ght! Then the Mallas of Kusinara said to the
venerable Anuruddha: "What, Lord, can be the reason, and what the cause,
that four chieftains of the Mallas who have bathed their heads, and clad
themselves in new garments, with the intention of setting on fire the
funeral pile of the Blessed One, are unable to set it on fire?"

"It is because you, O Vasetthas, have one purpose, and the spirits have
another purpose."

"But what, Lord, is the purpose of the spirits?"

"The purpose of the spirits, O Vasetthas, is this: 'That venerable
brother Maha Kassapa is now journeying along the high road from Pava to
Kusinara with a great company of the brethren, with five hundred of the
brethren. The funeral pile of the Blessed One shall not catch fire,
until the venerable Maha Kassapa shall have been able reverently to
salute the sacred feet of the Blessed One.'"

"Even according to the purpose of the spirits, so, Lord, let it be!"

Then the venerable Maha Kassapa went on to Makuta-bandhana of Kusinara,
to the shrine of the Mallas, to the place where the funeral pile of the
Blessed One was. And when he had come up to it, he arranged his robe on
one shoulder; and bowing down with clasped hands he thrice walked
reverently round the pile; and then, uncovering the feet, he bowed down
in reverence at the feet of the Blessed One. And those five hundred
brethren arranged their robes on one shoulder; and bowing down with
clasped hands, they thrice walked reverently round the pile, and then
bowed down in reverence at the feet of the Blessed One.

And when the homage of the venerable Maha Kassapa and of those five
hundred brethren was ended, the funeral pile of the Blessed One caught
fire of itself. Now as the body of the Blessed One burned itself away,
from the skin and the integument, and the flesh, and the nerves, and the
fluid of the joints, neither soot nor ash was seen: and only the bones
remained behind.

Just as one sees no soot nor ash when glue or oil is burned, so, as the
body of the Blessed One burned itself away, from the skin and the
integument, and the flesh, and the nerves, and the fluid of the joints,
neither soot nor ash was seen: and only the bones remained behind. And
of those five hundred pieces of raiment the very innermost and outermost
were both consumed. And when the body of the Blessed One had been burned
up, there came down streams of water from the sky and extinguished the
funeral pile of the Blessed One; and th