34 



continuous and heavy rains than China, ceremonies for stopping 

 rain are frequently mentioned in the annals, as we shall see 

 below ^ But also rain prayers were very frequent, and the Bud- 

 dhist priests eagerly took advantage of the opportunity to surpass 

 the Shintoists and extend their sphere of influence. Thus the 

 Great-Cloud-Wheel stitra (Nanjo, nr 188), mentioned above, was 

 recited by fifteen Buddhist priests in the Sacred Spring park 

 {Shinsen-en) at Kyoto, in the sixth month of the year 875 of our 

 era ^. At the same time sixty other priests in the Taikyokuden, 

 one of the buildings of the Imperial Palace, recited parts , of the 

 MahaprajMparamita sUtra ', which is very often mentioned in the 

 Japanese annals as having been partly read in rain ceremonies *). 

 Sometimes also the Vajra-prajmpdramita sutra ° was used. In the 

 fifth month of A.D. 880 the Kanjo-ki/o ", "Sutra on washing the 

 top. of the head (baptism)", was recited in the Sacred Spring park 

 for stopping the abundant rains. 



Also in China other stitras are used in rain ceremonies, e. g. 

 the Vajra-prajnaparamita sutra, the Bucldhabhashita Sugar a Naga- 

 raja sutra \ "Sutra on the Sea-dragon-king (i. e, Sagara), spoken 

 by Buddha", etc. This is logical, for, as Du Groot ® remarks, 

 according to the 39th commandment of the Mahayana code all 

 punishments for crimes committed — and drought is such a 

 punishment — are to be taken away by reciting the siitras and 

 vinayas of the Mahayana. 



1 Book II, Ch. III. 



2 Cf. below, Book II, Ch. Ill, § 3; Sandai jitsuroku, Ch. XXVII, p. 414. 



3 3^;^^^) Mahaprajna sutra; Nanjo's Catalogue, nr 1, gives the full 



title: ;;Ar ^^ /^ M ^ ^ ^ IM' ^""^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^ '* ^^^ translated in A.D. 

 659 by the famous pilgrim HiiEN Tsang. 



4 Cf. Sandai jitsuroku, Ch. XX, p. 335 (sixth month, 871); Ch. XXIII, p. 372, (fifth 

 month, 873); Ch. XXV, p. 386 (second month, 874); Ch. XXXII, p. 466 (seventh month, 

 877); Ch. XXXVII, p. 543 (sixth month, 880). 



^ ^ iW J^ /^^ ; Sandai jitsuroku, Ch. XXIII, p. 372; Nanjo, nrs 10—12. 



® ^ I^ M ' ^^° ^^''^®' P- ^^' "°^s 3; Sandai jitsuroku, Ch. XXXVII, p. 541 ; 



Nanjo, nr 167. 



'^ '^ i^ y^fiSE ^; ^f^itJo, nr 456; translated A.D. 265—316. Cf. nr457: 



"^l^'MM ± S§; ^ EP ^' "^"^""^ °" the Seal of the Law spoken by 

 Buddha for the sake of SSgara Nagaraja". These siitras were spoken in Sagara's palace 

 at the bottom of the sea. 

 8 L. 1., p. 156; cf. p. 72. 



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