202 



JOUKNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. X. 



" the seven Sirisa trees " ( satta sirisa rulchhd ) as he (Buddha) took his 

 seat at the foot of one of them. So the tree in the photograph must be 

 a " Sirisa " (Sirisha) tree {Mimosa Sirisa) {see Colebrooke's "Amara- 

 kosha," second edition, p. 100). This tree is called in Sinhalese ©esS, 

 mahari, or ®3d>, mar a. 



I am happy to say I am able to throw some light on the Jetavana 

 legend too. On the receipt of the numbers of the Academy you sent 

 me I requested Sumangala, the learned High Priest of Adam's Peak, 

 to find out for me the account of the building of the Jetavana Monas- 

 tery. He at once referred me to Chula Vagga, and I found a very 

 full and interesting account of the transaction. It is substantially the 

 same as given by Spence Hardy, but more rational, and of course more 

 authentic than the Sinhalese version which Spence Hardy has extracted. 



L. De Zoysa. 



E. 



The Bharhut Sculptures.* 



38, Clanricarde Gardens, W., March 25, 1875. 



The principal interpreter to the Ceylon Government, Louis de Zoysa 

 Mudaliyar, writes me word that he has found the Pali version of the 

 story of the Naga-king Erapatra in the commentary on v. 182 of the 

 Dhammapada. The beginning and end of the comment is given at page 

 344 of Fausboll's " Dhammapada," but the story itself is unfortunately 

 omitted. The Mudaliyar writes : — 



" The legend as given in the commentary clearly explains the sculp- 

 ture. Mr. Fergusson's opinion that the tree which Erapatra is 

 worshipping is not the Bo tree of the last Buddha, but one of a totally 

 different species, turns out to be perfectly correct. I may be per- 

 mitted to add that the Naga king is not worshipping a tree, but 

 Buddha — the Bhagavat. It is stated in the legend that Buddha went 

 to a place called the Seven Sirisa trees {satta sirisa rukJchd), and received 

 the salutation of the Naga king seated at the foot of one of these 

 trees. So that the tree which Erapatra is apparently (though not 

 really) worshipping must be a Sirisa tree {Acacia Sirisa)" 



We have here a striking confirmation of Mr. Beal's theory that the 

 Naga king is worshipping an invisible Buddha seated beneath the tree. 

 I cannot forbear quoting the words of his letter in the Academy of 

 December 5, 1874, (p. 612) :— 



" The more I study these groups, the more I am convinced 



that the altar, so called, represents the seat or throne on which Buddha 

 was seated under the Bo tree when he arrived at complete enlighten- 

 ment, and that the people engaged in worship are in fact worshipping 



* Academy, April 3, 1875, p. 351. 



