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History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c13.s2.t2: Yuan Chwang’s departure

History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c13.s2.t2

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Yuan Chwang’s departure

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After the successful termination of the proceedings of the Prayāga convocation Yuan Chwang begged leave to depart, and his request was granted on condition that he would stay yet another ten days as the state guest of the king of Kanauj. Harṣa suggested to the Chinese pilgrim that if he selected the southern sea-route,² i.e., by way of Java or Sumatra, he should be accompanied by official attendants, but Yuan Chwang preferred to return by the northern road. Both the sovereigns of Kanauj and Assam offered the Master of the Law every sort of valuable gift; he, however, declined to accept anything except a cape called *ho-la-li* of coarse skin designed as a protection from rain. Thus he took his departure, and Harṣa saw him off with a large retinue for a long distance. He also provided his honoured guest with a military escort of “a king of North India called Udhita” to carry the books and images on horseback, but the advance being slow king Śīlāditya afterwards “attached to the escort of Udhitarāja a great elephant, with three thousand gold pieces and ten thousand silver pieces”³ to meet the necessary expenses of the pilgrim’s arduous journey overland to China. This separation from his spiritual instructor troubled Harṣa, and three days later he, in company with Kumārarāja, Dhruvabhaṭa, and several hundred horsemen, overtook Yuan Chwang in order to spend a little more time with him before taking final leave. The great sovereign of Kanauj then commanded four *Ta-kwan* (official guides) called *Mo-ho-ta-lo* (Mahattaras), giving them letters on "fine white cotton stuff and sealed with red wax," which they were ordered to present "in all countries through which they conducted the Master, to the end that the princes of these countries might provide carriages or modes of conveyance to escort the Master even to the borders of China."¹ Thus the fame and influence of the Kanauj monarch had extended to far-off lands, and their rulers were ready to comply with his wishes.

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² This was the route followed by Fa-hian on his return journey home. It also shows that sea-voyages were common, and Harṣa’s administration was quite familiar with the sea-route to China.

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³ *Life*, p. 189.

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¹ *Ibid.*, p. 190.

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Harṣa's religion and devotion

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From an account of Harṣa's benevolent activities we pass on to a consideration of his system of beliefs, which urged him to scorn delights incidental to his position, and work untiringly for the moral progress and material well-being of his subjects. It may at the outset be mentioned that Harṣa did not inherit Buddhism. His father, Prabhākaravardhana was an ardent devotee of the Sun, and "kneeling eastwards upon the ground in a circle smeared with saffron paste" he daily offered to that luminary "a bunch of red lotuses set in a pure vessel of ruby and tinged, like his own heart, with the sun's hue."² This fact is confirmed by the Sonpat seal and the Madhuban and Banskhera inscriptions, which apply the epithet "paramādityabhaktaḥ" to Prabhākara. We also learn from these epigraphs that Harṣa's grandfather Ādityavardhana, and great-grand-father Rājyavardhana were votaries of the Sun. The Harṣacarita further testifies that Harṣa's remote ancestor Puṣpabhūti "entertained a great, almost inborn, devotion towards Siva the adorable."¹ We have even grounds to believe that Harṣa himself, was in his earlier days a devotee of the god Siva. When he started on his campaign he "had with deep devotion offered worship to the adorable Nilalohita," and "bestowed upon Brahmans sesamum vessels of precious stones, silver, and gold in thousands."² At the time of his first halt the golden seal presented to him by the village notary was inscribed with the emblem of a bull,³ which is regarded in Hindu mythology as the Vāhana or carrier of Siva. Similarly, there is the reclining Nandi symbol on the Sonpat copper seal of Harṣa. It was also probably due to his Saiva tendencies that he complimented the king of Assam through the latter's envoy saying "to whom save Siva need he pay homage? This resolve of his increases my affection."⁴ But the most important testimony is that of the copper plates—Banskhera plate of the year 22 of his reign = 628 A. D., and Madhuban plate of the year 25 i.e., 631 A. D.—which definitely call Harṣa a "Paramamāheśvara" or a devout worshipper of the god Maheśvara or Siva.⁵

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² *Hc.* C. T., p. 104.

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¹ Ibid., p. 84.

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² Ibid., p. 197.

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³ Ibid., p. 198.

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⁴ Ibid., p. 219. Cf. "Harāt-ṛite kam-anyam namasyati. Saṃvardhitā me prītiḥ amunā saṃkalpena..." (Hc., Cal. ed., p. 589).

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⁵ Ep. Ind., IV, p. 211; I, pp. 72, 74. These documents record Harṣa's grants of villages to orthodox vedic Brahmans, thus pointing to his Brahmanist proclivities.

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In his latter years, however, Harṣa appears to have inclined towards Buddhism, and eventually adopted it with a coating of a curious sort of eclecticism. It is difficult to determine what inner feelings and compunctions of conscience brought about this mighty religious transformation; but there seems little doubt that his earlier repeated calamities, his protracted campaigns of violence and bloodshed, his fondness for his dead brother Rājyavardhana, a "paramasaugata," and his association with his sister Rājyaśrī, also an earnest Buddhist, stimulated his interest in the Buddha's gospel of peace and non-violence. Probably the philosophy of the Sammatiya school of Buddhism, of which Rājyaśrī was an exponent,¹ originally held the chief place in Harṣa's affections, but after meeting with Yuan Chwang and listening to his brilliant exposition of the doctrines of the Mahāyāna he transferred his allegiance to this "advanced" school. Thenceforward he stood as its redoubtable champion, and convoked a special assembly at Kānyakubja for the avowed purpose of exhibiting "the refinements of the great Vehicle" and of making "manifest the exceeding merit of the Master." On this occasion Harṣa also showed some amount of open partiality and narrow sectarian spirit for the Mahāyāna. He interdicted and stifled free discussion on the pretext that the Chinese pilgrim's life was in danger, and further offered a slight to the chief gods of the Brahmans—Sakra and Brahmā—by representing them as mere attendants on the Buddha during the celebrations. The Si-yu-ki even states that the assembled Brahmans, who "had scarcely been spoken to," felt so keenly insulted at their neglect that they hatched an unsuccessful plot to kill the king.² It must not, however, be understood that henceforth Harṣa became a sort of royal missionary, like Aśoka, preaching and propagating the Dharma with the aid of his vast resources. On the contrary, he maintained the eclectic character of his public worship, and officially honoured the Brahmanical deities of Āditya (sun) and Śiva in the Prayāga gathering. He also made handsome gifts to the Brahmans, although it is true that the Buddhists had the first place in his scheme of charities. As proof of Harṣa's catholicity we may add here the information furnished by Yuan Chwang that the former was accustomed to provide viands every day for 500 Brahmans along with 1,000 Buddhists at the "royal lodges" during his tours.¹

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¹ Life, p. 176.

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² See supra.

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¹ Watters, I, p. 344; Beal, I, p. 215.

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Among other activities of Harṣa which betray his special favour and marked leanings towards Buddhism, we may first mention his "forcible" appropriation of the tooth-relic of the Buddha from Kashmir, and its subsequent enshrinement in a *Sanghārāma* in Kanauj.² Yuan Chwang also notes some of Harṣa's measures, calculated to promote the well-being of the Buddhist order and give an impetus to its propagation. We are told that "once a year he summoned all the Buddhist monks together, and for twenty-one days supplied them with the regulation requisites. He furnished the chapels and liberally adorned the common halls of the monasteries. He brought the Brethren together for examination and discussion, giving rewards and punishments according to merit and demerit."³ Yuan Chwang adds further that the best and most learned of them were "advanced to the Lion's Throne" (i.e., promoted to the highest places), and Harṣa considered them as his spiritual guides. Those who were merely perfect in the observance of the ceremonial rules were "honoured with formal reverence." But others guilty of unbecoming conduct were "banished from his presence and from the country."⁴ Indeed, Harṣa was so interested in the right diffusion and dissemination of the Buddhist doctrine that at one time, having noticed the ascendancy of the Hīnayāna in Orissa, he sent for four eminent doctors from the Nalanda convent in order to overthrow in discussion the upholders of that system. In response to his message Śīlabhadra, "the treasure of the true doctrine," commissioned Sāgaramatī, Prajñārasmi, Simharasmi, and the Master of the Law; but before they could start on their mission Harṣa sent word to the effect: "There is no immediate pressure for my former request; let them wait, and afterwards come here."¹ Again, we are informed that Harṣa erected thousands of topes on the banks of the Ganges, and Buddhist monasteries at the sacred places of the Buddhists.² These structures, the construction and multiplication of which was so dear to the heart of every believing Buddhist in order to gain merit, were perhaps built of very flimsy materials, and so they have not been able to withstand the ravages of time and nature. Their disappearance may also be due to the fact that they lay in the track of the hosts of Islam, and were exposed to their iconoclastic zeal. In conclusion, we may mention some promulgations of Harṣa, which had a distinctly Buddhist flavour. The king of Kanauj is represented to have "practised to the utmost the rules of temperance" and "sought to plant the tree of religious merit to such an extent that he forgot to sleep or to eat."³ He also prohibited the taking of life and the use of animal food under severe penalties.⁴ Further, Harṣa copied the benevolent institutions of Aśoka, and "in all the highways of the towns and villages throughout India he erected hospices (*puṇyaśālās*), provided with food and drink, and stationed there physicians, with medicines for travellers and poor persons round about, to be given without any stint.”¹ Thus Harṣa anticipated the deeds of modern Christianity,² and his lively sympathy with all creatures, human and animal, found powerful expression in the extensive provision of relief that he made throughout his dominions for the sick, the dumb, and the distressed. As a result of Harṣa’s benevolent exertions and untiring attentions there was a marked growth of Buddhism in Kanauj, though it was visibly on the wane in other centres. While Fa-hian in the early quarter of the fifth century A. D. could find only two monasteries of small consequence in Kanauj, Yuan Chwang after the lapse of just over a couple of centuries notices as many as a hundred “with more than 10,000 Brethren who were students of both the “Vehicles.”³

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² *Life*, pp. 181, 183.

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³ Watters, I, p. 344; Beal, I, pp. 214-15.

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⁴ Ibid.

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¹ *Life*, pp. 160-61.

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² Watters, I, p. 344.

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³ Beal, I, p. 214; Watters, I, p. 344.

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⁴ *Ibid.*; *Ibid.*

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¹ Beal, I, p. 214.

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² On the strength of a remark of Dr. Edkins, quoted in the *Athenaeum*, 3rd July, 1880, p. 8, Dr. R. K. Mookerji makes the statement that Harṣa “had some touch with Christianity too” (*Harṣa*, p. 145, Note 1). The learned Professor, however, has entirely misunderstood the sense. The passage referred to informs us that the same emperor who welcomed the pilgrim Yuan Chwang *on his return from India*, laden with Sanskrit manuscripts, “received with equal favour the Syrian Christians, Alopen, and his companions, who had arrived in A. D. 639.” It is thus evident that we have here a distinct reference to the Emperor of China, and not to Harṣa (See also my article in *J. R. A. S.*, July, 1928, p. 629). The same misapprehension occurs in *Ind. Ant.*, XII, p. 232, Note 19; Max Müller’s *India, What can it teach us?* p. 286, Note 4.

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³ See Appendix I.

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