385. Lit. "In whom is found neither near bank nor far": i.e. neither noticing external objects by attending to them, nor letting his desires go out to seek them. (Commentary.)

387. The face of the seer is said to shine.

388. Deriving Brahmano from the root vah--or bah--to put away.

394. Cf. Luke xi, 39; Matt. xxiii, 27.

398. The cable is Dosa, hatred; the chain with its links is Tanha, desire in all its forms; the bolt is Moha, infatuation, or folly.

395. This stanza seems to have a Brahminical origin: unless we lay all the stress on meditating.

405. Fixed or moving creatures, according to the Sinhalese Commentary, refers either to men or to animals. In a metaphorical sense, fixed creatures are Arahats, moving ones are common men. In a literal sense fixed creatures may be such things as molluscs.

Footnotes

^93:* "The Buddhist," vol. i, No. 9, contains an account by an eye-witness of a self-levitated lama.

ILLUSTRATIVE SAYINGS OF THE

DISCIPLES OF THE BUDDHA

THE following are selections from another book which bears the impress of a very early date, and gives us vivid glimpses of the Buddhist Ideal: the Thera-Theri-Gatha, or Songs of the Elders and Sisters. The Psalms of the Sisters, Mrs. Rhys Davids' fine translation of the latter portion of this book, is a valuable commentary on the Dhammapada, and reveals the great power of Buddhism (whilst the enthusiasm for Buddha was still alive) over the human heart.

SAYINGS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE BUDDHIST

IDEAL

Its asceticism:

"Gold-bedecked and bejewelled, carrying her son upon her hip and followed by attendants, came my wife.

"Beholding her, the mother of my son, I beheld a snare set by the Evil One [Mara]."

Thera-gatha, 299.

"Where a man dwells alone, he is as Brahma; where two dwell, they dwell as gods; where three dwell, it is as a village; where there are more, it is a rabble." (The fewer the safer!)

Ibid., 245.

Its stoicism:

"The rain pours gurgling down: alone dwell I in dreadful cave. Yet for me it holds not dread nor fear; I am one who knows them not."

Ibid. 189.

"As the elephant calmly endures the battle, so this lean one, with limbs gnarled as tree-trunks, endures the sting of insects as he bathes."

Ibid., 243.

"The cold dark nights of winter chap the skin and freeze the thoughts, O Mogharaja! What shall the Bhikkhu do?

"The men of Magadha have taken in their harvest. I, too, like others who delight in life, will lie down and take my rest in the straw."