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six leaders were brought in, but even they could do nothing. Then the souls of the victims of pestilence suggested that the Buddha should be brought from Rājagrha to stop the devils. When this was done, the devils disappeared.
Source: Mahāvastu, Tr. by J.J. Jones, Vol. I,
p. 208-9.
Comment
The story must have been prepared to extol the power and influence of Buddha. We have similar stories in the Jaina tradition. Cf. "Where the Jina dwells, there, upto a distance 25 yojanas in the four directions and 12 yojanas above and the same distance below, there is no pestilence, draught, excessive rain, famine, etc. "?,
45. Namo Buddhassa namɔ Arahantānam
In Rajag rha, there lived two boys, one with a right outlook and the other with a wrong outlook. They were friends and used to play with a ball and a rod. While hitting the ball, the boy with right outlook would say, Namo Buddhassa, and the boy with wrong outlook would say, Namo Arahantānam. Needless to add, the victory was always with the former. This had its impact on the boy with a wrong outlook. He changed his core word.
One day he went with his father to the forest to collect fire wood. On their return journey, they stopped outside the city near a cremation ground to rest and relax. The bulls were unvoked. They slipped into the city. The father left the boy on the spot to look after the logs and went into the city in search of the bulls. By the time, he reached the city gate with the bulls, it was already closed. So the father and the boy were separated. At night, two spirits came to the creamation ground. One of them was with a right outlook and another with a wrong outlook. The latter wanted to do harm to the boy. As soon as he approached near him, the boy said, Namo Buddhassa. The spirit refraced. Then the two spirits brought food from the kitchen of King Bimbisära in a
1. Sa mavayānga Sūtra, Sama. 34.
