On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c13.s6.3

v1.c13.s6.3

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.