Note 5 — THE DIAMOND SUTRA

“In these two places also Topes (where relics of Buddha are deposited and safeguarded) have been built, both adorned with layers of all the previous substances (gold, silver, pearls, coral, cornelian, glass, and crystal). The kings, ministers, and peoples of the kingdoms vie with one another in making offerings at them. The trains of those who come to scatter flowers and light lamps at them never cease.”—The Travels of Fa-Hien. Legge.

This descriptive scene concerning the endless trains of pilgrims who lit their lamps at the sacred shrine, may recall to our minds the beautifully expressed line in Sophocles’ Œdipus Coloneus, thus rendered by Professor Jebb, The torch-lit strand of Eleusis.