one laid down a prohibition against one’s killing himself.” [2] Further it occurred to him:—­“Yes, he did; but I now only wish to kill three poisonous thieves.”  Immediately with the knife he cut his throat.  With the first gash into the flesh he attained the state of a Srotapanna; when he had gone half through, he attained to be an Anagamin; and when he had cut right through, he was an Arhat, and attained to pari-nirvana, and died.

[Footnote 1:  A very great place in the annals of Buddhism.  The Council in the Srataparna cave did not come together fortuitously, but appears to have been convoked by the older members to settle the rules and doctrines of the order.  The cave was prepared for the occasion by king Ajatasatru.]

[Footnote 2:  Buddha made a law forbidding the monks to commit suicide.  He prohibited any one from discoursing on the miseries of life in such a manner as to cause desperation.]

CHAPTER XXXI

Sakyamuni’s Attaining to the Buddhaship

From this place, after travelling to the west for four yojanas, the pilgrims came to the city of Gaya; but inside the city all was emptiness and desolation.  Going on again to the south for twenty li, they arrived at the place where the Bodhisattva for six years practised with himself painful austerities.  All around was forest.

Three li west from here they came to the place where, when Buddha had gone into the water to bathe, a deva bent down the branch of a tree, by means of which he succeeded in getting out of the pool.

Two li north from this was the place where the Gramika girls presented to Buddha the rice-gruel made with milk; and two li north from this was the place where, seated on a rock under a great tree, and facing the east, he ate the gruel.  The tree and the rock are there at the present day.  The rock may be six cubits in breadth and length, and rather more than two cubits in height.  In Central India the cold and heat are so equally tempered that trees live for several thousand and even for ten thousand years.

Half a yojana from this place to the northeast there was a cavern in the rocks, into which the Bodhisattva entered, and sat cross-legged with his face to the west.  As he did so, he said to himself, “If I am to attain to perfect wisdom and become Buddha, let there be a supernatural attestation of it.”  On the wall of the rock there appeared immediately the shadow of a Buddha, rather more than three feet in length, which is still bright at the present day.  At this moment heaven and earth were greatly moved, and devas in the air spoke plainly, “This is not the place where any Buddha of the past, or he that is to come, has attained, or will attain, to perfect Wisdom.  Less than half a yojana from this to the southwest will bring you to the patra tree, where all past Buddhas have attained, and all to come must attain, to perfect Wisdom.”  When they