Pali text, made up of those mai'vellous stories of the Buddha's 

 former" births, told by himself, contains seven tales which are 

 vivid pictures of the great magic power of the Nagas, especially 

 of their kings, of the splendour of their palaces, and, on the 

 other hand, of their helplessness against their deadly enemies, the 

 Garudas '. The Nagas are semi-divine serpents which very often 

 assume human shapes and whose kings live with their retinues 

 in the utmost luxury in their magnificent abodes at the bottom 

 of the sea or in rivers or lakes. When leaving the Naga world 

 they are in constant danger of being grasped and killed by the 

 gigantic semi-divine birds, the Garudas, which also change them- 

 selves into men ^. Buddhism has, in its usual way, declared both 

 Nagas and Garudas, mighty figures of the Hindu world of gods 

 and demons, to be the obedient servants of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas 

 and saints, and to have an open ear for their teachings ^ In the 

 same way Northern Buddhism adopted the gods of the countries 

 where it introduced itself and made them protectors^of its doctrine 

 instead of its antagonists. 



Sometimes * we read that the Buddha, in a previous existence, 

 succeeded in reconciling ^ven such bitter enemies as a Naga 

 and a Garuda king. He himself was souietimes born as a mighty 

 Naga king. Thus he reigned as King Campeyya in his "jewelled 

 pavillion" in the river Campa ", as King Samkhapala in the lake 

 of this name ", and as King Bhuridatta in the sacred river 

 Yamuna '. In all these three cases he desired to be reborn in 

 the world of men, and in order to attain this aim left his palace 

 on fastdays and lay down on the top of an ant heap, observing 

 the fast and offering his magnificent snake body to the passers-by. 



1 Vol. II, p. iO, Book II, nr 154, the Uraga-Jataka ; Vol. Ill, p. 174, Book VI, nr 

 386, the Kharaputta-Jataka; Vol. IV, p. 281, Book XV, nr 506, the Campeyya-Jataka ; 

 Vol. V, p. 42, Book XVI, nr 518, the Pandara-Jataka; Vol. V, p. 84, Book XVII, nr 

 524, the Samkhapala-Jataka ; Vol. VI, p. 80, Book XXII, nr 543, the Bhuridatta-Jataka ; 

 and Vol. VI, p. 126, Book XXII, nr 545, the Vidhurapandita-Jataka. 



2 In lapan these birds have been identified with the Tengu: comp. my treatise on 

 the Tengu, Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol. XXXVI, Part. II, 

 pp. 25-98. 



3 Of. Chavannes, Contes et apologues, nr 343 (Vol. II, p. 288), where a Garuda does 

 not grasp a Naga who has fled into the house of an ascetic on a small island in the 

 sea; of. Vol. Ill, p. 82, where a wicked Naga king is forced by an Arhat to go away, 

 and Vol. I, nr 151, p. 423, where the Buddha converts a very evil Naga, whom innu- 

 merable Arhats could not convert. 



4 Vol. II, p. 10, nr 154. 



5 Vol. IV, 281, Book XV, nr 506. 



6 Vol. V, p. 84, Book XVII, nr 524. 



7 Vol. VI, pp. 80—113, Book XXII, nr 543. 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



