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MAHA-PARINIBBÂNA-SUTTA.
125
body by the north to the north of the city; and entering the city by the north gate they carried it through the midst of the city into the midst thereof; and going out again by the eastern gate they carried it to the shrine of the Mallas, called Makuta-bandhana; and there, to the east of the city, they laid down the body of the Blessed One!
33. 2 Then the Mallas of Kusinârâ said to the venerable Ananda : 'What should be done, Lord, with the remains of the Tathagata ?'
'As men treat the remains of a king of kings, so, Vâsetthas, should they treat the remains of a Tathagata.'
And how, Lord, do they treat the remains of a king of kings?'
*They wrap the body of a king of kings, Vâsetthas, in a new cloth. When that is done they wrap it in cotton wool. When that is done they wrap it in a new cloth, —and so on till they have wrapped the body in five hundred successive layers of both kinds. Then they place the body in an oil vessel of iron, and cover that close up with another oil vessel of iron. They then build a funeral pile of all kinds of perfumes, and burn the body of the king of kings. And then at the four cross roads they erect a dâgaba to the king of kings. This, Vasetthas, is the way in which they treat the remains of a king of kings.
And as they treat the remains of a king of kings, so, Vasetthas, should they treat the remains of the
1 The point of this interesting legend is that the inhabitants of an Indian village of that time would have considered it a desecration or pollution to bring a dead body into or through their village.
3 Compare Chap. V, $$ 25-30.
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| 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 |