釋迦方志 1.85

1.85

The kingdom of Kuśinagara (in Central India): The city walls are in ruins and deserted, with few inhabitants. In the northeast corner of the inner city, a stūpa marks the former residence of Cunda; its well, dug for preparing the offering, still has sweet water. Four li northwest of the city, one crosses the Ajitavatī River, which is translated as "Possessing Gold". Near the west bank is the Śāla grove. Between the two groves, several dozen paces apart, are four trees of extraordinary height. In a large brick vihāra, an image of the Buddha entering nirvāṇa is depicted lying with his head to the north. Beside it is a stūpa over two hundred feet high, in front of which stands a stone pillar recording the circumstances of the Buddha's extinction. Some say it occurred on the fifteenth day of the third month of this land; the Sarvāstivāda school says it was on the eighth day of the ninth month; and various other schools offer differing opinions, saying that down to the twentieth year of Zhenguan, one thousand two hundred and twelve years have passed (this relies on the inscription on the stone pillar at the Mahābodhi Monastery). Others say one thousand three hundred years, or over one thousand five hundred years, while some say only a little over nine hundred years, not yet a full millennium. Beside the vihāra are sites where the Buddha, in the past, as a pheasant king extinguished a fire, and as a deer saved living beings, with a stūpa erected for each. To the west of these, the next stūpa is the place where Subhadra (which means "Good and Auspicious") attained extinction. Next is a stūpa where the Vajrapāṇi deity threw himself to the ground. Beside it is another stūpa where [the Buddha's] coffin was halted for seven days. Next to that is a stūpa where Aniruddha ascended to heaven to inform [the Buddha's] mother, who descended, weeping over the Buddha. North of the city, crossing the Nairañjanā River for three hundred paces, is a stūpa at the place of the Buddha's nirvāṇa-dhyāpana (which means "cremation"). The ground there is now yellow-black, mixed with ashes and charcoal; those who pray with sincere devotion all obtain relics. Beside it is another stūpa where the Buddha revealed both feet to Mahākāśyapa. Next is yet another stūpa, before which stands a stone pillar inscribed with the record of the eight kingdoms dividing the relics. Traveling southwest from here for more than two hundred li, one reaches a large town; then, traveling through a great forest for more than five hundred li, one arrives at: