THE STATURE OF GOT AM A BUDDHA, 



83 



common measure by reference to his own span ; or 

 by qualifying it by the word sugata. It would be 

 far more reasonable to believe that he had referred 

 to a particular measure in use, or to any other that 

 was then sanctioned by usage or authority. Indeed 

 it may be believed that he meant, not an ordinary measure 5 

 but one of several measures which were known in his 

 time. It may be then inquired; if sugata does not mean 

 Bauddha,, can it nave any other sense? We are not 

 at a loss to assign to it that " other sense.'' Sugata, from 

 su { well,' and gala i taken, received, accepted, 5 besides 

 being a name for Buddha, means e approved,' f accepted/ 

 * well received;' equal to 1 standard, imperial.' With this 

 interpretation before us let us investigate the meaning of 

 the expression sugatassa, and sugata in the following passage 

 in the Vinaya, lib. 2, chap, i., section 5. . 



Yo paim bhikkhu sugata civarappamanan civaran karapeyya 

 atirekan va chedanakan pacittiyaii — tatrl'dan sugatassa sugata 

 civarappamanan dighaso nava vidatthiyo sugata viclatthiya tiriyan 

 €ha vidhatthiyo — idan. sugatassa sugata civarappamanan . . ti , 



Before critically examining the meaning of sugata in the 

 above Institute, it is necessary to examine the cause which 

 led to its enactment. Nanda, Buddha's foster brother, w T ho 

 was a priest, once wore a robe as ample as the one usually 

 worn by Buddha. Oiher priests, seeing Nanda at a dis- 

 tance, and mistaking him for Go tarn a, evinced the usual 

 marks of respect ; but soon found out their mistake, and 

 expressed their disapprobation of the conduct of one of their 

 fraternity. Now, it was to meet the wishes of those who had 

 been deceived, that Grotama enacted the above rule. If then 

 we translate sugata as Bauddha, the above rule will run 

 as follows : — 



" Should a priest cause to make a robe of the size of Buddha's 

 robe, or in excess, [he would commit] Pacittiya, and [the excess] 



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