When his connexion with the living was completed,( 12) he attained to pari-nirvana (and died).

Since that event, for 1497 years, the light of the world has gone out,( 13) and all living beings have had long-continued sadness.

Behold! ten days after this, Buddha's tooth will be brought forth, and taken to the Abhayagiri-vihara.

Let all and each, whether monks or laics, who wish to amass merit for themselves, make the roads smooth and in good condition, grandly adorn the lanes and by-ways, and provide abundant store of flowers and incense to be used as offerings to it." When this proclamation is over, the king exhibits, so as to line both sides of the road, the five hundred different bodily forms in which the Bodhisattva has in the course of his history appeared:--here as Sudana,( 14) there as Sama;( 15) now as the king of elephants;( 16) and then as a stag or a horse.( 16) All these figures are brightly coloured and grandly executed, looking as if they were alive.

After this the tooth of Buddha is brought forth, and is carried along in the middle of the road.