The four roads to saintship.

The five moral powers.

The five organs of spiritual sense.

The seven kinds of wisdom, and

The noble eightfold path.
These, 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 !

66. And the Blessed One exhorted the brethren, and said :

* Behold now, O brethren, I exhort you, saying,
" All component things must grow old. Work out
your salvation with diligence. The final extinction
of the Tath&gata will take place before long. At
the end of three months from this time the Tatha-
gata will die ! "
4 My age is now full ripe, my life draws to its close :

I leave you, I depart, relying on myself alone !

Be earnest then, O brethren ! holy, full of thought !

Be steadfast in resolve ! Keep watch o'er your own hearts !

Who wearies not, but holds fast to this truth and law \

Shall cross this sea of life, shall make an end of grief/

End of the Third Portion for Recitation 2 .

1 Dhamma and vinaya. The Buddhist religion, as just summarised, and the regulations of the order.

2 It is of great interest to notice what are the points upon which Gotama, in this last address to his disciples, and at the solemn time when death was so near at hand, is reported to have lain such emphatic stress. Unfortunately we have only a fragment of the address, and, as it would seem from its commencement, only the closing fragment. This, however; is in the form of a summary, consisting of an enumeration of certain aggregates, the details of which must have been as familiar to the early Buddhists as the details of similar numerical terms — such as the ten command- ments, the twelve tribes, the seven deadly sins, the four gospels, and so on — afterwards were to the Christians. This summary of the Buddha's last address may fairly be taken as a summary of Buddhism, which thus appears to be simply a system of earnest self-culture and self-control.

The following are the details of the aggregate technical terms used in the above summary, but it will be understood that the English equivalents used give rather a general than an exact representation of the ideas expressed by the Pali ones. To attempt more would demand a treatise rather than a note, and it has given me peculiar pleasure to learn, as these sheets are passing through the press, that my friend Dr. Morris intends to devote a book to the treatment of these seven ' Jewels of the Law,' as the JTulIa Vagga calls them (IX, i, 4), which form, when united, the bright diadem of Nirvana.

The four Earnest Meditations (£att£ro Satipa//Mn£) are —

1. Meditation on the body.

2. Meditation on the sensations.

3. Meditation on the ideas.

4. Meditation on reason and character.

maha-parinibbAna-sutta.

The fourfold Great Struggle against sin is divided into £att£ro Samappadhana, which are —

1. The struggle to prevent sinfulness arising.

2. The struggle to put away sinful states which have arisen.

3. The struggle to produce goodness not previously existing.

4. The struggle to increase goodness when it does exist. The four Roads to Saintship are four means by which Iddhl (see

above, § 3, note) is to be acquired. They are the ^attiro Iddhipadd:

1. The will to acquire it united to earnest meditation and the struggle against sin.

2. The necessary exertion united to earnest meditation and the struggle against sin.

3. The necessary preparation of the heart united to earnest meditation and the struggle against sin.

4. Investigation united to earnest meditation and the struggle against sin.

The five moral powers (pa#£a Balani) are said to be the same as the next class, called organs (Indriyani). It is no doubt most remarkable that, in a summary like this, two classes out of seven should be absolutely identical except in name. The differ- ence of name is altogether too unimportant to account, by itself, for the distinction made. Either the currently accepted explanation of one of the two aggregate terms must be incorrect, or we must look for some explanation of the repetition other than the mere desire to record the double title. Is it impossible that the one class 'Was split into two to bring the number of the classes up to the sacred number seven, corresponding to the seven Ratanas of a -X'akkavatti?

The details of both classes are —

1. Faith. 2. Energy. 3. Thought. 4. Contemplation. 5. Wisdom.

The seven kinds of Wisdom (satta Bo^^anga) are —

1. Energy. 2. Thought. 3. Contemplation. , 4. Investiga- tion (of scripture). 5. Joy. 6. Repose. 7. Serenity.

The Noble Eightfold Path (ariyo a/Man giko Maggo) forms
the subject of the Dhamma-^akka-ppavattana-sutta, translated in this
volume, and consists of —

1. Right views. 2. High aims. 3. Right speech. 4. Upright conduct. 5. A harmless livelihood. 6. Perseverance in well-doing. 7. Intellectual activity. 8. Earnest thought.

Chapter IV.

1. Now the Blessed One early in the morning
robed himself, and taking his bowl, entered VesAli
for alms : and when he had passed through Vesili,
and had eaten his meal and was returning from his
alms-seeking he gazed at Ves&li with an elephant
look 1 and addressed the venerable Ananda, and said :
' This will be the last time, Ananda, that the
Tathigata will behold Ves&li. Come, Ananda, let
us go on to Bha/^a-gima.'

' Even so, Lord!' said the venerable Ananda, in assent, to the Blessed One.

And the Blessed One proceeded with a great
company of the brethren to Bha«^a-gima ; and
there the Blessed One stayed in the village itself.

2. There the Blessed One addressed the bre-
thren, and said : ' It is through not understanding
and grasping four truths 2 , O brethren, that we have
had to run so long, to wander so long in this weary
path of transmigration — both you and 1/

' And what are these four ? The noble conduct of
life, the noble earnestness in meditation, the noble
kind of wisdom, and the noble salvation of freedom.
But when noble conduct is realised and known,
when noble meditation is realised and known, when
noble wisdom is realised and known, when noble

1 Nigapalokitaw Ves^liyaw apaloketva\ The Buddhas were accustomed, says Buddhaghosa, on looking backwards to turn the whole body round as an elephant does ; because the bones in their neck were firmly fixed, more so than those of ordinary men !

2 Or Conditions (Dhammd). They must, of course, be care-
fully distinguished from the better known Four Noble Truths
(Sa^dni) above, Chap. II, § 2.

mahA-parinibbAna-sutta.

freedom is realised and known — then is the craving
for existence rooted out, that which leads to re-
newed existence is destroyed, and there is no more
birth/

3. Thus spake the Blessed One ; and when the
Happy One had thus spoken, then again the
teacher said 1 :

' Righteousness, earnest thought, wisdom, and

freedom sublime —
These are the truths realised by Gotama, far-
renowned.

Knowing. them, he, the knower, proclaimed the

truth to the brethren. The master with eye divine, the quencher of

griefs, must die!'

4. There too, while staying at Bha#a?a-gfima, the
Blessed One held that comprehensive religious dis-
course with the brethren on the nature of upright
conduct, and of earnest contemplation, and of intel-
ligence. ' Great is the fruit, great the advantage of
earnest contemplation when set round with upright
conduct. Great is the fruit, great the advantage of
intellect when set round with earnest contemplation.

1 This is merely a stock phrase for introducing verses which repeat the idea of the preceding phrase (see above, paragraph 32). It is an instructive sign of the state of mind in which such records are put together, that these verses could be ascribed to Gotama himself without any feeling of the incongruity involved. The last word means, completely gone out; and here refers to the ex- tinction of kilesa and ta»h£, which will bring about, inevitably, the extinction of being. Compare the passage quoted by Burnouf in Lotus de la Bonne Loi, p. 376. Probably the whole stanza formerly stood in some other connection, where the word parinibbuto had its more usual sense. See Buddhaghosa's note on IV, 23.

The mind set round with intelligence is freed from
the great evils — that is to say, from sensuality, from
individuality, from delusion, and from ignorance/

5. Now when the Blessed One had remained at
Bha#a?a-gama as long as he desired, he addressed
the venerable Ananda, and said : ' Come, Ananda,
let us go on to Hatthi-gama/

' Even so, Lord ! ' said Ananda, in assent, to the Blessed One.

Then the Blessed One proceeded with a great company of the brethren to Hatthi-gfima.

6. [And in similar words it is then related how
the Blessed One went on to Amba-gima, to Gambu-
gima, and to Bhoga-nagara.]

7. Now there at Bhoga-nagara the Blessed One stayed at the Ananda Aetiya.

There the Blessed One addressed the brethren,
and said : ' 1 will teach you, O brethren, these four
Great References \ Listen thereto, and give good
heed, and I will speak.'

' Even so, Lord ! ' said the brethren, in assent 2 , to

1 The meaning of mahapadesa is not quite clear. Perhaps it should be rendered true authorities. I have followed Buddha- ghosa in taking apadesa as the last part of the compound. He says, mahdpadesd ti mahi-okise mahd-apadese vL Bud- dh&dayo mahante mahante apadisitva* vutt&ni mah&- k&ra«£ni ti attho, 'the causes (authorities) alleged when referring to Buddha and other great men/

2 I ought perhaps to have explained why I have ventured to differ from Childers in the rendering of the common word pa/i- suwati. The root sru seems to have meant 'to sound' before it meant 'to hear;' and, whether this be so or not, pa/i-su*&ti means not simply 'to consent/ but 'to answer (assentingly).' It

mahA-parinibbAna-sutta.

the Blessed One, and the Blessed One spoke as follows :

8. 'In the first place, brethren, a brother may
say thus : " From the mouth of the Blessed One
himself have I heard, from his own mouth have I
received it. This is the truth, this the law, this the
teaching of the Master." The word spoken, bre-
thren, by that brother should neither be received
with praise nor treated with scorn. Without praise
and without scorn every word and syllable should
be carefully understood, and then put beside the
scripture and compared with the rules of the
order 1 . If when so compared they do not har-
monise with the scripture, and do not fit in with the
rules of the order, then you may come to the con-
clusion, " Verily, this is not the word of the Blessed
One, and has been wrongly grasped by that
brother?" Therefore, brethren, you should reject
it. But if they harmonise with the scripture and
fit in with the rules of the order, then you may
come to the conclusion, " Verily, this is the word of
the Blessed One, and has been well grasped by
that brother." This, brethren, you should receive
as the first Great Reference.

9. * Again, brethren, a brother may say thus :
"In such and such a dwelling-place there is a com-
pany of the brethren with their elders and leaders.
From the mouth of that company have I heard,

has been pointed out to me that answer was formerly 'and- swerian/ where swerian is probably not unrelated to the root svar, * to sound/

1 Sutte otaretabbani vinaye sandassetabba'ni, where one
would expect to find the word Pi/aka if it had been in use when
this passage was first written or composed.

68 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.

face to face have I received it. This is the truth,
this the law, this the teaching of the Master." The
word spoken, brethren, by that brother should
neither be received with praise nor treated with
scorn. Without praise and without scorn every
word and syllable should be carefully understood,
and then put beside the scripture and compared
with the rules of the order. If when so compared
they do not harmonise with the scripture, and do
not fit in with the rules of the order, then you may
come to the conclusion, "Verily, this is not the
word of the Blessed One, and has been wrongly
grasped by that company of the brethren." There-
fore, brethren, you should reject it. But if they
harmonise with the scripture and fit in with the
rules of the order, then you may come to the con-
clusion, "Verily, this is the word of the Blessed One,
and has been well grasped by that company of the
brethren." This, brethren, you should receive as
the second Great Reference.

jo. 'Again, brethren, a brother may say thus:
"In such and such a dwelling-place there are
dwelling many elders of the order, deeply read,
holding the faith as handed down by tradition,
versed in the truths, versed in the regulations of
the order, versed in the summaries of the doctrines
and the law. From the mouth of those elders have
I heard, from their mouth have I received it
This is the truth, this the law, this the teaching of
the Master." The word spoken, brethren, by that
brother should neither be received with praise nor
treated with scorn. Without praise and without
scorn every word and syllable should be carefully
understood, and then put beside the scripture and

compared with the rules of the order. If when so
compared they do not harmonise with the scripture,
and do not fit in with the rules of the order, then
you may come to the conclusion, "Verily, this is
not the word of the Blessed One, and has been
wrongly grasped by those elders." Therefore, bre-
thren, you should reject it. But if they harmonise
with the scripture and fit in with the rules of the
order, then you may come to the conclusion,
"Verily, this is the word of the Blessed One, and
has been well grasped by those elders." This,
brethren, you should receive as the third Great
Reference.

ii. 'Again, brethren, a brother may say, "In
such and such a dwelling-place there is there living
a brother, deeply read, holding the faith as handed
down by tradition, versed in the truths, versed in
the regulations of the order, versed in the sum-
maries of the doctrines and the law. From the
mouth of that elder have I heard, from his mouth
have I received it. This is the truth, this the law,
this the teaching of the Master." The word spoken,
brethren, by that brother should neither be received
with praise nor treated with scorn. Without praise
and without scorn every word and syllable should
be carefully understood, and then put beside the
scripture and compared with the rules of the
order. If when so compared they do not har-
monise with the scripture, and do not fit in with the
rules of the order, then you may come to the
conclusion, "Verily, this is not the word of the
Blessed One, and has been wrongly grasped
by that brother." Therefore, brethren, you should
reject it. But if they harmonise with the scripture