Note 8 — Chapter XXXI · GAYÂ. ŚÂKYAMUNI’S ATTAINING TO THE BUDDHASHIP; AND OTHER LEGENDS.

Called also Mahâ, or the Great Muchilinda. Eitel says: ‘A nâga king, the tutelary deity of a lake near which Śâkyamuni once sat for seven days absorbed in meditation, whilst the king guarded him.’ The account (p. 35) in ‘The Life of the Buddha’ is:—‘Buddha went to where lived the nâga king Muchilinda, and he, wishing to preserve him from the sun and rain, wrapped his body seven times round him, and spread out his hood over his head; and there he remained seven days in thought.’ So also the Nidâna Kathâ, in ‘Buddhist Birth Stories,’ p. 109.