30 



CEYLON BRANCH 



—ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, 



births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, 

 forty births, fifty births, one hundred births, one thousand 

 births, one hundred thousand births ; many hundred births, 

 many thousand births, many hundred thousand births. I lived 

 in such a place, had such a name, was of such a family, had 

 such an appearance, had such a maintenance, and ex- 

 perienced such and such joys and sorrows ; at the termi- 

 nation of my life I ceased existing there and was born in 

 such a place : there also I had such a name, was of such a 

 family, had such an appearance, had such a maintenance and 

 experienced such and such joys and sorrows ; at the termi- 

 nation of my life I departed thence and was born here. In 

 this way and manner he remembers various previous states 

 of existence, and says, The soul and the world are eternal ; 

 there is no newly existing substance, but they remain as a 

 mountain peak, unshaken, imperishable. Living beings 

 pass away, they transmigrate ; they die, they are born ; but 

 they continue, as being eternal. How does this appear ? I 

 have subjected my passions, and being constant and per- 

 severing in the practice of virtue, I have by profound and 

 correct meditation attained that mental tranquillity by which 

 I retrace various former states of existence, that is, one birth, 

 two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, 

 twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, one 

 hundred births, one thousand births, one hundred thousand 

 births, many hundred births, many thousand births, many 

 hundred thousand births. I lived in such a place, had such a 

 name, was of such a family, had such an appearance, had 

 such a maintenance, and experienced such and such joys and 

 sorrows ; at the termination of my life I departed thence and 

 was born in such a place: there also I had such a name, was 

 of such a family, had such an appearance, had such a main- 

 tenance, and experienced such and such joys and sorrows ; 

 at the termination of my life I departed thence and was 

 born here. In this way and manner I retrace various pre- 

 vious states of existence. By this I know that the soul 

 and the world are eternal, there is no newly existing sub- 

 stance, but they remain as a mountain peak, unshaken, im- 

 perishable. Living beings pass away, they transmigrate ; 

 they die, they are born ; but they continue, as being eter- 

 nal. This Priests is the first reason why some Samanas 



by arriving at once at maturity, without the intervention of pa- 

 rents a- the Brahmans* 



