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122
THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE.
ch.
Blessed One, O Vâsetthas, is dead; do, then, whatever seemeth to you fit!
24. And when they had heard this saying of the venerable Ananda, the Mallas, with their young men and their maidens and their wives, were grieved, and sad, and afflicted at heart. And some of them wept, dishevelling their hair, and some stretched forth their arms and wept, and some fell prostrate on the ground, and some reeled to and fro in anguish at the thought: Too soon has the Blessed One died! Too soon has the Happy One passed away! Too soon has the Light gone out in the world !'
25. Then the Mallas of Kusinârâ gave orders to their attendants, saying, 'Gather together perfumes and garlands, and all the music in Kusinârâ !'
26. And the Mallas of Kusinârâ took the perfumes and garlands, and all the musical instruments, and five hundred suits of apparel, and went to the Upavattana, to the Sâla Grove of the Mallas, where the body of the Blessed One lay. There they past the day in paying honour, reverence, respect, and homage to the remains of the Blessed One with dancing, and hymns, and music, and with garlands and perfumes; and in making canopies of their garments, and preparing decoration wreaths to hang thereon 1.
1 The dress of the Mallas consisted probably of mere lengths of muslin or cotton cloth; and a suit of apparel consisted of two or, at the outside, of three of these-one to wrap round the loins, one to throw over the shoulders, and one to use as a turban. To make a canopy on occasions of state they would join such pieces together; to make the canopy into a tent they would simply add walls of the same material; and the only decoration, as simple as it
Digitized by Google
| SR No. | 007674 |
| Book Title | Dhammapada |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Max Muller |
| Publisher | Oxford |
| Publication Year | 1881 |
| Total Pages | 2540 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 45 MB |