3. Mudita-hhatmnd. — In the exercise of this mode of meditation



XX. MEDITATION. 247

the priest must express the wish, " May the good fortune of the
prosperous never pass away ; may each one receive his own ap-
pointed reward.*' This is mudita-bhawana, or the meditation of
joy. The principal meaning of mudita is joy, but it is not the joy
arising from earthly possessions. It feels indifferent to individuals,
and refers to all sentient beings. It is allied to both maitri and
karuna.
As the husbandman first portions out a certain plot of ground,
and then ploughs it, so the priest who exercises any of the above
three modes of meditation may first direct his attention to a certain
number of persons, then to the inhabitants of a street, and so on in
order to the whole village, the kingdom, the sakwala, and the outer
sakwalas.
4. Asubha-bhdwdnd. — ^The principal meaning of the word asubha
is inauspicious, that which is the opposite of good fortune, or that
which produces dissatisfaction, aversion, and disgust. In this ex-
ercise the priest must reflect that the body is composed of thirty-
two impurities ; that as the worm is bred in the dunghill, so it is
conceived in the womb ; that it is the receptacle of filth, like the
privy; that disgusting secretions are continually proceeding from
its nine apertures ; and that, like the drain into which all kinds of
refuse are thrown, it sends forth an offensive smell. This is asubha-
bhawana.
