Rathapala then said to his father, “If I am to receive food, let it be given; do not distress me by showing me wealth, or by the approach of women." His father informed him that all was prepared, and presented the food with his own hand, until he was satisfied. He then took the bowl, and preparing to depart, said, "The body is arrayed in garments and ornamented by jewels; it is like an image beautifully painted; it has hands, feet, and various members, is built about with flesh, and is subject to disease and decay; think about it well; if it were not for the manner in which it is ornamented, it would be loathsome; men and women have affection for this vile and perishing body, and none for nirwána. The body is washed in perfumed water; the hair is braided in eight different ways, and ornamented with coronets; and the eyes are anointed with collyrium; but nirwana is despised. Householder! you are like a man who places a gin made of withs to catch deer; you have displayed before me this wealth that I might be ensnared; but I am like the deer that eats the grass and escapes the snare; I have partaken of your food, and now depart." Having spoken these words he went

away.

About this time Kórawya, the king, called Migawa, the gardener, and commanded him to prepare the Migachíra garden for his reception. When the gardener was about to carry this command into effect, he saw Rathapála at the foot of a tree; upon which he went to inform the king, who said that he would visit the place without delay. When leaving the palace, he sat in his chariot; but when at a proper distance he alighted therefrom, and approached the priest on foot. The king requested him to mount the royal elephant; but he refused, saying that they had both better remain as they then were, each on his own proper seat. "There are four causes of affliction;" the king proceeded to say; "on account of one or other of these causes men most frequently embrace the priesthood; they are, decay, disease, the loss of property, and the loss of friends. A man becomes old; all his powers have begun to fail; he thinks thus: I am now old; I can acquire no more property, or if I acquire it I cannot keep it; it will be better for me to become a recluse. But you, most noble Rathapála! are not old; you are yet a youth; your hair is like that of Krishna: you are yet in the beginning of your strength; what, then, did you learn, or see, or hear, that induced you to become a priest? There is the affliction arising from disease; men are subject to coughs, asthma, diabetes, and other

diseases; and they therefore embrace the priesthood. But you are in perfect health; the digestive faculty is unimpaired; why then did you embrace this ascetic course? There is the affliction arising from the loss of property; men lose their possessions and wealth; they therefore embrace the priesthood. But you belong to a respectable family in this brahman village; you have not suffered any loss of property; then why do you endure these privations? There is the affliction arising from the loss of friends; men lose their children and other relatives; they therefore embrace the priesthood. But you are a stranger to this affliction. Then, tell me, why did you become a priest?"

Rathapála replied, "O king! four aphorisms have been declared by Budha, and it was because I understood them, saw and heard them, that I became a priest. They are: 1. The beings in this world are subject to decay, they cannot abide long. 2. They have no protection, no adequate helper. 3. They have no real possessions; all that they have they must leave. 4. They cannot arrive at perfect satisfaction or content; they are constantly the slaves of evil desire." The king enquired what was the meaning of these aphorisms, and Rathapála explained them thus: When you, Kórawya, were twenty or twenty-five years of age, were you not able to subdue the horse, drive the chariot, and bend the bow; and were you not then a powerful warrior?" The king replied in the affirmative; but when Rathapála asked him if he was the same now, he confessed that his former energy had passed away; and when the priest further enquired how this had come to pass, he said, "I am now old; I am eighty years of age; if I think to place my foot here, it goes there; I am feeble." "It was on this account," said Rathapála, "that Budha declared: the being who is resident in this world is carried away by decay, or old age; he cannot remain long." The king said, "What Budha has declared is true; but he has also said that though there may be an army to defend the monarch against his enemies, there is no protection against the approach of sickness; what is the meaning of this?" The priest enquired, "Are you subject to any incurable disease?" and the king said, "Yes; I am subject to such a disease; sometimes my sons and other relatives assemble around me and exclaim: The king Kórawya will now die." "Well then," asked the priest, "if at such a time you were to say to your relatives, or to the nobles in attendance, Help me to endure my pain; divide it among yourselves,

and take part of it in my stead;—would they be able thus to assist you?" The king declared that they would not. "Therefore," said the priest, "Budha has declared that man has no protection, no adequate helper." The king again said, "Budha has declared that though a man may have much wealth, it is not his own; though he may possess it for a time, he must leave it; what is the meaning of this?" "You, O king," said Rathapála, “have abundance; much wealth and many attendants; when you enter the other world, will you still possess them, or will they be the property of another?" The king confessed that he must leave them, and that they would belong to another. "It was on this account,” Rathapála said, “Budha declared that man has no real possessions." The king continued, "You have told me that Budha has said: The mind is not satisfied, or contented; it still covets more; what does this mean?" "Suppose" said the priest, "a man worthy of all credence were to come from the eastern part of Kuru, and say that in that part of the country he had seen many nations, with cities, armies, wealth, and maidens beautiful as the celestial déwís, what would you do?" The king said, he should go and conquer them. The priest put the same question relative to each of the other quarters; and upon receiving the same reply he said, " It was on this account Budha has declared that the mind is never satisfied; it is always wanting more; and it was because I learnt these truths that I embraced the priesthood."

Rathapála then repeated these stanzas:-"There are some men who have much property; but on account of the false medium through which all things appear to them, it seems as if it were little; they are covetous of more, and are continually trying to add to their possessions. There are kings who subdue the whole of the four quarters, even to the borders of the sea; but they are still not content; they wish to cross the ocean, that they may find out more worlds to conquer, but they are never satisfied with what they acquire, and the craving continues until death. There is no means of satisfying the desire of the worldling. When he dies, his friends. go about with disordered hair, and weep; they exclaim, He is gone, he is dead, and they then enwrap the body in cloth, and burn it upon the pyre. He cannot take with him either property or wealth; even the cloth in which he is enwrapped is burnt. When about to die, neither relatives, friends, nor companions, can afford him any protection. He who dies is accompanied only by his merit and de

merit; nothing else whatever goes with him; he cannot take with him children, or women, or wealth, or lands. Decay is not prevented by wealth, nor is old age; the life continues only for a little time. The rich and the poor, the wise and the unwise, men of every condition, must equally encounter death; there is no one to whom its embrace does not come. The unwise man trembles at the approach of death; but the wise man is unmoved. Wisdom is therefore better than wealth; of all possessions it is the chief; it is the principal means by which evil desire is destroyed, and purity is attained. The cleaving to sentient objects is the cause of many dangers, and prevents the reception of nirwána. For these reasons I have embraced the priesthood."

V. ORDINATION.

It has been said that "ordination is nothing but a word borrowed from the Roman empire, in which it is the legitimate and customary mode of designating the institution of a person to some honourable office; and this was the original church meaning, as both Eichhorn and Rothe have shown."* The act by which admission into the priesthood is received among the Budhists may therefore not improperly be termed ordination. It binds the recipient to observe certain ordinances or rules; but it is to be regarded as conveying an obligation to refrain from certain usages, rather than as imposing a class of duties that he is to perform. On the part of the candidate it is an acknowledgment of the excellence of asceticism, with an implied declaration that its obligations shall be observed; and on the part of the priests by whom the ceremony is conducted, it is an acknowledgment that the candidate is eligible to the reception of the office, and that, so long as he fulfils its duties, he will be received as a member of the ascetic community, and be entitled to partake in all its rights and privileges.

The mode in which the ceremony is conducted is extremely simple, as appears from the formulary of admission contained in the work called Kammawáchan, of which there is a Singhalese translation. A sangha, or chapter, having been called, the candidate is asked if the requisites of the priest (as the alms-bowl, robes,

*Bunsen's Church of the Future.

&c. that have been previously prepared and deposited in the place of assembly) belong to him. On answering in the affimative, he is commanded to remain in a place that is pointed out; and he is then asked if he is free from certain diseases that are named, including the leprosy, epilepsy, &c.; if he is a human being, a man, and a freeman; if he is out of debt; if he is free from the king's service; if he has the consent of his parents; if he has attained the age of twenty years; and if he is provided with the priestly requisites. He is then asked his own name, and the name of his upádya (the priest by whom he is presented for ordination). These things being ascertained, the moderator commands him to advance; and the candidate, addressing the assembly, says respectfully, thrice, "I request upasampadá." The moderator then makes known that he is free from the impediments that would bar his admission to the priesthood, that he possesses the requisites, and that he requests upasampadá; and thrice calls out, "Let him who assents to this request be silent; let him who dissents, now declare it!" If the assembly be silent the moderator infers that consent is given; upon which he repeats to the candidate the more important of the rules by which he will have to abide-relating to the food he may receive, the garments he may wear, the place in which he may reside, the medicaments he may use in case of sickness, and the crimes that involve expulsion from the priesthood. It is declared that these ordinances are worthy to be kept unto the end of life; to which the candidate assents, without, however, making any promise or taking any vow. From this time he is regarded as an upasampadá, from upa, exceeding, and sampadá, gain, advantage.

It is not unusual for the candidate to put off the robe he had worn as a novice, and to reassume for the nonce the dress of a layman; his body is anointed with sandal and other fragrant substances; and with banners and music his friends accompany him to the place of ordination. It is said that upon some occasions the monarch of Ceylon, the two adigars, and the four nobles next in rank, accompanied the procession through the principal streets of Kandy. In like manner, the nun is arrayed in her gayest attire on the day when she finally abandons the world, and becomes what is called, though the name is too often a solemn mockery, "The spouse of Christ."

The ceremony of upasampadá is sometimes called by Europeans the superior ordination, implying that there are two orders in the