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Now whilst he was still seated there, after he had sung the Hymn of Triumph, the Blessed One thought, “It is in order to attain to this throne of triumph that I have undergone successive births for so long a time,207 that I severed my crowned head from my neck and gave it away, that I tore out my darkened eyes and my heart’s flesh and gave them away, that I gave away to serve others such sons as Jāli the Prince, and such daughters as Kaṇhā Jinā the Princess, and such wives as Maddī the Queen. This seat is a throne of triumph to me, and a throne of glory; while seated on it my aims have been fulfilled: I will not leave it, yet.” And he sat there absorbed in many thoughts208 for those seven days referred to in the text, beginning, “And then the Blessed One sat motionless for seven days, realizing the bliss of Nirvāna.”

Now certain of the angels began to doubt, thinking, “There must be something more Siddhattha has to do this day, for he still lingers seated there.” The Master, knowing their thoughts, and to appease their doubts, rose into the air, and performed the miracle of making another appearance like unto himself.209

And the Master having thus by this miracle dispelled the angels’ doubts, stood a little to the North-east of the106 throne, thinking, “It was on that throne that I attained omniscience.” And he thus spent seven days gazing steadfastly at the spot where he had gained the result of the deeds of virtue fulfilled through such countless years. And that spot became known as the Dāgaba of the Steadfast Gaze.

Then he created between the throne and the spot where he had stood a cloistered walk, and he spent seven days walking up and down in that jewelled cloister which stretched from East to West. And that spot became known as the Dāgaba of the Jewelled Cloister.

But for the fourth week the angels created to the North-west of the Bo-tree a house of gems; and he spent the week seated there cross-legged, and thinking out the Abhidhamma Pitaka both book by book and generally in respect of the origin of all things as therein explained. (But the Abhidhammikas210 say that House of Gems here means either a mansion built of the seven kinds of jewels, or the place where the seven books were thought out: and as they give these two explanations of the passage, both should be accepted as correct.)

Having thus spent four weeks close to the Bo-tree, he went, in the fifth week, to the Shepherd’s Nigrodha-tree: and sat there meditating on the Truth, and enjoying the sweetness of Nirvāna.211

Now at that time the angel Māra thought to himself, “So long a time have I followed this man seeking some fault in him, and find no sin in him; and now, indeed, he is beyond my power.” And overcome with sorrow he sat down on the highway, and as he thought of the following sixteen things he drew sixteen lines on the ground. Thinking, “I did not attain, as he did, to the perfection of107 Charity; therefore I have not become like him,” he drew one line. Then thinking, “I did not attain, as he did, to the Perfections of Goodness, and Self-sacrifice, and Wisdom, and Exertion, and Longsuffering, and Truth, and Resolution, and Kindness, and Equanimity;212 therefore I have not become like him,” he drew nine more lines. Then thinking, “I did not attain the Ten Perfections, the conditions precedent to the acquisition of the extraordinary knowledge of objects of sense, and therefore I have not become like him,” he drew the eleventh line. Then thinking, “I did not attain to the Ten Perfections, the conditions precedent to the acquisition of the extraordinary knowledge of inclinations and dispositions, of the attainment of compassion, of the double miracle, of the removal of hindrances, and of omniscience; therefore I have not become like him,” he drew the five other lines. And so he sat on the highway, drawing sixteen lines for these sixteen thoughts.

At that time Craving, Discontent, and Lust,213 the three daughters of Māra, could not find their father, and were looking for him, wondering where he could be. And when they saw him, sad at heart, writing on the ground, they went up to him, and asked, “Why, dear, are you sad and sorrowful?”

And he answered, “Beloved, this illustrious mendicant is escaping from my power. Long have I watched, but in vain, to find some fault in him. Therefore it is that I am sad and sorrowful.”

“Be that as it may,” replied they, “think not so. We will subject him to our influence, and come back bringing him captive with us.”

“Beloved,” said he, “you cannot by any means bring him under your influence; he stands firm in faith, unwavering.”

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“But we are women,” was the reply; “this moment we will bring him bound by the allurements of passion. Do not you be so grieved.”

So they approached the Blessed One, and said, “O, holy man, upon thee we humbly wait!”

But the Blessed One neither paid any attention to their words, nor raised his eyes to look at them. He sat plunged in the joy of Nirvāna, with a mind made free by the complete extinction of sin.

Then the daughters of Māra considered with themselves: “Various are men’s tastes. Some fall in love with virgins, some with young women, some with mature women, some with older women. We will tempt him in various forms.” So each of them assumed the appearance of a hundred women,—virgins, women who had never had a child, or only once, or only twice, middle-aged women, older women,—and six times they went up to the Blessed One, and professed themselves his humble handmaidens; and to that even the Blessed One paid no attention, since he was made free by the complete extinction of sin.

Now, some teachers say that when the Blessed One saw them approaching in the form of elderly women, he commanded, saying, “Let these women remain just as they are, with broken teeth and bald heads.” This should not be believed, for the Master issues not such commands.

But the Blessed One said, “Depart ye! Why strive ye thus? Such things might be done in the presence of men who linger in the paths of sin; but I have put away lust, have put away ill-will, have put away folly.” And he admonished them in those two verses from the Chapter on the Buddha in the Scripture-Verses:

280. No one can e’er disturb his self-control Whose inward victories, once gained, are neverlost.109 That Sinless One, the Wise, whose mind embraces all— How—by what guile—what sin—can you allure him to his fall?

281. He who has no ensnaring, venomous desire; No craving wants to lead him aught astray: The Sinless One, the Wise, whose mind embraces all— How—by what guile—what sin—can you allure him to his fall?214

And thus these women returned to their father, confessing that he had spoken truth when he had said that the Blessed One was not by any means to be led away by any unholy desire.

But the Blessed One, when he had spent a week at that spot, went on to the Mucalinda-tree. There he spent a week, Mucalinda, the snake-king, when a storm arose, shielding him with seven folds of his hood, so that the Blessed One enjoyed the bliss of salvation as if he had been resting in a pleasant chamber, remote from all disturbance. Thence he went away to a Rājāyatana-tree, and there also sat down enjoying the bliss of salvation. And so seven weeks passed away, during which he experienced no bodily wants, but fed on the joy of Meditation, the joy of the Paths, and the joy of the Fruit thereof (that is, of Nirvāna).215

Now, as he sat there on the last day of the seven weeks—the forty-ninth day—he felt a desire to bathe his face. And Sakka, the king of the gods, brought a fruit of the Myrobolan-tree, and gave him to eat. And Sakka, too, provided a tooth-cleanser of the thorns of the snake-creeper, and water to bathe his face. And the Master110 used the tooth-cleanser, and bathed his face, and sat him down there at the foot of the tree.

At that time two merchants, Tapassu and Bhalluka by name, were travelling from Orissa to Central India216 with five hundred carts. And an angel, a blood relation of theirs, stopped their carts, and moved their hearts to offer food to the Master. And they took a rice cake, and a honey cake, and went up to the Master, and said, “O, Blessed One! have mercy upon us, and accept this food.”

Now, on the day when he had received the sweet rice-milk, his bowl had disappeared;217 so the Blessed One thought, “The Buddhas never receive food in their hands. How shall I take it?” Then the four Guardian Angels knew his thought, and, coming from the four corners of heaven, they brought bowls made of sapphire. And the Blessed One accepted them. Then they brought four other bowls, made of jet; and the Blessed One, out of kindness to the four angels, received the four, and, placing them one above another, commanded, saying, “Let them become one.” And the four closed up into one of medium size, becoming visible only as lines round the mouth of it. The Blessed One received the food into that new-created bowl, and ate it, and gave thanks.

The two brothers took refuge in the Buddha, the Truth, and the Order, and became professed disciples. Then, when they asked him, saying, “Lord, bestow upon us something to which we may pay reverence,” with his own right hand he tore from his head, and gave to them, the Hair-relics. And they built a Dāgaba in their own city, and placed the relics within it.218

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But the Perfectly Enlightened One rose up thence, and returned to the Shepherd’s Nigrodha-tree, and sat down at its foot. And no sooner was he seated there, considering the depth of the Truth which he had gained, than there arose in his mind a doubt (felt by each of the Buddhas as he became aware of his having arrived at Truth) that he had not that kind of ability necessary to explain that Truth to others.

Then the great Ruler of the Brahma heavens, exclaiming, “Alas! the world is lost! Alas! the world will be altogether lost!” brought with him the rulers and archangels of the heavens in tens of thousands of world-systems, and went up to the Master, and said, “O Blessed Lord, mayst thou proclaim the Truth! Proclaim the Truth, O Blessed Lord!” and in other words of like purport begged from him the preaching of the Truth.

Then the Master granted his request. And considering to whom he should first reveal the Truth, thought at first of Aḷāra, his former teacher, as one who would quickly comprehend it. But, on further reflection, he perceived that Aḷāra had been dead seven days. So he fixed on Uddaka, but perceived that he too had died that very evening. Then he thought of the five mendicants, how faithfully they had served him for a time; and casting about in his mind where they then might be, he perceived they were at the Deer-forest in Benares. And he determined, saying, “There I will go to inaugurate the King112dom of Righteousness.” But he delayed a few days, begging his daily food in the neighbourhood of the Bo-tree, with the intention of going to Benares on the full-moon day of the month of May.