~Cremation of an Arhat--Sermon of a Devotee~
South of the city seven li there is a vihâra, called the Mahâ-vihâra,
where three thousand monks reside. There had been among them a Sramana,
of such lofty virtue, and so holy and pure in his observance of the
disciplinary rules, that the people all surmised that he was an Arhat.
When he drew near his end, the king came to examine into the point; and
having assembled the monks according to rule, asked whether the bhikshu
had attained to the full degree of Wisdom. They answered in the
affirmative, saying that he was an Arhat. The king accordingly, when he
died, buried him after the fashion of an Arhat, as the regular rules
prescribed. Four or five li east from the vihâra there was reared a
great pile of firewood, which might be more than thirty cubits square,
and the same in height. Near the top were laid sandal, aloe, and other
kinds of fragrant wood.
On the four sides of the pile they made steps by which to ascend it.
With clean white hair-cloth, almost like silk, they wrapped the body
round and round. They made a large carriage-frame, in form like our
funeral car, but without the dragons and fishes.
At the time of the cremation, the king and the people, in multitudes
from all quarters, collected together, and presented offerings of
flowers and incense. While they were following the car to the
burial-ground, the king himself presented flowers and incense. When this
was finished, the car was lifted on the pile, all over which oil of
sweet basil was poured, and then a light was applied. While the fire was
blazing, every one, with a reverent heart, pulled off his upper garment,
and threw it, with his feather-fan and umbrella, from a distance into
the midst of the flames, to assist the burning. When the cremation was
over, they collected and preserved the bones, and proceeded to erect a
tope. Fâ-hien had not arrived in time to see the distinguished Shaman
alive, and only saw his burial.
At that time the king, who was a sincere believer in the Law of Buddha
and wished to build a new vihâra for the monks, first convoked a great
assembly. After giving the monks a meal of rice, and presenting his
offerings on the occasion, he selected a pair of first-rate oxen, the
horns of which were grandly decorated with gold, silver, and the
precious substances. A golden plough had been provided, and the king
himself turned up a furrow on the four sides of the ground within which
the building was to be. He then endowed the community of the monks with
the population, fields, and houses, writing the grant on plates of
metal, to the effect that from that time onwards, from generation to
generation, no one should venture to annul or alter it.
In this country Fâ-hien heard an Indian devotee, who was reciting a
Sûtra from the pulpit, say: "Buddha's alms-bowl was at first in Vaisâlî,
and now it is in Gandhâra. After so many hundred years (he gave, when
Fâ-hien heard him, the exact number of years, but he has forgotten it),
it will go to Western Tukhâra; after so many hundred years, to Khoten;
after so many hundred years, to Kharachar; after so many hundred years,
to the land of Han; after so many hundred years, it will come to
Sinhala; and after so many hundred years, it will return to Central
India. After that, it will ascend to the Tushita heaven; and when the
Bodhisattva Maitreya sees it, he will say with a sigh, 'The alms-bowl of
Sâkyamuni Buddha is come'; and with all the devas he will present to it
flowers and incense for seven days. When these have expired, it will
return to Jambudvîpa, where it will be received by the king of the sea
nâgas, and taken into his nâga palace. When Maitreya shall be about to
attain to perfect Wisdom and become Buddha, it will again separate into
four bowls, which will return to the top of mount Anna, whence they
came. After Maitreya has become Buddha, the four deva kings will again
think of the Buddha with their bowls as they did in the case of the
previous Buddha. The thousand Buddhas of this Bhadra-kalpa, indeed, will
all use the same alms-bowl; and when the bowl has disappeared, the Law
of Buddha will go on gradually to be extinguished. After that extinction
has taken place, the life of man will be shortened, till it is only a
period of five years. During this period of a five years' life, rice,
butter, and oil will all vanish away, and men will become exceedingly
wicked. The grass and trees which they lay hold of will change into
swords and clubs, with which they will hurt, cut, and kill one another.
Those among them on whom there is blessing will withdraw from society
among the hills; and when the wicked have exterminated one another, they
will again come forth, and say among themselves, 'The men of former
times enjoyed a very great longevity; but through becoming exceedingly
wicked, and doing all lawless things, the length of our life has been
shortened and reduced even to five years. Let us now unite together in
the practice of what is good, cherishing a gentle and sympathizing
heart, and carefully cultivating good faith and righteousness. When each
one in this way practises that faith and righteousness, life will go on
to double its length till it reaches eighty thousand years. When
Maitreya appears in the world, and begins to turn the wheel of this Law,
he will in the first place save those among the disciples of the Law
left by the Sâkya who have quitted their families, and those who have
accepted the three Refuges, undertaken the five Prohibitions and the
eight Abstinences, and given offerings to the Three Precious Ones;
secondly and thirdly, he will save those between whom and conversion
there is a connection transmitted from the past.'" [1]
Such was the discourse, and Fâ-hien wished to write it down as a portion
of doctrine; but the man said, "This is taken from no Sûtra, it is only
the utterance of my own mind."
[Footnote 1: That is, those whose Karma in the past should be rewarded
by such conversion in the present.]