhadda the old addressed the brethren and said: "Enough, brethren!
Weep not, neither lament! We are well rid of the great Samana. We used
to be annoyed by being told, 'This beseems you, this beseems you not.'
But now we shall be able to do whatever we like; and what we do not like
that we shall not have to do!"
But the venerable Maha Kassapa addressed the brethren, and said:
"Enough, my brethren! Weep not, neither lament! Has not the Blessed One
formerly declared this to us, that it is in the very nature of all
things near and dear unto us that we must divide ourselves from them,
leave them, sever ourselves from them? How then, brethren, can this be
possible--that whereas anything whatever born, brought into being, and
organized contains within itself the inherent necessity of
dissolution--how then can this be possible that such a being should not
be dissolved? No such condition can exist!"
Now just at that time four chieftains of the Mallas had bathed their
heads and clad themselves in new garments with the intention of setting
on fire the funeral pile of the Blessed One. But, behold, they were
unable to set it alight! Then the Mallas of Kusinara said to the
venerable Anuruddha: "What, Lord, can be the reason, and what the cause,
that four chieftains of the Mallas who have bathed their heads, and clad
themselves in new garments, with the intention of setting on fire the
funeral pile of the Blessed One, are unable to set it on fire?"
"It is because you, O Vasetthas, have one purpose, and the spirits have
another purpose."
"But what, Lord, is the purpose of the spirits?"
"The purpose of the spirits, O Vasetthas, is this: 'That venerable
brother Maha Kassapa is now journeying along the high road from Pava to
Kusinara with a great company of the brethren, with five hundred of the
brethren. The funeral pile of the Blessed One shall not catch fire,
until the venerable Maha Kassapa shall have been able reverently to
salute the sacred feet of the Blessed One.'"
"Even according to the purpose of the spirits, so, Lord, let it be!"
Then the venerable Maha Kassapa went on to Makuta-bandhana of Kusinara,
to the shrine of the Mallas, to the place where the funeral pile of the
Blessed One was. And when he had come up to it, he arranged his robe on
one shoulder; and bowing down with clasped hands he thrice walked
reverently round the pile; and then, uncovering the feet, he bowed down
in reverence at the feet of the Blessed One. And those five hundred
brethren arranged their robes on one shoulder; and bowing down with
clasped hands, they thrice walked reverently round the pile, and then
bowed down in reverence at the feet of the Blessed One.
And when the homage of the venerable Maha Kassapa and of those five
hundred brethren was ended, the funeral pile of the Blessed One caught
fire of itself. Now as the body of the Blessed One burned itself away,
from the skin and the integument, and the flesh, and the nerves, and the
fluid of the joints, neither soot nor ash was seen: and only the bones
remained behind.
Just as one sees no soot nor ash when glue or oil is burned, so, as the
body of the Blessed One burned itself away, from the skin and the
integument, and the flesh, and the nerves, and the fluid of the joints,
neither soot nor ash was seen: and only the bones remained behind. And
of those five hundred pieces of raiment the very innermost and outermost
were both consumed. And when the body of the Blessed One had been burned
up, there came down streams of water from the sky and extinguished the
funeral pile of the Blessed One; and there burst forth streams of water
from the storehouse of the waters (beneath the earth), and extinguished
the funeral pile of the Blessed One. The Mallas of Kusinara also brought
water scented with all kinds of perfumes, and extinguished the funeral
pile of the Blessed One.
Then the Mallas of Kusinara surrounded the bones of the Blessed One in
their council hall with a lattice work of spears, and with a rampart of
bows; and there for seven days they paid honor and reverence and respect
and homage to them with dance and song and music, and with garlands and
perfumes.
Now the king of Magadha, Agatasattu, the son of the queen of the Videha
clan, heard the news that the Blessed One had died at Kusinara. Then the
king of Magadha, Agatasattu, the son of the queen of the Videha clan,
sent a messenger to the Mallas, saying, "The Blessed One belonged to the
soldier caste, and I too am of the soldier caste. I am worthy to receive
a portion of the relics of the Blessed One. Over the remains of the
Blessed One will I put up a sacred cairn, and in honor thereof will I
celebrate a feast!"
And the Likkhavis of Vesali heard the news that the Blessed One had
died at Kusinara. And the Likkhavis of Vesali sent a messenger to the
Mallas, saying, "The Blessed One belonged to the soldier caste, and we
too are of the soldier caste. We are worthy to receive a portion of the
relics of the Blessed One. Over the remains of the Blessed One will we
put up a sacred cairn, and in honor thereof will we celebrate a feast!"
And the Sakiyas of Kapila-vatthu heard the news that the Blessed One had
died at Kusinara. And the Sakiyas of Kapila-vatthu sent a messenger to
the Mallas, saying "The Blessed One was the pride of our race. We are
worthy to receive a portion of the relics of the Blessed One. Over the
remains of the Blessed One will we put up a sacred cairn, and in honor
thereof will we celebrate a feast!"
And the Bulis of Allakappa heard the news that the Blessed One had died
at Kusinara. And the Bulis of Allakappa sent a messenger to the Mallas,
saying, "The Blessed One belonged to the soldier caste, and we too are
of the soldier caste. We are worthy to receive a portion of the relics
of the Blessed One. Over the remains of the Blessed One will we put up a
sacred cairn, and in honor thereof will we celebrate a feast!"
And the Brahman of Vethadipa heard the news that the Blessed One had
died at Kusinara. And the Brahman of Vethadipa sent a messenger to the
Mallas, saying, "The Blessed One belonged to the soldier caste, and I am
a Brahman. I am worthy to receive a portion of the relics of the Blessed
One. Over the remains of the Blessed One will I put up a sacred cairn,
and in honor thereof will I celebrate a feast!"
And the Mallas of Pava heard the news that the Blessed One had died at
Kusinara. Then the Mallas of Pava sent a messenger to the Mallas,
saying, "The Blessed One belonged to the soldier caste, and we too are
of the soldier caste. We are worthy to receive a portion of the relics
of the Blessed One. Over the remains of the Blessed One will we put up a
sacred cairn, and in honor thereof will we celebrate a feast!"
When they heard these things the Mallas of Kusinara spoke to the
assembled brethren, saying, "The Blessed One died in our village domain,
We will not give away any part of the remains of the Blessed One!" When
they had thus spoken, Dona the Brahman addressed the assembled
brethren, and said:
"Hear, reverend sir, one single word from me.
Forbearance was our Buddha wont to teach.
Unseemly is it that over the division
Of the remains of him who was the best of beings
Strife should arise, and wounds, and war!
Let us all, sirs, with one accord unite
In friendly harmony to make eight portions.
Wide spread let Thupas rise in every land
That in the Enlightened One mankind may trust!"
"Do thou then, O Brahman, thyself divide the remains of the Blessed One
equally into eight parts with fair division."
"Be it so, sir!" said Dona, in assent, to the assembled brethren. And he
divided the remains of the Blessed One equally into eight parts, with
fair division. And he said to them: "Give me, sirs, this vessel, and I
will set up over it a sacred cairn, and in its honor will I establish a
feast." And they gave the vessel to Dona the Brahman.
And the Moriyas of Pipphalivana heard the news that the Blessed One had
died at Kusinara. Then the Moriyas of Pipphalivana sent a messenger to
the Mallas, saying, "The Blessed One belonged to the soldier caste, and
we too are of the soldier caste. We are worthy to receive a portion of
the relics of the Blessed One. Over the remains of the Blessed One will
we put up a sacred cairn, and in honor thereof will we celebrate a
feast!" And when they heard the answer, saying, "There is no portion of
the remains of the Blessed One left over. The remains of the Blessed One
are all distributed," then they took away the embers.
Then the king of Magadha, Agatasattu, the son of the queen of the Videha
clan, made a mound in Ragagaha over the remains of the Blessed One, and
held a feast. And the Likkhavis of Vesali made a mound in Vesali over
the remains of the Blessed One, and held a feast. And the Bulis of
Allakappa made a mound in Allakappa over the remains of the Blessed One,
and held a feast. And the Koliyas of Ramagama made a mound in Ramagama
over the remains of the Blessed One, and held a feast. And Vethadipaka
the Brahman made a mound in Vethadipa over the remains of the Blessed
One, and held a feast. And the Mallas of Pava made a mound in Pava over
the remains of the Blessed One, and held a feast. And the Mallas of
Kusinara made a mound in Kusinara over the remains of the Blessed One,
and held a feast. And Dona the Brahman made a mound over the vessel in
which the body had been burned, and held a feast. And the Moriyas of
Pipphalivana made a mound over the embers, and held a feast.
Thus were there eight mounds [Thupas] for the remains, and one for the
vessel, and one for the embers. This was how it used to be. Eight
measures of relics there were of him of the far-seeing eye, of the best
of the best of men. In India seven are worshipped, and one measure in
Ramagama, by the kings of the serpent race. One tooth, too, is honored
in heaven, and one in Gandhara's city, one in the Kalinga realm, and one
more by the Naga race. Through their glory the bountiful earth is made
bright with offerings painless, for with such are the Great Teacher's
relics best honored by those who are honored, by gods and by Nagas and
kings, yea, thus by the noblest of monarchs--bow down with clasped
hands! Hard, hard is a Buddha to meet with through hundreds of ages!
End of the _Book of the Great Decease_
PYTHIAN GAMES AT DELPHI
B.C. 585
GEORGE GROTE
Among the leading features of Greek life, especially those
belonging to its religious customs and observances none are more
characteristic, and none possess a more attractive interest for the
modern reader and student than the peculiar festivals which it was
their practice to hold. The four great national festivals or games
were: The Olympic, held every four years, in honor of Zeus, on the
banks of the Alpheus, in Elis; the Pythian, celebrated once in four
years, in honor of Apollo, at Delphi; the Isthmian, held every two
years, at the isthmian sanctuary in the Isthmus of Corinth, in
honor of Poseidon (Neptune); and the Nemean, celebrated at Nemea,
in the second and fourth years of each Olympiad, in honor of the
Nemean Juno.
With regard to the influence of these games or festivals upon the
political and social life of Greece, much has been written by
historians and special students of the Grecian states. While the
celebrations do not appear to have accomplished much for the
political union of Greece, they are to be credited with marked
beneficial effects in the promotion of a pan-Hellenic spirit which,
if it failed to produce such a union of the Greek race,
nevertheless quickened and strengthened the common feeling of
family relationship. Thus a sense of their identical origin and
racial traits was kept alive, and the tendencies of Greek
development and culture preserved their essential character and
distinction. By means of these periodical gatherings, representing
all parts of the Greek world, not only was friendly competition in
every field of talent and performance secured, but even trade and
commerce found through them new channels of activity. So in various
ways the national games proved a source of fresh energy and broader
enterprise among the various branches of the Grecian people. The
particular character and significance of the Pythian games at
Delphi, and their relation to the other national festivals, form an
interesting subject for study in connection with the general
history of Greece.
What are called the Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian games (the
four most conspicuous amid many others analogous) were in reality great
religious festivals--for the gods then gave their special sanction,
name, and presence to recreative meetings--the closest association then
prevailed between the feelings of common worship and the sympathy in
common amusement. Though this association is now no longer recognized,
it is nevertheless essential that we should keep it fully before us if
we desire to understand the life and proceedings of the Greek. To
Herodotus and his contemporaries these great festivals, then frequented
by crowds from every part of Greece, were of overwhelming importance and
interest; yet they had once been purely local, attracting no visitors
except from a very narrow neighborhood. In the Homeric poems much is
said about the common gods, and about special places consecrated to and
occupied by several of them; the chiefs celebrate funeral games in honor
of a deceased father, which are visited by competitors from different
parts of Greece, but nothing appears to manifest public or town
festivals open to Grecian visitors generally. And though the rocky Pytho
with its temple stands out in the _Iliad_ as a place both venerated and
rich--the Pythian games, under the superintendence of the Amphictyons,
with continuous enrollment of victors and a pan-Hellenic reputation, do
not begin until after the Sacred War, in the 48th Olympiad, or B.C. 586.
The Olympic games, more conspicuous than the Pythian as well as
considerably older, are also remarkable on another ground, inasmuch as
they supplied historical computers with the oldest backward record of
continuous time. It was in the year B.C. 776 that the Eleans inscribed
the name of their countryman Coroebus as victor in the competition of
runners, and that they began the practice of inscribing in like manner,
in each Olympic or fifth recurring year, the name of the runner who won
the prize. Even for a long time after this, however, the Olympic games
seem to have remained a local festival; the prize being uniformly
carried off, at the first twelve Olympiads, by some competitor either of
Elis or its immediate neighborhood. The Nemean and Isthmian games did
not become notorious or frequented until later even than the Pythian.
Solon in his legislation proclaimed the large reward of 500 drams for
every Athenian who gained an Olympic prize, and the lower sum of 100
drams for an Isthmiac prize. He counts the former as pan-Hellenic rank
and renown, an ornament even to the city of which the victor was a
member--the latter as partial and confined to the neighborhood.
Of the beginnings of these great solemnities we cannot presume to speak,
except in mythical language; we know them only in their comparative
maturity. But the habit of common sacrifice, on a small scale and
between near neighbors, is a part of the earliest habits of Greece. The
sentiment of fraternity, between two tribes or villages, first
manifested itself by sending a sacred legation or Theoria to offer
sacrifices to each other's festivals and to partake in the recreations
which followed; thus establishing a truce with solemn guarantee, and
bringing themselves into direct connexion each with the god of the other
under his appropriate local surname. The pacific communion so fostered,
and the increased assurance of intercourse, as Greece gradually emerged
from the turbulence and pugnacity of the heroic age, operated especially
in extending the range of this ancient habit: the village festivals
became town festivals, largely frequented by the citizens of other
towns, and sometimes with special invitations sent round to attract
Theors from every Hellenic community--and thus these once humble
assemblages gradually swelled into the pomp and immense confluence of
the Olympic and Pythian games. The city administering such holy
ceremonies enjoyed inviolability of territory during the month of their
occurrence, being itself under obligation at that time to refrain from
all aggression, as well as to notify by heralds the commencement of the
truce to all other cities not in avowed hostility with it. Elis imposed
heavy fines upon other towns--even on the powerful Lacedæmon--for
violation of the Olympic truce, on pain of exclusion from the festival
in case of non-payment.
Sometimes this tendency to religious fraternity took a form called an
_Amphictyony_, different from the common festival. A certain number of
towns entered into an exclusive religious partnership for the
celebration of sacrifices periodically to the god of a particular
temple, which was supposed to be the common property and under the
common protection of all, though one of the number was often named as
permanent administrator; while all other Greeks were excluded. That
there were many religious partnerships of this sort, which have never
acquired a place in history, among the early Grecian villages, we may
perhaps gather from the etymology of the word _Amphictyons_--designating
residents around, or neighbors, considered in the point of view of
fellow-religionists--as well as from the indications preserved to us in
reference to various parts of the country. Thus there was an Amphictyony
of seven cities at the holy island of Caluria, close to the harbor of
Troezen. Hermione, Epidaurus, Ægina, Athens, Prasiæ, Nauplia, and
Orchomenus, jointly maintained the temple and sanctuary of Poseidon in
that island--with which it would seem that the city of Troezen, though
close at hand, had no connection--meeting there at stated periods, to
offer formal sacrifices. These seven cities indeed were not immediate
neighbors, but the speciality and exclusiveness of their interest in the
temple is seen from the fact that when the Argians took Nauplia, they
adopted and fulfilled these religious obligations on behalf of the prior
inhabitants: so also did the Lacedæmonians when they had captured
Prasiæ. Again, in Triphylia, situated between the Pisatid and Messenia
in the western part of Peloponnesus, there was a similar religious
meeting and partnership of the Triphylians on Cape Samicon, at the
temple of the Samian Poseidon. Here the inhabitants of Maciston were
intrusted with the details of superintendence, as well as with the duty
of notifying beforehand the exact time of meeting (a precaution
essential amidst the diversities and irregularities of the Greek
calendar) and also of proclaiming what was called the Samian truce--a
temporary abstinence from hostilities which bound all Triphylians during
the holy period. This latter custom discloses the salutary influence of
such institutions in presenting to men's minds a common object of
reverence, common duties, and common enjoyments; thus generating
sympathies and feelings of mutual obligation amid petty communities not
less fierce than suspicious. So, too, the twelve chief Ionic cities in
and near Asia Minor had their pan-Ionic Amphictyony peculiar to
themselves: the six Doric cities, in and near the southern corner of
that peninsula, combined for the like purpose at the temple of the
Triopian Apollo, and the feeling of special partnership is here
particularly illustrated by the fact that Halicarnassus, one of the
six, was formally extruded by the remaining five in consequence of a
violation of the rules. There was also an Amphictyonic union at
Onchestus in Boeotia, in the venerated grove and temple at Poseidon: of
whom it consisted we are not informed. There are some specimens of the
sort of special religious conventions and assemblies which seem to have
been frequent throughout Greece. Nor ought we to omit those religious
meetings and sacrifices which were common to all the members of one
Hellenic subdivision, such as the pan-Boeotia to all the Boeotians,
celebrated at the temple of the Ionian Athene near Coroneia; the common
observances, rendered to the temple of Apollo Pythæus at Argos, by all
those neighboring towns which had once been attached by this religious
thread to the Argian; the similar periodical ceremonies, frequented by
all who bore the Achæan or Ætolian name; and the splendid and
exhilarating festivals, so favorable to the diffusion of the early
Grecian poetry, which brought all Ionians at stated intervals to the
sacred island of Delos. This later class of festivals agreed with the
Amphictyony in being of a special and exclusive character, not open to
all Greeks.