Note 1 — Chapter XXXIX · CREMATION OF AN ARHAT. SERMON OF A DEVOTEE.

South of the city seven le there is a vihâra, called the Mahâ-vihâra, where 3000 monks reside. There had been among them a Śramaṇa, of such lofty virtue, and so holy and pure in his observance of the disciplinary rules, that the people all surmised that he was an Ârhat. When he drew near his end, the king came to examine into the point; and having assembled the monks according to rule, asked whether the bhikshu had attained to the full degree of Wisdom.1 They answered in the affirmative, saying that he was an Ârhat. The king accordingly, when he died, buried him after the fashion of an Ârhat, as the regular rules prescribed. Four of five le east from the vihâra there was reared a great pile of firewood, which might be more than thirty cubits square, and the same in height. Near the top were laid sandal, aloe, and other kinds of fragrant wood.