Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms

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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 mahayana and some of the hinayana. Where they live, there is a
white-eared dragon, which acts the part of danapati 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,(18) 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."(19) Great Heap was the name of a wicked demon, who
was converted by Buddha, and men subsequently at this place reared a
vihara. When it was being made over to an Arhat by pouring water on
his hands,(20) 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).(21)

There is a monastery, containing perhaps 600 or 700 monks, in which
there is a place where a Pratyeka Buddha used to take his food. The
nirvana ground (where he was burned(22) 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.

NOTES

(1) The name is still remaining in Samkassam, a village forty-five
miles northwest of Canouge, lat. 27d 3s N., lon. 79d 50s E.

(2) The heaven of Indra or Sakya, 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 Brahmanic mythology. It is situated
between the four peaks of the Meru, and consists of thirty-two cities
of devas, eight one 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 Maharajas, concerning the progress of good and
evil in the world," &c. &c.

(3) Buddha's mother, Maya and Mahamaya, 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 Trayastrimsas;
but was the former a part of the latter? Hardy gives a long account
of Buddha's visit to the Trayastrimsas (M. B., pp. 298-302), which he
calls Tawutisa, and speaks of his mother (Matru) in it, who had now
become a deva by the changing of her sex.

(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) Anuruddha was a first cousin of Sakyamuni, being the son of his
uncle Amritodana. 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 abhijnas 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 bhikshuni. The Sanskrit word,
however, is explained by "blue lotus flowers;" and Hsuan-chwang calls
her the nun "Lotus-flower colour ({.} {.} {.});"--the same as Hardy's
Upulwan and Uppalawarna.

(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 Brahma, the first person of the Brahmanical Trimurti,
adopted by Buddhism, but placed in an inferior position, and surpassed
by every Buddhist saint who attains to bodhi.

(10) A common name for the earth below, where, on digging, water is
found.

(11) The height is given as thirty chow, the chow being the distance
from the elbow to the finger-tip, which is variously estimated.

(12) A note of Mr. Beal says on this:--"General Cunningham, who
visited the spot (1862), found a pillar, evidently of the age of
Asoka, with a well-carved elephant on the top, which, however, was
minus trunk and tail. He supposes this to be the pillar seen by
Fa-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
Sravasti, Fa-hien says an ox formed the capital, whilst Hsuan-chwang
calls it an elephant (P. 19, Arch. Survey)."

(13) That is, in niches on the sides. The pillar or column must have
been square.

(14) Equivalent to "all through."

(15) 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 Brahmans or of some other false doctrine, as
Fa-hien deemed it. The Chinese term means "outside" or "foreign;"--in
Pali, anna-titthiya,="those belonging to another school."

(16) These three predecessors of Sakyamuni were the three Buddhas
of the present or Maha-bhadra Kalpa, of which he was the fourth,
and Maitreya is to be the fifth and last. They were: (1) Krakuchanda
(Pali, Kakusanda), "he who readily solves all doubts;" a scion of the
Kasyapa family. Human life reached in his time 40,000 years, and so
many persons were converted by him. (2) Kanakamuni (Pali, Konagamana),
"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) Kasyapa (Pali, 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.

(17) That is, walked in meditation. Such places are called Chankramana
(Pali, 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.

(18) The character in my Corean copy is {.}, which must be a mistake
for the {.} of the Chinese editions. Otherwise, the meaning would be
"a small medusa."

(19) The reading here seems to me a great improvement on that of the
Chinese editions, which means "Fire Limit." Buddha, it is said, {.}
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 Fa-hien's usage of {.} and {.}
throughout his narrative is quite marked. {.} always refers to the
doings of Sakyamuni; {.}, "formerly," is often used of him and others
in the sense of "in a former age or birth."

(20) 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."

(21) 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.

(22) This seems to be the meaning. The bodies of the monks are all
burned. Hardy's E. M., pp. 322-324.



CHAPTER XVIII

KANYAKUBJA, OR CANOUGE. BUDDHA'S PREACHING.

Fa-hien stayed at the Dragon vihara till after the summer retreat,(1)
and then, travelling to the south-east for seven yojanas, he arrived
at the city of Kanyakubja,(2) lying along the Ganges.(3) There are two
monasteries in it, the inmates of which are students of the hinayana.
At a distance from the city of six or seven le, on the west, on the
northern bank of the Ganges, is a place where Buddha preached the
Law to his disciples. It has been handed down that his subjects
of discourse were such as "The bitterness and vanity (of life) as
impermanent and uncertain," and that "The body is as a bubble or foam
on the water." At this spot a tope was erected, and still exists.

Having crossed the Ganges, and gone south for three yojanas, (the
travellers) arrived at a village named A-le,(4) containing places
where Buddha preached the Law, where he sat, and where he walked, at
all of which topes have been built.

NOTES

(1) We are now, probably, in 405.

(2) Canouge, the latitude and longitude of which have been given in
a previous note. The Sanskrit name means "the city of humpbacked
maidens;" with reference to the legend of the hundred daughters of
king Brahma-datta, who were made deformed by the curse of the rishi
Maha-vriksha, whose overtures they had refused. E. H., p. 51.

(3) Ganga, explained by "Blessed water," and "Come from heaven to
earth."

(4) This village (the Chinese editions read "forest") has hardly been
clearly identified.




CHAPTER XIX

SHA-CHE. LEGEND OF BUDDHA'S DANTA-KASHTHA.

Going on from this to the south-east for three yojanas, they came to
the great kingdom of Sha-che.(1) As you go out of the city of Sha-che
by the southern gate, on the east of the road (is the place) where
Buddha, after he had chewed his willow branch,(2) stuck it in the
ground, when it forthwith grew up seven cubits, (at which height it
remained) neither increasing nor diminishing. The Brahmans with their
contrary doctrines(3) became angry and jealous. Sometimes they cut the
tree down, sometimes they plucked it up, and cast it to a distance,
but it grew again on the same spot as at first. Here also is the place
where the four Buddhas walked and sat, and at which a tope was built
that is still existing.

NOTES

(1) Sha-che should probably be Sha-khe, making Cunningham's
identification of the name with the present Saket still more likely.
The change of {.} into {.} is slight; and, indeed, the Khang-hsi
dictionary thinks the two characters should be but one and the same.

(2) This was, no doubt, what was called the danta-kashtha, or "dental
wood," mostly a bit of the _ficus Indicus_ or banyan tree, which the
monk chews every morning to cleanse his teeth, and for the purpose of
health generally. The Chinese, not having the banyan, have used, or
at least Fa-hien used, Yang ({.}, the general name for the willow)
instead of it.

(3) Are two classes of opponents, or only one, intended here, so that
we should read "all the unbelievers and Brahmans," or "heretics
and Brahmans?" I think the Brahmans were also "the unbelievers" and
"heretics," having {.} {.}, views and ways outside of, and opposed to,
Buddha's.



CHAPTER XX

KOSALA AND SRAVASTI. THE JETAVANA VIHARA AND OTHER MEMORIALS AND
LEGENDS OF BUDDHA. SYMPATHY OF THE MONKS WITH THE PILGRIMS.

Going on from this to the south, for eight yojanas, (the travellers)
came to the city of Sravasti(1) in the kingdom of Kosala,(2) in which
the inhabitants were few and far between, amounting in all (only) to a
few more than two hundred families; the city where king Prasenajit(3)
ruled, and the place of the old vihara of Maha-prajapti;(4) of the
well and walls of (the house of) the (Vaisya) head Sudatta;(5)
and where the Angulimalya(6) became an Arhat, and his body was
(afterwards) burned on his attaining to pari-nirvana. At all these
places topes were subsequently erected, which are still existing in
the city. The Brahmans, with their contrary doctrine, became full of
hatred and envy in their hearts, and wished to destroy them, but there
came from the heavens such a storm of crashing thunder and flashing
lightning that they were not able in the end to effect their purpose.

As you go out from the city by the south gate, and 1,200 paces from
it, the (Vaisya) head Sudatta built a vihara, facing the south; and
when the door was open, on each side of it there was a stone pillar,
with the figure of a wheel on the top of that on the left, and the
figure of an ox on the top of that on the right. On the left and right
of the building the ponds of water clear and pure, the thickets of
trees always luxuriant, and the numerous flowers of various hues,
constituted a lovely scene, the whole forming what is called the
Jetavana vihara.(7)

When Buddha went up to the Trayastrimsas heaven,(8) and preached the
Law for the benefit of his mother, (after he had been absent for)
ninety days, Prasenajit, longing to see him, caused an image of him to
be carved in Gosirsha Chandana wood,(9) and put in the place where he
usually sat. When Buddha on his return entered the vihara, Buddha said
to it, "Return to your seat. After I have attained to pari-nirvana,
you will serve as a pattern to the four classes of my disciples,"(10)
and on this the image returned to its seat. This was the very first
of all the images (of Buddha), and that which men subsequently copied.
Buddha then removed, and dwelt in a small vihara on the south side
(of the other), a different place from that containing the image, and
twenty paces distant from it.

The Jetavana vihara was originally of seven storeys. The kings
and people of the countries around vied with one another in their
offerings, hanging up about it silken streamers and canopies,
scattering flowers, burning incense, and lighting lamps, so as to make
the night as bright as the day. This they did day after day without
ceasing. (It happened that) a rat, carrying in its mouth the wick of
a lamp, set one of the streamers or canopies on fire, which caught the
vihara, and the seven storeys were all consumed. The kings, with their
officers and people, were all very sad and distressed, supposing that
the sandal-wood image had been burned; but lo! after four or five
days, when the door of a small vihara on the east was opened, there
was immediately seen the original image. They were all greatly
rejoiced, and co-operated in restoring the vihara. When they had
succeeded in completing two storeys, they removed the image back to
its former place.

When Fa-hien and Tao-ching first arrived at the Jetavana monastery,
and thought how the World-honoured one had formerly resided there for
twenty-five years, painful reflections arose in their minds. Born in a
border-land, along with their like-minded friends, they had travelled
through so many kingdoms; some of those friends had returned (to
their own land), and some had (died), proving the impermanence and
uncertainty of life; and to-day they saw the place where Buddha had
lived now unoccupied by him. They were melancholy through their pain
of heart, and the crowd of monks came out, and asked them from what
kingdom they were come. "We are come," they replied, "from the land
of Han." "Strange," said the monks with a sigh, "that men of a border
country should be able to come here in search of our Law!" Then they
said to one another, "During all the time that we, preceptors and
monks,(11) have succeeded to one another, we have never seen men of
Han, followers of our system, arrive here."

Four le to the north-west of the vihara there is a grove called "The
Getting of Eyes." Formerly there were five hundred blind men, who
lived here in order that they might be near the vihara.(12) Buddha
preached his Law to them, and they all got back their eyesight. Full
of joy, they stuck their staves in the earth, and with their heads and
faces on the ground, did reverence. The staves immediately began to
grow, and they grew to be great. People made much of them, and no one
dared to cut them down, so that they came to form a grove. It was in
this way that it got its name, and most of the Jetavana monks, after
they had taken their midday meal, went to the grove, and sat there in
meditation.

Six or seven le north-east from the Jetavana, mother Vaisakha(13)
built another vihara, to which she invited Buddha and his monks, and
which is still existing.

To each of the great residences for monks at the Jetavana vihara there
were two gates, one facing the east and the other facing the north.
The park (containing the whole) was the space of ground which the
(Vaisya) head Sudatta purchased by covering it with gold coins. The
vihara was exactly in the centre. Here Buddha lived for a longer time
than at any other place, preaching his Law and converting men. At the
places where he walked and sat they also (subsequently) reared
topes, each having its particular name; and here was the place where
Sundari(14) murdered a person and then falsely charged Buddha (with
the crime). Outside the east gate of the Jetavana, at a distance of
seventy paces to the north, on the west of the road, Buddha held a
discussion with the (advocates of the) ninety-six schemes of erroneous
doctrine, when the king and his great officers, the householders, and
people were all assembled in crowds to hear it. Then a woman belonging
to one of the erroneous systems, by name Chanchamana,(15) prompted by
the envious hatred in her heart, and having put on (extra) clothes in
front of her person, so as to give her the appearance of being with
child, falsely accused Buddha before all the assembly of having acted
unlawfully (towards her). On this, Sakra, Ruler of Devas, changed
himself and some devas into white mice, which bit through the strings
about her waist; and when this was done, the (extra) clothes which she
wore dropt down on the ground. The earth at the same time was rent,
and she went (down) alive into hell.(16) (This) also is the place
where Devadatta,(17) trying with empoisoned claws to injure
Buddha, went down alive into hell. Men subsequently set up marks to
distinguish where both these events took place.

Further, at the place where the discussion took place, they reared a
vihara rather more than sixty cubits high, having in it an image
of Buddha in a sitting posture. On the east of the road there was
a devalaya(18) of (one of) the contrary systems, called "The Shadow
Covered," right opposite the vihara on the place of discussion, with
(only) the road between them, and also rather more than sixty
cubits high. The reason why it was called "The Shadow Covered" was
this:--When the sun was in the west, the shadow of the vihara of the
World-honoured one fell on the devalaya of a contrary system; but when
the sun was in the east, the shadow of that devalaya was diverted to
the north, and never fell on the vihara of Buddha. The mal-believers
regularly employed men to watch their devalaya, to sweep and water
(all about it), to burn incense, light the lamps, and present
offerings; but in the morning the lamps were found to have been
suddenly removed, and in the vihara of Buddha. The Brahmans were
indignant, and said, "Those Sramanas take out lamps and use them for
their own service of Buddha, but we will not stop our service for
you!"(19) On that night the Brahmans themselves kept watch, when they
saw the deva spirits which they served take the lamps and go three
times round the vihara of Buddha and present offerings. After this
ministration to Buddha they suddenly disappeared. The Brahmans
thereupon knowing how great was the spiritual power of Buddha,
forthwith left their families, and became monks.(20) It has been
handed down, that, near the time when these things occurred, around
the Jetavana vihara there were ninety-eight monasteries, in all of
which there were monks residing, excepting only in one place which was
vacant. In this Middle Kingdom(21) there are ninety-six(21) sorts of
views, erroneous and different from our system, all of which recognise
this world and the future world(22) (and the connexion between them).
Each had its multitude of followers, and they all beg their food:
only they do not carry the alms-bowl. They also, moreover, seek (to
acquire) the blessing (of good deeds) on unfrequented ways, setting
up on the road-side houses of charity, where rooms, couches, beds, and
food and drink are supplied to travellers, and also to monks, coming
and going as guests, the only difference being in the time (for which
those parties remain).

There are also companies of the followers of Devadatta still existing.
They regularly make offerings to the three previous Buddhas, but not
to Sakyamuni Buddha.

Four le south-east from the city of Sravasti, a tope has been
erected at the place where the World-honoured one encountered king
Virudhaha,(23) when he wished to attack the kingdom of Shay-e,(23) and
took his stand before him at the side of the road.(24)

NOTES

(1) In Singhalese, Sewet; here evidently the capital of Kosala. It is
placed by Cunningham (Archaeological Survey) on the south bank of
the Rapti, about fifty-eight miles north of Ayodya or Oude. There are
still the ruins of a great town, the name being Sahet Mahat. It was in
this town, or in its neighbourhood, that Sakyamuni spent many years of
his life after he became Buddha.

(2) There were two Indian kingdoms of this name, a southern and a
northern. This was the northern, a part of the present Oudh.

(3) In Singhalese, Pase-nadi, meaning "leader of the victorious army."
He was one of the earliest converts and chief patrons of Sakyamuni.
Eitel calls him (p. 95) one of the originators of Buddhist idolatory,
because of the statue which is mentioned in this chapter. See Hardy's
M. B., pp. 283, 284, et al.

(4) Explained by "Path of Love," and "Lord of Life." Prajapati was
aunt and nurse of Sakyamuni, the first woman admitted to the monkhood,
and the first superior of the first Buddhistic convent. She is yet to
become a Buddha.

(5) Sudatta, meaning "almsgiver," was the original name of
Anatha-pindika (or Pindada), a wealthy householder, or Vaisya head,
of Sravasti, famous for his liberality (Hardy, Anepidu). Of his old
house, only the well and walls remained at the time of Fa-hien's visit
to Sravasti.

(6) The Angulimalya were a sect or set of Sivaitic fanatics, who made
assassination a religious act. The one of them here mentioned had
joined them by the force of circumstances. Being converted by Buddha,
he became a monk; but when it is said in the text that he "got the
Tao," or doctrine, I think that expression implies more than his
conversion, and is equivalent to his becoming an Arhat. His name in
Pali is Angulimala. That he did become an Arhat is clear from his
autobiographical poem in the "Songs of the Theras."