________________
549
I said, "No ābus, I did not".
The man - "Where were you at that time"?
"Why? I was right here". "Bhante ! Did you hear the roar of thunder"?
"No, abus, I did not" . - "Bhante ! Were you asleep at that time"?
"No, abus, I was not". "Were you in your full senses then"? "Why? I was fully in my senses".
"Pukkus ! Then the man said, 'How strange ! How very wonderful! This is the real movement at ease".
On hearing this account, Pukkus, the son of Malla, was very much impressed. He said,
"Bhante ! This is even more strange than the passing of 500 or even 5000 carts. Whatever respect and devotion I had in Alära Kalām, I throw it to the winds, I wash it down in a quick-flowing river. From this day, please accept me as your worshipper who is come to take shelter with thee".
Pukkus presented to the Buddha two very costly and glittering shawls, one for the Lord himself and the other for Ananda,
Pukkus, the son of Malla departed. Ananda placed his own shawl also on the Buddha. A glow came out from the Buddha's body and outs hone the brilliance of the shawls. On a point of enquiry from.Ananda, the Buddha said,
"Such purification of pigment of the skin) of the Tathagata takes place on two occasions, viz., once at the time of his enlightenment, and again at the time of his liberation. Tonight, in the last quarter, in the sāla forest of the Mallas at Kusinārā, surrounded by śāla trees, the Tathāgata will enter into his liberation".
