The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c29.121

c29.121

Comparison of the notes recorded by Fa-hien, the first Chinese pilgrim, at the beginning of the fifth, and by his great successor, Hiuen Tsang, in the first half of the seventh century, proves beyond question that Buddhism suffered a gradual decay during the Gupta period. But that decay was hardly discernible by people living in those ages, who saw a powerful and wealthy monastic order continuously wielding immense influence and housed in splendid convents. The discovery of the numerous remains of magnificent Buddhist monasteries of Gupta age has been one of the surprises of archaeological research. The Gupta kings, although officially Brahmanical Hindus with a special devotion to Vishnu, followed the usual practice of ancient India in looking with a favourable eye on all varieties of Indian religion. The first Chandra-gupta, who had been a follower of the Sānkhya philosophy, afterwards listened with conviction to the arguments of Vasubandhu, the Buddhist sage, to whose instruction he commended his son and heir, Samudragupta. At a later time, Naragupta Bālāditya, who erected handsome buildings at Nālandā, the ecclesiastical capital of the church, was regarded by Hiuen Tsang as having been a fervent Buddhist.¹