When Buddha was
about to attain to his pari-nirvana, as he was quitting the city by the
west gate, he turned round, and, beholding the city on his right, said
to them, "Here I have taken my last walk." Men subsequently built a tope
at this spot.
Three li northwest of the city there is a tope called, "Bows and weapons
laid down." The reason why it got that name was this: The inferior wife
of a king, whose country lay along the river Ganges, brought forth from
her womb a ball of flesh. The superior wife, jealous of the other, said,
"You have brought forth a thing of evil omen," and immediately it was
put into a box of wood and thrown into the river. Farther down the
stream another king was walking and looking about, when he saw the
wooden box floating in the water. He had it brought to him, opened it,
and found a thousand little boys, upright and complete, and each one
different from the others. He took them and had them brought up. They
grew tall and large, and very daring and strong, crushing all opposition
in every expedition which they undertook. By and by they attacked the
kingdom of their real father, who became in consequence greatly
distressed and sad. His inferior wife asked what it was that made him
so, and he replied, "That king has a thousand sons, daring and strong
beyond compare, and he wishes with them to attack my kingdom; this is
what makes me sad.
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