before long. At the end of three months from this time the Tath&gata will die ! "
48. ' Thus, Ananda, the Tath&gata has now
to-day at the AT&p&la A^etiya consciously and deli-
berately rejected the rest of his allotted term of
life. 1
49. And when he had thus spoken the venera-
ble Ananda addressed the Blessed One, and said :
' Vouchsafe, Lord, to remain during the kalpa !
live on through the kalpa, O Blessed One ! for the
good and the happiness of the great multitudes, out
of pity for the world, for the good and the gain and
the weal of gods and men ! '
50. ' Enough now, Ananda, beseech not the Ta-
th&gata!' was the reply. 'The time for making
such request is past/
51. And again, the second time, the venerable
Ananda besought the Blessed One [in the same
words. And he received from the Blessed One the
same reply].
52. And again, the third time, the venerable
Ananda besought the Blessed One [in the same
words].
53. ' Hast thou faith, Ananda, in the wisdom of the Tathigata ? '
' Even so, Lord ! '
' Now why, then, Ananda, dost thou trouble the Tathagata even until the third time ? 7
54. * From his own mouth have I heard from the
Blessed One, from his own mouth have I received
this saying, "Whosoever has thought out, Ananda,
and developed, practised, accumulated, and ascended
to the very heights of the four paths to saintship,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as
maha-parinibbAna-sutta.
a means of (mental) advancement, and as a basis for
edification — he, should he desire it, could remain in
the same birth for a kalpa, or for that portion of a
kalpa which has yet to run/' Now the Tath&gata
has thought out and thoroughly practised them [in
all respects as just now fully described], and might,
should he desire it, remain alive for a kalpa, or for
that portion of a kalpa which has yet to run/
55. ' Hast thou faith, Ananda ? ' * Even so, Lord ! '
' Then, O Ananda, thine is the fault, thine is the
offence — in that when a suggestion so evident and a
hint so clear were thus given thee by the Tathagata,
thou wast yet incapable of comprehending them, and
thou besoughtest not the TathSgata, saying, " Vouch-
safe, Lord, to remain during the kalpa. Live on, O
Blessed One ! through the kalpa for the good and
the happiness of the great multitudes, out of pity
for the world, for the good and the gain and the
weal of gods and men." If thou shouldst then have so
besought the Tath&gata, the Tath&gata might have
rejected the appeal even to the second time, but the
third time he would have granted it. Thine, there-
fore, O Ananda, is the fault, thine is the offence ! '
56. ' On one occasion, Ananda, I was dwelling at
Ri^agaha, on the hill called the Vulture's Peak.
Now there, Ananda, I spoke to thee, and said:
" How pleasant a spot, Ananda, is Ri^iagaha ; how
pleasant is this Vulture's Peak. Whosoever has
thought out, Ananda, and developed, practised, accu-
mulated, and ascended to the very heights of the
four paths to saintship, and so mastered them as to
be able to use them as a means of (mental) advance-
ment, and as a basis for edification — he, should he
56 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.
desire it, could remain in the same birth for a
kalpa, or for that portion of a kalpa which has yet
to run. But even when a suggestion so evident and
a hint so clear were thus given thee by the Tathi-
gata, thou wast yet incapable of comprehending
them, and thou besoughtest not the Tathigata,
saying, ' Vouchsafe, Lord, to remain during the
kalpa. Live on, O Blessed One ! through the
kalpa for the good and the happiness of the great
multitudes, out of pity for the world, for the good
and the gain and the weal of gods and men/ If
thou shouldst then have so besought the Tathfigata,
the Tathigata might have rejected the appeal even
to the second time, but the third time he would
have granted it. Thine, therefore, O Ananda, is
the fault, thine is the offence !"
57. 'On one occasion, Ananda, I was dwelling at
that same Ra^agaha in the Banyan Grove — on one
occasion at that same RcL^agaha at the Robbers' Cliff
— on one occasion at that same RS^agaha in the Satta-
panni cave on the slope of Mount Vebhira — on one
occasion at that same Rfi^agaha at the Black Rock
on the slope of Mount Isigili — on one occasion at
that same Ri^agaha in the Sltavana Grove in the
mountain cave Sappaso^ika — on one occasion at
that same Rd^agaha in the Tapoda Grove — on one
occasion at that same Rd^agaha in the Bambu Grove
in the Squirrels' Feeding Ground— on one occasion
at that same Rd^agaha in ^ivakas Mango Grove
— on one occasion at that same Ri^agaha in the
Deer Forest at Maddakui^i.'
58. 4 Now there too, Ananda, I spoke to thee,
and said: " How pleasant, Ananda, is R&^agaha;
how pleasant the Vultures Peak ; how pleasant the
HI.
Banyan tree of Gotama ; how pleasant the Robbers'
Cliff ; how pleasant the Sattapa»/zi cave on the
slope of Mount Vebhira ; how pleasant the Black
Rock on the slope of Mount Isigili ; how pleasant
the mountain cave Sappasotfdfika in" the Sitavana
Grove ; how pleasant the Tapoda Grove ; how plea-
sant the Squirrels' Feeding Ground in the Bambu
Grove ; how pleasant (^ivaka's Mango Grove ; how
pleasant the Deer Forest at Maddaku^i^i !
59. ' " Whosoever, Ananda, has thought out and
developed, practised, accumulated, and ascended
to the very heights of the four paths to saintship,
and so mastered them as to be able to use them as
a means of (mental) advancement and as a basis for
edification — he, should he desire it, could remain in
the same birth for a kalpa, or for that portion of a
kalpa which has yet to run." Now the Tathigata
has thought out and thoroughly practised them [in
all respects as just now fully described], and might,
should he desire it, remain alive for a kalpa, or for
that portion of a kalpa which has yet to run.'
60. * On one occasion, Ananda, I was residing
here at Vesili at the Udena A^etiya. And there
too, Ananda, I spoke to thee, and said : "How
pleasant, Ananda, is Vesfili ; how pleasant the
Udena ATetiya. Whosoever, Ananda, has thought
out and developed, practised, accumulated, and
ascended to the very heights of the four paths to
saintship, and so mastered them as to be able to use
them as a means of (mental) advancement and as a
basis for edification — he, should he desire it, could
remain in the same birth for a kalpa, or for that
portion of a kalpa which has yet to run." Now the
Tathdgata has thought out and thoroughly practised
58 THE BOOK OF THE GttEAT DECEASE. CH.
them [in all respects as just now fully described],
and might, should he desire it, remain alive for a
kalpa, or for that portion of a kalpa which has yet
to run/
61. ' On one occasion, Ananda, I was dwelling
here at Ves&li at the Gotamaka A^etiya — on one occa-
sion here at Ves&li at the Sattamba Ajetiya — on one
occasion here at Ves&li at the Bahuputta Afetiya —
on one occasion here at Ves&li at the Sirandada
A'ietiya [and on each occasion I spoke to thee,
Ananda, in the same words].
62. 4 And now to-day, Ananda, at the Afipila
Aetiya, I spoke to thee, and said : " How pleasant,
Ananda, is Ves&li ; how pleasant the Udena Afetiya ;
how pleasant the Gotamaka Ajetiya ; how pleasant
the Sattamba Aetiya ; how pleasant the Bahuputta
A'etiya ; how pleasant the Sarandada A'etiya. Who-
soever, Ananda, has thought out and developed,
practised, accumulated, and ascended to the very
heights of the four paths to saintship, and so mas-
tered them as to be able to use them as a means of
(mental) advancement, and as a basis for edification —
he, should he desire it, could remain in the same
birth for a kalpa, or for that portion of a kalpa
which has yet to run. Now the Tathigata has
thought and thoroughly practised them [in all
respects as just now fully described], and might,
should he desire it, remain alive for a kalpa, or for
that portion of a kalpa which has yet to run."
63. * But now, Ananda, have I not formerly 1 de-
1 That pa/iga££' eva means 'formerly, already' is clear from Maha Vagga I, 7, 1 ; X, 2, 3, though its derivation would seem to render the meaning ' frequently, recurringly ' more natural. The
clared to you 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, Ananda, can this be pos-
sible — whereas anything whatever born, brought
into being, and organised, contains within itself the
inherent necessity of dissolution — how then can this
be possible that such a being should not be dis-
solved ? No such condition can exist ! And this
mortal being, Ananda, has been relinquished, cast
away, renounced, rejected, and abandoned by the
Tath&gata. The remaining sum of life has been
surrendered by him. Verily, the word has gone
forth from the Tath£gata, saying, " The final extinc-
tion of the Tathigata shall take place before long.
At the end of three months from this time the
Tath&gata will die!" That the Tathigata for the^
sake of living should repent him again of that
saying — this can no wise be 1 ! '
64. ' Come, Ananda, let us go to the Ku^tg&ra Hall, to the Mah&vana.'
' Even so, Lord ! ' said the venerable Ananda, in assent, to the Blessed One.
Then the Blessed One proceeded, with Ananda
phrase occurs pretty often. Trenckner (milinda-pawhaw, p. 422) proposes a correction into pa/ika££' eva. Palu^tti just below is noteworthy as an unusual contraction of palu^e iti.
1 I do not understand the connection of ideas between this paragraph and the idea repeated with such tedious iteration in the preceding paragraphs. The two seem to be in marked contrast, if not in absolute contradiction. Perhaps we have here the older tradition ; and certainly the latter utterance of the two is more in accordance with the general impression of the character, and with the other sayings, of Gotama as handed down in the Pali Pi/akas.
6o THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.
with him, to the Mahivana to the KM&g£ra Hall :
and when he had arrived there he addressed the
venerable Ananda, and said :
' Go now, Ananda, and assemble in the Service
Hall such of the brethren as reside in the neigh-
bourhood of Ves&li/
6 Even so, Lord/ said the venerable Ananda, in
assent, to the Blessed One. And when he had as-
sembled in the Service Hall such of the brethren as
resided in the neighbourhood of Ves&li, he went to
the Blessed One and saluted him and stood beside
him. And standing beside him, he addressed the
Blessed One, and said :
' Lord ! the assembly of the brethren has met
together. Let the Blessed One do even as seemeth
to him fit/
65. Then the Blessed One proceeded to the
Service Hall, and sat down there on the mat spread
out for him. And when he was seated the Blessed
One addressed the brethren, and said :
' Therefore, O brethren — ye to whom the truths
I have perceived have been made known by me —
having thoroughly made yourselves masters of
them, practise them, meditate upon them, and spread
them abroad ; in order that pure religion may last
long and be perpetuated, in order that it may con-
tinue to be for the good and happiness of the great
multitudes, out of pity for the world, to the good
and the gain and the weal of gods and men !
' Which then, O brethren, are the truths which,
when I had perceived, I made known to you, which,
when you have mastered it behoves you to practise,
meditate upon, and spread abroad, in order that pure
religion may last long and be perpetuated, in order
that it may continue to be for the good and the
happiness of the great multitudes, out of pity for
the world, to the good and the gain and the weal of
gods and men ? '
They are these :
The four earnest meditations.
The fourfold great struggle against sin.