162 



was practised there for nine days with a splendid result, as well 

 as in 982, 985 and 1018 '. 



When leaving" the Annals and turning to the legendary works, 

 we obtain the following information. The Kon^aku monogatari^ 

 relates how in a time of heavy drought the Emperor ordered 

 KoBo Daishi (774 — 835) to cause rain, and the saint for seven 

 days practised the Doctrine of the Rain-praying-sutra in the 

 Sacred Spring Park. Then there appeared on the right side of 

 the altar a snake ^ five shaku long, carrying a little gold-coloured 

 snake, about five sun in length, and after a while both disappeared 

 into the pond. Only four of the twenty priests who were sitting 

 in a row could see the apparition. One of these elected ones 

 asked what it meant, whereupon another answered that the 

 appearance of the Indian dragon-king Zennyo, ^ ^H , who lived 

 in India in the Anavatapta * pond and was now living in the 

 pond of the Sacred Spring Park, was a sign that the doctrine 

 would be successful. And really, a dark cloud rose up in the 

 Northwest, and soon the rain was pouring down. Thenceforth, 

 whenever drought prevailed, the same doctrine was practised in 

 the park, and never in vain. 



The Kojidan ^ states that this event occurred in the year 824. 

 According to this work the Buddhist priest Shubin (^^) 

 requested the Emperor to be allowed to practise the Rain-prayer- 

 doctrine himself instead of Kukai (Kobo Daishi), as he was as much 

 experienced in such matters as the latter. This was granted, 

 and he succeeded in causing thunder and • rain in Kyoto, but 

 not beyond Higashi yama. Then Kobo Daishi was ordered to 

 make it rain over the whole of the country, which he promised 

 to do within seven days. This limit, however, expired, and the 

 sky was still cloudless as before. The saint, absorbed in medi- 

 tation (samadhi), arrived at the conclusion that Shubin, his rival, 



1 Second Part, Ch. VI, p. 940; Ch. Vll, p. 975; Ch. VIII, p. 986; Ch. XIII, p. 1115; 

 at the same time, in 1018, the "Five Dragons Festival", ^ ^g ^^ , took plate. 



2 K. T. K. Vol. XVI, Ch. XIV, nr 41, pp. 812 sq. 



3 Here we find the snake form of the Naga; in the Sandai jiisuroku and the 

 Kojidan the god is called a dragon. 



4 Kffl" i^ ^^ ^ , translated into i^ i^ . Buddhist works mention a female 



Naga, called ^ -ir ■ Zennyo, "Virtuous Woman"; hut the same Naga is represented 

 as a man with a dragon's tail, standing on the clouds, in a picture of the ninth century, 

 in Kongobu-ji on Koya-san {Kokkwa, Nr 227, PI. I). Two other pictures representing 

 this Naga, also on Koya-san, have not yet been described. Of. Petrucci, Les documents 

 de la Mission Chavannes, Revue de I'Universit^ de Bruxelles, Avril — Mai 1910, pp, 495sq. 



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