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On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c14: Chapter XI

On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c14

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Contents

Chapter XI

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KANYĀKUBJA TO VIŚOKA.

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From the neighbourhood of Saṅkāśya the pilgrim went north-west for nearly 200 *li* to the *Ka-no-kü-she* (Kanyākubja) country. This he describes as being above 4000 *li* in circuit. The capital, which had the Ganges on its west side, was above twenty *li* in length by four or five *li* in breadth; it was very strongly defended and had lofty structures everywhere; there were beautiful gardens and tanks of clear water, and in it rarities from strange lands were collected. The inhabitants were well off and there were families with great wealth; fruit and flowers were abundant, and sowing and reaping had their seasons. The people had a refined appearance and dressed in glossy silk attire; they were given to learning and the arts, and were clear and suggestive in discourse; they were equally divided between orthodoxy and heterodoxy. There were above 100 Buddhist monasteries with more than 10,000 Brethren who were students of both the "Vehicles". There were more than 200 Deva-Temples and the non-Buddhists were several thousands in number.

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The reading "north-west" at the beginning of this passage is that of the Common texts of the Records and Life; but the D text of the Records has "south-east". This agrees with Fa-hsien's narrative¹, confirms the correction proposed by Cunningham², and, as Kanauj is to the south-east of Sankassa, is evidently the proper reading. Moreover in the itinerary of the Sung pilgrim Kanyakubja is two stages (*ch'êng* 程) to the east of Saṅkāśya³. Fa-hsien makes the distance between these two places to be seven yojanas or above 40 miles and this agrees roughly with Yuan-chuang’s 200 li.

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¹ Fo-kuo-chi, *ch*. 18.

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² Anc. Geog. Ind. p. 376.

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³ Ma T. l. *ch*. 388.

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Yuan-chuang here gives to the capital and extends also to the country the correct name Ka-no-kü-she (羯若鞠闍) that is, Kanyākubja, while Fa-hsien, like some other writers, gives the name which was probably in use among the natives, viz. Ka-nao-yi or Kanoyi, that is, the modern Kanauj (or Kanoj). Another transcription of the classical name is Kan-nu-ku-po-she (健拏矩婆舍) which is wrongly translated by êrh-ch‘u (耳出) or “Ear-emanation”. In a note to our text the name is properly rendered by “Hunch-backed maidens”, the translation which the pilgrim uses, and the story of the origin of the name is related by the pilgrim.

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According to this story long ages ago when Brahmadatta was king, and men lived very many years the name of the city was Kusumapura (that is, Flower-Palace or city). King Brahmadatta was a mighty sovereign and a great warrior; he had also the full number of 1000 sons wise and valorous and 100 fair and virtuous daughters. On the bank of the Ganges there lived at this time a rishi the years of whose life were to be counted by myriads; he was popularly called the “Great-Tree-Rishi”, because he had a banyan tree growing from his shoulders; the seed of the tree had been dropt on him by a bird, had taken root and grown to be a huge tree in which birds had been building their nests while the rishi remained unconscious in a trance of prolonged absorbed meditation (samādhi). When he had emerged from the trance, and moved about, he had glimpses of the king’s daughters as they chased each other in the wood near the river. Then carnal affection laid hold on him, and he demanded of the king one of his daughters in marriage. But all the princesses refused to wed “Great-Tree-Rishi”, and the king was in great fear and distress. In this extremity, however, the youngest daughter made a sacrifice of herself by offering to marry the rishi in order to save her father and country from the effects of his displeasure. But when the circumstances were told to him the old rishi was very much enraged at the other princesses for not appreciating him properly, and he cursed them with immediate crookedness. In consequence of this the ninety nine princesses all became bowed in body, and the capital of the country was henceforth known as the city of the Hunch-backed Maidens.

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This is a very silly story which probably has a good moral. The brahmins, it will be remembered, have a similar story to account for the name of the city of Kanauj. They relate that Vāyu, the Wind-god, also called a rishi, became enamoured of the 100 daughters of Kuśanābha, king of this country. The princesses refused to comply with the god's lustful desires, and he in his ire made them all back-bowed, and from this circumstance the city got its name Kanyākubja.¹ Another name for the district or country is Mahodaya, explained as meaning "the land of great prosperity". It is sometimes described as being in the Andhra country, as we have seen, and it is also said to be in the middle of India, in Madhyadeśa.

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¹ Dowson's Cl. Dict. Ind. Myth. s. v. Vāyu.

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It will be seen that in the description which Yuanchuang gives of Kanyākubja in the above passage he represents the Ganges as being on its west side. Cunningham makes him place that river on the east side, but this is a mistake. Other old authorities place the Ganges on the east side of Kanauj, where it still is. The city is also described as being on the Kāli-nadi an affluent of the Ganges on its west side. Fa-hsien merely describes the capital as reaching to the Ganges; but this evidently was not on the west side, as he tells of a tope on the north bank of the river about six li to the west of the capital.

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Our pilgrim here gives the number of Buddhist establishments in and about the capital as 100. This number seems to point to a great increase of Buddhism in the district from the time of Fa-hsien, as when that pilgrim visited the Kanauj country there were apparently only two Buddhist monasteries at the capital. The "non-Buddhists", or yi-tao (異道), of our pilgrim who meet us so often in the Records, were evidently the priests or other professed ministers of the various non-Buddhist systems of religion. These must have increased and Buddhists decreased at Kanyākubja after our pilgrim's time, as when the Sung pilgrim visited the district he found topes and temples numerous but there were no monks or nuns.

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We have next an account of the sovereign ruling at Kanauj and his origin.

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This sovereign was of the Vaiśya caste, his personal name was Harshavardhana, and he was the younger son of the great king whose name was Prabhākaravardhana. When the latter died he was succeeded on the throne by his elder son named Rāja- (or Rājya) vardhana. The latter soon after his accession was treacherously murdered by Śaśaṅka, the wicked king of Karṇasuvarṇa in East India, a persecutor of Buddhism. Hereupon the statesmen of Kanauj, on the advice of their leading man Bāni (or Vāni), invited Harshavardhana, the younger brother of the murdered king, to become their sovereign. The prince modestly made excuses, and seemed unwilling to comply with their request.

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When the ministers of state pressed Harshavardhana to succeed his brother and avenge his murder, the narrative goes on to relate, the prince determined to take the advice of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (whose name is here given correctly in translation Kuan-tzŭ-tsai, the "Beholding Lord"). An image of this Bodhisattva, which had made many spiritual manifestations, stood in a grove of this district near the Ganges. To this he repaired; and after due fasting and prayer, he stated his case to the Bodhisattva. An answer was graciously given which told the prince that it was his good karma to become king, and that he should, accordingly, accept the offered sovereignty and then raise Buddhism from the ruin into which it had been brought by the king of Karṇasuvarṇa, and afterwards make himself a great kingdom. The Bodhisattva promised him secret help, but warned him not to occupy the actual throne, and not to use the title Mahārāja. Thereupon Harshavardhana became king of Kanauj with the title Rājaputra and the style Śīlāditya.

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Continuing his narrative the pilgrim goes on to state that as soon as Śīlāditya became ruler he got together a great army, and set out to avenge his brother's murder and to reduce the neighbouring countries to subjection. Proceeding eastwards he invaded the states which had refused allegiance, and waged incessant warfare until in six years he had fought the Five Indias (reading chii 戢. According to the other reading ch'ên 臣, had brought the Five Indias under allegiance). Then having enlarged his territory he increased his army, bringing the elephant corps up to 60,000 and the cavalry to 100,000, and reigned in peace for thirty years without raising a weapon. He was just in his administration, and punctilious in the discharge of his duties. He forgot sleep and food in his devotion to good works. He caused the use of animal food to cease throughout the Five Indias, and he prohibited the taking of life under severe penalties. He erected thousands of topes on the banks of the Ganges, established Travellers Rests through all his dominions, and erected Buddhist monasteries at sacred places of the Buddhists. He regularly held the Quinquennial Convocation; and gave away in religious alms everything except the material of war. 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. Those Brethren who kept the rules of their Order strictly and were thoroughly sound in theory and practice he "advanced to the Lion's Throne" (that is, promoted to the highest place) and from these he received religious instruction; those who, though perfect in the observance of the ceremonial code, were not learned in the past he merely honoured with formal reverence; those who neglected the ceremonial observances of the Order, and whose immoral conduct was notorious, were banished from his presence and from the country. The neighbouring princes, and the statesmen, who were zealous in good works, and unwearied in the search for moral excellence, he led to his own seat, and called "good friends", and he would not converse with those who were of a different character. The king also made visits of inspection throughout his dominion, not residing long at any place but having temporary buildings erected for his residence at each place of sojourn, and he did not go abroad during the three months of the Rain-season Retreat. At the royal lodges every day viands were provided for 1000 Buddhist monks and 500 Brahmins. The king's day was divided into three periods, of which one was given up to affairs of government, and two were devoted to religious works. He was indefatigable, and the day was too short for him.

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Before proceeding to the next part of our pilgrim's narrative we may add a few notes to his very interesting account of the great Harshavardhana. At the beginning of the above passage we are told that this king was of the Fei-she (吠奢) or Vaiśya caste (or stock). This statement Cunningham thinks is a mistake, the pilgrim confounding the Vaisa or Bais Rajputs with the Vaiśya caste. Cunningham may be right. But we must remember that Yuanchuang had ample opportunities for learning the antecedents of the royal family, and he must have had some ground for his assertion. Harshavardhana’s father, Prabhākaravardhana, a descendant of Puṣpabhūti king of Sthāṇeśvara in Śrīkaṇṭha, “was famed far and wide under a second name Pratāpaśīla”. To him were born two sons Rājyavardhana and Harshavardhana and a daughter Rājyaśrī, and he had also an adopted son Bhaṇḍi the son of his queen’s brother¹. The princess Rājyaśrī was evidently, as the “Harṣa-carita” represents her, an intelligent, accomplished lady, and she was apparently interested in Buddhism. She was present as a listener seated behind Harshavardhana when the Chinese pilgrim gave the latter a lecture on Buddhism. It may be noted here also that the Fang-chih represents Harshavardhana as “administering the government in conjunction with his widowed sister”, a statement which is not, I think, either in the Life or the Records. Very soon after Rājyavardhana succeeded his father on the throne he had to go away to avenge the murder of his brother-in-law, and to rescue his sister imprisoned in Kanyākubja. He was successful in battle, but he fell into a snare laid for him by the Gauḍa king, according to the “Harṣa-carita”, and was treacherously murdered. Hereupon Harshavardhana became king, and at once proceeded to rescue his sister, take revenge, and make great conquests. This is the Śīlāditya of our pilgrim’s narrative and of the Life, a very interesting and remarkable personage.

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¹ Harṣa-carita, ch. IV. (Cowell and Thomas tr.)

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With Yuan-chuang’s story of Harshavardhana going to consult Avalokiteśvara we may compare the statement in the “Harṣa-carita” that he “was embraced by the goddess of the Royal Prosperity, who took him in her arms and, seizing him by all the royal marks on all his limbs, forced him, however reluctant, to mount the throne, — and this though he had taken a vow of austerity and did not swerve from his vow, hard like grasping the edge of a sword”.¹ It seems probable that Harshavardhana in the early part of his life had joined the Buddhist church and perhaps taken the vows of a bhikshu, or at least of a lay member of the Communion. His sister, we learn from the Life, had become an adherent of the Sammatiya school of Buddhism.² Our pilgrim’s sympathetic and generous praise of king Harshavardhana may be compared with the pompous, fulsome, and feigned panegyric of the king by Bāṇa.

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¹ Harṣa-carita, ch. 1V. (Cowell and Thomas tr.) p. 57.

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² Life, ch. 5.

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In the above transcript from the Records the words rendered “reigned in peace for thirty years without raising a weapon” are in Julien’s translation— “Au bout de trente ans, les armes se reposèrent”. The text is Ch‘ui-san-shih-nien-ping-ko-pu-ch‘i (垂三十年兵戈不起). Here the word ch‘ui is employed, as frequently, to denote “don the imperial robe”, that is, to reign gently and happily. Thus the pilgrim tells us that there were thirty years of Śīlāditya’s reign in which there were peace and good government. Our pilgrim has expressly stated that the king’s conquests were completed within six years, and it is against text and context to make him represent the king as fighting continuously for thirty or thirty-six years. When his wars were over Śīlāditya (the style of Harshavardhana as king) proceeded to put his army on a peace footing, that is, to raise it to such a force that he could overawe any of the neighbouring states disposed to be contumacious. We shall presently see how a word from him was enough for the king of one of those states. Having thus made himself strong and powerful Śīlāditya was able to live in peace, and devote himself to the duties and functions of a pious but magnificent sovereign. He was now as fond of the solemn pomps and grand processions of religion as he had been of the marshalling of vast hosts, the “magnificently stern array” of battle, and the glories of a great victory.

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We find two dates given for the death of king Śīlāditya, Chinese history placing it in the year A. D. 648 and the Life in 655¹. Taking thirty-six years as the duration of his reign we thus have 612 or 619 as the date of his accession. The latter date agrees with a Chinese statement that the troubles in India which led to Śīlāditya's reign took place in the reign of T'ang Kao Tsu (A. D. 618 to 627). But the date 648, or rather 647, is perhaps the correct one. It must have been in 641 or 642 that, in conversation with our pilgrim, Śīlāditya stated that he had then been sovereign for above thirty years. This also gives 612 for the year of his accession, and the addition of six years to the thirty gives 648 as the date of his death. But the Chinese envoy despatched in the early part of that year found, on his arrival in the country, the king dead, and a usurper on the throne. Moreover it was in 648 that Yuan-chuang submitted his Records to T'ai Tsung, and Śīlāditya must have been dead before this work was drawn up in its present form.

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¹ See Ma T. l., ch. 338; T'ung-chien-kang-mu, ch. 40 (T'ang T'ai Tsung Chên-kuan 22 y.); Life, ch. 5.

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For the words rendered in the above passage by "advanced to the Lion's Throne" that is, promoted to be chief bhikshus, the Chinese is tui-shêng-shi-tzŭ-chih-tso (推升師子之座). This Julien understood to mean "caused them to go up on the throne". The words might probably have this meaning in other places, but no good bhikshu would mount a rāja's throne, and it seems better to take shi-tzŭ-chih-tso here in its Buddhist sense as the throne of the head of the Order. The term, we know, does mean a king's throne, but Śīlāditya did not use a throne; and the other use of the term seems to be here more correct and suitable. The Lion's Throne of the Buddhists was originally the seat reserved for the Buddha, as leader of the congregation, in the chapels and Halls of the Monasteries; and afterwards it became the throne or seat of the chief bhikshu of a place. Promotion to the Lion's Throne was given locally by pious kings, and did not interfere with precedence among the Brethren. Here Śīlāditya promotes the most deserving bhikshus at his court, and makes them his private chaplains, personally receiving from them religious instruction.¹

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¹ A special seat or pulpit, called a "Lion's Throne", was sometimes given by a king to the Brother whom he chose to be Court preacher.

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By the term "good friend" *shan-yu* (善友), which the pilgrim here tells us was applied by the king to devout princes and statesmen, we are to understand the *kalyāṇamitra* of Buddhist use. This term means *good or auspicious friend*, and it is also employed in the sense of *spiritual adviser, or good counseler in matters of religion*.

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Returning again to our text we have now an episode which belongs to a date five or six years later than the visit of which the pilgrim is here telling. To be understood properly the narrative must be read in connection with the account of Kāmarūpa in *Chuan* 10 and with the story given in the corresponding passage of the *Life*.

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The pilgrim, we learn from these texts, was on his way back to China, and had gone again to the great monastery of Nālandā in Magadha. Here he wished to remain for some time continuing his studies in Buddhist philosophy which had been begun there some years before. But Bāskaravarma, styled Kumāra, the king of Kāmarūpa (that is, Assam), had heard of him and longed to see him. So he sent messengers to Nālandā to invite and urge the pilgrim to pay him a visit. Yuan-chuang at first declined and pleaded his duty to China, but his old Buddhist teacher Śīlabhadra convinced him that it was also his duty to go to Kāmarūpa on the invitation of its king who was not a Buddhist. The pilgrim at length yielded, travelled to that country, and was received by the king with great honour. In the course of a conversation His Majesty said to Yuan-chuang.— "At present in various states of India a song has been heard for some time called the "Music of the conquests of Ch'in (Tsin) wang" of Mahāchina—this refers to Your Reverence's native country I presume". The pilgrim replied— "Yes, this song praises my sovereign's excellences".

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At this time king Śīlāditya was in a district the name of which is transcribed in our Chinese texts in several ways. Julien calls it "Kadjoughira", and Cunningham identifies it with the modern Kankjol). He had been on an expedition to a country called Kung-yü-ta, and was on his way back to Kanauj to hold a great Buddhist assembly there. Hearing of the arrival of the Chinese pilgrim at the court of king Kumāra he sent a summons to the latter to repair to him with his foreign guest. Kumāra replied with a refusal, saying that the king could have his head but not his guest. "I trouble you for your head", came the prompt reply. Thereupon Kumāra became submissive, and proceeded with the pilgrim and a grand retinue to join Śīlāditya.

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When this sovereign met Yuan-chuang, our text here relates, having made a polite apology to the pilgrim (literally, having said— I have fatigued you) he made enquiry as to Yuan-chuang's native land, and the object of his travelling. Yuan-chuang answered that he was a native of the great T'ang country, and that he was travelling to learn Buddhism. The king then asked about this great T'ang country, in what direction it lay, and how far it was distant. Yuan-chuang replied that his country was the Mahāchina of the Indians and that it was situated some myriads of li to the north-east of India. The king then relates how he had heard of the Ch'in(Tsin)-wang-T'ien-tzŭ (秦王天子), that is, the Deva-putra Prince Ch'in, of Mahāchina, who had brought that country out of anarchy and ruin into order and prosperity, and made it supreme over distant regions to which his good influences extended. All his subjects, the king continues, having their moral and material wants cared for by this ruler, sing the "song of Ch'in-wang's conquests", and this fine song has long been known here. The king then asks the pilgrim whether this was all true, and whether his Great T'ang country was the country of the song.

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In reply the pilgrim states that Chi-na (支那) that is, Chin was the designation of a former dynasty in his native land, and that Ta T'ang denoted the present dynasty; that the sovereign then reigning, T'ai Tsung, had been styled Ch'in-wang before he came to the throne, the title Emperor (T'ien-tzŭ) having been given to him on his accession. He then adds a compendious description of Ch'in-wang as Prince and Emperor.

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The musical composition about which our pilgrim here represents the two Indian rulers as enquiring was known in China as the Ch'in-wang-p'o-ch'ên-yao (秦王破陣樂) or the "Music of Ch'in-wang's victory". Its history is briefly as follows.¹ In the year A. D. 619 T'ang Kao Tsu's second son Ch'in-wang, or Prince of Ch'in, by name Shih-min succeeded in suppressing the serious rebellion of Liu wu-chow (劉武周) who ultimately fell into the hands of the Turks and was killed by them. In commemoration of Ch'in-wang's military achievements in suppressing this rebellion his soldiers got up a musical performance with song and dance. This musical composition was entitled "Ch'in-wang-p'o-ch'ên-yao" and also "Shên-kung (神功) -p'o-ch'ên-yao", but it came to be generally known by its short name "P'o-ch'ên-yao". The dancing or posture-making performance was called Ch'i-tê-wu (七德舞) or "Dance of the Seven Virtues", the name containing a classical allusion. The dancing was performed by a company of 128 men in silver hauberks and armed with spears. The emperor Kao Tsu ordered that the "P'o-ch'ên-yao" should be given when a victorious general returning from a successful campaign entered the capital. At the banquet which T'ai-Tsung, formerly Ch'in-wang, gave on his accession to the throne the dance and music were both performed. It is interesting to find that the fame of T'ang T'ai-Tsung's glory and achievements had reached the two Indian rulers if we can rely on our pilgrim's statements. It is also very remarkable that neither of Yuan-chuang's translators had read of Ch'in-wang, and it is pitiful to find Beal telling his readers that the Ch'in-wang of this passage is Ch'in-Shi-Huang-ti of B. C. 221.

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¹ See T'ung-chien-kang-mu, ch. 39 (T'ang T'ai Tsung 1st y.); T'ang-Shu, ch. 2 and 21; Ma T. l., ch. 129.

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The Records and the Life next go on to relate how the kings Śīlāditya and Kumāra, with their distinguished Chinese guest, proceeded by land and river in grand procession to the city of Kanyākubja where Śīlāditya had convoked a great Buddhist assembly. From this city, when the functions were over, the kings, we learn from the Life, with their Chinese guest, and attended by magnificent retinues, went on to Prayāga for the great periodical distribution of religious gifts and alms which was to be made there by Śīlāditya; and at that place our pilgrim bade his hosts farewell.

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Before we take up again the thread of our pilgrim's account of Kanyākubja we may add a few words about the great king who treated him with such marked distinction and kindness. This king, Śīlāditya or Śrī-Harshadeva or Harsha, "the Akbar of the ‘Hindu period’ of Indian history", was not only a great and successful warrior and wise and benevolent ruler: he was also an intelligent devoted patron of religion and literature, and he was apparently an author himself. His father had been a sun-worshipper; but he himself, while retaining publicly the religion of his father, and tolerant and liberal to other sects, was evidently strongly attached to Buddhism. As to his literary tastes we learn from I-ching that the king once called for a collection of the best poems written: of the compositions sent in to him 500 were found to be strings of jātakas (Jātakamālā). According to this author also Śīlāditya put together the incidents of the Cloud-riding (Jīmūta-vāhana) Bodhisattva giving himself up for a nāga, into a poem to be sung, that is, he composed the "Nagānanda". An accompaniment of instrumental music was added, and the king had the whole performed in public, and so it became popular.¹ The king was also a great traveller, and a seeker after knowledge of various kinds. His information about the martial fame and exploits of the Chinese emperor T'ai-Tsung may have been acquired on one of his expeditions to distant provinces. In the year 641 he sent an envoy to the Chinese Court, and apparently he sent another soon after. His title in the documents connected with the former embassy seems to have been "king of Magadha".

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¹ Nan-hai-ch'i-kuei, sec. 32 and Takakusu p. 163.

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We return now to the pilgrim's description of Kanyākubja, and an abridgment of his account of the Buddhist memorials of the neighbourhood is all that is given in these pages.

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To the north-west of the capital was an Asoka tope where the Buddha had preached excellent doctrines for seven days; beside it was a tope where the Four Past Buddhas had sat and walked for exercise; and there was a small tope over hair- and nail-relics of the Buddha. South of the Preaching Tope and close to the Ganges were three Buddhist monasteries enclosed by a common wall but each having its own gate. These vihāras had beautiful images, the Brethren were grave and reverend, and there were thousands of lay Buddhists to serve them. The shrine or temple (ching-she) of the three-fold vihāra had a casket containing a wonder-working tooth of the Buddha an inch and a half long, which was exhibited to crowds of visitors for a charge of one gold coin each. There were other sacred Buddhist buildings near the city, and there were also splendid temples to the Sun-god and to Maheśvara respectively.

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From Kanyākubja, the pilgrim tells us, a journey of above 100 *li* south-east brought him to the city na-fo-ti-p'o-ku-lo (Navadevakula). This city which was on the east bank of the Ganges, was above twenty *li* in circuit, with flowery groves and clear ponds giving interchange of sunshine and shadow. To the north-west of it, and also on the east bank of the Ganges, was a magnificent Deva-Temple. Five *li* to the east of the city were three Buddhist monasteries enclosed within one wall but with separate gates: in these monasteries were above 500 Brethren all Sarvāstivādins. Near the monasteries were the remains of an Asoka tope where the Buddha had preached for seven days. Three or four *li* north of the monasteries was another Asoka tope. This marked the spot at which 500 hungry demons, having come to the Buddha and attained an understanding of his teaching, exchanged the demon state for that of devas.

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The *Na-fo-t'i-p'o-ku-lo* of this passage, restored as Navadevakula, means "New Deva-Temple", and the site of the city so called is supposed to be represented by the present Nohbatgang.¹ This city has also been identified with or declared to be near the village (in one text, but in the other texts, wood) of *A* (or *Ho*)-li (阿利 or 何利) which Fa-hsien places three yojanas south of Kanauj and on the other side of the Ganges. Our pilgrim's city may have been in the district of the wood (or village) but it cannot be identified with the latter. In the Life this city is not mentioned, and the Fang-chih calls it "Navadeva city". It is not unlikely that it was from the splendid Deva-temple which Yuan-chuang here describes very briefly that the city obtained its name. This temple, which was evidently of recent date, may have been devoted to the worship of Vishnu whose name Hari may be the word transcribed by Fa-hsien's A (or Ho)-li.

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¹ See Julien III. p. 350; A. G. I. p. 382.

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Instead of "500 Hungry (餓) Demons" in this passage, the reading of the D text and the Fang-chih, the common texts have "more than (餘) 500 Demons". This latter is doubtless a copyist's error and the D reading is the correct one. From another source we learn that the Five Hundred Hungry Demons came to the Buddha and implored his pity: he thereupon requested Maudgalyayana to feed them. The Buddha had to enlarge their needle-throats to enable them to swallow the food: having eaten they burst, died, and went to Heaven. The Buddha explained that these creatures had once been so many lay Buddhists, and in that capacity had spoken rudely to bhikshus, calling them "Hungry Demons" when the bhikshus called on their morning rounds begging their daily food. The karma of this sin produced the rebirth of the upāsakas 500 times as Hungry Demons, and their faith in the Buddha, and prayer to him, obtained their release from misery and their birth in Heaven.¹

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¹ Sar. Vin. Yao-shih, ch. 2.

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The pilgrim, as we learn from the Life, remained at Kanyākubja three months, being lodged in the Bhadravihāra. Here he studied with the learned Buddhist monk Pi-li-ye-se-na (Viryasena) the vibhāshā (or expository) treatise by Fo-shih (佛使), "Buddha's Servant" or Buddhadāsa, called the Chou (冑)- or "Varma-vibhāshā." Julien, who apparently had a different text here, represents the pilgrim as reading the vibhāshā of Buddhadāsa "et le mémoire du maitre ching-tcheou (Ārya-varma) sur le Pi-po-cha (le vibhāchā)". A Buddhadāsa will be found mentioned in Yuan-chuang's account of "Hayamukha" as the author of a mahā-vibhāshā-śāstra. As this work was a book of the Sarvāstivādin school of the Hinayāna its author cannot have been the Buddhadāsa who was a contemporary of Vasubandhu and a disciple of his brother Asanga.

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Very little seems to be known about any śāstra-writer with the name Buddhadāsa, and there is no author with this name in the catalogues of Buddhist books as known in China and Japan.

A-Yü-T'Ê (Ayodhyā)

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From the neighbourhood of Navadevakula city, according to the Records, the pilgrim continued his journey, going south-east; and after travelling above 600 *li*, and crossing the Ganges to the south, he reached the *A-yü-t'ê* (Ayudha or Ayodhyā) country.

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According to the account in the *Life* it was from Kanauj that Yuan-chuang went 600 *li* south-east to Ayudha. The capital of this country, which was about a mile to the south of the river, has been identified with the Ayodhyā of other writers, the old capital of Oudh. On account of difficulties of direction and distance Cunningham proposes a different site for Yuan-chuang's Ayudha¹. But it seems to be better to adhere to Ayodhyā, and to regard Yuan-chuang's *Ganges* here as a mistake for a large affluent of the great river. The city was on the south bank of the river, and about 120 miles east-south-east from Kanauj. Its name is found written in full *A-yit-t'ê-ye* (阿踰陀也), Ayudhya (Ayodhyā), and the city is said to have been the seat of government of a line of kings more or less mythical². We know also that to the Hindus Ayodhyā was the old capital of Rāma and the Solar race. It is possible that an old or dialectic form of the name was Ayuddha, and the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit word, which suits either form, means *invincible* or *irresistible*. Moreover we find that Yuan-chuang makes his Ayudha the temporary residence of Asanga and Vasubandhu, and other authorities represent Ayodhyā as a place of sojourn for these two illustrious brothers. Then the Ayudha of Yuanchuang is apparently the Sha-ki or Saket, that is Ayodhyā, of Fa-hsien; this was ten yojanas south-east from the Holi village which was three yojanas south from Kanauj. Alberuni makes Ayodhyā to have been about 150 miles south-east from Kanauj, being 25 farsakhs down the Ganges from Bāri, which was 20 farsakhs east from Kanauj.¹ It is the Sāketā or Oudh of the Brihat-saṃhitā which merely places it in the "Middle country".² It may be mentioned in passing that there is no reference to Ayudha in the account of king Śīlāditya's progress from Kanauj by land and river to Prayāga.

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¹ A. G. I. p. 385. As will be seen there are serious difficulties in the identification of Yuan-chuang's Ayudha with the Sha-ki of Fa-hsien and with the Ayodhyā of other writers.

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² Chung-hsü-ching, *ch.* 1 (No. 859).

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¹ Alberuni Vol. I. p. 200.

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² Ind. Ant. Vol. XXII. p. 174, 189.

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The Ayudha country, the Records proceeds to tell us, was above 5000 *li* in circuit, and the capital was above twenty *li* in circuit. The country yielded good crops, was luxuriant in fruit and flower, and had a genial climate. The people had agreeable ways, were fond of good works, and devoted to practical learning. There were above 100 Buddhist monasteries, and more than 3000 Brethren who were students of both "Vehicles". There were ten Deva-Temples, and the non-Buddhists were few in number.

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Within the capital, the author continues, was the old monastery in which Vasubandhu P'usa in the course of some scores of years composed various śāstras Mahāyānist and Hinayānist. Beside this monastery were the remains of the Hall in which Vasubandhu had expounded Buddhism to princes and illustrious monks and brahmins from other countries. Four or five *li* north from the capital, and close to the Ganges, was a large Buddhist monastery, with an Asoka tope to mark a place at which the Buddha had preached to devas and men for three months on the excellent doctrines of his religion. Four or five *li* west from this monastery was a Buddha-relic tope, and to the north of the tope were the remains of an old monastery. Here Shih-li-lo-to (restored by Julien as Śrīlabdha), a śāstra-master of the Sautrantika School, composed a sautrantika vibhāshā-śāstra.

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In a mango plantation five or six *li* to the south-west of the city was the old monastery in which Asanga P'usa had learned and taught. By night the P'usa went up to the Tushita Heaven, and there received from Maitreya the materials of three treatises which he taught by day to his disciples. These treatises, Yuan-chuang tells us, were the "Yü-ka-shih-ti-lun" (瑜伽師地論), the "Chuang-yen-ta-shêng-ching-lun" (莊嚴大乘經論), and the "Chung-pien-fên-pie-lun" (中邊分別論).

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The large Buddhist Monastery and tope, which in this passage are placed four or five to the north of the capital, are described in the Life as being to the north-west of the city, the distance being the same.

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Our pilgrim's Śrīlabdha, whose name is translated by Shêng-shou (勝受) "Received from the Victorious", may perhaps be Tāranātha's "Sūtra-ācārya-Bhadanta Śrīlabdha", a Kashmiriān and the founder of a School¹.

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¹ Tār. S. 4, 67.

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The three Buddhist treatises which Yuan-chuang here states were communicated to Asanga by Maitreya require a short notice. The name Yü-ka-shih-ti-lun most likely stands for "Yogācārya-bhūmi-śāstra", as in Julien's re-translation, but it is possible that this was not the original name of the Sanskrit treatise. We have the work in Yuan-chuang's translation, made with the help of several Brethren, and with an interesting introduction by the pilgrim's friend, the distinguished scholar and official Hsü Ching-tsung (許敬宗), whose name has a bad mark against it in history. The treatise, which is a very long one, was uttered, we are told, by Maitreya. It is a metaphysical religious work on the basis of Buddhism, but it is not a yoga treatise as the term yoga came to be understood, nor is the word shih to be taken here in its ordinary sense of "master". The yoga-shih is merely a disciple who devotes himself to profound continued meditation in the seventeen ti (bhūmi) or provinces of faith and knowledge. It is not unlikely that the name which Mr. Bunyiu Nanjio gives as the second name of this treatise, viz. "Saptadaśa-bhūmi-(or bhūmika)-śāstra-yogācāryabhūmi", is the correct or original title.²

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² Bun. No. 1170.

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The "Chuang-yen-ta-shêng-ching-lun" is evidently, as Julien restores the name, the "Sūtrālaṅkāra-ṭīkā", the word Mahāyāna, which is required by the Chinese translation, being omitted from the title. We find the name also given as "Ta-shêng-chuang-yen-ching-lun", and a treatise so designated composed by Asaṅga was translated by Prabhāmitra, a kshatriya of Magadha and a contemporary of our pilgrim. This translation is evidently a work of great merit, and the treatise is interesting as giving Asanga's exposition and defence of Mahāyānism. It is a work in verse with a prose commentary throughout, but there is no reference to Maitreya as author or inspirer either of verses or commentary.¹

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¹ No. 1190.

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The third treatise here said to have been communicated by Maitreya to Asanga is called by our pilgrim "Chung-pien-fên-pie-lun", the Sanskrit original name being "Madhyānta-vibhāga-śāstra". But this treatise, of which there are two Chinese translations, is represented as the work of Vasubandhu. The Chinese name which Yuan-chuang here uses for it is that given to Paramārtha's translation, his own translation having a name slightly different. The treatise in both translations gives the "Pien-chung-pien-lun-sung" by Maitreya, with a running commentary on it by Vasubandhu. Maitreya's work is a very short one in seven poems on seven subjects; and it was this work apparently which Maitreya, according to Yuan-chuang in this passage, communicated to Asanga. The term Madhyānta-vibhāga seems to mean, as translated into Chinese, "distinguishing between the mean and the extremes", that is, holding the mean between the negation and the assertion of existence.²

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² Nos. 1244, 1245, and 1248.

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Above 100 paces to the north-west of the Mango Grove was a Buddha-relic tope, and beside it were old foundations at the place where Vasubandhu P'usa descended from Tushita Paradise to have an interview with his elder brother Asanga P'usa. Our pilgrim here represents these two brothers as natives of Gandhāra, and as having lived in the millenium succeeding the Buddha's decease (that is, according to the Chinese reckoning, before the third century of our era). Asanga, he tells us, began his Buddhist religious career as a Mahīśāsika and afterwards became a Mahāyānist: and Vasubandhu began his religious career in the school of the Sarvāstivādins. Yuan-chuang here tells a curious story about the two brothers and a great scholar who was a friend and disciple of Asanga, by name Fo-tê-sêng-ha, translated by Shih-tzŭ-chiao or "Lion-intelligence", the Sanskrit original being Buddha-siṃha. These three Brethren made an agreement that when one of them died and went to Heaven he should come back to earth at the first opportunity to enlighten the survivors as to his circumstances. The first to die was the disciple Buddhasimha, but in Heaven he forgot his promise. Then three years afterwards Vasubandhu died and went to Tu-shita Heaven. He had been dead six months, and no message had come from him, so the heretics declared that he and Buddhasimha had gone to a bad place. But at length Vasubandhu remembering his agreement found it in his power to keep it. So in the form of a Deva-rishi he descended to earth and visited his brother, telling him how he and Buddha-siṃha had fared in Maitreya's Paradise.

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The story here given about the death of Vasubandhu is at variance with the accounts of the brothers given in the Life of Vasubandhu, and other works, according to which the elder brother dies first, leaving the younger brother still living and writing.

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The pilgrim next tells of an old monastery 40 *li* north-west from Asanga's chapel, and having its north side close to the Ganges. Within this a brick tope marked the place at which the conversion of Vasubandhu to Mahāyanism began. According to the version of the story here given Vasubandhu, having come from North India to Ayudha, heard a portion of the Mahāyana treatise Shih-ti-ching (十地論) recited by a disciple of Asanga, and was thereby led to reflect. He became convinced that he had been wrong as a Hīnayānist opponent of Mahāyanism, and was ready to cut out his tongue as the offending member which had reviled the "Great Vehicle". But his elder brother, who had wished to bring about Vasubandhu's conversion, interfered and taught him to use his tongue in the praise and preaching of his new creed.

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In other works Asanga uses the pretext of fatal sickness to bring his brother from Ayodhyā to visit him at Purushapura, and there reasons with him and converts him to Mahāyānism. After the death of Asanga, his brother composed several treatises all expounding and defending Mahayānism; and he died in Ayodhyā at the age of eighty years.¹ The Shih-ti-ching or "Sūtra of the Ten Lands" of this passage is doubtless the work called Shih-chu-ching (No. 105), the Daśabhūmika-sūtra. One of Vasubandhu's numerous treatises is a commentary on this sūtra entitled Shih-ti-ching-lun (No. 1194).

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¹ Vasubandhu-chuan (No. 1463).

A-Ye-Mu-K‘A

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From Ayudha the pilgrim travelled east, he writes, above 300 *li*, and crossing the Ganges to the north, arrived in the *A-ye-mu-k‘a* country. This country he describes as being 2400 or 2500 *li* in circuit with its capital, situated on the Ganges, above 20 *li* in circuit. In climate and natural products the country resembled Ayudha: the character of the people was good, they were studious and given to good works. There were five Buddhist monasteries with above 1000 Brethren who were adherents of the Sammatiya School, and there were more than ten Deva-Temples. Not far from the capital on the south-east side, and close to the Ganges, were an Asoka tope at a place where the Buddha had preached for three months, traces of a sitting and walking place of the Four Past Buddhas, and a dark-blue-stone tope with Buddha-relics. Beside this last was a monastery with above 200 Brethren, and in it was a beautiful life-like image of the Buddha: its halls and chambers rose high, and were of exquisite workmanship. It was in this monastery that the Śāstra-Master Buddhadāsa composed his great vibhāshā treatise of the Sarvāstivādin School.

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The name of the country here transcribed *A-ye-mu-k‘a* was restored by Julien in his translation of the Life as *Ayamukha*, but in the present passage he makes these syllables stand for Hayamukha. This latter restoration seems to be inadmissible; and as *A-* is the first syllable of the name in all the texts of the Life and Records, and in the Fang-chih, we must regard Ayamukha as the name which the pilgrim transcribed. It is not impossible that the correct form may have been Hayamukha or Āyamukha, the former word meaning "Horse-face" and the latter meaning a *creek* or *channel*. Cunningham, who finds Yuanchuang's Ayudha in the present Kākūpur, thinks that Ayamukha may be represented by "Dauṇḍia-khera on the northern bank of the Ganges". But these identifications are mere conjectures and are of little use.¹

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¹ A. G. I. p. 387.

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In the corresponding passage of the Life we are informed that the pilgrim left Ayudha in a boat along with a party and proceeded east down the Ganges towards Ayamukha. When about 100 *li* on the way, in a wood of asoka trees, the boat was attacked by Thugs who robbed the party. When these Thugs saw that the Chinese pilgrim was an uncommonly fine-looking man they decided to sacrifice him to their cruel deity Durgā. From this terrible fate the pilgrim was preserved by a providential hurricane which put the wicked Thugs in fear, and made them release their doomed victim, treat him with awe and reverence, and under his teaching give up their wicked profession, and take the vows of lay-Buddhists. After recording this episode the Life goes on to state that the pilgrim "from this went above 300 *li* east and crossed to the north of the Ganges into the Ayamukha country". The "this" here may be taken to mean the place of the encounter with the Thugs, and the distance from Ayudha to Ayamukha would then be 400 *li*. But the words "from this" in the above extract from the Life should perhaps be treated, in accordance with the text of the Records, as indicating Ayudha city as the point of departure. The pilgrim apparently travelled by land eastwards from the place where the boat was seized by the Thugs, and he crossed to the north side of the river near Ayamukha city. This river cannot have been the Ganges and it may have been the Sai. We may even doubt whether the river in the Asoka wood on which the Thugs had their piratical boats was the Ganges proper.

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The great vibhāshā treatise, which Yuan-chuang here tells us was composed by Buddhadaśa in a monastery of this country, is probably the "Varma-vibhāshā" already mentioned, above p. 353, in connection with the pilgrim's account of Kanauj.

Prayāga

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From Ayamukha the pilgrim went south-east, he tells us, and after a journey of more than 700 *li*, crossing to the south of the Ganges and the north of the Jumna he came to the *Po-lo-ya-ka* (Prayāga) country.

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There is evidently something wrong in the accounts which our pilgrim has given of his journeys in these districts. He applies the name "Ganges", apparently to more than one river, and it seems probable that his Ayudha and Ayamukha were on an affluent or affluents of the Ganges proper. From Kanauj he may have made an excursion to these two cities. From Ayamukha he apparently returned to the Ganges somewhere near Navadevakula, which was 20 miles to the south-east of Kanauj. From the neighbourhood of this place to Prayāga, going south-east, is about 140 miles or 700 *li*. Cunningham seems to take no notice of the statements in the Records and Life that Ayamukha was to the east of Ayudha. Moreover he wrongly represents Yuan-chuang as going by boat all the way down the Ganges south-east from the latter city to Ayamukha. So we cannot wonder that he finds it impossible to make distances agree.¹

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¹ A. G. I. p. 388.

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The pilgrim goes on to state that the Prayāga country was above 5000 *li* in circuit, and the capital above 20 *li* in circuit. This city, which apparently had the same name, he places at the junction of two rivers (viz. the Ganges and the Jumna). He praises the country, the climate, and the people. He tells us there were only two Buddhist establishments and very few Brethren all Hīnayānists. There were some hundreds of Deva-Temples and the majority of the inhabitants were non-Buddhists.

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In a champaka grove to the south-west of the capital was an old Asoka tope to mark the spot at which the Buddha once overcame his religious opponents (that is, in controversy). Beside it were a Buddha-hair-and-nail relic tope and an Exercise ground. Near the relic tope was an old monastery in which Deva P'usa composed the "Kuang-pai-lun" for the refutation of the Hīnayānists and the conquest of the Tirthikas.

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Prayāga, the capital of this country, corresponds, as has been shown by others, to the modern Allahabad. The word Prayāga means sacrifice, or a holy ground set apart for sacrifices.

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The Deva Puṣa of this passage has been already met with at the Sources of the Ganges. His treatise here mentioned, the "Kuang-pai-lun", which we have in Yuan-chuang's translation, is a very short one in verse arranged under eight headings. It denounces the belief in individual permanence and argues against brahmins and others.¹

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¹ Bun. No. 1189.

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In the capital, the pilgrim goes on to relate, was a celebrated Deva-Temple in front of which was a great wide-spreading umbrageous tree. In this tree once lodged a cannibal demon, hence the presence of numerous bones near the tree. Visitors to the temple, under the influence of bad teaching and supernatural beings, had continuously from old times all lightly committed suicide here. Lately, however, a very wise and learned brahmin of good family had tried to convert the people from their evil belief and stop the practice of suicide. He accordingly went up to the temple and in the presence of friends proceeded to kill himself in the usual way by mounting the tree to throw himself down from it. When up the tree, addressing the spectators he said — "I am dying (lit. have death); formerly I spoke of the matter as an illusion, now I have proof that it is real; the devas with their aerial music are coming to meet me, and I am about to give up my vile body from this meritorious spot." As the Brahmin was about to throw himself down from the tree to be killed his friends tried to dissuade him from the act, but their counsels were in vain. They then spread their garments below the tree; and when the Brahmin fell he was unhurt, but was in a swoon. When he recovered he said to the by-standers---"What is seen as the devas in the air summoning one is the leading of evil spirits, not the acquisition of heavenly joy".

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The story here told leaves somewhat to be supplied in order to make it as intelligible to us as it was to Yuan-chuang's Chinese readers. For some reason not explained in the story it had long been an article of popular belief that suicide at this Deva-Temple led to birth in Heaven. Then those who "threw away their lives" here were evidently left unburied and were supposed to be devoured by the man-eating demon who lived in the great tree. This tree was undoubtedly a banyan, and Cunningham thinks that "there can be little doubt that the famous tree here described by the pilgrim is the well-known *Akshay-Bat*, or "undecaying Banian tree", which is still an object of worship at Allahabad".

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Not long before the time of Yuan-chuang's visit, he tells us, a brahmin "of good family" had tried to convert the people from their folly in committing suicide here. The Chinese rendered by "of good family" is *tsu-hsing-tzŭ* (族姓子) lit. "Son of a clan". This expression is one of very common use in Buddhist books and means simply "a gentleman". Yet Julien here translates it by "dont le nom de famille était Fils (Pouttra)".¹

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