..续本文上一页any injury to the Buddha

　　A. Not the least, but the evil he plotted against him recoiled upon himself, and he met with an awful death.

　　94. Q. For how many years was the Buddha engaged in teaching

　　A. Forty-five years, during which time he preached a great many discourses. His custom and that of his

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　　disciples was to travel and preach during the eight dry months, but during the season of Wâs—the rains—he and they would stop in the pânsulas and vihâras which had been built for them by various kings and other wealthy converts.

　　95. Q. Which were the most famous of these buildings

　　A. Jetavanârama; Veluvanârâma; Pubbârâma; Nigrodârâma and Isipatanârâma.

　　96. A. What kind of people were converted by him and his disciples

　　A. People of all ranks, nations and castes; rajas and coolies, rich and poor, mighty and humble, the illiterate and the most learned. His doctrine was suited to all.

　　97. Q. Give some account of the decease of the Buddha

　　A. In the forty-fifth season after his attaining Buddhahood, on the full-moon day of May, knowing that his end was near, he came at evening to Kusinâgâra, a place about one hundred and twenty miles from Benares. In the sâla grove of the Mallas, the Uparvartana

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　　of Kusinâgâra, between two sâla trees, he had his bedding spread with the head towards the north according to the ancient custom. He lay upon it, and with his mind perfectly clear, gave his final instructions to his disciples and bade them farewell.

　　98. Q. Did he also make new converts in those last hours

　　A. Yes, a very important one, a great Brâhmaṇ paṇ.dit named Subhâdra. He had also preached to the Mallya princes and their followers.

　　99. Q. At daybreak what happened

　　A. He passed into the interior condition of Samâdhi and thence into Nirvâṇa.

　　100. Q. What were his last words to his disciples

　　A. "Bhikkhus," he said, "I now impress it upon you, the parts and powers of man must be dissolved. Work out your salvation with diligence."

　　101. Q. What convincing proof have we that the Buddha, formerly Prince Siddhartha, was a historical personage

　　A. His existence is apparently as clearly proved as that of any other character of ancient history.

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　　102. Q. Name some of the proofs

　　A. (1) The testimony of those who personally knew him.

　　(2.) The discovery of places and the remains of buildings mentioned in the narrative of his time.

　　(3) The rock-inscriptions, pillars and dagobas made in memory of him by sovereigns who were near enough to his time to be able to verify the story of his life.

　　(4) The unbroken existence of the Sangha which he founded, and their possession of the facts of his life transmitted from generation to generation from the beginning.

　　(5) The fact that in the very year of his death and at various times subsequently, conventions and councils of the Sangha were held, for the verification of the actual teachings of the Founder, and the handing down of those verified teachings from teacher to pupil, to the present day.

　　(3) After his cremation his relics were pided among eight kings and a stûpa was erected over each portion. The portion given to King Ajâtasatru, and by him covered with a stûpa at Râjagriha, was taken, less

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　　than two centuries later, by the Emperor Asoka and distributed throughout his Empire. He, of course, had ample means of knowing whether the relics were those of the Buddha or not, since they had been in charge of the royal house of Patna from the beginning.

　　(7) Many of the Buddha”s disciples, being Arahats and thus having control over their vital powers, must have lived to great ages, and there was n…

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