I 



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the foot of a midella tree. At that time rain began to fall, 

 which continued for seven days, without intermission, in all the 

 four continents. The naga Muchalinda having ascended to the 

 surface of the lake, saw the darkness produced by the storm; 

 and in order to shelter Budha from the rain and wind, and 

 protect him from flies, mosquitoes, and other insects, he spread 

 over him his extended hood, which served the purpose of a canopy". 



It is highly interesting to compare with these passages the 

 version of the same legend, found in the Chinese Tripitaka '. 

 There he is said to have gone to Mucilinda's river (not lake) 

 immediately after having reached Enlightenment, While he was 

 sitting under a tree, his brilliant light penetrated into the Naga's 

 palace, just as in former times his three predecessors of this kalpa 

 had spread their light, sitting on the same spot. The Naga, delighted 

 to see the new Buddha's light, arose from the water, and, sur- 

 rounding the Lord with seven coils, covered him with his seven 

 heads (not hoods). " The Naga, delighted, caused wind and rain for 

 seven days and nights'''' 2. All that time the Lord sat motionless, 

 protected by the royal snake, the first of all animals to be con- 

 verted. This legend is to be found in the Luh-tu tsih king, ^ nr 

 143 of Nanjo's Catalogue, translated by Seng-hwui *, who died 

 A.D. 280 ^ 



The same work contains many jatakas, in which the Nagas are 

 frequently mentioned, sometimes in company with ^akra, Brahma, 

 the four devarajas and the gods of the earth ". One day, when 

 the Bodhisattva and Ananda were Nagas in order to complete 



1 Chavannes, 1. 1., Vol. I, Ch. VI, p. 275 sqq., nr 76: Tokyo ed. of the Tripitaka 

 (1880—1885), VI, 5, pp. 82 sq.; great Japan, ed., in Leiden and in the India Office, 

 Ch. VI, pp. 15 sqq. 



^ H§ -^ 'f^ S, i^ Hj "kl S^ ■ Chavannes translates: "Pour s'amuser, 

 la naga dechaina le vent et la pluie" I should prefer : "The Naga, delighted, caused 

 wind and rain". He was delighted because he could shelter the Lord from the wind 

 and rain caused by himself. He did not think of amusing himself. But the main point 

 of the question is the fact that the Naga in this version is said to have caused the 

 wind and the rain himself, while the other versions only state that there was wind 

 and rain. 



3 -J- & ^ J^ , "Collected sijtras on the six Paramitas". Chavannes first thought 

 that these siitras had been collected by Seng-hwui himself (Vol. I, p. 1, note 1), but 

 afterwards felt inclined to believe that it is a translation of one Sanscrit text 

 (Introd., p. HI). 4 -f^ 1^ . 



5 Nr 680 of Nanjo's Catalogue, partly translated by Beal under the title of '^Ro- 

 mantic legend of Sakya Buddha", does not contain this legend. 



6 Cf Chavannes, I.I., Vol. I, Chap. V, pp. 160 sq., nrs 43 and 44; Trip. VI, 5, p. 

 69 ; great Jap. ed. of Leiden, nr 143, Ch. V, pp. 5a, 6a. 



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