25 



beautiful words of the Buddhas everywhere rain upon the Universe 

 (Dharmadhatu)" '. 



Thus this sutra is a striking evidence of the great blessing 

 power attributed by Northern Buddhism to the Naga kings as 

 givers of rain. 



§ 4. Sutras recited in rain ceremonies- 



The most important of the siitras, recited by" the Northern 

 Buddhists for causing rain in times of drought, is the Maha- 

 megha sutra, "The Sutra of the Great Cloud". Nan jo's Catalogue 

 of the Buddhist Tripiiaka contains four Chinese translations of 

 this text: nrs 186—188, and 970. The titles of the translations 

 are a little different from one another ^ but the original work 

 is the same. Jnanagupta translated it first between A. D. 557 

 and 581 (nr 187), and a second time between A. D. 589 and 

 618 (nr 186). In A. D. 585 another translation was made by 

 Narendrayaqas (nr 188). Nr 970, which has the same Chinese 

 title as nr 188, is a later translation. The Sanskrit text still 

 exists, and an extract of it is given by Bendall, in the Journal 

 of the Royal Asiatic Society^; this agrees with nr 186, while 

 Beal, in his Catena of Buddhist Scriptures from the Chinese, gives 

 an abstract of nr 188. According to Db Groot* the sutra was 

 translated by Amoghavajra, the second patriarch of the Yoga 

 school in China, disciple of Vajrabodhi (the first patriarch of the 

 same school, who in 719 arrived in China). This is apparently 

 nr 970 of Nanjo's Catalogue, designated as "a later translation". 



From Bendall's extract we learn that the contents of the 

 Mahamegha sutra are as follows. "On one occasion the Venerable 

 One dwelt in the palace of the Snake-Kings Nanda and Upananda, 

 in the summer pavillion of the circle of mighty clouds filled with 



1 Ch. LI, p. \\h. 



2 Nr 186: "^ ^~^ '^ ^ -j%^^ ^ ^^ "Mahavaipulya Great Cloud 

 sutra, for asking rain": 



Nr 187: -js^ ^ m pS ^i "Great Cloud sutra for asking rain"- 



Nr 188: "T^ ^ Ijm im R^ ^, -'Great Cloud- wheel" sutra for asking rain". On 

 p. 116 of the Chinese text we find the name of the Tathagata "Great Cloud- wheel". 

 Bendall (p. 303) translates "great cloud-circle", but |^ is wheel. 



Nr 970: same title as nr 188. 



3 New Series, Vol. XII (1880), pp. 286 sqq. 



4 Le Code du Mahayana en Chine, Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van 

 Wetenschappen, Afd. Letterkunde, Deel I, n° 2 (1893), Ch. fill, pp. 1-48 sqq. 



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