10 



the Naga world" '. So we see that whatever belongs to that 

 world can disappear into the earth and needs not enter the 

 water, because both are the Nagas' domain^. The "jewel which 

 grants all desires", which was guarded by the Naga maidens 

 but forgotten in their terror for the Garuda spell, is nothing but 

 the "Nyo-i hoju", $P ^ ^ ^, mentioned in the Chinese and 

 Japanese legends. The same story teaches us that children of 

 men and Nagi (Naga women) are "of a watery nature", and 

 cannot stand sunshine or wind, but are happiest when playing 

 in the water '. 



So far the Jatakas of Cowbll's edition. It is a strange fact 

 that in all these tales no mention is made of the Naga's nature 

 of god of clouds and rain, although this is the main reason why 

 the Chinese identified him with their dragon. In the legends, 

 translated from the Chinese Tripitaka by Chavannes *, however, 

 so much stress is laid on the rain giving capacity of the Naga, 

 that we need not doubt as to its predominance in Northern 

 Buddhism. 



From the Lalita vistara ^ we learn that in the fifth week after 

 reaching perfect Enlightenment the Buddha went to lake Muci- 

 linda, and the Naga king of the same name, who resided there, 

 came out of the water and with his coils and hoods shielded 

 the Lord from the rain for seven days, whereafter he assumed 

 the shape of a youth and worshipped the Great Being. In the 

 Mahavagga •> the name of the lake and the Naga king is Muca- 

 linda, and "in order to protect the Lord against the cold and 

 the humidity, he seven times surrounded him with his coils and 

 extended his hood over him". According to Hardy' "in the sixth 

 week, he went to the lake Muchalinda, where he remained at 



1 P. 97. 



2 Cf. Hardy, Manual of Buddhism, p. 163, where king Bimbisara, hearing that 

 a mysterious being (the Bodhisattva) was seen, is said to have ordered his courtiers to 

 watch him when he should leave the town. "If he be a demon, he will vanish ; if he 

 be a deva, he will ascend into the sky; if a Naga, he will descend into the earth". 



3 P. 82. 



4 Cinq cents contes et apologues extraits du Tripitaka chinois (1910). 



5 Ch. XXII; Chavannes also refers to the Yoga sutra,'Sect. Ill, 18, 19 and 49; cf. 

 Kebn, Manual of Indian Buddhism, pp. 21 seq. ; Oldenbebg, Buddha, p. 136. In 

 painting and sculpture the Buddha is frequently sitting under the extended hood of 

 the Naga (Hardy, Manual of Buddhism, p. 182; Grvu'WEHEL, Mythologie des Buddhis- 

 mus in Tibet und der Mongolei, p. 110, Fig. 87 and 88). 



6 I, 3, quoted by Kern, Hisloire du Bouddhisme dans VInde, Annales du Mus6e 

 fi„;.v,„t Y ^^ YTT Vr.} T V. fiA ma\ 



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