[No. 1, 
24 S. C. Das— Antiquity of Chittagong. 
Thrice the same interrogation was made, to which the same reply was 
given. Then “ that tattva , i.e., the perception of nothingness, is the way to 
immortality,” said the sage. The king did not perceive the truth, and sus¬ 
pecting the sage to he an imposter, ordered him to be buried alive. A pit 
was dug in the ground, into which the sage was placed. The ground was 
then covered with the dung of elephants and horses. It was then fenced 
with thorny trees, so that nobody could take him out. Twelve years after 
this event his pupil Krsn-acarya, when proceeding to the place called 
Kadali Ksetra, visited Catigrama. His two pupils Badala and Mahila 
at his instance shewed some miracles to the king, and impressed him 
with the extreme holiness of their teacher. Being likewise asked for the 
secrets of immortality by Gopi Candra, Krsn-acarya whispered into his 
ears the same mantra which was given him by Balapada. The king, 
remembering it, said he had heard the same thing once before, and told 
the same story. Krsn-acarya informed the monarch that nobody 
else knew the mantra except his own Guru, i.e., Balapada, the sage of 
Jalandhara whom he had buried alive. The king became penitent and 
greatly frightened. They both went over the grave and exhumed the 
sage. Being in a state of suspended animation in yoga, he was alive. 
He complained of extreme hunger and thirst, having had no food 
or drink for twelve years. When brought out, he rested his two 
arms on the heads of Krsn-acarya’s pupils, named Dhama and Dhuma, 
and took some food. The king prayed for forgiveness, which was granted 
to him on condition that he renounced the world and adopted the life of 
an ascetic. After staying for six months in Catigrama in a cavern in 
the hills, he proceeded to Ramegvar-arama in the south of India. 
Catigrama was an important city of Bengal in that early period. 
The country to the south of Tripura and north of Rakhan (Arakan) was 
Ramma (Sanskrit ramyci ), the land of the picturesque sceneries. It 
was the headquarters of Buddhism after the decline of Halanda. In the 
city of Catigrama or Catigao there was a large Buddhist monastery 
called Pandita-Vihara. There the Buddhist Pandits used to hold 
religious controversies with the Tlrthikas (Brahmanas.) Once when a 
disputation took place, the leader of the Buddhists, at the suggestion 
of an old woman, wore a cap pointed like a thorn, at the time of 
the controversy. He came out victorious. 8 * To commemorate that 
8 
Q Q. -O 
^ ^ -O 
^ * 
(Pagsam Jon-Zan , 109.) 
