189 



and said that the pearl had freed him from the tortures of the 

 serpent-road (Itiljl;), but that the Kongo-hannya-kyo (Vajra- 

 prajMparamita sUtra, cf. above, p. 31), which he had copied on 

 his (the dragon's) behalf, had been still more powerful, as it had 

 removed all his sufferings. 



§ 6. The "jewel which grants all desires" (cintamani). 



There lived in Northern India a Buddhist abbot, "Buddha's 

 vow" ' by name, who for the sake of mankind sought the "Precious 

 pearl which grants all desires "\ He went on board a ship and, 

 when in the midst of the sea, by Buddha's power called up the 

 Dragon-king. After having bound him by means of mystic for- 

 mulae (tantras), he required the pearl from him, whereupon the 

 dragon, unable to escape, took the pearl from his head and 

 prepared to hand it over to the priest. The latter stretched out 

 his left hand, at the same time making the "swotd-sign", a 

 mudra (mystic finger-twisting), with his right hand. The Dragon- 

 king, however, said: "In former times, when the Dragon-king 

 Sagara's daughter gave a precious pearl to ^akyamuni, the latter 

 received it with folded hands ; why should a pupil of the Buddha 

 accept it with one hand?!' Then the priest folded his hands, 

 giving up the mudra, and was about to take the pearl, when 

 the Dragon-king, no longer suppressed by the mystic sign, freed 

 himself from his bands and ascended to the sky, leaving the 

 abbot behind with empty hands, and destroying his boat. The 

 only man who was saved was the priest himself. Afterwards the 

 same abbot met Bodhidharma *, the patriarch, who came across 

 the sea from Southern India (in 526), and together they went 

 to Japan*. 



§ 7. The eight Dragon-kings- 



At the time of Bishop Jie ^ being head-abbot (zasu, J^ ^ ) 

 of Hieizan, somebody saw in a dream seven of the eight Great 



i ^^, Bussei. 



2 ^ ^ ^ gt , nyo-i hoju, cintamani, comp. above, p. 10. 



3 ^ J^ P^ . Baramon, the "Wall-gazing Brahman". 



4 Fuso r-j/aAAJ, , ;^ ^ (Shomu Tenno), K.T.K. Vol. VI, p. 564. 



5 Jie lived 912—985, cf. above, Book II, Ch. Ill, § 6, p. 170, note 9, 



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