kingdom. The quarrel between the father and the CHAPTER III. son was also widened by religious antagonism. Vimbasara had renounced the religion of the Bráhmans, and become an early convert to that of

Sakya Muni. Accordingly Ajata-satru identified

himself with the cause of the Bráhmans, who were naturally hostile to Raja Vimbasara.

Buddhist as

At this juncture a somewhat similar breach was Breach in the created in the assembly of Sákya Muni. Deva-sembly. datta, a brother of Sákya Muni's wife, had long been a monk; but he leaned to the practices of the Brahmans, and formed the design of founding an independent assembly of his own. Accordingly, as Vimbasara had been the leading patron of Sákya Muni, Devadatta ingratiated himself with Ajatasatru; and by the aid of this prince he set up a Vihára of his own, where he was soon joined by numerous disciples.

satru the parricide, and the

Devadatta.

An unholy compact was now formed between Legend of AjataDevadatta, the schismatic monk, and Ajata-satru, the rebellious prince, which is only dimly indicated in the legend. The prince is said to have been advised by the monk to compass the death of his father; and this horrible parricide was accomplished under circumstances of extreme ferocity. The old Raja was thrown into confinement, and starved to death. Ajata-satru then ascended the throne of Magadha, but found himself exposed to enemies on every side. The popular feeling was strongly aroused against him, not only on account of his parricide, but also because he had espoused the cause of the recreant monk, Devadatta. In the first instance he had been induced by Devadatta to attempt the life of Sákya Muni; and had actually sent

At

CHAPTER III. a body of archers for that purpose; but the archers refused to obey orders, which would have stained their hands with the blood of so holy a man. last Ajata-satru appears to have been either terrified by his unpopularity, or suffering from the pangs of remorse; whilst at the same time he was probably sick of his advocacy of the cause of Devadatta against his religious master. Accordingly he sacrificed Devadatta, and made his peace with Sákya Muni. According to the legend Devadatta was transfixed in hell on bars of red-hot iron; but in all probability he was literally crucified by order of Ajata-satru.

42

Whilst the kingdom was torn by internal commotion, it was exposed to the assault of its ancient enemy, the Raja of Kosala. Prasa-najit, whose sister had been married to the murdered Vimbasara, was naturally aroused at the violent death of his brother-in-law; and at once seized possession of the disputed territory of Srávastí. But the reconciliation of Ajata-satru to Sákya Muni was followed by so strong a revulsion of feeling in his favour, that he soon drove Prasa-najit out of Srávastí. Indeed from Empire estab the day of reconciliation Ajata-satru commenced a career of victory, which enabled him to conquer all the neighbouring powers, and ultimately to annex the whole of Kosala and Vaisali to his old dominions.43

lished by Ajatasatru.

Sákya Muni might now perhaps have passed his declining years in pious tranquillity under the protection of this powerful Raja. The religion which

42 Crucifixion was until very lately the Burmese punishment for heresy. It has now, it is hoped, been brought to a conclusion through the spirited remonstrance of the British government.

43 Bigandet's Life of Gaudama, pages 252, 361; Hardy's Manual, page 285.

Latter years of

he taught presented powerful attractions in an age CHAPTER III. of political unrest; and whilst the masses were con- Sakya Muni. soled by the hope of a happier life in a future existence, many a ruined man was eager to bury his hopes and joys in the welcome seclusion of the Vihára, and ponder over the means by which he might sever every tie which bound him to this transitory existence. Moreover, Sákya Muni seems to have enjoyed not only the respect and veneration of many of his disciples, but the most ardent attachment; and for many years a faithful monk, named Ananda, whose memory is still revered throughout the world of Buddhism, had devoted his whole life to personal attendance upon his aged master. But an impatience of his strict monastic discipline and despotic rule seems to have been springing up in the hearts many of his priests, and he was too often disturbed by cavilling and dissension. Then again,

of

although verging on his eightieth year, and as eloquent as ever in declaiming upon the miseries of existence, he seems to have been reluctant to leave the world. This no doubt arose from the natural reluctance of the old man to die; a reluctance which is common to all humanity, and which neither religion nor philosophy can entirely overcome, until the mind is convinced that the end is inevitable. Possibly, however, Sákya Muni foresaw the strife and trouble which would follow his departure. His anxiety upon this point was indeed deeply touching. He said to his disciples:-" When I am gone, do not say that Buddha has departed from you; for so long as you keep my law, so long you will have Buddha with you."

At this period Sákya Muni lost two of his older

favourite disciples.

CHAPTER III. priests, whom he had always regarded with peculiar Death of two favour, because they had been originally Bráhmans, and had deserted their Brahmanical preceptor in order to embrace the three gems. One died peacefully in his old age; but the other was brutally murdered by assassins, who are said to have been hired by the Tirthakaras. The last event created much excitement amongst the disciples. They naturally asked what crime so good a priest had committed to justify such a horrible death. They were told in reply that in a former life he had taken his parents into the jungle, and left them to perish; and that his death in the present existence had been a fitting punishment for such an atrocious deed. Raja Ajata-satru exacted a terrible revenge, by ordering both the murderers and their instigators to be buried in the earth up to the waist, and then burnt alive. Sákya Muni however bitterly felt the loss; and it is said that his last public act was to order stupas, or memorial mounds, to be raised over the relics of the two elders; the one at the entrance to the Vilára near Srávastí, and the other at the entrance to the Vilára near Rajagriha.

Alleged origin of the com

relics.

It is difficult to say whether this commemoration memoration of of relics was introduced by Sákya Muni, or originated in a later age. Either way it has formed for centuries an important element in the religion of Buddha, and is thus invested with a deep significance. Man must worship: it is an instinct of humanity. It is a healthy aspiration of the soul to seek out some ideal of goodness, beauty, or power, whom it may propitiate or adore. This aspiration Sákya Muni sought to stifle, by ignoring all deity. But he could not root it out of the human heart; and

it accordingly found a vent in reverence for his own CHAPTER III. memory, and that of his more illustrious priests. Thus bits of bone, teeth, and other nameless relics are treasured up as memorials of Buddhist saints; and countless images of Sákya Muni are to be found of every size throughout the world of Buddhism, from tiny figures carried in the hand, to colossal statues of enormous height. This may be worship, but it is not idolatry. The images are not gods, but mere memorials of the great teacher and enlightener; and the reverence paid to them is but a development of that religion of the affections, without which devotion itself will soon harden into a cold and fossil creed."

Muni.

The narrative of the death of Sákya Muni, or, to Death of Sakya use the language of Buddhism, the circumstances under which his soul entered Nirvána, are startling from their extreme simplicity. He was journeying through the country of Kosala, when a pious worshipper put a roast sucking-pig into his alms-bowl; and the old apostle is said to have partaken so freely of the rich food, that it brought on an internal complaint which proved fatal. He was taken very ill on the road, and a couch was prepared for him under a tree. There he passed a night of severe suffering, but continued to exhort his disciples to the last, and

According to the legend of the life of Gótama, he is said to have himself originated this reverence for relics at an early period of his teaching, by giving eight of the hairs from his head to some merchants who had come from Burma. The merchants are said to have received these relics with becoming reverence, and to have built a pagoda over them, which is still famous throughout eastern Asia as the great Shwé-dagon pagoda at Rangoon. But the sceptic might urge that apostles rarely give away relics of themselves, and certainly not at the commencement of their career; and if Gótama was so thoroughly shaved, as he ought to have been by the rules of his order, he would have found insuperable difficulties in procuring the hairs.