" Meanwhile
the people all by the side of the river Ganges went forth to pay
reverence to the lord of the world. They prepared for him every kind of
religious offering, and each one with his gaudy boat invited him to
cross over. The lord of the world, considering the number of the boats,
feared lest by an appearance of partiality in accepting one, he might
hurt the minds of all the rest. Therefore in a moment, by his spiritual
power, he transported himself and the great congregation across the
river, leaving this shore he passed at once to that, signifying thereby
the passage in the boat of wisdom from this world to Nirvana: a boat
large enough to transport all that lives to save the world, even as
without a boat he crossed without hindrance the river Ganges. Then all
the people on the bank of the river, with one voice, raised a rapturous
shout, and all declared this ford should be called the Gautama ford. As
the city gate is called the Gautama gate, so this Gautama ford is so
known through ages; and shall be so called through generations to come.
Then Tathagata, going forward still, came to that celebrated Kuli
village, where he preached and converted many; again he went on to the
Nadi village, where many deaths had occurred among the people. The
friends of the dead then came to the lord and asked, "Where have our
friends and relatives deceased, now gone to be born, after this life
ended?" Buddha, knowing well the sequence of deeds, answered each
according to his several needs.
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