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On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c13: Chapter X. Sthāneśvar to Kapitha

On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c13

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Chapter X. Sthāneśvar to Kapitha

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From the Mathurā country the pilgrim, according to his narrative, proceeded north-east, and after a journey of above 500 *li*, reached the *Sa-t'a-ni-ssü-fa-lo* (Sthāneśvara) country. He tells us this country was above 7000 *li* in circuit, and its capital, with the same name apparently, was above twenty *li* in circuit. The soil was rich and fertile and the crops were abundant: the climate was warm: the manners and customs of the people were illiberal: the rich families vied with each other in extravagance. The people were greatly devoted to magical arts and highly prized outlandish accomplishments: the majority pursued trade, and few were given to farming: rarities from other lands were collected in this country. There were (that is, at the capital apparently) three Buddhist monasteries with above 700 professed Buddhists, all Hinayānists. There were also 100 Deva-Temples and the non-Buddhists were very numerous.

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The capital, the pilgrim goes on to describe, was surrounded for 200 *li* by a district called the "Place of Religious Merit" *Fu-ti* (福地). The origin of this name Yuan-chuang learned at the place to be as follows. The "Five Indias" were once divided between two sovereigns who fought for mastery, invading each other's territory and keeping up unceasing war. At length in order to settle the question of superiority, and so give peace to their subjects, the kings agreed between themselves to have a decisive action. But their subjects were dissatisfied and refused to obey their kings' commands. Thereupon the king [of that part of India which included Sthāneśvara] thought of an expedient. Seeing it was useless to let his subjects have a voice in his proposals, and knowing that the people would be influenced by the supernatural, he secretly sent a roll of silk to a clever brahmin commanding him to come to the palace. On his arrival there the brahmin was kept in an inner chamber, and there he composed (that is, by the King's inspiration) a Dharma-sūtra (that is, a treatise on Duty). This book the king then hid in a rock-cave, where it remained for several years until vegetation covered the spot. Then one morning the king informed his ministers at an audience that he had been enlightened by Indra, who told him in a dream about an inspired book hidden in a certain hill. The book was brought forth, and officials and people were enraptured. By the king's orders the contents of the scripture were made known to all, and the sum of them was briefly this—

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Life and death are a shoreless ocean with ebb and flow in endless alternation: intelligent creatures cannot save themselves from the eddies in which they are immersed. I have an admirable device for saving them from their woes, and it is this— Here we have for 200 *li* round this city the place of religious merit for generations of the ancient sovereigns, but as its evidences have been effaced in the long lapse of time, people have ceased to reflect on the efficacy of the place, and so have been submerged in the ocean of misery with no one to save them from perishing. Now all who, being wise, go into battle and die fighting, will be reborn among men: slaying many they will be innocent and will receive divine blessings: obedient grand-children and filial children serving their parents while sojourning in this district will obtain infinite happiness. As the meritorious service is little, and the reward it obtains great, why miss the opportunity? Once the human body is lost there are the three states of dark oblivion: hence every human being should be diligent in making good karma, thus all who engage in battle will look on death as a return home—

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The king ordered an enrolment of heroes for battle, and an engagement took place on this ground. The bodies of those killed in battle were strewn about in confused masses, so great was the number of the slain, and the huge skeletons of these heroes still cover the district, which popular tradition calls the Place of Religious Merit.

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The whole of this passage about the "Place of Religious Merit" is curious and interesting, giving, as has been pointed out by others, the story which our pilgrim heard on the spot about the wars of the Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas. It reads like an extract from the Bhagavadgītā. The passage which, in the present rendering of it, is treated as being the sum of the inspired teaching of the sūtra, is made by Julien, in his version, to be a proclamation by the king of Sthāneśvara. The last clause of the passage is treated by him as a separate sentence and he translates it thus—"Là-dessus, tous les hommes combattirent avec ardeur et coururent joyeusement à la mort", that is, before the king called on the people to enlist in his service. This treatment of the text seems to be a very unfortunate one as Yuan-chuang makes a clear distinction between the counsel of the Dharmasūtra (Fu-ching 法經), and the king's proceedings after the promulgation of the counsel.

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Four or five *li* to the north-west of the capital, the pilgrim relates, was an Asoka tope made of bright orange bricks, and containing wonder-working relics of the Buddha. Above 100 *li* south from the capital was the *Ku-hun-t'u* (in some texts *-ch'u*) monastery: this had high chambers in close succession and detached terraces: the Buddhist Brethren in it led pure strict lives.

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The *Ku-hun-t'u* (or *ch'u*) of this passage may perhaps, as has been suggested, be for Govinda. Another restoration proposed is Gokaṇṭha, and this is the name adopted by Cunningham, but it does not seem possible that the Chinese characters are a transcription of this word. Govinda is a common name for Krishna, but it may have been the name of the village in which the monastery here described was situated.

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The Sthāneśvara of this passage has been identified with the modern Thānesar (Tānesar, Tanessar) in Ambala. Cunningham seems to regard this identification as beyond question¹, although in perhaps no point of distance, direction or measurement do the two places correspond. Thānesar is about 180 miles to the north-north-west of Mathurā², and Sthāneśvar was about 100 miles to the north-east of that place: the area of the country as given by the pilgrim is too great by one fourth and that of the "holy land" (Yuan-chuang's Place of Happiness, that is Religious Merit) is too small by half. Moreover the *Fu-li* of the Records cannot be regarded as a translation of Dharma-Kṣhetra, another name for the Kuru-Kṣhetra. Besides, this latter name designated a large plain above 100 miles to the south-east of Thānesvar, and the Fu-ti was all round the city Sthānesvara for only about 40 miles. Cunningham in his usual manner proposes to get over some of the difficulties by taking liberties with the pilgrim's text. It is better, however, to regard our pilgrim as being correct in his statement of distance and direction from Mathurā to Sthānesvara, and as deriving his information on other matters from the Brethren in the monasteries. He seems to represent himself as going to the great monastery 100 *li* (about 20 miles) south from the capital. Had he made a journey to the south of Thānesar, he would probably have told us of the celebrated Tank in the district about which Alberuni and Tavernier relate wonderful things.¹

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¹ A. G. I. p. 328: J. III. p. 339.

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² Alberuni Vol. I. p. 199.

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¹ Alberuni Vol. II. p. 145: Bernier's Travels (Constable's Or. Misc.) p. 302.

Śrughna

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The pilgrim continuing the story of his travels relates that— from this (that is apparently, Sthānesvara) he went north-east for above 400 *li* and came to the country *Su-lu-k'in-na*.

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The Life, which calls this country *Lu-k'in-na*, makes it to be 400 *li* to the east of Sthānesvara. Our pilgrim's transcription has been restored as Srughna, but this does not seem to be right. Another transcription is *Su-lu-kie (ka)-k'ün*, and this and the transcription in the text seem to point to an original like Srukkhin or Srughin. Cunningham, taking the "from this" of the text to mean from the Govinda monastery, makes the 400 *li* to be counted from that monastery and accordingly gives the distance from Sthānesvara to Srughna as only 300 *li*.² But the Life, and the Fang-chih, make Yuan-chuang start from and count from Sthānesvara, and as it seems likely that Yuan-chuang did not go to the Govinda monastery, I think we should understand the "from this" of the text to mean from the capital. Cunningham identifies the city Srughna with the modern village of Sugh which "is surrounded on three sides by the bed of the old Jumna". But as the measurements and distances given by Yuan-chuang, as usual, do not agree with those required by Cunningham, we may perhaps regard the identification as not quite established.

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² A. G. I. p. 345.

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Proceeding with his description of Srughna the pilgrim tells us that

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it was above 6000 *li* in circuit, bounded on the east by the Ganges and on the north by high mountains, and that through the middle of it flowed the river Yen-mo-na (Jumna). The capital, above 20 *li* in circuit, was on the west side of the Jumna, and was in a ruinous condition. In climate and natural products the country resembled Sthanesvara. The inhabitants were naturally honest: they were not Buddhists: they held useful learning in respect and esteemed religious wisdom. There were five Buddhist monasteries and above 1000 Buddhist ecclesiastics, the majority of whom were Hinayanists, a few adhering to "other schools". The Brethren were expert and lucid expounders of abstract doctrines, and distinguished Brethren from other lands came to them to reason out their doubts. There were 100 Deva-Temples, and the non-Buddhists were very numerous.

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The statement here that the majority of the Buddhist Brethren in Srughna "learned the Little Vehicle and a few studied other schools" is rather puzzling as all the Eighteen Schools (*pu*) belonged to the Hinayana. All the texts, however, agree, and the Fang-chieh shows a wise discretion by omitting the difficult words. By the "other schools" Yuan-chuang may have meant the Sautrantikas and other schools which had arisen in the later development of Buddhism, and were independent of the old schools and the two "Vehicles". The pilgrim heard expositions of the doctrines of the Sautrantikas during his stay in the country. But we must also remember that he uses the terms Mahayana and Hinayana in a manner which is apparently peculiar to himself.

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The narrative proceeds — To the south-east of the capital and on the west side of the Jumna outside the east gate of a large monastery was an Asoka tope at a place where the Ju-lai had preached and admitted men into his church. Beside this tope was one which had hair and nail-relics of the Ju-lai, and round about were some tens of topes with similar relics of Śāriputra, Mudgalaputra, and the other great arhats. After the Buddha's decease the people of this country had been led astray to believe in wrong religions and Buddhism had disappeared. Then Śastra-masters from other lands defeated the Tirthikas and Brahmins in discussions, and the five monasteries already mentioned were built at the places where the discussions were held in order to commemorate the victories.

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A journey of above 800 *li* east from the Jumna (that is, at Śrughna) brought the pilgrim to the Ganges. The source of this river, he adds, is three or four *li* wide: the river flows south-east to the sea, and at its mouth it is above ten *li* wide: the waters of the river vary in colour and great waves rise in it: there are many marvellous creatures in it but they do not injure any one: its waters have a pleasant sweet taste and a fine sand comes down with the current. In the popular literature the river is called *Fu-shui* or "Happiness-water" that is, the water (or river) of religious merit. Accumulated sins are effaced by a bath in the water of the river: those who drown themselves in it are reborn in heaven with happiness: if the bones of one dead be consigned to the river that one does not go to a bad place: by raising waves and fretting the stream (that is, by splashing and driving the water back) the lost soul is saved.

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In the Life and the Fang-chih the pilgrim proceeds to the "Source of the Ganges" which is 800 *li* to the east of the Jumna and this is supposed to be what the pilgrim meant to state. But the context and the sequel seem to require us to take him literally as simply coming to the Ganges. It was apparently at a place to the south of the "Source of the Ganges" that he reached that river. This "Source of the Ganges" is supposed to be Gangādvāra or Hardwar, the place where the Ganges emerges from the Sivalik mountains into the plains. The expression here rendered "the waters of the river vary in colour" is *shui-sê-Tsang-lang* (水色滄浪) that is, "the water in colour is Tsang-lang", or clear and muddy. The allusion is to the Tsang-lang river which, as we learn from a boy's song quoted in Mencius, ran sometimes clear and sometimes muddy.¹ Julien translates the words by "La couleur de ses eaux est bleuâtre", a rendering which is not correct from any point of view. Then as the original for Fu-shui, "River of religious merit" (lit. Religious merit water) Julien gives Mahabhadra, which is a name for the Ganges but is not the equivalent of Fu-shui. This term is a literal rendering of the Sanskrit and Pali word Punyodaka, merit-water, and Punyodaka is the name of a river in the world beyond. The reason why the name was transferred to the Ganges is to be found in the next paragraph of our passage, in which the pilgrim describes the spiritual efficacy of the water of the river. In this paragraph the words rendered "by raising waves and fretting the stream the lost souls (or spirits) are saved" are yang-po-chi-liu-wang-hun-huo-chi (揚波激流亡魂獲濟). Julien connects these words with the preceding clause which states that if the bones of a dead person are consigned to the river that person does not go to a bad place, Julien making the author add — "pendant que les flots se gonflent et coulent en bondissant, l'âme du défunt passe à l'autre rive". The first clause of this is not a translation of the Chinese, and Julien's failure to understand his author has spoiled this passage and his rendering of the story about Deva P'usa which follows.

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¹ Mencius, ch. 7. P. I.

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Our pilgrim, in connection with his remarks about the popular belief in the spiritual virtues of the water of the Ganges, that is presumably at Gangādvāra, relates the following anecdote—

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Deva P'usa of the Chih-shih-tzŭ-kuo (or Siṃhala country), profoundly versed in Buddhist lore and compassionate to the simple, had come hither to lead the people aright. At the time of his arrival the populace, male and female, old and young, were assembled on the banks of the river and were raising waves and fretting the current. The P'usa solemnly setting an example bent his head down to check and turn the stream. As his mode of procedure was different from that of the rest, one of the Tirthikas said to him—Sir, why are you so strange? Deva answered—My parents and other relatives are in the Simhala country, and as I fear they may be suffering from hunger and thirst, I hope this water will reach thus far, and save them. To this the Tirthikas replied—Sir, you are in error and your mistake comes from not having reflected—your home is far away with mountains and rivers intervening—to fret and agitate this water, and by this means save those there from hunger, would be like going back in order to advance, an unheard of proceeding. Deva then replied that if sinners in the world beyond received benefits from this water, it could save his relatives notwithstanding the intervening mountains and rivers. His arguments convinced his hearers; who thereupon acknowledged their errors, renounced them, and became Buddhists.

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The *Chih-shih-tzŭ kuo* or Simhala country of this passage has been taken to be Ceylon, the country generally so designated, but it may be here the name of a country in India. Yuan-chuang, as will be seen hereafter, probably knew that Deva was a native of South-India and not of Ceylon.

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According to the story here related, when Deva found the people on the river-side splashing the water, he set himself to lead them to right views. He assumed a grave air and an earnest manner, and while the others were merely going through a religious rite, he seemed to be making a serious effort to force the river back. As he evidently desired, his strange manner attracted attention; and he was able to turn the Tirthikas' criticism against themselves. Here Julien gives a rendering which seems to be against construction and context, and makes the story absurd. The Chinese for "giving an example" or "leading aright" here is *chi-yin* (汲引) which Julien translates "voulut puiser de l'eau". But the phrase is of common occurrence and generally in the sense of "lead by example" or "set in the right course".

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In this Srughna (or Srughn) country, we learn from the Life, the pilgrim enjoyed the society of a learned Doctor in Buddhism, by name Jayagupta. The pilgrim remained here one winter, and half of the spring following; and "when he had heard all the vibhāshā of the Sautrantika School" he continued his journey.

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With reference to Yuan-chuang's mention of the Buddha having preached at the capital of this country, it may be stated that the story of the Buddha visiting Srughna and there meeting the Brahmin named Indra, who was proud of his youth and beauty, is told in the Divyāvadāna and in the Sarvata Vinaya.¹

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¹ Divyāv. p. 74: Sar. Vin. Yao-shih, *ch.* 9.

Mo-Ti-Pu-Lo (Matipur)

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The pilgrim proceeds to narrate that crossing to the east bank of the river (that is, the Ganges) he came to the *Mo-ti-pu-lo* (Matipur) country. This was above 6000 *li*, and its capital above 20 *li* in circuit. It yielded grain, fruits, and flowers, and it had a genial climate. The people were upright in their ways: they esteemed useful learning: were well versed in magical arts: and were equally divided between Buddhism and other religions. The king, who was of the Śūdra stock (that is caste) did not believe in Buddhism, and worshipped the Devas. There were above ten Buddhist monasteries with above 800 Brethren mostly adherents of the Sarvāstivādin school of the Hīnayāna. There were also above fifty Deva-Temples and the sectarians lived pell-mell.

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The *Mo-ti-pu-lo* or Matipur of this passage has been identified by Saint-Martin and Cunningham with Madāwar or "Mandāwar, a large town in western Rohilkhand, near Bijnor".² But in Cunningham's Map No. X, to which he refers us, Madāwar is to the south-east of Srughna and to the south of Gangādvāra, whereas Matipur was to the east of Srughna and east of the "Source of the Ganges", if we are to regard that as the place at which the pilgrim halted before crossing the river. Then, as usual, the areas of the country and its capital do not agree with Cunningham's requirements.

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² A. G. I. p. 348.

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Four or five *li* south from the capital, the pilgrim continues, was the small monastery in which the Śāstra-master Guṇaprabha composed above 100 treatises including the "*Pien-chên-lun*"

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(辯眞論) or Truth-expounding Treatise. This Guṇaprabha, Yuang-chuang tells us, from being a very clever boy had grown up to be a man of great intellectual abilities, and of wide and varied learning. He had at first been a student of the Mahāyāna system, but before he had thoroughly comprehended the abstruse mysteries of that system, he was converted to the Hīnayāna by the perusal of a Vaibhāsha treatise. After this he composed several tens of treatises in refutation of the Mahāyāna principles, and in defence of the Hīnayāna tenets. He was also the author of some scores (several tens and more) of secular books: he set aside as wrong the standard treatises of his predecessors. But in his comprehensive study of the Buddhist canonical scriptures Guṇaprabha had experienced difficulties on above ten points, and of these his prolonged application did not bring any solution. Now among his contemporaries was an arhat named Devasena, who was in the habit of visiting the Tushita Paradise. This Devasena, by his supernatural powers, on one occasion took Guṇaprabha, at the request of the latter, up to the Tushita Paradise to have an interview with Maitreya Bodhisattva, and obtain from the Bodhisattva the solution of his spiritual difficulties. But when presented to Maitreya Guṇaprabha was too proud and conceited to give the Bodhisattva his due reverence, and accordingly Maitreya would not solve his difficulties. As Guṇaprabha remained stubborn in his self-conceit even after one or two unsuccessful visits, and as he would not be guided by the counsels of Devasena, the latter refused to take him any more into Maitreya's presence. Hereupon Guṇaprabha in angry disgust went into solitude in a forest, practised the "Penetration-developing samādhi", but, not having put away pride, he was unable to attain arhatship.

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The Tushita Paradise, as is well known, is the Heaven in which the Bodhisattva Maitreya sojourns between his last incarnation on earth and his future advent as Buddha. The Śāstra-master Guṇaprabha in this passage considers himself, as a fully ordained Buddhist bhikshu, to be superior to the Bodhisattva who was enjoying the pleasures of a prolonged residence in Paradise; and accordingly Guṇaprabha persists in his refusal to show to Maitreya the reverence due to a great Bodhisattva, and consequently fails in his career.

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The last clause in the above passage is given according to the correction of the Ming editors. This makes the text to read *pu-tê-chêng-kuo* (不得證果), that is, “he could not realize the fruit”, viz-of arhatship. The old reading of some texts was *pu-shih* (不實) *chêng-kuo*, meaning “he quickly realized the fruit”. The D text has *pu-chêng tao-kuo*, which also means “he did not attain to arhatship”, and this is doubtles the author’s meaning.

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In a note to the name of Guṇaprabha’s treatise, the “Pien-chên-lun”, mentioned in the above passage Julien restores the Sanskrit original as “Tattvavibhaṅga śāstra”. This seems to show that he had forgotten the restoration of the name, given in translation and in Chinese transcription, which he had made in the Life. There he makes the name to be “Tattvasatya śāstra”, and this restoration has been adopted by subsequent writers although it does not correspond to the translation of the name given by Yuan-chuang and the Chinese annotator. Now the characters which Julien makes to stand for *satya* are *san-ti-sho* (三諦說) for *sandeśa*, and the name of the treatise was evidently Tattvasandeśa or “Exposition of Truth”, Yuan-chuang’s *Pien-chên*, with the word for *śāstra* (*lun*) added.¹ This treatise, which at one time had some fame, expounded the views of the Sarvāstivādin school, but it is unknown to the existing collections.

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¹ Life *Ch.* 2: J. I. p. 109.

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The Guṇaprabha of Parvata here mentioned is not to be confounded with the great Vinaya master of the same name mentioned by Tāranātha.² Burnouf was of opinion that our Guṇaprabha might be the Guṇamati, Master of Vasumitra, mentioned in the “Abhidharmakośa-vyākhyā”, but there does not seem to be any ground for this unlikely supposition.³ In the 8th *chuan* of our treatise we find a Guṇamati disputing with a great master of the Saṅkhya system.

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² Tār. S. 126 et al.: Wass. Bud. S. 84.

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³ Bur. Int. p. 566: Le Lotus de la bonne Loi p. 358.

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Three or four *li* north from Guṇaprabha’s monastery, Yuan-chuang’s narrative proceeds, was a monastery with above 200 Brethren, all Hinayānists. It was in this monastery that the Sāstra-Master Sanghabhadra ended his life. This Sanghabhadra, it is added, was a native of Kashmir, and a profound scholar in the Vaibhāsha śāstras of the Sarvāstivādin school.

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In this passage it is especially important to avoid Julien's rendering. "[Le Traité] Vibhacha çāstra" as the treatise of Sanghabhadra to be presently noticed does not deal with the special work called "Vibhāshā-lun".

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Contemporary with Sanghabhadra, Yuan-chuang continues, was Vasubandhu Bodhisattva, devoted to mystic doctrine, and seeking to solve what was beyond language. This man in refutation of the Vibhāshā masters composed the "Abhidharma-kośa-śāstra" ingenious in style and refined in principles. Sanghabhadra was moved by the treatise, and devoted twelve years to its study: then he composed a treatise which he called the "Kośa-pao" or "Bud-hail", śāstra. This work he entrusted to three or four of his cleverest disciples, telling them to use his unrecognized learning, and this treatise, to bring down the old man Vasubandhu from the preeminence of fame which he had monopolized. At this time Vasubandhu, at the height of his fame, was in Sākala the capital of Cheika; and thither Sanghabhadra and his chief disciples proceed with the view of meeting him. But Vasubandhu learning that Sanghabhadra was on the way to have a discussion with him, hastily packed up and went off with his disciples. To these he excused his conduct by alleging his age and infirmities, and he added that he wished to allure Sanghabhadra to Mid-India where the Buddhist pundits would shew the charater of his doctrines. Sanghabhadra arrived at the monastery at Matipur the day after Vasubandhu had left it, and here he sickened and died. On his deathbed he wrote a letter of regret and apology to Vasubandhu, and entrusted it, with his treatise, to one of his disciples. When the letter and book were delivered to Vasubandhu with Sanghabhadra's dying request, he was moved and read them through. He then told his disciples that Sanghabhadra's treatise though not perfect in doctrine was well written, that it would be an easy matter for him to refute it, but that out of regard for the dying request of the author, and as the work expounded the views of those whom he (Vasubandhu) followed, he would leave the work as it was only giving it a new name. This name was "Shun-chêng-li-lun", the Śāstra which accords with orthodox principles (Nyāyānusāra-śāstra). The tope erected over Sanghabhadra's relics, in a mango grove to the north-east of the monastery, was still in existence.

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The above passage has been condensed from Yuan-chuang's text and the reader will observe that; according to Yuan-chuang's information, Sanghabhadra was not, as Tāranātha represents him, the master of Vasubandhu. He is rather the young Doctor in Philosophy who is presumptuous enough to take up arms against the great chief renowned far and wide as peerless in dialectics. There is nothing in the text to shew that he and Vasubandhu were personal acquaintances, or that they ever met. So also in the Life of Vasubandhu the two men are apparently unknown to each other, and never meet.¹ Then as to the "Abhidharma-kośa-śāstra" it will be remembered that according to Yuan-chuang it was composed by Vasubandhu in Purushapur of Gandhāra, and this does not agree with the account in the Life of Vasubandhu. Yuan-chuang also tells us, and the statement has been often repeated, that Vasubandhu composed this treatise in order to refute the Vaibhāshikas. But, as has been stated already, this is not correct.² The original verses were compiled by him as a Sarvāstivādin Vaibhāshika, and the Commentary, still mainly Vaibhāshika, gives a development to certain questions from the Sautrantika point of view.

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¹ Vasubandhu-chuan (No. 1463).

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² See ch. VI. p.

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As to the treatise which Sanghabhadra wrote to demolish the Abhidharma-kośa according to Yuan-chuang the original title is given in the text as Kośa-hail-lun. In the name "Abhidharma-kośa-śāstra" the word kośa is used in the sense of a bud, the verses being buds in which were folded the flowers of Buddhist metaphysics awaiting development. So the Kośa-pao-lun, or Bud-hail-treatise, is to be understood as the work which was to spoil all the hope and promise of the Kośa. Vasubandhu, Yuan-chuang tells us, changed the name to "Shun-chêng-li-lun" the "Śāstra which follows Right Principles", and the Life of Vasubandhu gives the title as "Sui-shih-lun" or the "Śāstra which follows the True". These names are probably only different renderings of a name like Nyāyānusāra- or Anusāra-śāstra. But the story about the "Bud-hail" title must be discarded as the work itself shews that the author intended the title to be something like Nyāyānusāra-śāstra. Moreover in his subsequent treatise abridged from this he calls his large work “Shun-chêng-li-lun”.¹ With the wicked title should go the statements about the author writing the book in a spirit of envious hostility against Vasubandhu. Nothing of this appears in the treatise; and on the contrary, as Vasubandhu stated, the work developes the views of Vasubandhu and those whom he followed. In its observations on the verses of the original treatise it sometimes uses the words of Vasubandhu’s own commentary. The work condemns as heterodox certain opinions ascribed to the Sthaviras and the Sūtra-lords (Ching-chu), but Vasubandhu is not mentioned by name. Tāranātha mentions a treatise called “Abhidharmakośabhāṣyaṭīkā-tattva” which he ascribes to Sthiramati. Another name for it is given as the “Thunder-bolt”,² and it is perhaps not impossible that this may be the “Bud-hail” treatise ascribed by Yuanchuang to Sanghabhadra.

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¹ Abhidharma-tsang-hsien-tsung-lun (No. 1266). The word tsang in this title is evidently a translation of kośa and not of piṭaka. In the name of the original treatise the word kośa has been explained as meaning not only bud but also core, sheath, integument, and other things. Sanghabhadra, however, does not seem to have taken the word in the sense of bud either in the Anusāra-śāstra or in this abstract.

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² Tār. S. 130 note, and S. 319 and note.

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The pilgrim’s narrative proceeds to relate that beside the mango plantation which contained Sanghabhadra’s tope was another tope erected over the remains of a Śāstra-Master named Vimala-mitra. This man, who was a native of Kashmir and an adherent of the Sarvata school, having made a profound study of canonical and heterodox scriptures, had travelled in India to learn the mysteries of the Tripiṭaka. Having gained a name, and finished his studies, he was returning to his home, and had to pass Sanghabhadra’s tope on the way. At this place he sighed over the premature death of that great Master under whom he had studied. He lamented also that Vasubandhu’s teaching was still in vogue, and he expressed his determination to write a refutation of the Mahāyana system, and to efface the name of Vasubandhu. But he instantly became delirious, five tongues emerged from his mouth, and his life-blood gushed forth. He had time to repent, and to warn his disciples; but he died and went, according to an arhat, to the Hell which knows no intermission. At the time of his death there was an earthquake, and a cavity was formed in the ground at the spot where he died. His associates cremated the corpse, collected the bones, and erected a memorial (that is, the tope) over them.

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It is unusual for a tope to be erected in memory of a man reputed to have gone to Hell, and a Chinese annotator has suggested that stupa here is a mistake for ti (地) meaning "place". But the correction is not necessary, as the tope was erected by the personal friends of Vimalamitra, who did not think he had gone to Hell. As this man's dead body was cremated it seems strange that the arhat should have declared he had gone down into the Avichi Hell. It was evidently not the human being Vimalamitra who had so descended, but his alter ego, the embodied karma which had been formed and accumulated in successive births.

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From the Life we learn that the pilgrim remained several months in this district studying Guṇaprabha's Pien-chên-lun or "Tattvasandeśa śāstra", already mentioned, and other Abhidharma commentaries. He also met here the Bhadanta Mi-to-se-na, that is Mitasena (or Mitrasena), ninety years old who had been a disciple of Guṇaprabha and was a profound scholar in Buddhist learning.

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In the north-west of Matipur, Yuan-chuang proceeds to relate, on the east side of the Ganges was the city Mo-yü-lo (or Mayūra) above twenty li in circuit. It had a large population and streams of clear water: it produced bell-metal (t'u-shih), rock-crystal, and articles of jewelry. Near the city and close to the Ganges was a large Deva-Temple of many miracles, and in its inclosure was a tank the banks of which were faced with stone slabs, the tank being fed by an artificial passage from the Ganges. This was called the Ganges-Gate and it was a place for making religious merit and extinguishing guilt: there were constantly many thousands of people from distant regions assembled here bathing. Pious kings erected Puṇyaśālās in the district for the free distribution of dainty food and medical requisites to the kinless and friendless.

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The “Ganges-Gate” of this passage is said to be the Gaṅgādvāra of Indian writers, the modern Hardwar (or Haridvār), the “Source of the Ganges” already mentioned. As Yuan-chuang apparently did not go to Mayūra, we should perhaps regard him as writing about Gaṅgādvāra only from information given to him by others. Cunningham thinks that this Mayūra “must be the present ruined site of Māyāpura, at the head of the Ganges canal”.¹ But Mo-yü-lo cannot be taken as a transcription of Māyāpura, and this town was on the west side of the Ganges whereas Mo-yü-lo (Mayūra) was on the east side of that river.

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¹ A. G. I. p. 351.

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Our pilgrim proceeds to relate that going north “from this” above 300 *li* he came to the P'o-lo-hih-mo-pu-lo country. This was more than 4000 *li* in circuit, with mountains on all sides, its capital being above twenty *li* in circuit. It had a rich flourishing population, and a fertile soil with regular crops: it yielded bell-metal (tu-shih) and rock-crystal: the climate was coldish: the people had rough ways: they cared little for learning and pursued gain. There were five Buddhist monasteries, but there were very few Brethren: there were above ten Deva-Temples and the sectarians lived pell-mell.

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The P'o-lo-hih-mo-pu-lo of this passage has been restored by Julien, who here transliterates P'o-lo-hi-mo, as Brahmapura; and the restoration, said by Cunningham to be correct, has been generally accepted. Although P'o-lo-hih-mo is not the usual transcription for Brahma, we may perhaps regard these sounds as standing here for this word. Brahmapura is the name of a city which is in the north-east division of the Brihat Samhitā², but in our author it is the name of a country. Cunningham, who treats the *north* of our text as a mistake for *north-east*, finds the country in “the districts of Garhwāl and Kumaon”.³ It is not very clear whether the pilgrim meant us to understand that he started on his journey to this country from Mayūra, or from Matipura. The Fang-Chih took the former as the starting-place, but it is perhaps better to regard Matipur as the "this" of the text from which the pilgrim goes north 300 *li*. This construction is in agreement with the Life which has no mention of Mayūra.

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² Ind. Ant. Vol. XXII. p. 172.

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³ A. G. I. p. 355.

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To the north of this country (Brahmapura), and in the Great Snow Mountains, was the Suvarṇagotra country. The superior gold which it produced gave the country its name. This was the "Eastern Woman's Country" (that is, of the Chinese) so called because it was ruled by a succession of women. The husband of the queen was king, but he did not administer the government. The men attended only to the suppression of revolts and the cultivation of the fields. This country reached on the east to T'u-fan (Tibet), on the north to Khoten, and on the west to San-p'o-ha (Malasa).

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The Suvarṇagotra country of this passage is perhaps the Suvarṇabhū or Gold-region in the north-east division of the Bṛihat-Saṃhitā, which Kern regards as "in all likelihood a mythical land".¹ Our pilgrim was taught to identify this district with the "Eastern Woman's-Country" of his countrymen, which is undoubtedly a mythical region. Further the situation of the Eastern Woman's Country is far away from the region in which Yuan-chuang places his Suvarṇagotra. This name is translated properly in a note to the text by "the Golds" that is, the Gold family, but the author evidently regarded the name as meaning "the land of gold".

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¹ Ind. Ant. Vol. XXII. p. 190.

Ku-P'I-Sang-Na (Goviśana)

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From Matipur the pilgrim continued his journey, he goes on to state, travelling south-east for above 400 *li* to the country of Ku-p'i-shuang(or sang)-na. This country was above 2000 *li* in circuit; and its capital, which was 14 or 15 *li* in circuit, was a natural stronghold. There was a flourishing population: everywhere was a succession of blooming woods and tanks: the climate and natural products were the same as those of Matipur. The people had honest sincere ways, they applied themselves to learning and were fond of religious merit: most of them were non-Buddhists, and sought the joys of this life. There were two Buddhist monasteries with above 100 Brethren all Hinayānists. Of Deva-Temples there were above 30, and the sectarians lived pell-mell. Close to the capital was an old monastery in which was an Asoka tope to mark the spot at which the Buddha preached for a month on religious essentials. Beside this were sites of the sitting places and exercise grounds of the Four Past Buddhas, and two topes with hair and nail relics of the Julai.

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For the *Ku-p'i-sang-na* of our pilgrim's text Julien suggests *Govisana* as a possible restoration, and Saint-Martin proposes *Govisāna*, but a word like *Govisanna* would be nearer the Chinese sounds. Cunningham thinks that the capital of this country was on the site of "the old fort near the village of Ufain which is just one mile to the east of the modern Kāshipur". The country he thinks, "must have corresponded very nearly to the modern districts of Kāshipur, Rāmpur, and Pilibhit".¹ The Fang-chih here agrees with the Records, but the Life does not mention the journey from Matipur to Govisana.

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¹ A. G. I. p. 357.

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For the words "religious essentials" in the penultimate sentence of the above passage the original is *chu-fa-yao* (諸法要), which may also be translated "the essentials of things". These words are rendred by Julien— "les vérités les plus essentielles de la loi".

Ngo-Hi-Ch'I-Ta-Lo (Ahichatra?)

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From Govisana, our pilgrim proceeds to tell us, he travelled south-east above 400 *li*, and came to the country which he calls *Ngo(or O)-hi-ch'i-ta lo*. This country was above 3000 *li* in circuit: its capital, which was in a strong position, was 17 or 18 *li* in circuit. The country yielded grain, and had many woods and springs, and a genial climate. The people were honest in their ways, they studied abstract truth (*tao* 道) and were diligent in learning, with much ability and extensive knowledge. There were above ten Buddhist Monasteries, and more than 1000 Brethren students of the Sammitiya School of the Hinayāna. Deva-Temples were nine in number, and there were above 300 professed adherents of the other systems Pāśupatas who worshipped Īśvara (Siva). At the side of a Dragon Tank outside the capital was an Asoka tope where the Ju-lai preached to the Dragon for seven days. Beside it were four small topes at the sitting and exercise places of the Four Past Buddhas.

v1.c13.s4.2

The first character for the name of the country here described is written 惡 in some texts and 惡 in others, and the sound of these characters is given as *Ngo* or *wo*, or *o* or *yo*. In the Life this syllable is omitted and the name is given as Hi-ch'i-ta-lo, apparently by mistake although it seems to be the reading of all the texts. The Life also makes the pilgrim go from *Brahmapura* south-east above 400 *li* to this country. Julien restores the name in our text as Ahikshetra, but the characters seem to require a word like Ahichitra. Cunningham adopts the account in the Records and writes the name Ahichatra which, he says, is still preserved although the place has been deserted for many centuries. The district of Ahichatra, he believes, occupied the eastern part of Rohilkhand.¹

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¹ A. G. I. p. 359.

Pi-Lo-Shan-Na

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From Ahichitra, the pilgrim tells us, he went south (according to the other texts but according to D, east) about 260 *li* and crossing the Ganges went to the south (or according to the B text, south-west) into the *Pi-lo-shan-na* country. This was above 2000 *li* in circuit and its capital above ten *li* in circuit. It resembled Ahichitra in climate and products. The people were mainly non-Buddhists, a few reverencing Buddhism. There were two Buddhist Monasteries with 300 Brethren all Mahāyāna students. There were five Deva-Temples and the sectarians lived pell-mell. In the capital was an old monastery within the inclosure of which stood an Asoka tope at the pilgrim's time in ruins. It was here that the Buddha delivered during seven days the sūtra called *yun-chic-ch'u-ching* (蘊界處經). By its side were vestiges of the sitting and exercise places of the Four Past Buddhas.

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The name of the country here described is restored by Julien tentatively as Viraśāna, but it may have been something like Vilaśāna or Bhilasana. *Pi-lo-shan-na* (毗羅珊那) is the reading in the A, B, and C texts of the Records, and in the Fang-chih, but in the D text of the Records and in the Life the reading is *P'i-lo-na*-na which may be for a word like Bhiladaṇa.

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Cunningham identifies the capital of the *P'i-lo-shan-na* of our text with "the great mound of ruins called *Atranji-khera* which is situated on the right or west bank of the *Kāli Nadi*, four miles to the south of *Karsāna*, and eight miles to the north of *Eyta*, on the Grand Trunk Road".¹

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¹ A. G. I. p. 365.

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The name of the sūtra which the pilgrim says the Buddha delivered at the capital of this country is given as *yun-chie-chou-ching*. This means "the sūtra of the place of the elements of the skandha", and it may represent a Sanskrit name like Skandhadhātusthāna sūtra (B. Nanjio suggests "Skandhadhātuupasthāna sūtra"), the "sūtra of the basis of the elements of phenomena", that is, of the senses and their objects. No sūtra with a name like this seems to be known to the collections of Buddhist scriptures, and the Fang-chih merely states that the Buddha preached for seven days "the dharma of the elements of the skandha".

Kapitha or Sānkaśya

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From *P'i-lo-shan-na*, the narrative proceeds, a journey of above 200 *li* south-east brought the pilgrim to the *Kah-pi-t'a* (Kapitha) country. This was more than 2000 *li*, and its capital above twenty *li* in circuit: the climate and products of the district were like those of *P'i-lo-shan-na*. There were four Buddhist monasteries (that is perhaps, at the capital) and above 1000 Brethren all of the Sammatiya School. The Deva-Temples were ten in number and the non-Buddhists, who lived pell-mell, were Saivites.

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Above twenty *li* east (according to the A, B, and C texts, but in the D text, west) from the capital was a large monastery of fine proportions and perfect workmanship: its representations of Buddhist worthies were in the highest style of ornament. The monastery contained some hundreds of Brethren, all of the Sammatiya School, and beside it lived their lay dependents some myriads in number. Within the enclosing wall of the monastery were Triple stairs of precious substances in a row south to north, and sloping down to east, where the Julai descended from the Tayastimsa Heaven. The Ju-lai had ascended from Jetavana to Heaven and there lodged in the "Good-Law-Hall" where he had preached to his mother: at the end of three months he was about to descend. Then Indra by his divine power set up triple stairs of precious substances, the middle one of gold, the left one of crystal, and the right one of silver. The Buddha descended on the middle stair, Brahma holding a white whisk came down with him on the right stair and Indra holding up a jeweled sunshade descended on the left stair, while devas in the air scattered flowers and praised the Buddha. These stairs survived until some centuries before the pilgrim's time when they sank out of sight: then certain kings on the site of the original stairs set up the present ones of brick and stone adorned with precious substances and after the pattern of the original stairs. The present stairs were above 70 feet high with a Buddhist temple on the top in which was a stone image of the Buddha, and images of Brahma and Indra were at the top of the right and left stairs respectively and these images like the originals appeared to be descending.

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By the side of these was an Asoka stone-pillar of a lustrous violet colour and very hard with a crouching lion on the top facing the stairs: quaintly carved figures were on each side of the pillar, and according to one's bad or good deserts figures appeared to him in the pillar. Not far from the Stairs was a tope where the Four Past Buddhas had sat and walked up and down: beside it was a tope where the Ju-lai had taken a bath: beside this was a Buddhist temple where the Julai had gone into samādhi. Beside the temple was a large stone platform 50 paces long and seven feet high where the Julai had walked up and down, all his footsteps having the tracery of a lotus-flower: and on both sides of it were small topos erected by Indra and Brahma. In front was the place where the bhikshuni Lotus flower-colour (Utpalavarnā) wishing to be first to see the Buddha on his descent from Heaven transformed herself into a universal sovereign. At the same time Subhūti sitting meditating on the vanity of things beheld the spiritual body of Buddha. The Julai told Utpalavarnā that she had not been the first to see him for Subhūti contemplating the vanity of things had preceded her in seeing his spiritual body. The Buddha's exercise platform was enclosed by a wall and had a large tope to the south-east of which was a tank the dragon of which protected the sacred traces from wanton injury.

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The Life gives the direction in which the pilgrim travelled from I'i-lo-shan-na to Kah-pi-t'a as east instead of the south-east of our text, but this may be a slip, the distance between the places being the same in the two books.

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Our pilgrim's *Kah-pi-t'a* has naturally been restored as Kapitha, and we may retain the restoration for the present, although the word seems to be otherwise unknown. The transcription may, however, be for *Kalpita*, a word which has, with other meanings, that of "set in order". It was perhaps this name which the translator of a sūtra had before him when he gave *An-hsiang-hui* (安詳會), "Orderly arranged Meeting" as the name of the place of the Buddha's descent.¹ A note to our text here tells us that the old name of Kapitha was *Sêng-ka-she* (僧迦舍). This is a transcription of the name which is given as Sankāśya or Sāngkāśya (in Pali, Sankassa). It is the Sankasa of some, the Sakaspura of Spence Hardy, and the modern Sankisa.² The name Sankāśya or a variety of it seems to have been generally employed by the Buddhist writers of India, and the translators into Chinese and Tibetan usually contented themselves with transcriptions of the original. Another name for the place of the Buddha's Descent is that used in the Itinerary of Wu-k'ung. There it is designated *Ni-fo-wa-to* (泥縛婆多), a puzzling word which the translators have taken to stand for the Sanskrit Devāvatāra.³ This is doubtless correct, and the district obtained the name Devāvatāra or Devatāvataraṇam, in Chinese *T'ien-hsia-ch'ü* (天下處)⁴, "Place of Devas' Descent", because Brahma, Indra, and hosts of inferior devas here appeared descending to earth with the Buddha. But as this name was not Buddhistic in appearance, the Deva or Devatā was probably dropt in popular use, and the name Avataraṇam employed to denote the Buddha’s Descent. Mr Rockhill’s Tibetan text in his Life of Buddha relates that Buddha descended to “the foot of the Udumbara tree of the Avadjaravana (sic) of the town of Sāṃkaśya”.¹ Here the Tibetan probably wrote Avajaravana by a slip for Avatāravana or Avataraṇam.

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¹ Fo-shuo-yi-tsu-ching, *ch.* 2 (No. 674). But the *Kah-pi-t'a* of our text may be the Kapisthala of the Brihat sañhita which the author of that work places in Madhyadeśa-see Ind. Ant. Vol. XXII p. 180 and Alberuni I. p. 300.

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² For Sakaspura and the Cingalese version of the visit to Heaven and descent therefrom see M. B. p. 308. For Sankisa see A. G. I. p. 368.

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³ Shih-li-ching: J. A. T. VI. p. 358.

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⁴ Divyāv. p. 150: Tsa-a-han-ching, *ch.* 19.

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¹ Rockhill Life p. 81.

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From a curious little sūtra² we learn that there had once been at the place afterwards called Saṅkāśya an old chaitya (or tope), built in honour of Kaśyapa Buddha by his father, and called Sêng-ka-shih (Saṅkāśya). Before the time of Gautama Buddha, however, this chaitya had sunk down until it was all underground. When the Buddha descended from Heaven at this place, he caused the Chaitya to emerge above ground as a memorial of his return to earth. Afterwards it was found that the chaitya as it stood interfered with the traffic of the city, and so the king ordered it to be demolished. But during the night the chaitya left its site to the north of the city, and passed over the city to a spot in a wood about twenty *li* south of it. The chaitya of this sūtra is elsewhere a temple; and is described as the model for the one which five kings on Buddha’s suggestion erected near its site.³ This temple, called the Gods’ or Kings’ Temple, was erected as a memorial of the Buddha’s Descent, and was probably the temple of our pilgrim’s description. In the old sūtra, it will be observed, the chaitya of Kaśyapa Buddha is called Saṅkāśya, and this name is transferred to the city. As such the name is interpreted in another work as meaning *kuang-ming* (光明) or “brightness”, “clearness”,⁴ and this may indicate a reference to the legend of the chaitya of Kaśyapa Buddha.

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² Fo-shuo-ku-shu-ching (佛說枯樹經).

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³ Tsêng-yi-a-han-ching, *ch.* 28.

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⁴ A-yü-wang-ching, *ch.* 3.

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The story of Gautama Buddha leaving Jetavana for the Trayastriṃśa Heaven, spending there the three months of Retreat expounding his religion to his mother and the devas, and of his glorious descent to earth again, is referred to in many Chinese Buddhist books, and with only few serious variations of detail. In some works the place of descent is near a sand, or a large tank, outside of Saṅkāśya city¹, and here the "tank" of the translation may represent avatāra in the original, this word having also the meaning of tank or pond. In some treatises the scene of the Descent is at Kanyākubja, which is placed in the Saṅkāśya country by one authority, and in the Andhra country by another². The Tope of the Descent was the fifth of the Eight Great Topes connected with the Buddha's career, and it was at Kanyākubja. Wu-K'ung went to Devāvatāra to see this tope, but neither Fa-hsien³ nor our pilgrim makes any mention of a great tope in their descriptions of the sights of the place, although Yuan-chuang, as we have seen, incidentally mentions a "great tope" afterwards.

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