Then the venerable Anuruddha exhorted the brethren and said: "Enough, my brethren! Weep not, neither lament! Has not the Blessed One formerly declared this to us, that it is in the very nature of all things near and dear unto us, that we must separate from them and leave them, since everything that is born, brought into being, and organized, contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution? How then can it be possible that the body of the Tathāgata should not be dissolved? No such condition can exist! Those who are free from passion will bear the loss, calm and self-possessed, mindful of the truth he has taught us." 27 And the venerable Anuruddha and the venerable Ānanda spent the rest of the night in religious discourse. 28 Then the venerable Anuruddha said to the venerable Ānanda: "Go now, brother Ānanda, and inform the Mallas of Kusinārā saying, 'The Blessed One has passed away: do, then, whatsoever seemeth to you fit!'" 29 And when the Mallas had heard this saying they were grieved, and sad, and afflicted at heart. 30 Then the Mallas of Kusinārā gave orders to their attendants, saying, "Gather together perfumes and garlands, and all the music in Kusinārā!" And the Mallas of Kusinārā took the perfumes and garlands, and all the musical instruments, and five hundred garments, and went to the sāla grove where the body of the Blessed One lay. There they passed the day in paying honor and reverence to the remains of the Blessed One, with hymns, and music, and with garlands and perfumes, and in making canopies of their garments, and preparing decorative wreaths to hang thereon. And they burned the remains of the Blessed One as they would do to the body of a king of kings. 31 When the funeral pyre was lit, the sun and moon withdrew their shining, the peaceful streams on every side were torrent-swollen, the earth quaked, and the sturdy forests shook like aspen leaves, whilst flowers and leaves fell untimely to the ground, like scattered rain, so that all Kusinārā became strewn knee-deep with mandāra flowers raining down from heaven. 32 When the burning ceremonies were over, Devaputta said to the multitudes that were assembled round the pyre: 33 "Behold, O brethren, the earthly remains of the Blessed One have been dissolved, but the truth which he has taught us lives in our minds and cleanses us from all error. 34 "Let us, then, go out into the world, as compassionate and merciful as our great master, and preach to all living beings the four noble truths and the eightfold path of righteousness, so that all mankind may attain to a final salvation, taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha." 35