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had caught all the dragons and shut them up in a water-pitcher 

 by means of magical formulae (tantras). This wa6 the reason 

 why his (Kobe's) own prayers were in vain. He decided, however, 

 not to abandon his hope, and continued to recite the stitra. 

 During the night of the second day he said : "In this pond is a 

 dragon, called Zennyo, who pities mankind. To him I have prayed, 

 and now I see him rising out of the midst of the lake, gold- 

 coloured, about eight sun long, seated on the head of another 

 dragon, eight shaku in length". This was reported to the Emperor, 

 who soon sent a messenger with offerings for the Dragon-King. 

 And when the seven days of the new vow had expired, a heavy 

 thunderstorm broke forth and a torrent of rain came down all 

 over the country, so that the water of the pond overflowed the 

 altar. As a reward for having saved the people from starvation, 

 Kukai was elevated to the rank of Shosozu, bishop'. 



The Taiheiki^ gives another version of the same legend. After 

 having stated that the park was laid out in the time of the 

 Emperor Kwammu (781 — 806) in imitation of the Ling yiu 

 (^SI)' ^^6 park of the Chinese Emperor Wen, of the Cheu 

 dynasty, the author informs us that the same Japanese monarch 

 (who built the Palace at Kyoto, the new capital which he 

 founded and made his residence in 794), had two Buddhist 

 monasteries built, on the East and West sides of the Sujaku 

 gate, called Toji and Seiji, "the Eastern and the Western 

 Monastery". The former was under the direction of Kobo Daishi, 

 who had to guard the Emperor's rank, the latter stood under 

 Bishop Shubin, who had to protect His Majesty's body. After 

 Kobo Daishi's return from China, Shubin, who had been the 

 great man during Kobo's absence, was cast into the shade by 

 his rival. The Emperor, who had been in great admiration for 

 Shubin's miraculous magic power, now considered Kobo his 

 superior. This was more than the ambitious Shubin could bear; 

 he fostered a deep hatred against his sovereign as well as against 

 his rival, and in order to revenge himself on the former he 

 caught all the dragon-gods of the inner and outer seas by means 

 of the power of his tantras, and shut them up in a water-pitcher. 

 In this way he caused the terrible drought about which we read 

 in the Konjahu monogatari and Kojidan ; it lasted fully three 

 months and made the people suflPer immensely. Then Kobo Daishi 

 reported to the Emperor that there- was only one dragon, a 



1 The same legend is to be found in the Genko Shakusho, Ch. I, K. T. K. Vol. 

 XIV, p. 651. 2 Ch. XII, pp. 11 seq^. 



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