On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c6.s2.26

v1.c6.s2.26

We know from the Life that our pilgrim’s account of the Buddhist procession of images here was derived from his own experience as he reached the country in time to witness one of these processions. The native annotator explains the A-shê-li-yi here by “marvellous” and it is evidently a transcription of the Sanskrit word āscharya, meaning a marvel or miracle.¹ According to the legend related by the pilgrim the monastery was erected by a king to commemorate the miracle which was wrought on his pure and noble-minded brother. One of its chief monks at this time, we learn from the Life, was the Brother known in religion by the name Mokshagupta, a Hinayānist who had studied above twenty years in India, and had acquired a great reputation in Kuchih, especially for his knowledge of the commentaries and etymology. When Yuan-chuang arrived Mokshagupta treated him merely with the ordinary courtesy due to any guest, but when the pilgrim exposed the ignorance of his host the latter came to treat him as his master in religion. This monastery is mentioned in Wu-k'ung's itinerary by the name *A-shê-li-yi*. It is also perhaps the Wang-Ssŭ or Royal Vihāra of other writers, and we find Dharmagupta lodged in the Royal Vihāra about A. D. 585 while he stayed in this country. The Miracle Monastery, Yuan-chuang tells us, drew learned Brethren from distant places to it, and it seems that these men came chiefly to study the Vinaya. One of these great students was Vimalāksha, popularly known as the "Dark-eyed Vinaya-Master", a contemporary of Kumārajīva.²