326 Notes on the Buddhas from Ceylonese authorities. [June, 



called Samanta-kuta or Samanella ; from thence he visited the capi- 

 tal Wadhamanika, situated on the south side of the Maha-Mewuna 

 gardens*, which then bore the name of Maha-Antowana, and 

 being acknowledged as a Buddha the king Samurdha dedicated to 

 him these gardens by the name of Anopawana. At the request of 

 the prophet, the king Sob h ana sent from the continent of India a 

 branch of the Udambara tree, accompanied by many priests and 

 priestesses ; the whole were received with due honor, and the Udam- 

 bara tree planted by the king Samurdha became the emblem of the 

 new Buddha. Konagamma Buddha (after having visited the various 

 places consecrated by the presence of former Buddhas in Lanka) gave 

 charge over the priestesses to the chief priestess Kanakadanta, and 

 over the priests having placed Sudhama, he bestowed his girdle as a 

 memorial to his followers, and departed for the city of king Sobhana. 



Regarding the date which I have assigned to this Buddha, viz. 

 B. C. 2099. 



I have connected the reign of Prad yota king of Magadha, with the 

 time of Konagamma Buddha, by the various accounts of the incarna- 

 tions and transmigrations of Gautama Buddha ; these all state that at 

 the time of Konagamma, Gautama was incarnate as that fortunate 

 king of Magadha, Parwatia or PARGUYATAf; whom I consider the same 

 as Pradyota of Jones and Bentley, Pradhyota of Wilford, and 

 Pridot'hana of Tod. These authorities all agree that in the reign of 

 that king a Buddha appeared, although they have all assigned differ- 

 ent dates to the event. I follow that of Sir Wm. Jones, who gives 

 his authority ; a quotation from the Bhagawatamrita. " He (Bud- 

 dha) became visible the thousand and second year of the Kali yuga 

 being past." 



" Puranjaya son of the twentieth king (of Magadha) was put to 

 death by his minister, Sumaca, who placed his own son Pradyota, on 



* At Anuraadhapura. « 



f Lest the father of Pradyota being a murderer, and himself an usurper, 

 should be made objectious against this being the king Parwatia, in which 

 Buddhist writers have declared that Gautama Buddha was incarnate, I quote 

 the life of the most revered of Buddhist sovereigns, Dh arm asoka, as it is written 

 by Buddhist priests, and which may be thus abridged : 



He commenced his career as Asoka, a prince and a br&hman ; attained power 

 by becoming a fratricide and usurper ; B. C. 323, retained it as a zealous 

 Buddhist, and died king of India, at Patalipura, (Patna.) His memory has been 

 extolled by all Buddhist writers, and his name and deeds are sanctified by the 

 appellation Dharma (the righteous) prefixed to Asoka. 



We also find, that Gautama was believed to have been incarnate as Sakya, 

 a chief of the Yakshas, and as Atula a king of the Nagas. 



