Part 35

Fā-hien (chap. xxiii) alludes to the building of the eight Stūpas, and adds that king Aṡoka destroyed them, and in their place built 84,000 others—one for the conservation of each atom of the elements of the Buddha’s body; the belief being that the bodies of all human beings consist of that number of elementary particles (see p. 423). The eight-fold division is described in ‘Buddhist Suttas,’ pp. 133-136 (S. B. E. vol. xi).

It appears probable that the earliest relics of his burnt body held in honour were his teeth; and of these again the most celebrated seem to have been his four eye-teeth. One of the four is said to have been appropriated by the gods and another by the Nāgas, while the third was taken to Gāndhāra in the north-west, and the fourth to Kaliṅga in the south-east.

The first two eye-teeth have only mythical histories, and little is recorded of the third, but the fourth has gone through a series of terrestrial adventures, which have been much written about and would fill several volumes. One of the immediate followers of Gautama is said to have gained possession of it on the occasion of the eight-fold distribution of the great sage’s relics (p. 499), and to have conveyed it to a place afterwards called Danta-pura, ‘tooth-city[264],’ the capital of Kaliṅga (Orissa), where it is believed to have remained undisturbed for about 800 years. After that period it was seized, at the instigation of some Brāhmans, by a powerful Hindū king who reigned at Pāṭaliputra. Its vicissitudes and adventures for centuries afterwards were very varied. It was conveyed surreptitiously to Ceylon about the year 311 of our era by a princess of Kaliṅga, who concealed it in her hair. There it remained till 1315, when it was carried back to Southern India. After a time it was taken back to Kandy in Ceylon. Next it was seized by the Portuguese and carried off to Goa. Thence it was transported to Pegu, and finally the precious tooth-relic (dāṭhā-dhātu), or at least some imitation of it, was restored to the good people of Kandy, where it is still preserved by them as a veritable Palladium, with every possible precaution against further outrage, although under the protecting ægis of our government its security ought not any longer to be matter of anxiety.

Every native of Ceylon (Laṅkā), whether Buddhist or Hindū, seems to feel that the welfare of his country depends on its careful conservation. At any rate the Sinhalese have placed their tooth-temple—called Dalada Māligāwa—in the loveliest part of their beautiful island (see p. 454), amid richly wooded hills, from which may be obtained some of the most enchanting views in the world. The eye-tooth is in appearance like a piece of discoloured ivory about two inches[265] long, and one inch across in the thickest part. Indeed, all the supposed relics of the Buddha’s body, and the dress and implements he used, are of such a size as to make his worshippers believe that his stature far exceeded that of ordinary men.

The tooth is enclosed in nine bell-shaped, jewelled golden cases, one within the other, each locked by a key, and each key consigned to the custody of a separate official. The interior cases increase in costliness till the most highly jewelled of all is reached, and within this on a golden lotus lies the relic. When I visited the tooth-temple in 1877, the cases were kept within iron bars in a dimly-lighted shrine—redolent with flower-offerings which exhaled an overpowering perfume—and in the very centre of the buildings of the temple. When the Prince of Wales visited Kandy in 1876, all the officials assembled to unlock the cases and exhibit the treasured relic.

A detailed account of the tooth is given in a book called Dalada-vaṉṡa or Dāṭhā-vaṉṡa, said to have been written originally in ancient Sinhalese (Elu) about the year 310 of our era, and translated into the sacred Pāli about the year 1200. This book has been rendered into English by the late Sir Coomāra Swāmy. The tooth is also described in many other Pāli and Sinhalese books, including the Mahā-vaṉṡa.

And here it may be remarked that one feature of the Buddha’s relics was that they gave forth on special occasions celestial light, and had the power of working miracles. Sometimes a reverent circumambulation of the shrine which contained the relics was believed to be sufficiently efficacious in stimulating their miraculous powers. Sometimes they were taken out and exhibited. The following extract from Fā-hien reminds one of what takes place at Kandy in the present day:—

In the city of He-lo (the present Hiḍḍa, west of Peshawar) there is the flat-bone of Buddha’s skull, deposited in a Vihāra adorned all over with gold-leaf and the seven sacred substances. The king of the country revering the bone, and anxious lest it should be stolen, has selected eight individuals representing great families, and committed to each a seal with which he should seal the shrine and guard the relic. At early dawn these men come, and after each has inspected his seal, they open the door. This done they wash their hands with scented water, and bring out the bone, which they place on a lofty platform, where it is supported on a pedestal of the seven precious substances. The king every morning makes his offerings and performs his worship. The chiefs of the Vaiṡyas also make their offerings. Then they replace the bone in the Vihāra, under a Stūpa of the seven precious substances (p. 528 of this volume) more than five cubits high (Legge, pp. 36-38, abridged).

Fā-hien records a similar exhibition of the Buddha’s alms-bowl in the country near Peshawar:—

When it is mid-day they bring out the bowl and make offerings to it. It may contain about two pecks, and it has a bright lustre. When poor people throw into it a few flowers, it becomes full. If the rich throw in myriads of flowers, they are not able to fill it.

He states that the Buddha’s robe was also brought out to be worshipped:—

When there is a drought the people collect in crowds, bring out the robe, pay worship to it and make offerings, on which there is immediately a great rain from the sky (Legge, pp. 35, 39, abridged).

The relics of all great saints in Buddhist countries were revered in a similar manner. At the same time it ought to be noted that the periodical exhibition of relics, before the eyes of worshippers, was not a usual occurrence (as it is in Roman Catholic countries). Indeed, as a general rule, the custom seems to have been to shield the ashes and remains of revered dead bodies from observation and liability to be touched. Hence they were commonly sealed up hermetically, as it were, in the interior of receptacles which effectually concealed them from view and protected them from disturbance.

And this leads us to advert to the form and character of Buddhist relic-receptacles.

It is probable that at a very early period, and even before the Buddha’s time, the Hindūs were accustomed to raise heaps or tumuli over the ashes of kings, great men, saints and sages, just as even to this day among the Sikhs of the Panjāb, the ashes of great men are so honoured. Some think that the hemispherical dome-like form of the tumulus was intended to represent a bubble—the most transitory of all material objects. In all likelihood the dome of the Sāñchī Stūpa—which is thought to be as old as the time of Buddha—was constructed in memory of some great man.

Such heaps were at first generally called Ćaityas, and afterwards Stūpas (from the Sanskṛit roots ći and styai, meaning ‘to heap together’); but Ćaitya ultimately denoted a relic-structure in an assembly-hall (see p. 450), while the word Stūpa denoted one in the open air. Then inside the Ćaitya or Stūpa (Pāli Thūpa, corrupted into Tope) there was a casket—made of silver, gold, stone, earthenware, etc.—in which were deposited the ashes, fragments of bone, or the teeth or nails of the deceased. And this relic-casket was called in Sanskṛit Dhātu-garbha, or in Pāli Dāgaba (corrupted into Dagoba and afterwards into Pagoda)—that is, a repository of the elementary particles of which all bodies are composed.

Then in time the word Dāgaba (Pagoda) denoted the monument as well as the relic-casket. Moreover Ćaityas and Stūpas were often mere pyramidal structures, enshrining images or marking important events (see p. 390), but not containing relics. Among the Hindūs Ćaitya often denotes the sacred village-tree planted on a mound.

(Date about ninth or tenth century of our era.)

The process by which the simple Ćaitya or mound developed into more elaborate structures is remarkable. First came erections of stone or brick, generally bell-shaped or domed like bee-hives. These again expanded into elongated pyramidal structures, springing from cylindrical or octagonal or hexagonal bases, and ornamented with images of Gautama, and resting on plinth-like foundations, the summits tapering into finials consisting of three, or seven, or nine, or eleven, or even fifteen tiers of umbrella-shaped ornaments (see note, p. 393).

Then, again, in time, these elaborate Dāgabas expanded into vast Pagodas of enormous height, as, for example, the Rangoon Pagoda (see p. 456) and that at Anurādha-pura in Ceylon.

It is doubtful whether in early Buddhism Ćaityas and Stūpas were ever empty monuments or cenotaphs. Probably all of them contained ashes, fragments of bone, teeth, or hair, though in some cases the most careful examination has failed to discover the vessel in which they were deposited. If made of fragile materials, it rapidly crumbled into dust. But Stūpas, even without relics, were themselves objects of reverence.

In the later period of Buddhism the practice of carving, or moulding mere memorial or votive Stūpas, and dedicating them at sacred spots became common. The examples of this kind of Stūpa which I saw unearthed at Buddha-Gayā have been described (p. 397).

The engraving opposite to this page is a copy of one of these votive Stūpas which I procured for the Indian Institute through Mr. Beglar.

At Mandalay there is a large Pagoda with about 620 smaller ones round it (in rows of six or seven deep). Each small Pagoda enshrines a tablet—exposed to view—on which some portion of the Law is engraved. Many small Pagodas are simply canopies of brick or some solid material erected over images.

Outside the Buddhist convent near Dārjīling, when I visited it in 1884, a monk was roughly moulding a number of small votive Stūpas in clay, with which he was probably mixing the powdered bones of some deceased Lāma. Here is a copy of one exactly the size of the original:—

If broken open, a terra-cotta seal, inscribed with some sacred formula, would probably be found inside.

Of course most of the Buddha’s chief disciples, such as Sāriputta, Maudgalyāyana, Kāṡyapa, Ānanda, Upāli, each had Stūpas erected over their relics.

_Sacred Foot-prints._

Next in importance to the worship of relics is that of foot-prints (Sanskṛit Ṡrī-pada or Ṡrī-pāda). Everywhere throughout Buddhist countries the supposed impressions of the Buddha’s feet are as much honoured as those of the god Vishṇu are by Vaishṇavas.

When Fā-hien reached Gṛidhra-kūṭa (see pp. 404, 406), he is said to have used words to the following effect: ‘I, Fā-hien, was born when I could not meet with Buddha, and now I only see the foot-prints which he has left’ (Legge, 83).

It is well known that the practice of bowing down and honouring the feet is a thoroughly Asiatic custom. The idea seems to be derived from a kind of _a fortiori_ argument. If the feet, as the lowest member of the body, are honoured, how much more is homage rendered to the whole man. Hence children honour their parents, not by kissing their faces, but by prostrating themselves at their feet and touching them reverentially. Another reason for venerating the feet is well expressed in one of our hymns:—

O let me see Thy foot-marks, And in them plant my own;

and in Longfellow’s

Foot-prints on the sands of time; Foot-prints which perhaps another, Sailing o’er life’s solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing may take life again.

This shows that even Europeans are familiar with the idea. There is a Roman Catholic church at Vienna which possesses a celebrated image of Christ on the Cross. On one occasion I visited this church and observed several worshippers kissing the feet of the image, while others—too short in stature to reach it with their lips—touched its feet with their fingers and then kissed their fingers. A similar honour is paid to the images of St. Peter at Rome, and indeed to that Apostle’s living representatives. The alleged foot-prints of Christ are not numerous, but they exist in certain holy places[266].

Every sentiment in the East is exaggerated, and it need not therefore be matter of wonder if a veneration for foot-prints has led to an excessive multiplication of these symbols, and to an excess of superstitious worship paid to them by Hindūs of various sects in every part of India. No true Vaishṇava will leave his house in the morning without marking his forehead with the symbol of Vishṇu’s feet. In travelling from one place to another I often came across what appeared to be an empty shrine, but on a close inspection I found that it contained two foot-prints on a little raised altar made of stone. These are called Pādukā ‘shoes,’ but are really the supposed impressions of the soles of the feet of the person to whom the shrines are dedicated. In 1876 I visited the celebrated Vishṇu-pad temple at Gayā. Crowds were worshipping the foot-mark impressed on the bare stone, but concealed by offerings, and surrounded by a silver fence under a silver canopy (see ‘Brāhmanism and Hindūism,’ p. 309).

It is true that Buddhists never imitate the practice of the worshippers of Vishṇu by marking their foreheads with the supposed impressions of the Buddha’s feet, but they will nevertheless make long and toilsome pilgrimages to bow down before what they believe to be the impression of his foot on a rock.

The Jainas, who are the only Hindū representatives of the Buddhistic system left in India, are quite as ardent foot-print worshippers. In 1884 I ascended Mount Pārasnāth (Pārṡva-nāth) in Bengal at the same time with crowds of Jaina pilgrims who, like myself, toiled up the hill to visit the numerous Jaina temples scattered over the uneven surface at the summit, some five thousand feet above the plain. Our objects were very different. Theirs was the acquisition of merit, mine was the acquirement of knowledge. Lepers lined the rough pathway, and much additional merit was held to accrue to the pilgrims by distributing alms among them. I found that nearly every shrine at the summit consisted of a little domed canopy of marble, covering two foot-prints of some one of the twenty-four Jaina saints (especially Pārṡva-nāth) impressed on a marble altar. The soles of the supposed foot-prints were either white or black and marked with small gilded circles.

Groups of worshippers bowed down before the shrines and deposited offerings of money, rice, almonds, raisins, and spices on the foot-marks. No sooner did they quit one shrine for the next, than a troop of frolicking monkeys promptly took their place and scampered off with the edible portion of the objects offered.

It is impossible to state positively when either Buddhism or Jainism first introduced foot-print worship, but the practice must have begun very early.

With regard to this point General Sir A. Cunningham, in his account of the Bharhut Stūpa—a Stūpa which dates from the second century B.C.—says:—

Foot-prints of Buddha were most probably an object of reverence from a very early period—certainly before the building of the Bharhut Stūpa—as they are represented in two separate sculptures there. In the first sculpture the foot-prints are placed on a throne or altar, canopied by an umbrella, hung with garlands. A royal personage is kneeling before the altar, and reverently touching the foot-prints with his hands. The second example is in the bas-relief representing the visit of Ajāta-ṡatru to Buddha. Here, as in all other Bharhut sculptures, Buddha does not appear in person, his presence being marked by his two foot-prints. The wheel symbol is duly marked on both (p. 112, abridged).

The General justly remarks that perhaps the worship of the Buddha’s foot-prints may have sprung up in imitation of the homage alleged to have been paid by Mahā-Kāṡyapa and 500 monks to his feet, which, it is said, were exposed to view when his body was lying on the funeral pile. The legend states that while the monks were in the act of bowing down in adoration before the feet, the funeral pile ignited spontaneously.

On one of the gate-pillars of the ancient Sāñchī Stūpa there is a sculpture of a foot-print marked with the wheel (Ćakra, p. 522) symbol, which the late Mr. Fergusson ascribed to the early part of the first century of the Christian era.

There are also sculptured representations of the Buddha’s foot-prints at Amarāvatī, supposed to date from the second or third century of the Christian era. These representations are often carved on so-called altars or else placed before altars.

But of all foot-prints, that on Adam’s Peak (the highest mountain in Ceylon, more than 7000 feet above the sea), supposed to have been left by the Buddha when he ascended thence to heaven, is the most celebrated.

According to Fā-hien (Legge, p. 102), when Buddha was in Ceylon he planted one foot on the north of the royal city and the other on Sumana-Kūṭa (Adam’s Peak), fifteen yojanas, or about a hundred miles, distant.

This fancied impression of the Buddha’s foot (believed by Christians to be that of St. Thomas, by Muhammadans to be that of Adam, and by Hindūs to be that of the god Ṡiva) is merely a shapeless hollow in the rock, five feet seven inches long by two feet seven inches broad, which would give the Buddha a stature of about thirty-five feet. It is said to have been discovered by a hunter at the beginning of the century before Christ, and, although very difficult of access, is annually visited by about 100,000 Buddhist pilgrims. Near it, on the summit of the mountain, is a small temple dedicated to Saman (p. 217).

In a shrine near the tooth-temple at Kandy, I saw a so-called facsimile of this foot-print. Those who are physically incapable of toiling up the mountain to bow down before the sacred impression on the rock, gain nearly as much merit by worshipping its copy. The shrine was filled with fragrant flowers recently deposited on the facsimile.

Other foot-prints in various places throughout India, Burma, Siam, Tibet, Mongolia, and China, are from two to five feet long. A tradition is mentioned by Fā-hien (Legge, 29) that, when Buddha visited Northern India, he came to the country of Woo-chang or Udyāna, and there he left a print of his foot, which appears long or short according to the ideas of the beholders.

Another legend states that Buddha left the print of his left foot on Adam’s Peak, and then, in one stride, strode across to Siam, where he left the impression of his right foot.

The Siamese hold their foot-print in as much reverence as the Sinhalese hold theirs. It is called Phra Bat, and, according to Mr. Alabaster, its appearance is like that of the foot-print on Adam’s Peak. Nothing is to be seen but a hole in the rock, about five feet long by two broad. A temple is built over it, and every precaution taken to protect it from over-zealous worshippers. Mr. Alabaster thus describes his visit to this sacred spot:—

The grating which usually covers the foot-print was removed to enable us to see the bottom, but the temple was so dark that we could not see much of it. We moved aside some of the offerings lying on it, but could see nothing of the pattern except the five marks of the toe-nails—five grooves in the rock—which some declare to have been made with chisels. On inquiry we were told that the other marks were long ago destroyed by an accidental fire. Likeness to a foot there is none. Yet to this holy foot-print year after year crowds of Siamese flock with varied offerings, and even the most enlightened amongst them—the late King for instance—have observed and encouraged the practice. (‘Wheel of the Law,’ p. 284, abridged.)

The soles of the Buddha’s feet are represented as quite flat, and all the toes of equal length. Each sole possesses, as we have seen (p. 20), one hundred and eight auspicious marks (maṅgala-lakkhaṇa), and of these the principal is generally the wheel (Ćakra), while around it are grouped representations of animals, inhabitants of various worlds, and symbols of different kinds. In all probability the idea is that all things are subject to the Buddha or belong to him; they are therefore metaphorically placed under his feet. (Compare the metaphor in Psalm viii. 6-8.)

The one hundred and eight marks vary in various specimens. A good typical example (brought from Burma) of the impression of one foot may be seen in the British Museum. The sole is divided into compartments, each compartment containing a mark. There are five conch-shells, one in each of the five toes, this symbol being highly esteemed by Buddhists as well as by Hindūs.

Among the one hundred and eight auspicious marks on the Siamese foot-print are the following:—A spear, trident (tri-ratna), book, elephant-goad, Indra’s elephant, dragon (makara), ocean, golden ship, water with lotuses, conch-shell, four-faced Brahmā, umbrella, king of Nāgas, king of horses, of tigers, of birds, sun, moon, ten mountains, peacock, flag of victory, deer, fish, water-jar. The wheel (Ćakra) does not occur in Mr. Alabaster’s list (‘Wheel of the Law,’ p. 290), but the two feet of the Amarāvatī Stūpa, described by Mr. Fergusson, have a wheel in the centre of the soles. Above is the Tri-ratna emblem with a Svastika symbol on each side. There are other Svastika marks, and others on the toes (see p. 523).

The Skanda-Purāṇa and Bhāgavata-Purāṇa give similar lists of marks on the sole of Vishṇu’s foot.

_Sacred Trees._

We now pass on to a brief consideration of sacred trees. Most persons are aware that the homage offered to trees and plants is not confined to Buddhism. It existed very early in Brāhmanism and is still common everywhere throughout India (see my ‘Brāhmanism and Hindūism,’ p. 330).

In point of fact various forms of tree-worship prevail at the present moment in almost every part of the world where superstition and ignorance are ruling influences. Nor can we really condemn, as either unnatural or unreasonable, the feeling of veneration with which trees are generally regarded, bearing in mind the grateful shade and shelter which they afford, the beauty of their foliage, their importance as purifiers of the atmosphere, and the hundreds of useful purposes to which their wood, leaves, and fruit are applicable. According to Dr. E. B. Tylor (‘Primitive Culture,’ ii. 223), the North American Indians of the Far West often hang offerings on the trees to propitiate the spirits and procure good weather and good hunting. He adds that Mr. Darwin describes the South Americans as doing much the same.

In Persia and other Eastern Countries trees may often be met with, the branches of which have been recently hung with offerings of cloth, rags, and even garments.

In India the notion of trees being inhabited by deities or semi-divine beings or spirits is to this day very common, and we have already noted (p. 112) that during the period of Gautama’s Bodhi-sattvaship, in the course of which he had to undergo countless births in preparation for his Buddhahood, he was born forty-three times as a tree-god.