1894.] 
23 
Q. C. Das— 'Note on the Buddhist Golden Booh , 
the sacred books, was the Mula Bhdsd of India, in short the basis of 
Sanskrit. The ancient Magadhi refined was Sanskrit, and the later 
Magadhi corrupted became the Prakrit. Prakrit continued to be the 
language of Magadha till the time of the Pala dynasty, when the revival 
of the study of Sanskrit in Bengal, first at Gauda and subsequently on 
the banks of the Bhaglrathi, formed the Bengali language, which is 
indeed a mixture of Sanskrit and Prakrit. I here annex a short intro¬ 
duction to the Kamma-vacd which I have compiled from the Vinaya Text 
published in the series of Sacred Boohs of the East , and from the Manus¬ 
cript, which I have deciphered with the help of Mr. Dharmaraj Barua. 
Introduction to the Kamma-vaca. 1 
The Origin of the Buddhist Church. 
Qakya Muni dwelt at Uruvela, on the bank of the river Nairanjana 
(Phalgii) at the foot of the Bodhi tree (tree of wisdom), just after he 
had become Buddha (gained supreme intelligence.) Having sat uninter¬ 
ruptedly for seven days at the foot of the Bodhi tree, he enjoyed the bliss 
of nirvana (emancipation from misery and sorrows). Then he arose from 
that state of meditation and moved to the foot of the Ajapala (banyan tree 2 ) 
and enjoyed the bliss of emancipation for seven days. From there he 
moved to the foot of a Mucalinda tree (Barringtonia Acutangula), 
where he meditated for seven days, enjoying the same bliss. He then 
moved to the foot of the tree called Bajdyatana. At this time two 
merchants, called Tapussa and Bhallika, came travelling on the road 
from Orissa to that place. They took rice-cakes and lumps of honey, 
and went to the place where the Blessed One was. Having approached 
him, they reverentially addressed him: “ May the Blessed One accept 
from us these rice-cakes and lumps of honey! ” The Buddha received 
the offerings in four stone bowls that lay near him and ate from them. 
As soon as he had finished eating, the two merchants bowed down in 
reverence at his feet, and thus addressed him : “We take our refuge, 
Lord, in the Blessed One and in the Dhanna; may the Blessed One receive 
us as his disciples.” 3 Afterwards the Blessed One thought, “To whom 
shall I preach the doctrine first ? Who will understand this doctrine 
easily? The five Bhikkhus (who were formerly my companions) have 
done many services to me. What if I were to preach the doctrine first 
to them: where do they dwell now ? ” So thinking; he saw by the 
power of his divine, clear vision, that the five Bhikkhus were living at 
1 Mahavagga I, 1 & ff. Ed. 
2 I. e. y Banyan tree of the goatherds. 
3 It may be noted here that these two were the first lay disciples of the Buddha. 
Even then no samgha (priesthood) was formed. 
