54 Buddhism and Odinism, [No. 1. 



phere is considerably raised ou a plinth. The last class, of which the 

 Sarnath tope near Benares is a magnificent specimen, has a hemis- 

 phere raised to a height as great as the diameter of the tope." 



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" Iu the topes dedicated to the celestial Bnddha nothing was 

 deposited ; but the divine spirit, which is light, was supposed to 

 dwell in the interior, and this was proclaimed outside by a pair of 

 eyes, placed opposite to each of the four sides, either at the base 

 or the summit of the building. Thus in the great chaitya in the 

 neighbourhood of Kathmaudu in Nepal, which is dedicated to 

 Sainbhu or Svayambhuuatha, the eyes are placed on the sides near the 

 crown of the edifice ; such is also the case in numerous chodtens (m- 

 chhod r-ten) of Tibet, which are dedicated to the celestial Buddha, 

 and distinguished from the Dung-tens (g-Dungr-Ten) which are 

 erected to the honour of mortal Buddhas. The first name signifies 

 an offering to the divinity, the last a receptacle for bones (g-Dung), 

 that is to say a building containing the bones or relics of some one 

 of the mortal Buddhas. In that case the eyes occupy a place 

 near the base. 



" These monuments were not used exclusively for the preservation 

 of the remains and the memory of saints, but were sometimes used 

 for those of kings, as M. Bnrnouf inform us. ' According to the 

 traditions of the Buddhists of the South,' says he, 'the relics of 

 Buddhas were not the only objects which were entitled to preserva- 

 tion in these large edifices (the stupas). I find on the subject a 

 positive injunction in Tupa vamsa pali : 'a venerable tathagata, who 

 is perfectly and completely a Buddha, has a right to a stupa ; a 

 PratchtchekaBuddha has a right to a stupa ; an auditor of a tathagata 

 has a right to a stupa ; a chakkavatti Baja has a right to a stupa.' 



"As the legends of India attribute to Buddha, the origin of the 

 stupas or topes, so does traditions of Norway attribute the origin 

 of their haugs (or large artificial mounds) to Odin. The author of 

 the History of the kings of Norway, Snorro Sturlason thus expresses 

 himself on this subject : 



" Odin established the same law iu his land that had been in 

 force in Asaland. Thus he established by law that all dead men 

 should be burned, and their property laid with them upon the pile, 



