The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.2 / Page 384 (Color Image)

0384	The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.2

the original of all the versions of our Book, shows that this original was a Christian
adaptation of the Legend of Buddha. Mr. Jacobs seeks vainly to lessen the force of
this proof in showing that this Parable has parallels in Buddhistic literature."—H. C.]

Note 3.—Marco is not the only eminent person who has expressed this view of
Sakyamuni's life in such words. Professor Max Müller (u.s.) says : "And whatever
we may think of the sanctity of saints, let those who doubt the right of Buddha to a
place among them, read the story of his life as it is told in the Buddhistic canon. If
he lived the life which is there described, few saints have a better claim to the title
than Buddha ; and no one either in the Greek or the Roman Church need be
ashamed of having paid to his memory the honour that was intended for St. Josaphat,
the prince, the hermit, and the saint."

Note 4.—This is curiously like a passage in the Wisdom of Solomon : "Neque
enim erant (idola) ab initio, neque erunt in perpetuum . . . acerbo enim luctu dolens
pater cito sibi rapti filii fecit imaginem : et illum qui tunc quasi homo mortuus fuerat
nunc tamquam deum colere cœpit, et constituit inter servos sacra et sacrificia"
(xiv. 13-15). Gower alludes to the same story ; I know not whence taken :—

"Of Cirophanes, seith the booke,
That he for sorow, whiche he toke
Of that he sigh his sonne dede,
Of comfort knewe none other rede,
But lete do make in remembrance
A faire image of his semblance,
And set it in the market place :
Whiche openly to fore his face
Stood euery day, to done hym ease ;
And thei that than wolden please
The Fader, shuld it obeye,
Whan that thei comen thilke weye."—Confessio Amantis.*

Note 5.—Adam's Peak has for ages been a place of pilgrimage to Buddhists,
Hindus, and Mahomedans, and appears still to be so. Ibn Batuta says the Mussul-
man pilgrimage was instituted in the 10th century. The book on the history of the
Mussulmans in Malabar, called Tohfat-ul-Majáhidín (p. 48), ascribes their first
settlement in that country to a party of pilgrims returning from Adam's Peak.
Marignolli, on his visit to the mountain, mentions "another pilgrim, a Saracen of
Spain ; for many go on pilgrimage to Adam."
The identification of Adam with objects of Indian worship occurs in various forms.
Tod tells how an old Rajput Chief, as they stood before a famous temple of Mahádeo
near Udipúr, invited him to enter and worship "Father Adam." Another traveller
relates how Brahmans of Bagesar on the Sarjú identified Mahadeo and Parvati with
Adam and Eve. A Malay MS., treating of the origines of Java, represents Brahma,
Mahadeo, and Vishnu to be descendants of Adam through Seth. And in a Malay
paraphrase of the Ramáyana, Nabi Adam takes the place of Vishnu. (Tod. I. 90 ;
J. A. S. B. XVI. 233 ; J. R. A. S. n.s. II. 102 ; J. Asiat. IV. s. VII. 438.)

Note 6.—The Pátra, or alms-pot, was the most valued legacy of Buddha. It
had served the three previous Buddhas of this world-period, and was destined to
serve the future one, Maitreya. The Great Asoka sent it to Ceylon. Thence it
was carried off by a Tamul chief in the 1st century, A.D., but brought back we know
not how, and is still shown in the Malagawa Vihara at Kandy. As usual in such
cases, there were rival reliques, for Fa-hian found the alms-pot preserved at Pesháwar.

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National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

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National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books