Scene of Buddha's Parinirvana

Also, early in the morning when the sun had just risen, in order to provide the cremation the Tathagata’s body, the people carried in their hands tens of thousands of bundles of fragrant woods such as sandalwood, aloe, goirsa sandalwood, and heavenly wood, which with their core and annual rings, shone out in the wonderful hues of the seven treasures. In firing, the various hues were like painted colors, all these true wonders having arisen of the power of the Buddha, which were blue, yellow, red and white. These were pleasing to the eyes of all beings. All the wood was carefully smeared with various kinds of incense as saffron, aloe, sarjarasa, and others. Flowers such as utpala (Blue Lotus), kumuda (night blooming in the moonlight), padma (lotus red) and pundarika (white lotus) were strewn as adornments. Above all the fragrant woods were hung banners of five colors. They were soft and delicate, like heavenly veils weaved in kauseya, ksuma and silk.

The fragrant woods were laden onto adorned carriages, which glowed in colors such as blue, yellow, red and white. Its poles and spokes were all inlaid with the seven treasures. Each of these carriages was pulled by a joint of four horses, which ran like the wind. In front of each carriage stood 57 banners of ornamental plants, over which were spread thin veils of true gold. Each carriage had 50 wonderful canopies finely decorated with garlands of utpala, kumuda, padma and pundarika. The petals of these flowers were of pure gold, and his calyxes made of diamond. There were many black bees in the flowers, which gathered there, played and amused themselves, sending forth a wonderful music. That song spoke of non-eternal, sorrow, All-Void (absence) non-Self. That song also spoke about what the Bodhisattva originally does (Buddha's transit in the world). Dances, singings, masks dances went on, played by musical instruments such as "cheng", flute, harp, "hsiao" and "shã". From the music, arose a voice, which said: "Oh, woe is the day, woe the day! The world is empty!" In front of each carriage, upasakas stood holding decorated trays with various flowers such as utpala, kumuda, padma, pundarika, and various kinds of incense such as kunkuma and others, and steamy incense, all wonderful. They carried various utensils to prepare meals for the Buddha and the Sangha.

Read More on the Nirvana Sutra - Chapter 1 – Introductory.