68 



ON MIRACLES. 



but which the Narrator would have us know, was positive 

 knowledge on the part of Gotama by the power of divina- 

 tion.* 



Miracle No. 5. In process of time, whilst dwelling in 

 this brushwood, Gotama found a pansakula robe : and he 

 reflected where he could wash it. Instantly the gods 

 created a pond* When he had descended into it and 

 washed the robe, he found it difficult to get out ; and the 

 gods instantly brought within his reach an arm of a neigh- 

 bouring Kumbuk tree. When, again, he was at a loss 

 how to procure a stone on which he might wash his robe^ 

 he was miraculously provided with one, as well as a large 

 stone-slab for spreading the cloth- The J at il a, on seeing 

 these four objects in places where they had not previously 

 existed, was filled with wonder, and asked his friend to 

 breakfast. 



If one thing is here more remarkable than another 

 it is that all these four objects were created, — not by 

 Buddha who had no creative power, but by the gods. 

 But putting all supernatural agency out of the question, 

 the facts stated admit of an easy interpretation ; and we 

 may trace the presence of these four objects to human 

 agency, We learn from the subsequent pari of the nar- 

 rative (see Miracle No. I3 infra) that the place which 

 Gotama occupied was soon after covered by a flood. That 

 '■circumstance taken in connection with the presence of 

 Kumbuk trees, which generally grow near rivulets and 

 water-coursesf, renders it very probable that the brushwood 



* Arrian tells us that * Divination' was an art known to the 

 Indians. 



,f Spe Forbes' Eleven Years in Ceylon vol. ii v p. 186, 



