[Footnote 1: The Lichchhavis of Vaisali had sent to the young prince a
very fine elephant; but when it was near Kapilavastu, Deva-datta, out of
envy, killed it with a blow of his fist. Nanda (not Ananda, but a
half-brother of Siddhartha), coming that way, saw the carcass lying on
the road, and pulled it on one side; but the Bodhisattva, seeing it
there, took it by the tail, and tossed it over seven fences and ditches,
when the force of its fall made a great ditch.]
[Footnote 2: They did this, probably, to show their humility, for Upali
was only a Sudra by birth, and had been a barber; so from the first did
Buddhism assert its superiority to the conditions of rank and caste.
Upali was distinguished by his knowledge of the rules of discipline, and
praised on that account by Buddha. He was one of the three leaders of
the first synod, and the principal compiler of the original Vinaya
books.]
[Footnote 3: The Srotapannas are the first class of saints, who are not
to be reborn in a lower sphere, but attain to nirvana after having been
reborn seven times consecutively as men or devas. The Chinese editions
state there were one thousand of the Sakya seed. The general account is
that they were five hundred, all maidens, who refused to take their
place in king Vaidurya's harem, and were in consequence taken to a pond,
and had their hands and feet cut off.
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