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66   ANTIQUITIES OF INDIAN TIBET

[VoL. II

provinces of Hbog-hchol ; and the twenty-four little and minor kingdoms. These are found in our southern Hdzam-bu-glin. Then, to the south of the chief mountain of the middle (Sumeru), there is the ` tree of life ' (Bodhi-tree) of Hdzam-bu-gliri and other countries. When the number of the 1,002 Buddhas of this ` Good Kalpa ' was in the period of diminishing, there [appeared] at Rdo-rje-gdan (Vajrāsana) of India, at the heart of Bodhi (Bodhimanda), the four wheel-turning kings. Let us relate only of the great ones among them. At the time when the wheel-turning kings lived in the belly

of Mount Ri-rab (Sumeru), fields and grounds being still in the egg, each Buddha went to do his teaching and accomplished his course. The men of Lha-mi-grori-bdun (the seven towns of the divine men) [then] lived in the belly of Mount Mu-khyudhdzin (Nimindhara). They ate nectar and enjoyed the essence [of food]. The people of Me-tog-snubs-gnas were born on the flowers of the wishing-tree, and enjoyed the fruits [of it]. The ` men who drank the essence of nectar ' were born on the twigs of the Hdzarnbu-briksha [tree] ; they enjoyed the sap of the Hdzambu-briksha [treej. The Mi-ham-ci (Kinnaras) and three others ate the fruit of the immortal tea-[tree], and drank the Kha-zag (foam ?) of the ocean. The [so-called] Sdig-btsugs fight against the sword-carrying ogres. Their food is flesh and blood. The children of the Skyes-drug are born in the heat of five summers, and die in winter. The Mgo-gran have heads of various animals, eat grass, and live in the lakes of the small continents (islands).

As regards the four places of birth :—Hdzam-bu-gliri (Jambudvīpa) of the South

was born from the womb ; Lus-hphags-po of the East (Pūrva-Videha) was born out of moisture ; Ba-lari-spyod (Pascima-Godānīya) of the West was born out of an egg ; and Sgra-mi-snan of the North (Uttara-Kuru) was born spontaneously. There are four kinds of ` dwarfs of the frontier ', viz. Gam-sari-Rgya, Gyim-sari-Hor, Ha-le-Mon, and Spu-rgyalBod, these four. There were also four kinds of inner dwarfs, viz. Smra-Zan-un, Gton-glum-pa, Ldori-me-nag, and Se-ha-a, these four. As regards the four kinds of separated dwarfs :—one kind was separated from the hyena tribe (?) ; one kind was separated from the monkey tribe (?) ; one kind was separated from the lizardbrahman tribe (?) ; one kind was separated from the hoof-tribe (?). These and many more [creatures] came into existence, more than can be grasped with our minds. Besides these arose the twenty-four kingdoms, and many more which in course of time became separated from their kind.

At that time the essence of nectar, of reddish-yellowish colour and of a honey-

like taste, came into existence. The god Gsed-bu (Manu) tasted it, and, having enjoyed its sweet taste, again and again coveted it. Thereupon all men followed his [example], and, they having licked it, their bodies became firm and obtained weight and other attributes ; the light of their bodies deteriorated ; they could no more go up to the heavens ; and, when it became dark and they were distressed, then by virtue of the religious merit of the community, in the lifetime of Gsed-can (Manu), the light of

the day, the fiery mirror of the sun, appeared. At the same time, during the lifetime of Gsed's (Manu's) helpmate, the light of the night, the watery mirror of the moon, appeared. During the lifetime of Gsed-bu (Manu) the Milky Way appeared. At that