1882.] 
Sarat Chandra Das —Contributions on Tibet. 
15 
V.—THE LIVES OP THE PANCHHEN-RINPOCHHES 
OR TAST LAMAS. 
(With 18 Plates.) 
Part I. The Indian Incarnations . 1 
I. 
Subhij'ti, the Sthavira. 
Subhuti was born in the city of S'ravasti of a wealthy and accom¬ 
plished Brahmana father, named Bhuti. In his former birth, he is said 
to have been a Naga from which he transmigrated to man. In his youth 
he acquired great proficiency in the six Brahmanical Acts (Charya) and 
the several sciences. Following the inclinations of his former life, he 
resided in sandel-wood forests which were filled with innumerable serpents, 
whence he was conducted before Buddha 2 by a truth*observing god. 3 He 
was ordained a priest by Buddha’s spiritual power. 4 By his knowledge 
of the Dharma S'astras, he suppressed sins and thereby obtained the rank of 
an Arhat. When, by his fore-knowledge, he saw that in his former life he 
had been a Naga, his heart became greatly grieved. He, therefore, taught 
morality to 500 Nagas and 500 eagles 5 who fed on the former, by converting 
them to the Bauddha faith. Buddha also had remarked that “ among the 
galaxy of the learned, Subhuti shines like Venus (the Morning Star).” 
When Buddha delivered the Prajna-Paramita on the top of Gridhrakuta 
Parvata, Subhuti served him as chief catechist (the inquirer as well as the 
solver of doubts by reference to Buddha). 
Although, outwardly a man, yet by these means he obtained the 
Bodhisattva perfection of the Mahayana and became one of the principal 
disciples of Buddha S'akya Simha. 
II. 
Manjusri Kirti. 
Manjusri Kirti was born in the opulent city of SMnbhala in the north, 
of royal parents. His father, king Deva-Indra, was said to have been the 
incarnation of the Bodhisattva S'unyagarbha. His mother’s name was 
Kausiki. Six hundred and seventy-four years after the death of Buddha, 
1 Obtained from the works of the Indian Pandits who laboured in Tibet. 
2 S'akya Simha. 
3 A Buddhist god^is a Bodhisattva or Buddha, Such a god is not an ordinary god. 
4 Buddha said, “ let him become priest” and he became a priest. His hair and 
beard were shaven miraculously, and a consecrated mendicant raiment was thrown 
over his person. 
5 He reconciled these two hostile races to each other. 
