CEYLON BRANCH— ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY. 69 



Mandapa (a), of the temple of the God (b) } who bears the 

 cool Ganga (c ), on his head, and stationed himself there. 



While stationed there, the king also arrived, and having 

 worshipped and praised him, took his station with him, 

 greatly delighted. The servants of the temple of him whose 

 tangled hair is bedecked with serpents ( d), seeing the ar- 

 rival of these personages, assembled together. 



Being respectively afflicted in mind, they (the servants), 

 raging as fire, made use of some opprobrious words, saying 

 thus (to the Buddhist) : " O Buddhists ! depart from the 

 precincts of Tillei, the abode of the God, forthwith, for we 

 would not brook thy intrusion." 



The Buddhist rejoined, " I would not depart hence until 

 I hold a disputation before the Chola-kmg, who wears the 

 garland of victory, confute the Saiva doctrines which you 

 venerate, and demonstrate that the Buddha is the only 

 Supreme God (e )." 



After the Buddhist had spoken these words, they (the 

 servants of the temple) instantly repaired to the respective 

 mansions of the Sages, chief teachers of the Vedas, and 

 other devotees, in order to communicate the same to them, 

 and did accordingly. 



On hearing the words (which were to them as painful as 

 if a javelin was run through an ulcer), they all hastened to 

 the temple of the God that they might ascertain from the 



(a) Mandapa (uxmu.uLo'), an elevated platform of stone, open 

 on all sides, its roof being supported by pillars and surmounted 

 by a dome, where the idol is placed on days of solemnity, and 

 the priests are accustomed to assemble when they have any bu- 

 siness connected with the temple to transact. 



(b) In the original Hara (^ir«jr), a title of Siva, which im- 

 plies "the lord of every thing." 



(c) Ganga (««»«>*), the river Ganges, which is fabled to have 

 sprung up from the head of Siva. 



(d) Serpents are the emblems of eternity, and as such Siva 

 has a collar of them twining around his neck, and surmounting 

 the tiara of his tangled plaits of hair. 



(e) In the original Deivam (Q^iugj^), the same with the Sans- 

 krit Deva and Latin Deus. Though the Buddhists deny such a 

 being as "God" in the sense we understand that term, and be- 

 lieve Buddha to have been only a great sage, yet they do bestow 

 on him the title of God, as in the Maha Wanso, I find him fre- 

 quently styled "the deity worthy of offerings, " "the all com- 

 passionating deity," and "the devo of devos." 



