The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-10-31
PRICES OF THE BODY OF BUDSHA Court Passes Upon the Peculiar Relics. ADJUDcED GENUINE VIII Be Worshipped by the Faithful. vhe Bones sf Buddha, the Founder of the Noted ReIisio., Are ssil te Be More Than Twenty-avs Centuries oId-Incise.ts
 of the Ensuiry.
 
e Worshipped by the
 Faithful.
ny nYA.nHowARp. \.

Calcutta, Oct 30.---lntefeet In the Buddhist remains of Peshawur con tinues unabated. but while a recent conference of the Buddhist community at Colombo. ceylon. decided to accept the relics as genuine. spirit of incred- ulity is abroad In Burma. This skepti- cism seems to be based partially on the fact that Buddhists suffered once before q severe disappointment at the hands of the Archaeological Department of India. There are. however. two other req sons for the attitude of doubt. Neither the form of relics found--three pieces of charred bone--nor the occur renee of three such bones In one de- posit, fits in with the tcommentary statement on the subject"
 "In ancient Pali works" writes a correspondent at Rangoon. the curious statement is made that thesremains af- ter the cremation of Buddha do not. form of charred bones and ashes, but occur with certain exceptions as small round fused masses, having about the size and appearances of seed pearls. Be- sides these formations, the commentary states that among the relics from the Buddha's cremation were (a) four ca nine teeth tone of which Is now alleged to be enshrined in the tooth relic tenn pie at Kandy). (b) two collar bones. and Co the parietal bone of the head. Whether this curious statement be it. self fact or whether the relics Of Buddha consisted of ashes and were subsequently,, at the time of Asoka's redistribution, fashioned into the small round masses mentioned, the fact re- mains that all objects at the present day regarded as authentic relics of Buddha have the shape and appear ance in question"
 Rurma'ss point of view, however, Is not that of ceylon. Summoned by the High Priest of Western Ceylon, a con- ference of prominent Buddhist monks s and laymen assembled at Colombo to discuss the matter, Professor Satis Vid- yabhusana, E. A., of Calcutta, also at tending. Called upon by the President to explain how the newly discovered relics could have gone to the Holy Kingdom of Gandhar" member of the conference, one Jnanesvara, offered the following explanations:
 venerable Sir, 2.452 years ago, our omniscient Lord renounced his mortal coil under a pair of aala trees at Kusf- nara in India. After the funeral had been over the remains of the dead body fwith the exception of four teeth, two s0liar-bones, one neck -hone, and the bone on the ferehead) were. by the su- pernatural powers of our Lord. trans formed into small pieces. which were
 
 shares, of which seven were distributed to different kingdoms and the eighth was taken away by the Nagas. About .50 years after the Nirvana of our Lord, the Emperor Asoka collected to- Eether the aforementioned seven shares which he distributed by pieces to va- rfous paies of India Bnd on which pa- godas were built--S,400 in number. The pagoda recently excavated by the Arch aeological Department of India in Gandhar must be one of these eighty four hundreds." Then, in response to the High Priest vidy abhusana took up his parable: "The Chinese pilgrim Hwenthsang, who visited India early in the seventh century A. D.. mentions a pagoda in Gandhar which was built by King Kanishka and which is said to have contained considerable DOT fion of the bones and flesh of Buddha. Some suppose that the pagoda excavat- ed by the ArchaeologicaI Departmenti Is the same one that was built by Kan
 The CeyIon Confereace.
 Tn the Ceylon conference the Presi- dent asked: "Who is Kanishka?"
 Vidyabhu usana--A Buddhist King who fiourished in Gandhar about the open ing of the Christian era.
 President--What is the meaning of "a considerable portion?"
 vtdyabhusana--An amount of ten pecks.
 President--Can four small pieces of bones be called "a considerable por- ton" of the bones and flesh of Buddha?
 vidyahhusana---No.
 President Brother Suvarnajyoti, what do you think?