Chapter IX
Particulars of Buddha Ma~gala
Buddha Ma~gala's birthplace was the city of Uttara.
His father was King Uttara and His mother was Queen Uttara.
His two male Chief Disciples were Sudeva Thera and Dhammasena Thera. His
attendant was PÈlita Thera.
His two female Chief Disciples were Sivala TherÊ and Asoka TherÊ.
His Bodhi tree was a
nÈga
-tree.
His male supporters were the wealthy men Nanda and VisÈkha. His female
supporters were Anula and Sutana.
Buddha Ma~gala's height was eighty-eight cubits. His physical rays always
appeared in splendour throughout the ten-thousand world-system. Sometimes they
spread beyond the ten-thousand world-system, reaching hundreds of thousands of
world-systems.
The life span of people during His time was ninety thousand years, and the Buddha
lived throughout that period, rescuing such beings as humans, devas and BrahmÈs
out of the waters of
saÑsÈra
and carried them to the shores of NibbÈna.
While a lay-prince, the golden palaces he lived in were three viz., Yasavanta
Palace, Rucimanta Palace, and Sirimanta Palace.
He had thirty thousand female attendants. His Chief Consort was YasavatÊ. His son
was Sivala. He reigned for nine thousand years.
He went forth riding the horse named Pandara. On His Enlightenment He stayed in
Uttara Park.
Just as counting the waves in the great ocean is impossible, so was the number of
the
arahat
-disciples of Buddha Ma~gala.
Throughout the lifetime and Dispensation of Buddha Ma~gala who conveyed all
the three kinds of beings to NibbÈna, there never was a single recluse who died
with defilements. (They all became
arahats
and were pure when passed away into
NibbÈna.)
Buddha Ma~gala, who had large numbers of followers and great fame, lighted the
Lamp of Dhamma and saved a great multitude of people from
saÑsÈric
currents to
NibbÈnic shores. Like a mass of fire that had shone forth became extinct and like
the sun that was gone, the Buddha attained ParinibbÈna, revealing thereby the
nature of impermanence, suffering and uncontrollability of conditioned things to
humans together with devas and BrahmÈs.
As soon as Buddha Ma~gala had thus passed away, His physical rays disappeared,
and the entire ten-thousand world-system was left in total darkness. Then there
occurred great lamentation of people throughout the world-systems.
SaÑvega
The peerless glory of Buddha Ma~gala and His concentrated mind that was permeated
with Omniscience had all vanished. Unsubstantial and futile indeed are all conditioned
things!
Cetiya
Buddha Ma~gala, who had fully realized the Four Noble Truths, thus attained ParinibbÈna
at Uttara Park. (So called because its fruit trees bore more fruits and its flower trees had
more flowers than those of other gardens.) In the same park, a
cetiya
, thirty
yojanas
high,
was built with the soft plaster made of powdered red orpiment mixed with oil and butter;
and it was dedicated to Buddha Ma~gala.
The unbreakable relics of the Buddha, true to the nature of long-lived Enlightened Ones,
remained solid like a golden image without falling into pieces. These relics were enshrined