Buddhistic Kingdoms, an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien

That's French for "the ancient system," as in the ancient system of feudal privileges and the exercise of autocratic power over the peasants. The ancien regime never goes away, like vampires and dinosaur bones they are always hidden in the earth, exercising a mysterious influence. It is not paranoia to believe that the elites scheme against the common man. Inform yourself about their schemes here.

Re: Buddhistic Kingdoms, an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-H

Postby admin » Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:09 am

CHAPTER VIII. WOO-CHANG, OR UDYÂNA. MONASTERIES, AND THEIR WAYS. TRACES OF BUDDHA.
[Chinese]

After crossing the river, (the travellers) immediately came to the kingdom of Woo-chang,1 which is indeed (a part) of North India. The people all use the language of Central India, ‘Central India’ being what we should call the ‘Middle Kingdom.’ The food and clothes of the common people are the same as in that Central Kingdom. The Law of Buddha is very (flourishing in Woo-chang). They call the places where the monks stay (for a time) or reside permanently Saṅghârâmas;2 and of these there are in all 500, the monks being all students of the hînayâna. When stranger bhikshus3 arrive at one of them, their wants are supplied for three days, after which they are told to find a resting-place for themselves.

There is a tradition that when Buddha came to North India, he came at once to this country, and that here he left a print of his foot, which is long or short according to the ideas of the beholder (on the subject). It exists, and the same thing is true about it, at the present day. Here also are still to be seen the rock on which he dried his clothes, and the place where he converted the wicked dragon.4 The rock is fourteen cubits high, and more than twenty broad, with one side of it smooth.

Hwuy-king, Hwuy-tah, and Tâo-ching went on ahead towards (the place of) Buddha’s shadow in the country of Nagâra;5 but Fâ-hien and the others remained in Woo-chang, and kept the summer retreat.6 That over, they descended south, and arrived in the country of Soo-ho-to.7

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Notes:

1 Udyâna, meaning ‘the Park;’ just north of the Punjâb, the country along the Subhavastu, now called the Swat; noted for its forests, flowers, and fruits (E. H., p. 153).
2 See chap. iii note 6.
3 Bhikshu is the name for a monk as ‘living by alms,’ a mendicant. All bhikshus call themselves Śramans. Sometimes the two names are used together by our author.
4 Nâga is the Sanskrit name for the Chinese lung or dragon; often meaning a snake, especially the boa. ‘Chinese Buddhists,’ says Eitel, p. 79, ‘when speaking of nâgas as boa spirits, always represent them as enemies of mankind, but when viewing them as deities of rivers, lakes, or oceans, they describe them as piously inclined.’ The dragon, however, is in China the symbol of the Sovereign and Sage, a use of it unknown in Buddhism, according to which all nâgas need to be converted in order to obtain a higher phase of being. The use of the character too (度), as here, in the sense of ‘to convert,’ is entirely Buddhistic. The six pâramitâs are the six virtues which carry men across (度) the great sea of life and death, as the sphere of transmigration to nirvâṇa. With regard to the particular conversion here, Eitel (p. 11) says the Nâga’s name was Apatâla, the guardian deity of the Subhavastu river, and that he was converted by Śâkyamuni shortly before the death of the latter.
5 In Chinese Na-kʽeeh, an ancient kingdom and city on the southern bank of the Cabul river, about thirty miles west of Jellalabad.
6 We would seem now to be in 403.
7 Soo-ho-to has not been clearly identified. Beal says that later Buddhist writers include it in Udyâna. It must have been between the Indus and the Swat. I suppose it was what we now call Swastene.
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Re: Buddhistic Kingdoms, an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-H

Postby admin » Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:10 am

CHAPTER IX. SOO-HO-TO. LEGEND OF BUDDHA.
[Chinese]

In that country also Buddhism1 is flourishing. There is in it the place where Śakra,2 Ruler of Devas, in a former age,3 tried the Bodhisattva, by producing4 a hawk (in pursuit of a) dove, when (the Bodhisattva) cut off a piece of his own flesh, and (with it) ransomed the dove. After Buddha had attained to perfect wisdom,5 and in travelling about with his disciples (arrived at this spot), he informed them that this was the place where he ransomed the dove with a piece of his own flesh. In this way the people of the country became aware of the fact, and on the spot reared a tope, adorned with layers6 of gold and silver plates.

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Notes:

1 Buddhism stands for the two Chinese characters 佛法, ‘the Law of Buddha,’ and to that rendering of the phrase, which is of frequent occurrence, I will in general adhere. Buddhism is not an adequate rendering of them any more than Christianity would be of τὸ εὐαγγέλιον Χριστοῦ. The Fâ or Law is the equivalent of dharma comprehending all in the first Basket of the Buddhist teaching,—as Dr. Davids says (Hibbert Lectures, p. 44), ‘its ethics and philosophy, and its system of self-culture;’ with the theory of karma, it seems to me, especially underlying it. It has been pointed out (Cunningham’s ‘Bhilsa Topes,’ p. 102) that dharma is the keystone of all king Priyadarśi or Aśoka’s edicts. The whole of them are dedicated to the attainment of one object, ‘the advancement of dharma, or of the Law of Buddha.’ His native Chinese afforded no better character than 法 or Law, by which our author could express concisely his idea of the Buddhistic system, as ‘a law of life,’ a directory or system of Rules, by which men could attain to the consummation of their being.
2 Śakra is a common name for the Brahmânic Indra, adopted by Buddhism into the circle of its own great adherents;—it has been said, ‘because of his popularity.’ He is generally styled, as here, Tʽeen Tî, ‘God or Ruler of Devas.’ He is now the representative of the secular power, the valiant protector of the Buddhist body, but is looked upon as inferior to Śâkyamuni, and every Buddhist saint. He appears several times in Fâ-hien’s narrative. E. H., pp. 108 and 46.
3 The Chinese character is 昔, ‘formerly,’ and is often, as in the first sentence of the narrative, simply equivalent to that adverb. At other times it means, as here, ‘in a former age,’ some pre-existent state in the time of a former birth. The incident related is ‘a Jâtaka story.’
4 It occurs at once to the translator to render the characters 化作 by ‘changed himself to.’ Such is often their meaning in the sequel, but their use in chapter xxiv may be considered as a crucial test of the meaning which I have given them here.
5 That is, had become Buddha, or completed his course (成道).
6 This seems to be the contribution of 校 (or 挍), to the force of the binomial 校師, which is continually occurring.
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Re: Buddhistic Kingdoms, an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-H

Postby admin » Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:12 am

CHAPTER X. GANDHÂRA. LEGENDS OF BUDDHA.
[Chinese]

The travellers, going downwards from this towards the east, in five days came to the country of Gandhâra,1 the place where Dharma-vivardhana,2 the son of Aśoka,3 ruled. When Buddha was a Bodhisattva, he gave his eyes also for another man here;4 and at the spot they have also reared a large tope, adorned with layers of gold and silver plates. The people of the country were mostly students of the hînayâna.

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Notes:

1 Eitel says ‘an ancient kingdom, corresponding to the region about Dheri and Banjour.’ But see chap. xi, note 1.
2 Dharma-vivardhana is the name in Sanskrit, represented by the Fâ Yî (法益) of the text.
3 Aśoka is here mentioned for the first time;—the Constantine of the Buddhist society, and famous for the number of vihâras and topes which he erected. He was the grandson of Chandragupta (i.q. Sandracottus), a rude adventurer, who at one time was a refugee in the camp of Alexander the Great; and within about twenty years afterwards drove the Greeks out of India, having defeated Seleucus, the Greek ruler of the Indus provinces. He had by that time made himself king of Magadha. His grandson was converted to Buddhism by the bold and patient demeanour of an Arhat whom he had ordered to be buried alive, and became a most zealous supporter of the new faith. Dr. Rhys Davids (Sacred Books of the East, vol. xi, p. xlvi) says that ‘Aśoka’s coronation can be fixed with absolute certainty within a year or two either way of 267 B.C.’
4 This also is a Jâtaka story; but Eitel thinks it may be a myth, constructed from the story of the blinding of Dharma-vivardhana.
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Re: Buddhistic Kingdoms, an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-H

Postby admin » Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:13 am

CHAPTER XI. TAKSHAŚILÂ. LEGENDS. THE FOUR GREAT TOPES.
[Chinese]

Seven days’ journey from this to the east brought the travellers to the kingdom of Takshaśilâ,1 which means ‘the severed head’ in the language of China. Here, when Buddha was a Bodhisattva, he gave away his head to a man;2 and from this circumstance the kingdom got its name.

Going on further for two days to the east, they came to the place where the Bodhisattva threw down his body to feed a starving tigress.2 In these two places also large topes have been built, both adorned with layers of all the precious substances. The kings, ministers, and peoples of the kingdoms around vie with one another in making offerings at them. The trains of those who come to scatter flowers and light lamps at them never cease. The nations of those quarters all those (and the other two mentioned before) ‘the four great topes.’

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Notes:

1 See Julien’s ‘Méthode pour déchiffrer et transcrire les Nomes Sanscrits,’ p. 206. Eitel says, ‘The Taxila of the Greeks, the region near Hoosun Abdaul in lat. 35° 48′ N., lon. 72° 44′ E.’ But this identification, I am satisfied, is wrong. Cunningham, indeed, takes credit (‘Ancient Geography of India,’ pp. 108, 109) for determining this to be the site of Arrian’s Taxila,—in the upper Punjâb, still existing in the ruins of Shahdheri, between the Indus and Hydaspes (the modern Jhelum). So far he may be correct; but the Takshaśilâ of Fâ-hien was on the other, or western side of the Indus; and between the river and Gandhâra. It took him, indeed, seven days travelling eastwards to reach it; but we do not know what stoppages he may have made on the way. We must be wary in reckoning distances from his specifications of days.
2 2 Two Jâtaka stories. See the account of the latter in Spence Hardy’s ‘Manual of Buddhism,’ pp. 91, 92. It took place when Buddha had been born as a Brahmân in the village of Daliddi; and from the merit of the act, he was next born in a devaloka.
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Re: Buddhistic Kingdoms, an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-H

Postby admin » Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:14 am

CHAPTER XII. PURUSHAPURA, OR PESHÂWAR. PROPHECY ABOUT KING KANISHKA AND HIS TOPE. BUDDHA’S ALMS-BOWL. DEATH OF HWUY-YING.
[Chinese]

Going southwards from Gandhâra, (the travellers) in four days arrived at the kingdom of Purushapura.1 Formerly, when Buddha was travelling in this country with his disciples, he said to Ânanda,2 ‘After my pari-nirvâṇa,3 there will be a king named Kanishka,4 who shall on this spot build a tope.’ This Kanishka was afterwards born into the world; and (once), when he had gone forth to look about him, Śakra, Ruler of Devas, wishing to excite the idea in his mind, assumed the appearance of a little herd-boy, and was making a tope right in the way (of the king), who asked what sort of thing he was making. The boy said, ‘I am making a tope for Buddha.’ The king said, ‘Very good;’ and immediately, right over the boy’s tope, he (proceeded to) rear another, which was more than four hundred cubits high, and adorned with layers of all the precious substances. Of all the topes and temples which (the travellers) saw in their journeyings, there was not one comparable to this in solemn beauty and majestic grandeur. There is a current saying that this is the finest tope in Jambudvîpa.5 When the king’s tope was completed, the little tope (of the boy) came out from its side on the south, rather more than three cubits in height.

Buddha’s alms-bowl is in this country. Formerly, a king of Yüeh-she6 raised a large force and invaded this country, wishing to carry the bowl away. Having subdued the kingdom, as he and his captains were sincere believers in the Law of Buddha, and wished to carry off the bowl, they proceeded to present their offerings on a great scale. When they had done so to the Three Precious Ones, he made a large elephant be grandly caparisoned, and placed the bowl upon it. But the elephant knelt down on the ground, and was unable to go forward. Again he caused a four-wheeled wagon to be prepared in which the bowl was put to be conveyed away. Eight elephants were then yoked to it, and dragged it with their united strength; but neither were they able to go forward. The king knew that the time for an association between himself and the bowl had not yet arrived,7 and was sad and deeply ashamed of himself. Forthwith he built a tope at the place and a monastery, and left a guard to watch (the bowl), making all sorts of contributions.

There may be there more than seven hundred monks. When it is near midday, they bring out the bowl, and, along with the common people,8 make their various offerings to it, after which they take their midday meal. In the evening, at the time of incense, they bring the bowl out again.9 It may contain rather more than two pecks, and is of various colours, black predominating, with the seams that show its fourfold composition distinctly marked.10 Its thickness is about the fifth of an inch, and it has a bright and glossy lustre. When poor people throw into it a few flowers, it becomes immediately full, while some very rich people, wishing to make offering of many flowers, might not stop till they had thrown in hundreds, thousands, and myriads of bushels, and yet would not be able to fill it.11

Pâo-yun and Săng-king here merely made their offerings to the alms-bowl, and (then resolved to) go back. Hwuy-king, Hwuy-tah, and Tâo-ching had gone on before the rest to Nagâra,12 to make their offerings at (the places of) Buddha’s shadow, tooth, and the flat-bone of his skull. (There) Hwuy-king fell ill, and Tâo-ching remained to look after him, while Hwuy-tah came alone to Purushapura, and saw the others, and (then) he with Pâo-yun and Săng-king took their way back to the land of Tsʽin. Hwuy-king13 came to his end14 in the monastery of Buddha’s alms-bowl, and on this Fâ-hien went forward alone towards the place of the flat-bone of Buddha’s skull.

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Notes:

1 The modern Peshâwar, lat. 34° 8′ N., lon. 71° 30′ E.
2 A first cousin of Śâkyamuni, and born at the moment when he attained to Buddhaship. Under Buddha’s teaching, Ânanda became an Arhat, and is famous for his strong and accurate memory; and he played an important part at the first council for the formation of the Buddhist canon. The friendship between Śâkyamuni and Ânanda was very close and tender; and it is impossible to read much of what the dying Buddha said to him and of him, as related in the Mahâ-pari-nirvâṇa sûtra, without being moved almost to tears. Ânanda is to reappear on earth as Buddha in another Kalpa. See E. H., p. 9, and the Sacred Books of the East, vol. xi.
3 On his attaining to nirvâṇa, Śâkyamuni became the Buddha, and had no longer to mourn his being within the circle of transmigration, and could rejoice in an absolute freedom from passion, and a perfect purity. Still he continued to live on for forty-five years, till he attained to pari-nirvâṇa, and had done with all the life of sense and society, and had no more exercise of thought. He died; but whether he absolutely and entirely ceased to be, in any sense of the word being, it would be difficult to say. Probably he himself would not and could not have spoken definitely on the point. So far as our use of language is concerned, apart from any assured faith in and hope of immortality, his pari-nirvâṇa was his death.
4 Kanishka appeared, and began to reign, early in our first century, about A.D. 10. He was the last of three brothers, whose original seat was in Yüeh-she, immediately mentioned, or Tukhâra. Converted by the sudden appearance of a saint, he became a zealous Buddhist, and patronised the system as liberally as Aśoka had done. The finest topes in the north-west of India are ascribed to him; he was certainly a great man and a magnificent sovereign.
5 Jambudvîpa is one of the four great continents of the universe, representing the inhabited world as fancied by the Buddhists, and so called because it resembles in shape the leaves of the jambu tree. It is south of mount Meru, and divided among four fabulous kings (E. H., p. 36). It is often used, as here perhaps, merely as the Buddhist name for India.
6 This king was perhaps Kanishka himself, Fâ-hien mixing up, in an inartistic way, different legends about him. Eitel suggests that a relic of the old name of the country may still exist in that of the Jats or Juts of the present day. A more common name for it is Tukhâra, and he observes that the people were the Indo-Scythians of the Greeks, and the Tartars of Chinese writers, who, driven on by the Huns (180 B.C.), conquered Transoxiana, destroyed the Bactrian kingdom (126 B.C.), and finally conquered the Punjâb, Cashmere, and great part of India, their greatest king being Kanishak (E. H., p. 152).
7 Watters, clearly understanding the thought of the author in this sentence, renders—‘his destiny did not extend to a connexion with the bowl;’ but the term ‘destiny’ suggests a controlling or directing power without. The king thought that his virtue in the past was not yet sufficient to give him possession of the bowl.
8 The text is simply ‘those in white clothes.’ This may mean ‘the laity,’ or the ‘upâsakas;’ but it is better to take the characters in their common Chinese acceptation, as meaning ‘commoners,’ ‘men who have no rank.’ See in Williams’ Dictionary under 白.
9 I do not wonder that Rémusat should give for this—‘et s’en retournent après.’ But Fâ-hien’s use of 爾 in the sense of ‘in the same way’ is uniform throughout the narrative.
10 Hardy’s M. B., p. 183, says:—‘The alms-bowl, given by Mahâbrahma, having vanished (about the time that Gotama became Buddha), each of the four guardian deities brought him an alms-bowl of emerald, but he did not accept them. They then brought four bowls made of stone, of the colour of the mung fruit; and when each entreated that his own bowl might be accepted, Buddha caused them to appear as if formed into a single bowl, appearing at the upper rim as if placed one within the other.’ See the account more correctly given in the ‘Buddhist Birth Stories,’ p. 110.
11 Compare the narrative in Luke’s Gospel, xxi. 1–4.
12 See chapter viii.
13 This, no doubt, should be Hwuy-ying. King was at this time ill in Nagâra, and indeed afterwards he dies in crossing the Little Snowy Mountains; but all the texts make him die twice. The confounding of the two names has been pointed out by Chinese critics.
14 ‘Came to his end;’ i.e., according to the text, ‘proved the impermanence and uncertainty,’ namely, of human life. See Williams’ Dictionary under 常. The phraseology is wholly Buddhistic.
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Re: Buddhistic Kingdoms, an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-H

Postby admin » Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:15 am

CHAPTER XIII. NAGÂRA. FESTIVAL OF BUDDHA’S SKULL-BONE. OTHER RELICS, AND HIS SHADOW.
[Chinese]

Going west for sixteen yojanas,1 he came to the city He-lo2 in the borders of the country of Nagâra, where there is the flat-bone of Buddha’s skull, deposited in a vihâra3 adorned all over with gold-leaf and the seven sacred substances. The king of the country, revering and honouring the bone, and anxious lest it should be stolen away, has selected eight individuals, representing the great families in the kingdom, and committing to each a seal, with which he should seal (its shrine) and guard (the relic). At early dawn these eight men come, and after each has inspected his seal, they open the door. This done, they wash their hands with scented water and bring out the bone, which they place outside the vihâra, on a lofty platform, where it is supported on a round pedestal of the seven precious substances, and covered with a bell of lapis lazuli, both adorned with rows of pearls. Its colour is of a yellowish white, and it forms an imperfect circle twelve inches round,4 curving upwards to the centre. Every day, after it has been brought forth, the keepers of the vihâra ascend a high gallery, where they beat great drums, blow conchs, and clash their copper cymbals. When the king hears them, he goes to the vihâra, and makes his offerings of flowers and incense. When he has done this, he (and his attendants) in order, one after another, (raise the bone), place it (for a moment) on the top of their heads,5 and then depart, going out by the door on the west as they entered by that on the east. The king every morning makes his offerings and performs his worship, and afterwards gives audience on the business of his government. The chiefs of the Vaiśyas6 also make their offerings before they attend to their family affairs. Every day it is so, and there is no remissness in the observance of the custom. When all the offerings are over, they replace the bone in the vihâra, where there is a vimoksha tope,7 of the seven precious substances, and rather more than five cubits high, sometimes open, sometimes shut, to contain it. In front of the door of the vihâra, there are parties who every morning sell flowers and incense,8 and those who wish to make offerings buy some of all kinds. The kings of various countries are also constantly sending messengers with offerings. The vihâra stands in a square of thirty paces, and though heaven should shake and earth be rent, this place would not move.

Going on, north from this, for a yojana, (Fâ-hien) arrived at the capital of Nagâra, the place where the Bodhisattva once purchased with money five stalks of flowers, as an offering to the Dîpâṅkara Buddha.9 In the midst of the city there is also the tope of Buddha’s tooth, where offerings are made in the same way as to the flat-bone of his skull.

A yojana to the north-east of the city brought him to the mouth of a valley, where there is Buddha’s pewter staff;10 and a vihâra also has been built at which offerings are made. The staff is made of Gośîrsha Chandana, and is quite sixteen or seventeen cubits long. It is contained in a wooden tube, and though a hundred or a thousand men ere to (try to) lift it, they could not move it.

Entering the mouth of the valley, and going west, he found Buddha’s Saṅghâli,11 where also there is reared a vihâra, and offerings are made. It is a custom of the country when there is a great drought, for the people to collect in crowds, bring out the robe, pay worship to it, and make offerings, on which there is immediately a great rain from the sky.

South of the city, half a yojana, there is a rock cavern, in a great hill fronting the south-west; and here it was that Buddha left his shadow. Looking at it from a distance of more than ten paces, you seem to see Buddha’s real form, with his complexion of gold, and his characteristic marks12 in their nicety clearly and brightly displayed. The nearer you approach, however, the fainter it becomes, as if it were only in your fancy. When the kings from the regions all around have sent skilful artists to take a copy, none of them have been able to do so. Among the people of the country there is a saying current that ‘the thousand Buddhas13 must all leave their shadows here.’

Rather more than four hundred paces west from the shadow, when Buddha was at the spot, he shaved his hair and clipt his nails, and proceeded, along with his disciples, to build a tope seventy or eighty cubits high, to be a model for all future topes; and it is still existing. By the side of it there is a monastery, with more than seven hundred monks in it. At this place there are as many as a thousand topes14 of Arhans and Pratyeka Buddhas.15

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Notes:

1 Now in India, Fâ-hien used the Indian measure of distance; but it is not possible to determine exactly what its length then was. The estimates of it are very different, and vary from four and a half or five miles to seven, and sometimes more. See the subject exhaustively treated in Davids’ ‘Ceylon Coins and Measures,’ pp. 15–17.
2 The present Hidda, west of Peshâwar, and five miles south of Jellalabad.
3 ‘The vihâra,’ says Hardy, ‘is the residence of a recluse or priest;’ and so Davids:—‘the clean little hut where the mendicant lives.’ Our author, however, does not use the Indian name here, but the Chinese characters which express its meaning—tsing shay, ‘a pure dwelling.’ He uses the term occasionally, and evidently, in this sense; more frequently it occurs in his narrative in connexion with the Buddhist relic worship; and at first I translated it by ‘shrine’ and ‘shrine-house;’ but I came to the conclusion, at last, to employ always the Indian name. The first time I saw a shrine-house was, I think, in a monastery near Foo-chow;—a small pyramidal structure, about ten feet high, glittering as if with the precious substances, but all, it seemed to me, of tinsel. It was in a large apartment of the building, having many images in it. The monks said it was the most precious thing in their possession, and that if they opened it, as I begged them to do, there would be a convulsion that would destroy the whole establishment. See E. H., p. 166. The name of the province of Behar was given to it in consequence of its many vihâras.
4 According to the characters, ‘square, round, four inches.’ Hsüan-chwang says it was twelve inches round.
5 In Williams’ Dictionary, under 頂, the characters, used here, are employed in the phrase for ‘to degrade an officer,’ that is, ‘to remove the token of his rank worn on the crown of his head;’ but to place a thing on the crown is a Buddhistic form of religious homage.
6 The Vaiśyas, or bourgeois caste of Hindu society, are described here as ‘resident scholars.’
7 See Eitel’s Handbook under the name vimoksha, which is explained as ‘the act of self-liberation,’ and ‘the dwelling or state of liberty.’ There are eight acts of liberating one’s self from all subjective and objective trammels, and as many states of liberty (vimukti) resulting therefrom. They are eight degrees of self-inanition, and apparently eight stages on the way to nirvâṇa. The tope in the text would be emblematic in some way of the general idea of the mental progress conducting to the Buddhistic consummation of existence.
8 This incense would be in long ‘sticks,’ small and large, such as are sold to-day throughout China, as you enter the temples.
9 ‘The illuminating Buddha,’ the twenty-fourth predecessor of Śâkyamuni, and who, so long before, gave him the assurance that he would by-and-by be Buddha. See Jâtaka Tales, p. 23.
10 The staff was, as immediately appears, of Gośîrsha Chandana, or ‘sandal-wood from the Cow’s-head mountain,’ a species of copper-brown sandal-wood, said to be produced most abundantly on a mountain of (the fabulous continent) Ullarakuru, north of mount Meru, which resembles in shape the head of a cow (E. H., pp. 42, 43). It is called a ‘pewter staff’ from having on it a head and rings and pewter. See Watters, ‘China Review,’ viii, pp. 227, 228, and Williams’ Dictionary, under 杖.
11 Or Saṅghaṭi, the double or composite robe, part of a monk’s attire, reaching from the shoulders to the knees, and fastened round the waist (E. H., p. 118).
12 These were the ‘marks and beauties’ on the person of a supreme Buddha. The ṛishi Kalâ Devala saw them on the body of the infant Śâkya prince to the number of 328, those on the teeth, which had not yet come out, being visible to his spirit-like eyes (M. B., pp. 148, 149).
13 Probably = ‘all Buddhas.’
14 The number may appear too great. But see what is said on the size of topes in chap. iii, note 4.
15 In Singhalese, Pasê Buddhas; called also Nidâna Buddhas, and Pratyeka Jinas, and explained by ‘individually intelligent,’ ‘completely intelligent,’ ‘intelligent as regards the nidânas.’ This, says Eitel (pp. 96, 97), is ‘a degree of saintship unknown to primitive Buddhism, denoting automats in ascetic life who attain to Buddhaship “individually,” that is, without a teacher, and without being able to save others. As the ideal hermit, the Pratyeka Buddha is compared with the rhinoceros khadga that lives lonely in the wilderness. He is also called Nidâna Buddha, as having mastered the twelve nidânas (the twelve links in the everlasting chain of cause and effect in the whole range of existence, the understanding of which solves the riddle of life, revealing the inanity of all forms of existence, and preparing the mind for nirvâṇa). He is also compared to a horse, which, crossing a river, almost buries its body under the water, without, however, touching the bottom of the river. Thus in crossing saṃsâra he “suppresses the errors of life and thought, and the effects of habit and passion, without attaining to absolute perfection.”’ Whether these Buddhas were unknown, as Eitel says, to primitive Buddhism, may be doubted. See Davids’ Hibbert Lectures, p. 146.
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Re: Buddhistic Kingdoms, an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-H

Postby admin » Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:16 am

CHAPTER XIV. DEATH OF HWUY-KING IN THE LITTLE SNOWY MOUNTAINS. LO-E. POHNÂ. CROSSING THE INDUS TO THE EAST.
[Chinese]

Having stayed there till the third month of winter, Fâ-hien and the two others,1 proceeding southwards, crossed the Little Snowy mountains.2 On them the snow lies accumulated both winter and summer. On the north (side) of the mountains, in the shade, they suddenly encountered a cold wind which made them shiver and become unable to speak. Hwuy-king could not go any farther. A white froth came from his mouth, and he said to Fâ-hien, ‘I cannot live any longer. Do you immediately go away, that we do not all die here;’ and with these words he died.3 Fâ-hien stroked the corpse, and cried out piteously, ‘Our original plan has failed;—it is fate.4 What can we do?’ He then again exerted himself, and they succeeded in crossing to the south of the range, and arrived in the kingdom of Lo-e,5 where there were nearly three thousand monks, students of both the mahâyâna and hînayâna. Here they stayed for the summer retreat,6 and when that was over, they went on to the south, and ten days’ journey brought them to the kingdom of Poh-nâ,7 where there are also more than three thousand monks, all students of the hînayâna. Proceeding from this place for three days, they again crossed the Indus, where the country on each side was low and level.8

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Notes:

1 These must have been Tâo-ching and Hwuy-king.
2 Probably the Safeid Koh, and on the way to the Kohat pass.
3 All the texts have Hwuy-king. See chap. xii, note 13.
4 A very natural exclamation, but out of place and inconsistent from the lips of Fâ-hien. The Chinese character 命, which he employed, may be rendered rightly by ‘fate’ or ‘destiny;’ but the fate is not unintelligent. The term implies a factor, or fa-tor, and supposes the ordination of Heaven or God. A Confucian idea for the moment overcame his Buddhism.
5 Lo-e, or Rohî, is a name for Afghanistan; but only a portion of it can be here intended.
6 We are now therefore in 404.
7 No doubt the present district of Bannu, in the Lieutenant-Governorship of the Punjâb, between 32° 10′ and 33° 15′ N. lat., and 70° 26′ and 72° E. lon. See Hunter’s Gazetteer of India, i, p. 393.
8 They had then crossed the Indus before. They had done so, indeed, twice; first, from north to south, at Skardo or east of it; and second, as described in chapter vii.
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Re: Buddhistic Kingdoms, an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-H

Postby admin » Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:16 am

CHAPTER XV. BHIDA. SYMPATHY OF MONKS WITH THE PILGRIMS.
[Chinese]

After they had crossed the river, there was a country named Pe-tʽoo,1 where Buddhism was very flourishing, and (the monks) studied both the mahâyâna and hînayâna. When they saw their fellow-disciples from Tsʽin passing along, they were moved with great pity and sympathy, and expressed themselves thus: ‘How is it that these men from a border-land should have learned to become monks,2 and come for the sake of our doctrines from such a distance in search of the Law of Buddha?’ They supplied them with what they needed, and treated them in accordance with the rules of the Law.

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Notes:

1 Bhida. Eitel says, ‘The present Punjâb;’ i.e. it was a portion of that.
2 ‘To come forth from their families;’ that is, to become celibates, and adopt the tonsure.
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Re: Buddhistic Kingdoms, an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-H

Postby admin » Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:18 am

CHAPTER XVI. ON TO MATHURÂ OR MUTTRA. CONDITION AND CUSTOMS OF CENTRAL INDIA; OF THE MONKS, VIHÂRAS, AND MONASTERIES.
[Chinese]

From this place they travelled south-east, passing by a succession of very many monasteries, with a multitude of monks, who might be counted by myriads. After passing all these places, they came to a country named Ma-tʽâou-lo.1 They still followed the course of the Pʽoo-na2 river, on the banks of which, left and right, there were twenty monasteries, which might contain three thousand monks; and (here) the Law of Buddha was still more flourishing. Everywhere, from the Sandy Desert, in all the countries of India, the kings had been firm believers in that Law. When they make their offerings to a community of monks, they take off their royal caps, and along with their relatives and ministers, supply them with food with their own hands. That done, (the king) has a carpet spread for himself on the ground, and sits down in front of the chairman;—they dare not presume to sit on couches in front of the community. The laws and ways, according to which the kings presented their offerings when Buddha was in the world, have been handed down to the present day.

All south from this is named the Middle Kingdom.3 In it the cold and heat are finely tempered, and there is neither hoar-frost nor snow. The people are numerous and happy; they have not to register their households, or attend to any magistrates and their rules; only those who cultivate the royal land have to pay (a portion of) the grain from it. If they want to go, they go; if they want to stay on, they stay. The king governs without decapitation or (other) corporal punishments. Criminals are simply fined, lightly or heavily, according to the circumstances (of each case). Even in cases of repeated attempts at wicked rebellion, they only have their right hands cut off. The king’s body-guards and attendants all have salaries. Throughout the whole country the people do not kill any living creature, nor drink intoxicating liquor, nor eat onions or garlic. The only exception is that of the Chaṇḍâlas.4 That is the name for those who are (held to be) wicked men, and live apart from others. When they enter the gate of a city or a market-place, they strike a piece of wood to make themselves known, so that men know and avoid them, and do not come into contact with them. In that country they do not keep pigs and fowls, and do not sell live cattle; in the markets there are no butchers’ shops and no dealers in intoxicating drink. In buying and selling commodities they use cowries.5 Only the Chaṇḍâlas are fishermen and hunters, and sell flesh meat.

After Buddha attained to pari-nirvâṇa,6 the kings of the various countries and the heads of the Vaiśyas7 built vihâras for the priests, and endowed them with fields, houses, gardens, and orchards, along with the resident populations and their cattle, the grants being engraved on plates of metal,8 so that afterwards they were handed down from king to king, without any daring to annul them, and they remain even to the present time.

The regular business of the monks is to perform acts of meritorious virtue, and to recite their Sûtras and sit wrapt in meditation. When stranger monks arrive (at any monastery), the old residents meet and receive them, carry for them their clothes and alms-bowl, give them water to wash their feet, oil with which to anoint them, and the liquid food permitted out of the regular hours.9 When (the stranger) has enjoyed a very brief rest, they further ask the number of years that he has been a monk, after which he receives a sleeping apartment with its appurtenances, according to his regular order, and everything is done for him which the rules prescribe.10

Where a community of monks resides, they erect topes to Śâriputtra,11 to Mahâ-maudgalyâyana,12 and to Ânanda13, and also topes (in honour) of the Abhidharma14, the Vinaya14, and the Sûtras.14 A month after the (annual season of) rest, the families which are looking out for blessing stimulate one another15 to make offerings to the monks, and send round to them the liquid food which may be taken out of the ordinary hours. All the monks come together in a great assembly, and preach the Law;16 after which offerings are presented at the tope of Śâriputtra, with all kinds of flowers and incense. All through the night lamps are kept burning, and skilful musicians are employed to perform.17

When Śâriputtra was a great Brahmân, he went to Buddha, and begged (to be permitted) to quit his family (and become a monk). The great Mugalan and the great Kaśyapa18 also did the same. The bhikshuṇîs19 for the most part make their offerings at the tope of Ânanda, because it was he who requested the World-honoured one to allow females to quit their families (and become nuns). The Śrâmaṇeras20 mostly make their offerings to Râhula.21 The professors of the Abhidharma22 make their offerings to it; those of the Vinaya22 to it. Every year there is one such offering, and each class has its own day for it. Students of the mahâyâna present offerings to the Prajñâ-pâramitâ,23 to Mañjuśrî,24 and to Kwan-she-yin.25 When the monks have done receiving their annual tribute (from the harvests),26 the Heads of the Vaiśyas and all the Brahmâns bring clothes and other such articles as the monks require for use, and distribute among them. The monks, having received them, also proceed to give portions to one another. From the nirvâṇa of Buddha,27 the forms of ceremony, laws, and rules, practised by the sacred communities, have been handed down from one generation to another without interruption.

From the place where (the travellers) crossed the Indus to Southern India, and on to the Southern Sea, a distance of forty or fifty thousand le, all is level plain. There are no large hills with streams (among them); there are simply the waters of the rivers.

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Notes:

1 Muttra, ‘the peacock city;’ lat. 27° 30′ N., lon. 77° 43′ E. (Hunter); the birthplace of Kṛishṇa, whose emblem is the peacock.
2 This must be the Jumna, or Yamunâ. Why it is called, as here, the Pʽoo-na has yet to be explained.
3 In Pâli, Majjhima-desa, ‘the Middle Country.’ See Davids’ ‘Buddhist Birth Stories,’ page 61, note.
4 Eitel (pp. 145, 6) says, ‘The name Chaṇḍâlas is explained by “butchers,” “wicked men,” and those who carry “the awful flag,” to warn off their betters;—the lowest and most despised caste of India, members of which, however, when converted, were admitted even into the ranks of the priesthood.’
5 ‘Cowries;’ 貝齒, not ‘shells and ivory,’ as one might suppose; but cowries alone, the second term entering into the name from the marks inside the edge of the shell, resembling ‘the teeth of fishes.’
6 See chap. xii, note 3, Buddha’s pari-nirvâṇa is equivalent to Buddha’s death.
7 See chap. xiii, note 6. The order of the characters is different here, but with the same meaning.
8 See the preparation of such a deed of grant in a special case, as related in chapter xxxix. No doubt in Fâ-hien’s time, and long before and after it, it was the custom to engrave such deeds on plates of metal.
9 ‘No monk can eat solid food except between sunrise and noon,’ and total abstinence from intoxicating drinks is obligatory (Davids’ Manual, p. 163). Food eaten at any other part of the day is called vikâla, and forbidden; but a weary traveller might receive unseasonable refreshment, consisting, as Watters has shown (Ch. Rev. viii. 282), of honey, butter, treacle, and sesamum oil.
10 The expression here is somewhat perplexing; but it occurs again in chapter xxxviii; and the meaning is clear. See Watters, Ch. Rev. viii. 282, 3. The rules are given at length in the Sacred Books of the East, vol. xx, p. 272 and foll., and p. 279 and foll.
11 Śâriputtra (Singh. Seriyut) was one of the principal disciples of Buddha, and indeed the most learned and ingenious of them all, so that he obtained the title of 智慧, ‘knowledge and wisdom.’ He is also called Buddha’s ‘right-hand attendant.’ His name is derived from that of his mother Śârikâ, the wife of Tishya, a native of Nâlanda. In Spence Hardy, he often appears under the name of Upatissa (Upa-tishya), derived from his father. Several Śâstras are ascribed to him, and indeed the followers of the Abhidharma look on him as their founder. He died before Śâkyamuni; but is to reappear as a future Buddha. Eitel, pp. 123, 124.
12 Mugalan, the Singhalese name of this disciple, is more pronounceable. He also was one of the principal disciples, called Buddha’s ‘left-hand attendant.’ He was distinguished for his power of vision, and his magical powers. The name in the text is derived from the former attribute, and it was by the latter that he took up an artist to Tushita to get a view of Śâkyamuni, and so make a statue of him. (Compare the similar story in chap. vi.) He went to hell, and released his mother. He also died before Śâkyamuni, and is to reappear as Buddha. Eitel, p. 65.
13 See chapter 12, note 2.
14 14 14 The different parts of the tripiṭaka. See chapter 1, note 4.
15 A passage rather difficult to construe. The ‘families’ would be those more devout than their neighbours.
16 One rarely hears this preaching in China. It struck me most as I once heard it at Osaka in Japan. There was a pulpit in a large hall of the temple, and the audience sat around on the matted floor. One priest took the pulpit after another; and the hearers nodded their heads occasionally, and indicated their sympathy now and then by an audible ‘h’m,’ which reminded me of Carlyle’s description of meetings of ‘The Ironsides’ of Cromwell.
17 This last statement is wanting in the Chinese editions.
18 There was a Kâśyapa Buddha, anterior to Śâkyamuni. But this Mahâkaśyapa was a Brahmân of Magadha, who was converted by Buddha, and became one of his disciples. He took the lead after Śâkyamuni’s death, convoked and directed the first synod, from which his title of Arya-sthavira is derived. As the first compiler of the Canon, he is considered the fountain of Chinese orthodoxy, and counted as the first patriarch. He also is to be reborn as Buddha. Eitel, p. 64.
19 The bhikshuṇîs are the female monks or nuns, subject to the same rules as the bhikshus, and also to special ordinances of restraint. See Hardy’s E. M., chap. 17. See also Sacred Books of the East, vol. xx, p. 321.
20 The Śrâmaṇeras are the novices, male or female, who have vowed to observe the Shikshâpada, or ten commandments. Fâ-hien was himself one of them from his childhood. Having heard the Trîsharaṇa, or threefold formula of Refuge,—‘I take refuge in Buddha; the Law; the Church,—the novice undertakes to observe the ten precepts that forbid—[1] destroying life; [2] stealing; [3] impurity; [4] lying; [5] intoxicating drinks; [6] eating after midday; [7] dancing, singing, music, and stage-plays; [8] garlands, scents, unguents, and ornaments; [9] high or broad couches; [10] receiving gold or silver.’ Davids’ Manual, p. 160; Hardy’s E. M., pp. 23, 24.
21 The eldest son of Śâkyamuni by Yaśodharâ. Converted to Buddhism, he followed his father as an attendant; and after Buddha’s death became the founder of a philosophical realistic school (vaibhâshika). He is now revered as the patron saint of all novices, and is to be reborn as the eldest son of every future Buddha. Eitel, p. 101. His mother also is to be reborn as Buddha.
22 22 See note 14.
23 There are six (sometimes increased to ten) pâramitâs, ‘means of passing to nirvâṇa:—Charity; morality; patience; energy; tranquil contemplation; wisdom (prajñâ); made up to ten by use of the proper means; science; pious vows; and force of purpose. But it is only prajñâ which carries men across the saṃsâra to the shores of nirvâṇa.’ Eitel, p. 90.
24 According to Eitel (pp. 71, 72), A famous Bodhisattva, now specially worshipped in Shan-se, whose antecedents are a hopeless jumble of history and fable. Fâ-hien found him here worshipped by followers of the mahâyâna school; but Hsüan-chwang connects his worship with the yogachara or tantra-magic school. The mahâyâna school regard him as the apotheosis of perfect wisdom. His most common titles are Mahâmati, “Great wisdom,” and Kumâra-râja, “King of teaching, with a thousand arms and a hundred alms-bowls.”
25 Kwan-she-yin and the dogmas about him or her are as great a mystery as Mañjuśrî. The Chinese name is a mistranslation of the Sanskrit name Avalokiteśvara, ‘On-looking Sovereign,’ or even ‘On-looking Self-Existent,’ and means ‘Regarding or Looking on the sounds of the world,’ = ‘Hearer of Prayer.’ Originally, and still in Thibet, Avalokiteśvara had only male attributes, but in China and Japan (Kwannon), this deity (such popularly she is) is represented as a woman, ‘Kwan-yin, the greatly gentle, with a thousand arms and a thousand eyes;’ and has her principal seat in the island of Pʽoo-tʽoo, on the China coast, which is a regular place of pilgrimage. To the worshippers of whom Fâ-hien speaks, Kwan-she-yin would only be Avalokiteśvara. How he was converted into the ‘goddess of mercy,’ and her worship took the place which it now has in China, is a difficult inquiry, which would take much time and space, and not be brought after all, so far as I see, to a satisfactory conclusion. See Eitel’s Handbook, pp. 18–20, and his Three Lectures on Buddhism (third edition), pp. 124–131. I was talking on the subject once with an intelligent Chinese gentleman, when he remarked, ‘Have you not much the same thing in Europe in the worship of Mary?’
26 Compare what is said in chap. v.
27 This nirvâṇa of Buddha must be—not his death, but his attaining to Buddhaship.
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Re: Buddhistic Kingdoms, an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-H

Postby admin » Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:18 am

CHAPTER XVII. SAṄKÂŚYA. BUDDHA’S ASCENT TO AND DESCENT FROM THE TRAYASTRIṂŚAS HEAVEN, AND OTHER LEGENDS.
[Chinese]

From this they proceeded south-east for eighteen yojanas, and found themselves in a kingdom called Saṅkâśya,1 at the place where Buddha came down, after ascending to the Trayastriṃśas heaven,2 and there preaching for three months his Law for the benefit of his mother.3 Buddha had gone up to this heaven by his supernatural power,4 without letting his disciples know; but seven days before the completion (of the three months) he laid aside his invisibility,4 and Anuruddha,5 with his heavenly eyes,5 saw the World-honoured one, and immediately said to the honoured one, the great Mugalan, ‘Do you go and salute the World-honoured one.’ Mugalan forthwith went, and with head and face did homage at (Buddha’s) feet. They then saluted and questioned each other, and when this was over, Buddha said to Mugalan, ‘Seven days after this I will go down to Jambudvîpa;’ and thereupon Mugalan returned. At this time the great kings of eight countries with their ministers and people, not having seen Buddha for a long time, were all thirstily looking up for him, and had collected in clouds in this kingdom to wait for the World-honoured one.

Then the bhikshuṇî Utpala6 thought in her heart, ‘To-day the kings, with their ministers and people, will all be meeting (and welcoming) Buddha. I am (but) a woman; how shall I succeed in being the first to see him?’7 Buddha immediately, by his spirit-like power, changed her into the appearance of a holy Chakravartti8 king, and she was the foremost of all in doing reverence to him.

As Buddha descended from his position aloft in the Trayastriṃśas heaven, when he was coming down, there were made to appear three flights of precious steps. Buddha was on the middle flight, the steps of which were composed of the seven precious substances. The king of Brahmâ-loka9 also made a flight of silver steps appear on the right side, (where he was seen) attending with a white chowry in his hand. Śakra, Ruler of Devas,10 made (a flight of) steps of purple gold on the left side, (where he was seen) attending and holding an umbrella of the seven precious substances. An innumerable multitude of the devas11 followed Buddha in his descent. When he was come down, the three flights all disappeared in the ground, excepting seven steps, which continued to be visible. Afterwards king Aśoka, wishing to know where their ends rested, sent men to dig and see. They went down to the yellow springs12 without reaching the bottom of the steps, and from this the king received an increase to his reverence and faith, and built a vihâra over the steps, with a standing image, sixteen cubits in height, right over the middle flight. Behind the vihâra he erected a stone pillar, about fifty cubits high,13 with a lion on the top of it.14 Let into the pillar, on each of its four sides,15 there is an image of Buddha, inside and out16 shining and transparent, and pure as it were of lapis lazuli. Some teachers of another doctrine17 once disputed with the Śramaṇas about (the right to) this as a place of residence, and the latter were having the worst of the argument, when they took an oath on both sides on the condition that, if the place did indeed belong to the Śramaṇas, there should be some marvellous attestation of it. When these words had been spoken, the lion on the top gave a great roar, thus giving the proof; on which their opponents were frightened, bowed to the decision, and withdrew.

Through Buddha having for three months partaken of the food of heaven, his body emitted a heavenly fragrance, unlike that of an ordinary man. He went immediately and bathed; and afterwards, at the spot where he did so, a bathing-house was built, which is still existing. At the place where the bhikshuṇî Utpala was the first to do reverence to Buddha, a tope has now been built.

At the places where Buddha, when he was in the world, cut his hair and nails,18 topes are erected; and where the three Buddhas19 that preceded Śâkyamuni Buddha and he himself sat; where they walked,20 and where images of their persons were made. At all these places topes were made, and are still existing. At the place where Śakra, Ruler of the Devas, and the king of the Brahmâ-loka followed Buddha down (from the Trayastriṃśas heaven) they have also raised a tope.

At this place the monks and nuns may be a thousand, who all receive their food from the common store, and pursue their studies, some of the mahâyâna and some of the hînayâna. Where they live, there is a white-eared dragon, which acts the part of dânapati21 to the community of these monks, causing abundant harvests in the country, and the enriching rains to come in season, without the occurrence of any calamities, so that the monks enjoy their repose and ease. In gratitude for its kindness, they have made for it a dragon-house, with a carpet for it to sit on, and appointed for it a diet of blessing, which they present for its nourishment. Every day they set apart three of their number to go to its house, and eat there. Whenever the summer retreat is ended, the dragon straightway changes its form, and appears as a small snake,22 with white spots at the side of its ears. As soon as the monks recognise it, they fill a copper vessel with cream, into which they put the creature, and then carry it round from the one who has the highest seat (at their tables) to him who has the lowest, when it appears as if saluting them. When it has been taken round, immediately it disappeared; and every year it thus comes forth once. The country is very productive, and the people are prosperous, and happy beyond comparison. When people of other countries come to it, they are exceedingly attentive to them all, and supply them with what they need.

Fifty yojanas north-west from the monastery there is another, called ‘The Great Heap.’23 Great Heap was the name of a wicked demon, who was converted by Buddha, and men subsequently at this place reared a vihâra. When it was being made over to an Arhat by pouring water on his hands,24 some drops fell on the ground. They are still on the spot, and however they may be brushed away and removed, they continue to be visible, and cannot be made to disappear.

At this place there is also a tope to Buddha, where a good spirit constantly keeps (all about it) swept and watered, without any labour of man being required. A king of corrupt views once said, ‘Since you are able to do this, I will lead a multitude of troops and reside there till the dirt and filth has increased and accumulated, and (see) whether you can cleanse it away or not.’ The spirit thereupon raised a great wind, which blew (the filth away), and made the place pure.

At this place there are a hundred small topes, at which a man may keep counting a whole day without being able to know (their exact number). If he be firmly bent on knowing it, he will place a man by the side of each tope. When this is done, proceeding to count the number of men, whether they be many or few, he will not get to know (the number).25

There is a monastery, containing perhaps 600 or 700 monks, in which there is a place where a Pratyeka Buddha26 used to take his food. The nirvâṇa ground (where he was burned27 after death) is as large as a carriage wheel; and while grass grows all around, on this spot there is none. The ground also where he dried his clothes produces no grass, but the impression of them, where they lay on it, continues to the present day.

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Notes:

1 The name is still remaining in Samkassam, a village forty-five miles north-west of Canouge, lat. 27° 3′ N., lon. 79° 50′ E.
2 The heaven of Indra or Śâkya, meaning ‘the heaven of thirty-three classes,’ a name which has been explained both historically and mythologically. ‘The description of it,’ says Eitel, p. 148, ‘tallies in all respects with the Svarga of Brahmânic mythology. It is situated between the four peaks of the Meru, and consists of thirty-two cities of devas, eight on each of the four corners of the mountain. Indra’s capital of Bellevue is in the centre. There he is enthroned, with a thousand heads and a thousand eyes, and four arms grasping the vajra, with his wife and 119,000 concubines. There he receives the monthly reports of the four Mahârâjas, concerning the progress of good and evil in the world,’ &c. &c.
3 Buddha’s mother, Mâyâ and Mahâ-mâyâ, the mater immaculata of the Buddhists, died seven days after his birth. Eitel says, ‘Reborn in Tushita, she was visited there by her son and converted.’ The Tushita heaven was a more likely place to find her than the Trayastriṃśas; but was the former a part of the latter? Hardy gives a long account of Buddha’s visit to the Trayastriṃśas (M. B., pp. 298–302), which he calls Tawutisâ, and speaks of his mother (Mâtru) in it, who had now become a deva by the changing of her sex.
4 4 Compare the account of the Arhat’s conveyance of the artist to the Tushita heaven in chap. v. The first expression here is more comprehensive.
5 5 Anuruddha was a first cousin of Śâkyamuni, being the son of his uncle Amṛitodana. He is often mentioned in the account we have of Buddha’s last moments. His special gift was the divyachakshus or ‘heavenly eye,’ the first of the six abhijñâs or ‘supernatural talents,’ the faculty of comprehending in one instantaneous view, or by intuition, all beings in all worlds. ‘He could see,’ says Hardy, M. B., p. 232, ‘all things in 100,000 sakvalas as plainly as a mustard seed held in the hand.’
6 Eitel gives the name Utpala with the same Chinese phonetisation as in the text, but not as the name of any bhikshuṇî. The Sanskrit word, however, is explained by ‘blue lotus flowers;’ and Hsüan-chwang calls her the nun ‘Lotus-flower colour (蓮花色);’—the same as Hardy’s Upulwan and Uppalawarnâ.
7 Perhaps we should read here ‘to see Buddha,’ and then ascribe the transformation to the nun herself. It depends on the punctuation which view we adopt; and in the structure of the passage, there is nothing to indicate that the stop should be made before or after ‘Buddha.’ And the one view is as reasonable, or rather as unreasonable, as the other.
8 ‘A holy king who turns the wheel;’ that is, the military conqueror and monarch of the whole or part of a universe. ‘The symbol,’ says Eitel (p. 142) ‘of such a king is the chakra or wheel, for when he ascends the throne, a chakra falls from heaven, indicating by its material (gold, silver, copper, or iron) the extent and character of his reign. The office, however, of the highest Chakravartti, who hurls his wheel among his enemies, is inferior to the peaceful mission of a Buddha, who meekly turns the wheel of the Law, and conquers every universe by his teaching.’
9 This was Brahmâ, the first person of the Brahmânical Trimurti, adopted by Buddhism, but placed in an inferior position, and surpassed by every Buddhist saint who attains to bodhi.
10 See chap. ix, note 2.
11 See chap. iii, note 14.
12 A common name for the earth below, where, on digging, water is found.
13 The height is given as thirty chow, the chow being the distance from the elbow to the finger-tip, which is variously estimated.
14 A note of Mr. Beal says on this:—‘General Cunningham, who visited the spot (1862), found a pillar, evidently of the age of Aśoka, with a well-carved elephant on the top, which, however, was minus trunk and tail. He supposes this to be the pillar seen by Fâ-hien, who mistook the top of it for a lion. It is possible such a mistake may have been made, as in the account of one of the pillars at Śrâvastî, Fâ-hien says an ox formed the capital, whilst Hsüan-chwang calls it an elephant (P. 19, Arch. Survey).’
15 That is, in niches on the sides. The pillar or column must have been square.
16 Equivalent to ‘all through.’
17 Has always been translated ‘heretical teachers;’ but I eschew the terms heresy and heretical. The parties would not be Buddhists of any creed or school, but Brahmâns or of some other false doctrine, as Fâ-hien deemed it. The Chinese term means ‘outside’ or ‘foreign;’—in Pâli, añña-titthiyâ, = ‘those belonging to another school.’
18 See chap. xiii para 6.
19 These three predecessors of Śâkyamuni were the three Buddhas of the present or Mahâ-bhadra Kalpa, of which he was the fourth, and Maitreya is to be the fifth and last. They were: (1) Krakuchanda (Pâli, Kakusanda), ‘he who readily solves all doubts;’ a scion of the Kaśyapa family. Human life reached in his time 40,000 years, and so many persons were converted by him. (2) Kanakamuni (Pâli, Konâgamana), ‘body radiant with the colour of pure gold;’ of the same family. Human life reached in his time 30,000 years, and so many persons were converted by him. (3) Kâśyapa (Pâli, Kassapa), ‘swallower of light.’ Human life reached in his time 20,000 years, and so many persons were converted by him. See Eitel, under the several names; Hardy’s M. B., pp. 95–97; and Davids’ ‘Buddhist Birth Stories,’ p. 51.
20 That is, walked in meditation. Such places are called Chaṅkramaṇa (Pâli, Chankama); promenades or corridors connected with a monastery, made sometimes with costly stones, for the purpose of peripatetic meditation. The ‘sitting’ would be not because of weariness or for rest, but for meditation. E. H., p. 144.
21 See chap. i, note 10.
22 The character in my Corean copy is 虵, which must be a mistake for the 蛇 of the Chinese editions. Otherwise, the meaning would be ‘a small medusa.’
23 The reading here seems to me a great improvement on that of the Chinese editions, which means ‘Fire Limit.’ Buddha, it is said, 本 converted this demon, which Chinese character Beal rendered at first by ‘in one of his incarnations;’ and in his revised version he has ‘himself.’ The difference between Fâ-hien’s usage of 本 and 昔 throughout his narrative is quite marked. 本 always refers to the doings of Śâkyamuni; 昔, ‘formerly,’ is often used of him and others in the sense of ‘in a former age or birth.’
24 See Hardy, M. B., p. 194:—‘As a token of the giving over of the garden, the king poured water upon the hands of Buddha; and from this time it became one of the principal residences of the sage.’
25 This would seem to be absurd; but the writer evidently intended to convey the idea that there was something mysterious about the number of the topes.
26 See chap. xiii note. 15.
27 This seems to be the meaning. The bodies of the monks are all burned. Hardy’s E. M., pp. 322–324.
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