On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c12.s2.2

v1.c12.s2.2

In the *Life* the distance from the capital of Chinabhukti to the Tamasāvana monastery in 50 *li* or only one tenth of the distance here given. Our pilgrim's *Ta-mo-su-fa-na* is undoubtedly the Tamasāvana (or Tāmasavana) or "Darkness-wood" of other authors. This was apparently the name both of the monastery and of the district in which it was situated. The monastery must have been at an early date a noted seat of Buddhism as Brethren from it were among the great Doctors invited by king Asoka to his Council. The description of the summoning of this Council is given in several treatises from one original apparently. It is interesting to note the agreement and difference of these treatises in the matter of the Tamasāvana. In the Divyāvadāna the reading is "Tamasāvana" and the A-yü-wang-ching in agreement with this has *An-lin* or "Darkness-wood", the interpretation given by our pilgrim. The Tsa-a-han-ching instead of Tamasāvana has *To-p'o-p'oh* which is evidently for Tapova, the original being probably Tapovana. In the A-yü-wang-chuan the “dhirās Tamasāvane” is rendered by *Chou-ye-wu-wei* lit. “day-night fearless”, that is, the brave of the Day-night.¹ The phrase in ordinary Chinese would mean “day and night without fear”, but here the term *chou-ye* is used in the sense of “the darkness of day”. It corresponds to the *chow-an* or “Day-darkness” of another treatise and both terms evidently stand for Tamasā.²