THE PROXIMATE OR LAST EPOCH.206 · 3

“What things soever are produced from causes.”227

And he attained to the blessings which result from con119version; and repeated that verse to his companion Moggallāna the ascetic. And he, too, attained to the blessings which first result from conversion. And each of them left Sanjaya,228 and with his attendants took orders under the Master. Of these two, Moggallāna attained Arahatship in seven days, and Sāriputta the Elder in half a month. And the Master appointed these two to the office of his Chief Disciples; and on the day on which Sāriputta the Elder attained Arahatship, he held the so-called Council of the Disciples.229

Now whilst the Successor of the Buddhas was dwelling there in the Bambu Grove, Suddhodana the king heard that his son, who for six years had devoted himself to works of self-mortification, had attained to Complete Enlightenment, had founded the Kingdom of Righteousness, and was then dwelling at the Bambu Grove near Rājagaha. So he said to a certain courtier, “Look you, Sir; take a thousand men as a retinue, and go to Rājagaha, and say in my name, ‘Your father, Suddhodana the king, desires to see you;’ and bring my son here.”

And he respectfully accepted the king’s command with the reply, “So be it, O king!” and went quickly with a thousand followers the sixty leagues distance, and sat down amongst the disciples of the Sage, and at the hour of instruction entered the Wihāra. And thinking, “Let the king’s message stay awhile,” he stood just beyond the disciples and listened to the discourse. And as he so stood he attained to Arahatship, with his whole retinue, and asked to be admitted to the Order. And the Blessed One stretched forth his hand and said, “Come among us, O mendicants.” And all of them that moment appeared there, with robes and bowls created by miracle, like Elders of a hundred years’ standing.

120

Now from the time when they attain Arahatship the Arahats become indifferent to worldly things: so he did not deliver the king’s message to the Sage. The king, seeing that neither did his messenger return, nor was any message received from him, called another courtier in the same manner as before, and sent him. And he went, and in the same manner attained Arahatship with his followers, and remained silent. Then the king in the same manner sent nine courtiers each with a retinue of a thousand men. And they all, neglecting what they had to do, stayed away there in silence.

And when the king found no one who would come and bring even a message, he thought, “Not one of these brings back, for my sake, even a message: who will then carry out what I say?” And searching among all his people he thought of Kāḷa Udāyin. For he was in everything serviceable to the king,—intimate with him, and trustworthy. He was born on the same day as the future Buddha, and had been his playfellow and companion.

So the king said to him, “Friend Kāḷa Udāyin, as I wanted to see my son, I sent nine times a thousand men; but there is not one of them who has either come back or sent a message. Now the end of my life is not far off, and I desire to see my son before I die. Can you help me to see my son?”

“I can, O king!” was the reply, “if I am allowed to become a recluse.”

“My friend,” said the king, “become a recluse or not as you will, but help me to see my son!”

And he respectfully received the king’s message, with the words, “So be it, O king!” and went to Rājagaha; and stood at the edge of the disciples at the time of the Master’s instruction, and heard the gospel, and attained Arahatship with his followers, and was received into the Order.

The Master spent the first Lent after he had become121 Buddha at Isipatana; and when it was over went to Uruvela and stayed there three months and overcame the three brothers, ascetics. And on the full-moon day of the month of January, he went to Rājagaha with a retinue of a thousand mendicants, and there he dwelt two months. Thus five months had elapsed since he left Benāres, the cold season was past, and seven or eight days since the arrival of Udāyin, the Elder.

And on the full-moon day of March Udāyin thought, “The cold season is past; the spring has come; men raise their crops and set out on their journeys; the earth is covered with fresh grass; the woods are full of flowers; the roads are fit to walk on; now is the time for the Sage to show favour to his family.” And going to the Blessed One, he praised travelling in about sixty stanzas, that the Sage might revisit his native town.

289. Red are the trees with blossoms bright, They give no shade to him who seeks for fruit; Brilliant they seem as glowing fires. The very season’s full, O Great One, of delights.

290. ‘Tis not too hot; ‘tis not too cold; There’s plenty now of all good things; The earth is clad with verdure green, Fit is the time, O mighty Sage!

Then the Master said to him, “But why, Udāyin, do you sing the pleasures of travelling with so sweet a voice?”

“My lord!” was the reply, “your father is anxious to see you once more; will you not show favour to your relations?”

“’Tis well said, Udāyin! I will do so. Tell the Order that they shall fulfil the duty laid on all its members of journeying from place to place.”

Kāḷa Udāyin accordingly told the brethren. And the Blessed One, attended by twenty thousand mendicants free122 from sin—ten thousand from the upper classes in Magadha and Anga, and ten thousand from the upper classes in Kapilavatthu—started from Rājagaha, and travelled a league a day; going slowly with the intention of reaching Kapilavatthu, sixty leagues from Rājagaha, in two months.

And the Elder, thinking, “I will let the king know that the Blessed One has started,” rose into the air and appeared in the king’s house. The king was glad to see the Elder, made him sit down on a splendid couch, filled a bowl with the delicious food made ready for himself, and gave to him. Then the Elder rose up, and made as if he would go away.

“Sit down and eat,” said the king.

“I will rejoin the Master, and eat then,” said he.

“Where is the Master now?” asked the king.

“He has set out on his journey, attended by twenty thousand mendicants, to see you, O king!” said he.

The king, glad at heart, said, “Do you eat this; and until my son has arrived at this town, provide him with food from here.”

The Elder agreed; and the king waited on him, and then had the bowl cleansed with perfumed chunam, and filled with the best of food, and placed it in the Elder’s hand, saying, “Give it to the Buddha.”

And the Elder, in the sight of all, threw the bowl into the air, and himself rising up into the sky, took the food again, and placed it in the hand of the Master.

The Master ate it. Every day the Elder brought him food in the same manner. So the Master himself was fed, even on the journey, from the king’s table. The Elder, day by day, when he had finished his meal, told the king, “To-day the Blessed One has come so far, to-day so far.” And by talking of the high character of the Buddha, he made all the king’s family delighted with the Master, even before they saw him. On that account the Blessed123 One gave him pre-eminence, saying, “Pre-eminent, O mendicants, among all those of my disciples who gained over my family, was Kāḷa Udāyin.”

The Sākyas, as they sat talking of the prospect of seeing their distinguished relative, considered what place he could stay in; and deciding that the Nigrodha Grove would be a pleasant residence, they made everything ready there. And with flowers in their hands they went out to meet him; and sending in front the little children, and the boys and girls of the village, and then the young men and maidens of the royal family; they themselves, decked of their own accord with sweet-smelling flowers and chunam, came close behind, conducting the Blessed One to the Nigrodha Grove. There the Blessed One sat down on the Buddha’s throne prepared for him, surrounded by twenty thousand Arahats.

The Sākyas are proud by nature, and stubborn in their pride. Thinking, “Siddhattha is younger than we are, standing to us in the relation of younger brother, or nephew, or son, or grandson,” they said to the little children and the young people, “Do you bow down before him, we will seat ourselves behind you.” The Blessed One, when they had thus taken their seats, perceived what they meant; and thinking, “My relations pay me no reverence; come now, I must force them to do so,” he fell into the ecstasy depending on wisdom, and rising into the air as if shaking off the dust of his feet upon them, he performed a miracle like unto that double miracle at the foot of the Gaṇḍamba-tree.230