his preface to his Santal Dictionar> that "the description of the 

 Dasyus in the Vedas and the Mahabhlirata seems to be adaptable 

 to many a Santal." 



Ill 



THE DEAIH OF! HE Bl'ODHA 



Ha\'ing completed the Santal interpolation, we will now revert 

 to the text of the Dii^ha Mkaya as translated b> the Rh_\s 

 David ses. 



After the discussion of the sukara-nuuidava, the Rhys Davids 

 translation continues with an astonishing development: 



par;i 20. Nov\ when the F^xahcd One had eaten the rice prepared 

 by C'linda, the worker in metals, there fell upon him a dire sick- 

 ness, the disease of dysentery, and sharp pain came upon him, 

 even unto death. But the Exalted One, mmdlul and self-possessed, 

 bore it v\ithout complaint. [Chap. IV] 



This was a disconcerting turn of events, since the Omniscient 

 One has but lately said that he sees no one, save a Tathagata. 

 who can properly assimilate the sukara-nunlc/ava, which he has 

 just eaten, if the circumstances were invented, as Bareau thinks, 

 what a strange set of circumstances for utterly devoted followers 

 of the Buddha to have invented! The mushrooms, now that v\e 

 know preciscjy, were sound and there was never a risk: more- 

 over, aged Putika would declare their age by their stench! And 

 Cunda was a responsible man to buv and cook them. However 

 let us remember that in the upper Hindu castes where the Bud- 

 dha had been brought up and lived out all his early life, even 

 though he was now free from food tabus and caste distinctions. 

 all mushrooms would be shunned as inedible; but here, at a 

 critical moment of his life, he was being offered Putika. Did 

 Cunda know the role of the PTitika in the religion of the twice- 

 born castes? Did he perhaps know it b}' rumor, inaccurately? Or 

 did he not know it at all and was he serving these mushrooms 

 solely for the excellent reason that the> were fresh and in season? 

 It is clear from the testimony of the DTi^ha Nikava that the 



233 



