Vipassi, Sikhi, Vessabhu, Kakusandha, Konagamana and
Kassapa. The last three at least may have some historical character. The
Chinese pilgrim Fa Hsien, who visited India from 405 to 411 A.D., saw
their reputed birthplaces and says that there still existed followers of
Devadatta (apparently in Kosala) who recognized these three Buddhas but
not Gotama. Asoka erected a monument in honour of Konagamana in Nepal
with a dedicatory inscription which has been preserved. In the
Majjhima-Nikaya[748] we find a story about Kakusandha and his disciples
and Gotama once gave[749] an extended account of Vipassi, whose teaching
and career are represented as almost identical with his own. Different
explanations have been given of this common element. There is clearly a
wish to emphasize the continuity of the Dhamma and the similarity of its
exponents in all ages. But are we to believe that the stories, true or
romantic, originally told of Gotama were transferred to his mythical
forerunners or that before his birth there was a Buddha legend to which
the account of his career was accommodated? Probably both processes went
on simultaneously. The notices of the Jain saints show that there must
have been such legends and traditions independent of Gotama. To them we
may refer things like the miracles attending birth. But the general
outline of the Buddha's career, the departure from home, struggle for
enlightenment and hesitation before preaching, seem to be a reminiscence
of Gotama's actual life rather than an earlier legend.

There is an interesting discourse describing the wonders that attend the
birth of a Buddha[750], such as that he passes from the Tusita heaven to
his mother's womb; that she must die seven days after his birth: that
she stands when he is born: and so on. We may imagine that the death of
the mother is due to the historical fact that Gotama's mother did so
die, while the other circumstances are embellishments of the old Buddha
and Mahapurusha legend. But the construction of this sutta is curious.
The monks in the Jetavana are talking of the wondrous powers possessed
by Buddhas. Gotama enters and asks what is the subject of their
discourse. They tell him and he bids Ananda describe more fully the
wondrous attributes of a Buddha. Ananda gives a long list of marvels and
at the end Gotama observes, "Take note of this too as one of the
wondrous attributes of a Buddha, that he has his feelings, perceptions
and thoughts under co