Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms

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Soon after this a bhikshu, pursuing his regular course of begging his
food, entered the gate (of the place). When the lictors of the naraka
saw him, they were about to subject him to their tortures; but he,
frightened, begged them to allow him a moment in which to eat his
midday meal. Immediately after, there came in another man, whom they
thrust into a mortar and pounded till a red froth overflowed. As the
bhikshu looked on, there came to him the thought of the impermanence,
the painful suffering and insanity of this body, and how it is but
as a bubble and as foam; and instantly he attained to Arhatship.
Immediately after, the lictors seized him, and threw him into a
caldron of boiling water. There was a look of joyful satisfaction,
however, in the bhikshu's countenance. The fire was extinguished, and
the water became cold. In the middle (of the caldron) there rose up a
lotus flower, with the bhikshu seated on it. The lictors at once went
and reported to the king that there was a marvellous occurrence in
the naraka, and wished him to go and see it; but the king said,
"I formerly made such an agreement that now I dare not go (to the
place)." The lictors said, "This is not a small matter. Your majesty
ought to go quickly. Let your former agreement be altered." The king
thereupon followed them, and entered (the naraka), when the bhikshu
preached the Law to him, and he believed, and was made free.(5)
Forthwith he demolished the naraka, and repented of all the evil which
he had formerly done. From this time he believed in and honoured the
Three Precious Ones, and constantly went to a patra tree, repenting
under it, with self-reproach, of his errors, and accepting the eight
rules of abstinence.(6)

The queen asked where the king was constantly going to, and the
ministers replied that he was constantly to be seen under (such and
such) a patra tree. She watched for a time when the king was not
there, and then sent men to cut the tree down. When the king came, and
saw what had been done, he swooned away with sorrow, and fell to
the ground. His ministers sprinkled water on his face, and after a
considerable time he revived. He then built all round (the stump) with
bricks, and poured a hundred pitchers of cows' milk on the roots; and
as he lay with his four limbs spread out on the ground, he took this
oath, "If the tree do not live, I will never rise from this." When
he had uttered this oath, the tree immediately began to grow from the
roots, and it has continued to grow till now, when it is nearly 100
cubits in height.

NOTES

(1) Here is an instance of {.} used, as was pointed out in chap. ix,
note 3, for a former age; and not merely a former time. Perhaps "a
former birth" is the best translation. The Corean reading of Kasyapa
Buddha is certainly preferable to the Chinese "Sakya Buddha."

(2) See chap. xvii, note 8.

(3) I prefer to retain the Sanskrit term here, instead of translating
the Chinese text by "Earth's prison {.} {.}," or "a prison in the
earth;" the name for which has been adopted generally by Christian
missionaries in China for gehenna and hell.

(4) Eitel (p. 173) says:--"Yama was originally the Aryan god of the
dead, living in a heaven above the world, the regent of the south;
but Brahmanism transferred his abode to hell. Both views have been
retained by Buddhism." The Yama of the text is the "regent of the
narakas, residing south of Jambudvipa, outside the Chakravalas (the
double circuit of mountains above), in a palace built of brass and
iron. He has a sister who controls all the female culprits, as he
exclusively deals with the male sex. Three times, however, in every
twenty-four hours, a demon pours boiling copper into Yama's mouth,
and squeezes it down his throat, causing him unspeakable pain." Such,
however, is the wonderful "transrotation of births," that when Yama's
sins have been expiated, he is to be reborn as Buddha, under the name
of "The Universal King."

(5) Or, "was loosed;" from the bonds, I suppose, of his various
illusions.

(6) I have not met with this particular numerical category.



CHAPTER XXXIII

MOUNT GURUPADA, WHERE KASYAPA BUDDHA'S ENTIRE SKELETON IS.

(The travellers), going on from this three le to the south, came to a
mountain named Gurupada,(1) inside which Mahakasyapa even now is. He
made a cleft, and went down into it, though the place where he entered
would not (now) admit a man. Having gone down very far, there was
a hole on one side, and there the complete body of Kasyapa (still)
abides. Outside the hole (at which he entered) is the earth with which
he had washed his hands.(2) If the people living thereabouts have a
sore on their heads, they plaster on it some of the earth from this,
and feel immediately easier.(3) On this mountain, now as of old, there
are Arhats abiding. Devotees of our Law from the various countries in
that quarter go year by year to the mountain, and present offerings
to Kasyapa; and to those whose hearts are strong in faith there come
Arhats at night, and talk with them, discussing and explaining their
doubts, and disappearing suddenly afterwards.

On this hill hazels grow luxuriously; and there are many lions,
tigers, and wolves, so that people should not travel incautiously.

NOTES

(1) "Fowl's-foot hill," "with three peaks, resembling the foot of a
chicken. It lies seven miles south-east of Gaya, and was the residence
of Mahakasyapa, who is said to be still living inside this mountain."
So Eitel says, p. 58; but this chapter does not say that Kasyapa is in
the mountain alive, but that his body entire is in a recess or hole
in it. Hardy (M. B., p. 97) says that after Kasyapa Buddha's body was
burnt, the bones still remained in their usual position, presenting
the appearance of a perfect skeleton. It is of him that the chapter
speaks, and not of the famous disciple of Sakyamuni, who also is
called Mahakasyapa. This will appear also on a comparison of Eitel's
articles on "Mahakasyapa" and "Kasyapa Buddha."

(2) Was it a custom to wash the hands with "earth," as is often done
with sand?

(3) This I conceive to be the meaning here.



CHAPTER XXXIV

ON THE WAY BACK TO PATNA. VARANASI, OR BENARES. SAKYAMUNI'S FIRST
DOINGS AFTER BECOMING BUDDHA.

Fa-hien(1) returned (from here) towards Pataliputtra,(2) keeping along
the course of the Ganges and descending in the direction of the west.
After going ten yojanas he found a vihara, named "The Wilderness,"--a
place where Buddha had dwelt, and where there are monks now.

Pursuing the same course, and going still to the west, he arrived,
after twelve yojanas, at the city of Varanasi(3) in the kingdom of
Kasi. Rather more than ten le to the north-east of the city, he found
the vihara in the park of "The rishi's Deer-wild."(4) In this park
there formerly resided a Pratyeka Buddha,(5) with whom the deer
were regularly in the habit of stopping for the night. When the
World-honoured one was about to attain to perfect Wisdom, the devas
sang in the sky, "The son of king Suddhodana, having quitted his
family and studied the Path (of Wisdom),(6) will now in seven days
become Buddha." The Pratyeka Buddha heard their words, and immediately
attained to nirvana; and hence this place was named "The Park of the
rishi's Deer-wild."(7) After the World-honoured one had attained to
perfect Wisdom, men build the vihara in it.

Buddha wished to convert Kaundinya(8) and his four companions; but
they, (being aware of his intention), said to one another, "This
Sramana Gotama(9) for six years continued in the practice of painful
austerities, eating daily (only) a single hemp-seed, and one grain of
rice, without attaining to the Path (of Wisdom); how much less will
he do so now that he has entered (again) among men, and is giving the
reins to (the indulgence of) his body, his speech, and his thoughts!
What has he to do with the Path (of Wisdom)? To-day, when he comes to
us, let us be on our guard not to speak with him." At the places where
the five men all rose up, and respectfully saluted (Buddha), when he
came to them; where, sixty paces north from this, he sat with his
face to the east, and first turned the wheel of the Law, converting
Kaundinya and the four others; where, twenty paces further to the
north, he delivered his prophecy concerning Maitreya;(10) and where,
at a distance of fifty paces to the south, the dragon Elapattra(11)
asked him, "When shall I get free from this naga body?"--at all these
places topes were reared, and are still existing. In (the park) there
are two monasteries, in both of which there are monks residing.

When you go north-west from the vihara of the Deer-wild park for
thirteen yojanas, there is a kingdom named Kausambi.(12) Its vihara is
named Ghochiravana(13)--a place where Buddha formerly resided. Now, as
of old, there is a company of monks there, most of whom are students
of the hinayana.

East from (this), when you have travelled eight yojanas, is the place
where Buddha converted(14) the evil demon. There, and where he walked
(in meditation) and sat at the place which was his regular abode,
there have been topes erected. There is also a monastery, which may
contain more than a hundred monks.

NOTES

(1) Fa-hien is here mentioned singly, as in the account of his visit
to the cave on Gridhra-kuta. I think that Tao-ching may have remained
at Patna after their first visit to it.

(2) See chap. xxvii, note 1.

(3) "The city surrounded by rivers;" the modern Benares, lat. 25d 23s
N., lon. 83d 5s E.

(4) "The rishi," says Eitel, "is a man whose bodily frame has
undergone a certain transformation by dint of meditation and ascetism,
so that he is, for an indefinite period, exempt from decrepitude, age,
and death. As this period is believed to extend far beyond the
usual duration of human life, such persons are called, and popularly
believed to be, immortals." Rishis are divided into various classes;
and rishi-ism is spoken of as a seventh part of transrotation, and
rishis are referred to as the seventh class of sentient beings.
Taoism, as well as Buddhism, has its Seen jin.

(5) See chap. xiii, note 15.

(6) See chap. xxii, note 2.

(7) For another legend about this park, and the identification of "a
fine wood" still existing, see note in Beal's first version, p. 135.

(8) A prince of Magadha and a maternal uncle of Sakyamuni, who gave
him the name of Ajnata, meaning automat; and hence he often appears as
Ajnata Kaundinya. He and his four friends had followed Sakyamuni
into the Uruvilva desert, sympathising with him in the austerities he
endured, and hoping that they would issue in his Buddhaship. They were
not aware that that issue had come; which may show us that all the
accounts in the thirty-first chapter are merely descriptions, by means
of external imagery, of what had taken place internally. The kingdom
of nirvana had come without observation. These friends knew it not;
and they were offended by what they considered Sakyamuni's failure,
and the course he was now pursuing. See the account of their
conversion in M. B., p. 186.

(9) This is the only instance in Fa-hien's text where the Bodhisattva
or Buddha is called by the surname "Gotama." For the most part our
traveller uses Buddha as a proper name, though it properly means
"The Enlightened." He uses also the combinations "Sakya Buddha,"="The
Buddha of the Sakya tribe," and "Sakyamuni,"="The Sakya sage." This
last is the most common designation of the Buddha in China, and to my
mind best combines the characteristics of a descriptive and a proper
name. Among other Buddhistic peoples "Gotama" and "Gotama Buddha" are
the more frequent designations. It is not easy to account for the rise
of the surname Gotama in the Sakya family, as Oldenberg acknowledges.
He says that "the Sakyas, in accordance with the custom of Indian
noble families, had borrowed it from one of the ancient Vedic bard
families." Dr. Davids ("Buddhism," p. 27) says: "The family name
was certainly Gautama," adding in a note, "It is a curious fact that
Gautama is still the family name of the Rajput chiefs of Nagara, the
village which has been identified with Kapilavastu." Dr. Eitel says
that "Gautama was the sacerdotal name of the Sakya family, which
counted the ancient rishi Gautama among its ancestors." When we
proceed, however, to endeavour to trace the connexion of that
Brahmanical rishi with the Sakya house, by means of 1323, 1468, 1469,
and other historical works in Nanjio's Catalogue, we soon find that
Indian histories have no surer foundation than the shifting sand;--see
E. H., on the name Sakya, pp. 108, 109. We must be content for the
present simply to accept Gotama as one of the surnames of the Buddha
with whom we have to do.

(10) See chap. vi, note 5. It is there said that the prediction of
Maitreya's succession to the Buddhaship was made to him in the Tushita
heaven. Was there a repetition of it here in the Deer-park, or was a
prediction now given concerning something else?

(11) Nothing seems to be known of this naga but what we read here.

(12) Identified by some with Kusia, near Kurrah (lat. 25d 41s N., lon.
81d 27s E.); by others with Kosam on the Jumna, thirty miles above
Allahabad. See E. H., p. 55.

(13) Ghochira was the name of a Vaisya elder, or head, who presented a
garden and vihara to Buddha. Hardy (M. B., p. 356) quotes a statement
from a Singhalese authority that Sakyamuni resided here during the
ninth year of his Buddhaship.

(14) Dr. Davids thinks this may refer to the striking and beautiful
story of the conversion of the Yakkha Alavaka, as related in the
Uragavagga, Alavakasutta, pp. 29-31 (Sacred Books of the East, vol. x,
part ii).



CHAPTER XXXV

DAKSHINA, AND THE PIGEON MONASTERY.

South from this 200 yojanas, there is a country named Dakshina,(1)
where there is a monastery (dedicated to) the bygone Kasyapa Buddha,
and which has been hewn out from a large hill of rock. It consists in
all of five storeys;--the lowest, having the form of an elephant, with
500 apartments in the rock; the second, having the form of a lion,
with 400 apartments; the third, having the form of a horse, with 300
apartments; the fourth, having the form of an ox, with 200 apartments;
and the fifth, having the form of a pigeon, with 100 apartments. At
the very top there is a spring, the water of which, always in front of
the apartments in the rock, goes round among the rooms, now circling,
now curving, till in this way it arrives at the lowest storey, having
followed the shape of the structure, and flows out there at the door.
Everywhere in the apartments of the monks, the rock has been pierced
so as to form windows for the admission of light, so that they are all
bright, without any being left in darkness. At the four corners of the
(tiers of) apartments, the rock has been hewn so as to form steps for
ascending to the top (of each). The men of the present day, being of
small size, and going up step by step, manage to get to the top; but
in a former age, they did so at one step.(2) Because of this, the
monastery is called Paravata, that being the Indian name for a pigeon.
There are always Arhats residing in it.

The country about is (a tract of) uncultivated hillocks,(3) without
inhabitants. At a very long distance from the hill there are villages,
where the people all have bad and erroneous views, and do not know the
Sramanas of the Law of Buddha, Brahmanas, or (devotees of) any of the
other and different schools. The people of that country are constantly
seeing men on the wing, who come and enter this monastery. On one
occasion, when devotees of various countries came to perform their
worship at it, the people of those villages said to them, "Why do you
not fly? The devotees whom we have seen hereabouts all fly;" and the
strangers answered, on the spur of the moment, "Our wings are not yet
fully formed."

The kingdom of Dakshina is out of the way, and perilous to traverse.
There are difficulties in connexion with the roads; but those who know
how to manage such difficulties and wish to proceed should bring with
them money and various articles, and give them to the king. He will
then send men to escort them. These will (at different stages) pass
them over to others, who will show them the shortest routes. Fa-hien,
however, was after all unable to go there; but having received the
(above) accounts from men of the country, he has narrated them.

NOTES

(1) Said to be the ancient name of the Deccan. As to the various
marvels in the chapter, it must be borne in mind that our author, as
he tells us at the end, only gives them from hearsay. See "Buddhist
Records of the Western World," vol. ii, pp. 214, 215, where the
description, however, is very different.

(2) Compare the account of Buddha's great stride of fifteen yojanas in
Ceylon, as related in chapter xxxviii.

(3) See the same phrase in the Books of the Later Han dynasty, the
twenty-fourth Book of Biographies, p. 9b.



CHAPTER XXXVI

IN PATNA. FA-HIEN'S LABOURS IN TRANSCRIPTION OF MANUSCRIPTS, AND
INDIAN STUDIES FOR THREE YEARS.

From Varanasi (the travellers) went back east to Pataliputtra.
Fa-hien's original object had been to search for (copies of) the
Vinaya. In the various kingdoms of North India, however, he had found
one master transmitting orally (the rules) to another, but no written
copies which he could transcribe. He had therefore travelled far and
come on to Central India. Here, in the mahayana monastery,(1) he found
a copy of the Vinaya, containing the Mahasanghika(2) rules,--those
which were observed in the first Great Council, while Buddha was
still in the world. The original copy was handed down in the Jetavana
vihara. As to the other eighteen schools,(3) each one has the views
and decisions of its own masters. Those agree (with this) in the
general meaning, but they have small and trivial differences, as when
one opens and another shuts.(4) This copy (of the rules), however, is
the most complete, with the fullest explanations.(5)

He further got a transcript of the rules in six or seven thousand
gathas,(6) being the sarvastivadah(7) rules,--those which are observed
by the communities of monks in the land of Ts'in; which also have all
been handed down orally from master to master without being
committed to writing. In the community here, moreover, we got the
Samyuktabhi-dharma-hridaya-(sastra),(8) containing about six or seven
thousand gathas; he also got a Sutra of 2500 gathas; one chapter of
the Parinir-vana-vaipulya Sutra,(9) of about 5000 gathas; and the
Mahasan-ghikah Abhidharma.

In consequence (of this success in his quest) Fa-hien stayed here
for three years, learning Sanskrit books and the Sanskrit speech, and
writing out the Vinaya rules. When Tao-ching arrived in the Central
Kingdom, and saw the rules observed by the Sramanas, and the dignified
demeanour in their societies which he remarked under all occurring
circumstances, he sadly called to mind in what a mutilated and
imperfect condition the rules were among the monkish communities in
the land of Ts'in, and made the following aspiration:--"From this
time forth till I come to the state of Buddha, let me not be born in
a frontier land."(10) He remained accordingly (in India), and did not
return (to the land of Han). Fa-hien, however, whose original purpose
had been to secure the introduction of the complete Vinaya rules into
the land of Han, returned there alone.

NOTES

(1) Mentioned before in chapter xxvii.

(2) Mahasanghikah simply means "the Great Assembly," that is, of
monks. When was this first assembly in the time of Sakyamuni held? It
does not appear that the rules observed at it were written down at the
time. The document found by Fa-hien would be a record of those rules;
or rather a copy of that record. We must suppose that the original
record had disappeared from the Jetavana vihara, or Fa-hien would
probably have spoken of it when he was there, and copied it, if he had
been allowed to do so.

(3) The eighteen pu {.}. Four times in this chapter the character
called pu occurs, and in the first and two last instances it can
only have the meaning, often belonging to it, of "copy." The second
instance, however, is different. How should there be eighteen copies,
all different from the original, and from one another, in minor
matters? We are compelled to translate--"the eighteen schools," an
expression well known in all Buddhist writings. See Rhys Davids'
Manual, p. 218, and the authorities there quoted.

(4) This is equivalent to the "binding" and "loosing," "opening" and
"shutting," which found their way into the New Testament, and the
Christian Church, from the schools of the Jewish Rabbins.

(5) It was afterwards translated by Fa-hien into Chinese. See Nanjio's
Catalogue of the Chinese Tripitaka, columns 400 and 401, and Nos. 1119
and 1150, columns 247 and 253.

(6) A gatha is a stanza, generally consisting, it has seemed to me, of
a few, commonly of two, lines somewhat metrically arranged; but I do
not know that its length is strictly defined.

(7) "A branch," says Eitel, "of the great vaibhashika school,
asserting the reality of all visible phenomena, and claiming the
authority of Rahula."

(8) See Nanjio's Catalogue, No. 1287. He does not mention it in his
account of Fa-hien, who, he says, translated the Samyukta-pitaka
Sutra.

(9) Probably Nanjio's Catalogue, No. 120; at any rate, connected with
it.

(10) This then would be the consummation of the Sramana's being,--to
get to be Buddha, the Buddha of his time in his Kalpa; and Tao-ching
thought that he could attain to this consummation by a succession of
births; and was likely to attain to it sooner by living only in
India. If all this was not in his mind, he yet felt that each of his
successive lives would be happier, if lived in India.



CHAPTER XXXVII

TO CHAMPA AND TAMALIPTI. STAY AND LABOURS THERE FOR THREE YEARS. TAKES
SHIP TO SINGHALA, OR CEYLON.

Following the course of the Ganges, and descending eastwards for
eighteen yojanas, he found on the southern bank the great kingdom
of Champa,(1) with topes reared at the places where Buddha walked
in meditation by his vihara, and where he and the three Buddhas, his
predecessors, sat. There were monks residing at them all. Continuing
his journey east for nearly fifty yojanas, he came to the country
of Tamalipti,(2) (the capital of which is) a seaport. In the country
there are twenty-two monasteries, at all of which there are monks
residing. The Law of Buddha is also flourishing in it. Here Fa-hien
stayed two years, writing out his Sutras,(3) and drawing pictures of
images.

After this he embarked in a large merchant-vessel, and went floating
over the sea to the south-west. It was the beginning of winter, and
the wind was favourable; and, after fourteen days, sailing day and
night, they came to the country of Singhala.(4) The people said that
it was distant (from Tamalipti) about 700 yojanas.

The kingdom is on a large island, extending from east to west fifty
yojanas, and from north to south thirty. Left and right from it
there are as many as 100 small islands, distant from one another ten,
twenty, or even 200 le; but all subject to the large island. Most of
them produce pearls and precious stones of various kinds; there is one
which produces the pure and brilliant pearl,(5)--an island which
would form a square of about ten le. The king employs men to watch and
protect it, and requires three out of every ten such pearls, which the
collectors find.

NOTES

(1) Probably the modern Champanagur, three miles west of Baglipoor,
lat. 25d 14s N., lon. 56d 55s E.

(2) Then the principal emporium for the trade with Ceylon and China;
the modern Tam-look, lat. 22d 17s N., lon. 88d 2s E.; near the mouth
of the Hoogly.

(3) Perhaps Ching {.} is used here for any portions of the Tripitaka
which he had obtained.

(4) "The Kingdom of the Lion," Ceylon. Singhala was the name of a
merchant adventurer from India, to whom the founding of the kingdom
was ascribed. His father was named Singha, "the Lion," which became
the name of the country;--Singhala, or Singha-Kingdom, "the Country of
the Lion."

(5) Called the mani pearl or bead. Mani is explained as meaning "free
from stain," "bright and growing purer." It is a symbol of Buddha and
of his Law. The most valuable rosaries are made of manis.



CHAPTER XXXVIII

AT CEYLON. RISE OF THE KINGDOM. FEATS OF BUDDHA. TOPES AND
MONASTERIES. STATUE OF BUDDHA IN JADE. BO TREE. FESTIVAL OF BUDDHA'S
TOOTH.