mushrooms to permit the Theras to suppress it: his sudden 

 illness had provoked too mueh talk. 



+ * * 



Here is the account o( the Buddha's death according to the 

 Dii^ha iMkaya, Chap. V, 



I. Now the [-\allcd One addressed the \eiierable Ananda, and 

 said:- ^Conie. Ananda. lei us ^o on lo tlie Sala (iro\e o\' the 

 Mallas. the l'pa\attana of Kusiiiara. on the turther side ot the 

 ii\er Hiranyavatr.' 



'Even s(K lord!' said the venerable Ananda. in assent, to the 



Exalted One. 



And the Fxalled One prtK'eeded with a great et)mpan\ ol^ 

 biethren to llie Sala Ciro\e of the Mallas. the Upaxattana oTKusi- 

 nara . on the further side of the rixer HiranyaNatT: and when he 

 had come there he addressed the venerable Ananda. and said: - 



'Spread o\er for me. I |^ra\ you. Ananda. the coucli with its 

 head lo the north, between the twin Sala trees. I am v\ear\, 

 Ananda. and would lie down/ 



*E\en so. lord!' said the venerable Ananda, in assent, to the 

 Exalted One. And he spread a covering o\er the couch with its 

 head to the north, between the twin Sala trees. And the Exalted 

 One laid himself down on his right side, with one leg resting on the 

 other; and he was mindful and self-possessed. 



In a note on this passage the Sinhala commentator added an 

 explanation: 



Tradition sa\s that there was a row of Sala trees at the head of 

 that couch, and another at its foot, one young Sala tree being close 

 to its head, and another close to its foot. The twin Sala trees were 

 so called because the two trees were equally grown in respect of 

 the roots, trunks, branches, and leaves. There was a couch there in 

 the park for the special use of the (periodically elected) chieftain of 

 the Mallas, and it was this couch which the Exalted One asked 



Ananda to make ready. (Ftnt. p. 149) 



In the last watch of the night the Buddha died, precisely as he 

 had been predicting for three months, since he was in Vai'sali. 



There have been individuals in various parts of the world, and 

 especially among the holy men of India, who have acquired by 

 ''concentration" (samaclhi) control over some of the muscles that 

 ordinarily function in response to stimuli beyond the human 



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