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On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c9.s5: Gandhāra

On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c9.s5

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Gandhāra

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The pilgrim's narrative in the Records proceeds to relate that "from this" (that is, from somewhere near the site of the modern Jelalabad) he went south-east among hills and valleys for above 500 *li* and came to the *Kan-t'o-lo* (Gandhāra) country. This country was above 1000 *li* from east to west and above 800 *li* north to south, reaching on the east to the *Sin* (in the D text, Sin-tu river. The capital Pu-lu-sha-pu-lo (Purushapur) was above 40 *li* in circuit; the royal family was extinct and the country was subject to Kapis; the towns and villages were desolate and the inhabitants were very few; in one corner of the royal city (Kung-ch'êng) there were above 1000 families. The country had luxuriant crops of cereals and a profusion of fruits and flowers; it had much sugar-cane and produced sugar-candy. The climate was warm with scarcely any frost or snow; the people were faint-hearted, and fond of the practical arts; the majority adhered to other systems of religion, a few being Buddhists.

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The Kan-t'o-lo of this passage is doubtless the Gandhāra or Gandhāra of Indian writers. In a Chinese note we are told that the old and incorrect name was Gandhavat (Kan-t'o-wei) and that the country was in "North India". But in several Chinese treatises Kan-t'o-wei or the short form Kan-t'o is the designation of a large and rather vague region which does not always correspond to the Gandhāra of our pilgrim. Thus Fa-hsien, for example, uses it to denote a city and district in this region quite distinct from the Purushapur district.¹ In the Ka-lan-chi we find Gandha, and also Gandhāra, used to designate both a city and the country in which the city was situated.² The Wei-Shu places the district of Gandha to the west of Udyāna and makes it quite distinct from Kapin.³ Then Gandhavat and Gandhāra are names of a vague "north country" in which was the inexhaustible treasure-store of the nāga-rāja Elāpatra.⁴ In some books we find Gandhāra associated with Kapin (Kashmir) either as a part of the latter or as a neighbouring state. Thus the apostle Madhyantika was deputed to go to "Kapin Gandhāras cha", and here I think the syllable che (or cha) in the Chinese translations stands for the Sanskrit word *cha* meaning “and”.¹ In Wu-k’ung’s ‘Itinerary’ Gandhāra is described as the eastern capital of Kapin, the winter residence of the king of that country, but to the west of Kashmir.² The name Gandhāra is an old one in Buddhist literature and it is found in one of the Asoka Edicts.³ It is interpreted in some places as meaning “Earth-holder”,⁴ but while there is a Sanskrit word *dhāra* meaning “holding” there does not seem to be any Sanskrit word like *gan* meaning “Earth”. Taken as Gandhavat the name is explained as meaning *hsiang-hsing* (香行) or “scent-action” from the word *gandha* which means scent, small, perfume.⁵

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¹ Fo-kuo-chi, *ch.* 12.

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² *Ch.* 5.

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³ *Ch.* 102.

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⁴ See A-na-pin-ti-hua-ch'i-tzŭ-ching (No. 649): Tsêng-yi-a-han-chin, *ch.* 49 (No. 543): Fo-shuo-Mi-lê-ta-ch'êng-Fo-ching (No. 209): Divyāv. p. 61.

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¹ Shan-chien-lü-vib, *ch.* 2 (No. 1125): cf. Mah. *ch.* XIII.

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² Shih-li-ching.

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³ No. 5 of the Rock Edicts. Fleet in Ind. Ant. Vol. xxii, p. 178.

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⁴ A-yü-wang-ching, *ch.* 10 (commentary).

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⁵ Su-kao-sêng-chuan, *ch.* 2 (No. 1493).

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In some books we find the name *Shih-shih*(石室)-kuo or “Cave country” applied to Gandhāra and the capital called *Shih-shih-ch’êng* or Cave city,⁶ and this is evidently another name for Takshaśilā. An old or native name for Gandhāra is given as *Ye-po-lo* (業波羅) perhaps for Abār, but this seems to have been local and temporary. We are told, in fact, that it ceased to be used after the country was conquered by the *Ye-ta* (嚈噠 or 挹怛) that is, the Yets or Gats apparently near the end of our 5th century.⁷ Further in some Chinese books Gandhāra is said to be the *Hsiao-yue-ti* country, the district of the offshoot of the Yue-ti or Getae, or at least to include the region so called.⁸ The *Ye-ta*, who were a powerful people in Central Asia in the 5th century, are also said to have been of the Yue-ti stock,⁹ but some regard them as of Turkish, and others as of Tibetan origin.

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⁶ A-na-pin-ti-hua-ch’i-tzŭ-ching; A-yü-wang-hsi-huai-mu-yin-yuan-ching (No. 1367).

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⁷ Ka-lan-chi, *ch.* 5; Wei-shu, *ch.* 102.

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⁸ Wei-shu l. c.; T’ung-chih-liao s. v. 小月氏.

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⁹ T’ung-chien-kang-mu s. Liang Wu Ti 普通 3rd year.

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In the above passage the words taken to denote that Gandhāra had "much sugar-cane and that it produced sugar-candy (lit. stone-honey)" are 多甘蔗出石蜜. The translators in their renderings here have inserted a gloss which makes Yuan-chuang state that the sugar-candy was made by the people from the sugar-cane. Julien translates the words—"il produit aussi beaucoup de cannes à sucre et l'on en tire du miel en pierre (du sucre solide)." Here the words "l'on en tire" are not warranted by the text which has merely the ordinary word ch'u. This word here as in other passages of the Records simply means "it (that is, the country) yields or produces". We know also from other sources that the Chinese at this time did not know of sugar as a product of the sugar-cane. In consequence of information obtained from India the Emperor T'ang T'ai Tsung sent a mission to that country to learn the art of making sugar and candy from the Sugar-cane. This candy was merely molasses dried or "sugar in pieces". It was at first "hard (or stone) honey" to the Chinese, as sugar was honey to the ancient westerns.¹

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¹ Pên-ts'ao-kang-mu, ch. 33; T'ang-Shu, ch. 221 second part.

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The Pu-lu-sha-pu-lo or Purushapur of our text has been supposed to be the Parshawar of later writers, the Purushāvar of Alberuni, and the Peshawer of modern times.² Fa-hsien uses the term "Purusha country"; and makes this a distinct place four days' journey south from his Gandhavat country. Sung-yun does not seem to have known the name Purusha, and he uses Gandhāra for country and capital. As has been stated, the Nagarahāra of Kittoe's Sanskrit inscription is evidently the city and district called Purushapur. This name is interpreted as meaning "the city of the Hero", in Chinese Chang-fu-kung (丈夫宮) or Hero's Palace,³ the Purusha or "Hero" being Vishnu as the conqueror of the terrible Asura.

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² A. G. I. p. 47 ff. for this and Gandhāra generally: Alberuni Vol. ii, p. 11.

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³ Su-kao-sêng-chuan, ch. 2.

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Yuan-chuang proceeds to state that of the Buddhist Masters in India who since old times had written śāstras (lun 論) there were Nārāyaṇa-deva, Wu-cho (Asaṅga) Pusa, Shih-ch'in (Vasubandhu) Pusa, Dharmatrāta, Manorhita(?), and Pārśva the Venerable who were natives of this district.

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Julien translates this passage as follows—"Depuis l'antiquité, ce pays a donné le jour à un grand nombre de docteurs indiens qui ont composé des Traités (Çastras); par exemple à Nārāyaṇa Deva, Asaṅga, Vasoubandhu, Dharmatrāta, Manorhita, Ārya Parçvika, &c. &c." There is nothing in the text, however, corresponding to the grand nombre, the par exemple, or the &c. &c. of this rendering. Instead of the word pu (不), which is in Julien's Chinese text, there should be yu (有), the reading of the A and D texts. Of the writers of śāstras or disquisitions mentioned here only three are known as books which have come down to us, viz. Asaṅga, Vasubandhu, and Dharmatrāta. The Nārāyaṇa-deva appears again in this treatise as a deva or god, and it is perhaps the incarnation of Vishnu so named that is represented here as a philosophical Buddhist writer, or Yuan-chuang may have heard that the "Dharma-śāstra" which bears the name of Vishnu was written by the god. But we must remember that Nārāyaṇa is a name common to several ancient philosophers of India. The other śāstra-writers of Gandhāra will meet us again as we proceed.

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There were above 1000 Buddhist monasteries in the country but they were utterly dilapidated and untenanted. Many of the topes also were in ruins. There were above 100 Deva-temples, and the various sects lived pell-mell. In the north-east part of the capital were the remains of the building which once contained the Buddha's Alms-bowl. After the Buddha's decease the Bowl had wandered to this country, and after having been treated with reverence here for some centuries, it had gone on to several other countries, and was now in P'o-la-ssŭ (Persia).

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The Buddha's Bowl was seen by Fa-hsien in a monastery in Purusha, where it was in the care of the Buddhist Brethren. Kumārajīva saw it in Sha-le or Kashgar, and Chih-mêng saw it in Kapin.¹ Our pilgrim here represents the Bowl as having passed away from Purushapur and as being in Persia, but the Life instead of Persia has Benares. According to other authorities the Buddha's Bowl moved about from place to place, passing mysteriously through the air, and working miracles for the good of the people until it passed (or passes) out of sight in the palace of the Dragon-king Sagara. There it will remain until the advent of Maitreya as Buddha when it will appear again to be a witness. According to some texts the Bowl was broken once by the wicked king Mihirakula, but the pieces seem to have come together again. As no one less than a Buddha could ever eat from this Bowl, so no one less than a Buddha could move it from its resting-place; borne by the hidden impulses of human karma it floated about from one chosen seat to another as Buddhism waxed or waned.²

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¹ Fo-kuo-chi, *ch.* 12: Kao-sêng-chuan, *ch.* 2, 3.

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² See "Fo-mie-tu-hou-kuan-lien-sung-ching" (No. 124); Lien-hua-mien-ching, *ch.* 2 (No. 465).

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About eight or nine *li* to the south-east of the capital was a large and very ancient sacred Pipphal Tree above 100 feet high with wide-spreading foliage affording a dense shade. Under it the Four Past Buddhas had sat, and all the 996 Buddhas of the Bhadra kalpa are to sit here; the images of the Four Buddhas in the sitting posture were still to be seen. When Sakya Julai was sitting under this tree with his face to the south he said to Ananda—"Four hundred years after my decease a sovereign will reign, by name Kanishka, who a little to the south of this will raise a tope in which he will collect many of my flesh and bone relics". To the south of the Pipphal Tree was the tope erected by Kanishka. Exactly 400 years after the death of the Buddha Kanishka became sovereign of all Jambudvīpa, but he did not believe in Karma, and he treated Buddhism with contumely. When he was out hunting in the wild country a white hare appeared; the king gave chase, and the hare suddenly disappeared at this place. Here among the trees the king discovered a cow-herd boy with a small tope three feet high he had made. "What is this you have made?" asked the king. The boy replied telling the Buddha's prophecy, and informing Kanishka that he was the king of the prophecy, adding that he had come to set in motion the fulfilment of the prophecy. With this the king was greatly pleased; he straightway became a Buddhist, and proceeded to accomplish the prediction. Trusting to his own great merits, he set about building a great tope round the site of the boy's small tope, which was to be concealed and suppressed by the great tope. But as the latter rose in height the small tope always topped it by three feet. The king's tope was one and a half *li* in circuit at the base, which was 150 feet high in five stages, and the tope had reached the height of 400 feet. The boy's tope was now suppressed and the king was greatly pleased. He completed his tope by the addition of twenty five gilt copper disks in tiers, and having deposited a ho of relics inside, he proceeded to offer solemn worship. But the small tope appeared with one half of it out sideways under the south-east corner of the great base. The king now lost patience and threw the thing up. So [the small tope] remained as it was (i. e. did not all come through the wall) with one half of it visible in the stone base below the second stage, and another small tope took its place at the original site. Seeing all this the king became alarmed, as he was evidently contending with supernatural powers, so he confessed his error and made submission. These two topes were still in existence and were resorted to for cures by people afflicted with diseases. South of the stone steps on the east side of the Great Tope were two sculptured topes, one three and the other five feet high, which were miniatures of the Great Tope. There were also two images of the Buddha, one four and the other six feet high, representing him seated cross-legged under the Bodhi Tree. When the sun shone on them these images were of a dazzling gold colour, and in the shade their stone was of a dark violet colour. The stone had been gnawed by gold-coloured ants so as to have the appearance of carving, and the insertion of gold sand completed the images. On the south face of the ascent to the Great Tope was a painting of the Buddha sixteen feet high with two heads from one body. Our pilgrim narrates the legend connected with this very curious picture as he learned it at the place.

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Above 100 paces to the south-east of the Great Tope was a white stone standing image of Buddha eighteen feet high, facing north, which wrought miracles, and was seen by night to circumambulate the Great Tope. On either side of the latter were above 100 small topes close together. The Buddha images were adorned in the perfection of art. Strange perfumes were perceived and unusual sounds heard [at the Great Tope], and divine and human genii might be seen performing pradakshina round it. The Buddha predicted that when this tope had been seven times burned, and seven times rebuilt, his religion would come to an end. The Records of former sages stated that the tope had already been erected and destroyed three times. When Yuan-chuang arrived he found there had been another burning, and the work of rebuilding was still in progress.

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The description of the origin and structure of the Kanishka Tope in this passage is not very full or clear; and the interpretation here given differs in some important points from Julien's rendering. There are, however, other accounts of this unique building which may help to supplement our author's narrative. The white hare which appeared to Kanishka and led him to the fated spot was the agent of Indra; so also was the herd-boy who had made the small tope. Or rather the boy was Indra himself, and as the builder and the material were not of this world the tope could not be like the common buildings of its class. One authority describes it as being made of cow-dung; but when an unbeliever pressed it to try, the hollow which he made with his fingers could not be filled up, and remained to testify to the miraculous character of the tope.¹

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¹ The Hsi-yü-chih quoted in Fa-yuan-chu-lin, *ch*. 38.

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According to our pilgrim Kanishka's Tope was 400 feet high with a superstructure of gilt-copper disks, the base being in five stages and 150 feet in height. Julien makes the words of the text mean that each of the five stages was 150 feet high, but this is not in the original and does not agree with the context. Then the passage which tells of the miracle of the small tope coming out half-way through the wall of the Great Tope is thus rendered by Julien—"Quand il (i. e. the king) eut achevé cette construction, il vit le petit stoupa, qui se trouvait au bas de l'angle sud-est du grand, s'élever à côté et le dépasser de moitié." But the text does not place the small tope at the south-east corner of the great one, and the king is described as building it "autour de l'endroit où était le petit stoupa". Then the words pang-ch'u-ch'i-pan (傍出

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半) lit. "side put out its half" cannot possibly be made to mean "s'élever à côté et le dépasser de moitié". This rendering moreover spoils the story which tells us that the king had finished his tope, and was pleased with his success in enclosing the small tope, when the latter was seen to thrust itself half through the stone wall of his tope. Then we learn that on seeing this "the king's mind was ruffled and he threw the thing up". The Chinese for this clause is wang-hsin-pu-p'ing-pien-chi-chih-ch'i (王心不平便即擲棄), and Julien translates: "Le roi en éprouva une vive contrariété et ordonna sur-le-champ de l'abattre". Here the word *ordonnna* is a bad interpolation, and the term *chih-ch'i* has been misunderstood. It means, as usually, to *give up, renounce, abandon*. The king had built his great relic-tope, but he could not carry out the ambitious design he had to *mi-fuh* by his power the small tope which, unknown to him, was the work of the god Indra, so he wanted to abandon the whole affair. In the Fang-chih the king is wrongly represented as putting aside (*chih-ch'i*) the small tope when proceeding to build his own. At the time of Yuan-chuang's visit the small tope half-out through the wall still remained in that position, and the second small tope was to be seen at the original site of the first one. The position he assigns to his second small tope does not agree with the statement that Kanishka enclosed the site of the original small tope within the inclosure of his Great Tope. Perhaps the small tope appearing half-way out through the wall of the great one may have been a sculpture in alto-relievo in the latter. Mr Simpson in the XIVth Vol. of the Journal of the R. A. S. has described such sculptured topes, and given us a sketch of one.

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Yuan-chuang's account of the Great Tope and the little one associated with it from the beginning agrees in the main with Fa-hsien's account, but does not much resemble the descriptions in other works. We must remember, however, that what he records is largely derived from others, while his predecessors saw the Great Tope in the splendour of its perfect condition. One account represents the base of the Tope as 30 (for 300) feet in height, above this was a structure of polished and sculptured stone in five storeys, then a structure of carved wood about 120 feet high, then came the roof on which was erected a spire bearing fifteen gilt disks. Sung-yun, like Yuan-chuang, makes the height of the main building to be 400 feet; above this Sung-yun saw an iron pillar 300 feet high supporting thirteen tiers of gilt disks (lit. gold basins). He makes the total height 700 feet, while others make it 550, 632, 800, and 1000 feet. One of the names by which the tope was known was the "Thousand Foot Tope" (百丈佛圖). It was also called the Chio-li (雀離) Tope. This term Chio-li we have seen was applied to the pair of vihāras at Kuchih (Kutzŭ), and it is used to designate other vihāras and topes. If the name were always written as above we could regard it as a native term meaning "piebald, brown and yellow", chio denoting a sparrow and li an oriole. But the characters vary and the word is expressly said to be foreign and to mean striped or chequered in two or more colours. This sense would suit the Great Tope with its dark-coloured stone variegated by yellow tracings. It is apparently this building which is called in a Buddhist work the "Earth and Stone Tope". This will recall to the reader the very interesting general description of the topes of this region given in the Ariana Antiqua, a description which also illustrates our pilgrim's account of the Great Tope.¹

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¹ Wei-shu l. c.; Ka-lan-chi, l. c.; Ar. Ant. p. 56.

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In a Vinaya treatise the prediction of the building of this tope is made by the Buddha not to Ananda but to the Vajrapāṇi P'usa. The Buddha going about with this P'usa from place to place in "North India" came to the hamlet of the Ho-shu-lo (渴樹羅), that is, the Kharjūra or wild date tree. Here the two sat down; and Buddha, pointing to a small boy making a mud tope at a little distance, told the P'usa that on that spot Kanishka would erect the tope to be called by his name.²

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² Saz. Vin. Yao-shih, ch. 9.

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The description in the Records goes on—

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To the west of the Great Tope was an old monastery built by Kanishka; its upper storeys and many terraces were connected by passages to invite eminent Brethren and give distinction to illustrious merit, and although the buildings were in ruins they could be said to be of rare art. There were still in the monastery a few Brethren all Hīnayānists. From the time it was built it had yielded occasionally extraordinary men, and the arhats and śāstra-makers by their pure conduct and perfect virtue were still an active influence.

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This old monastery is apparently the "Kanik-caitya" of Alberuni, the "vihāra of Purushāvar" built by king Kanik. It was also the "Kanishka-mahā-vihāra" of Kittoe's inscription, "where the best of teachers were to be found, and which was famous for the quietism of its frequenters". Within the modern city of Peshawer is an old building called the Ghor Khattri (the Gurh-Katri of Baber) and known also as the Caravanserai (or the Serai). This was once a Buddhist monastery "with numerous cells". Does it represent the great Kanishka vihāra?

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In the third tier of high halls of the Kanishka vihāra was the chamber once occupied by the Venerable P'o-li-ssŭ-fo (Pārśva): it was in ruins, but was marked off. This Pārśva was originally a brahmin teacher, and he remained such until he was eighty years old. Then he became converted to Buddhism and received ordination. The city boys hereupon jeered at him as an old and feeble man, and reproached him with wishing to lead an idle life, unable to fulfill the duties of a monk in practising absorbed meditation and reciting the sacred Scriptures. Stung by these reproaches the old man withdrew into seclusion, and made a vow not to lay his side on his mat until he had mastered the canon, and had attained full spiritual perfection and powers. At the end of three years he had completely succeeded, and people out of respect called him Reverend Side (or Ribs) because he had not laid his side on his mat for so long a time.

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The P'o-li-ssŭ-fo (Pārśva) of this passage is called in other works P'o-she (波奢) which may be for Passo the Pali form of Pārśva.¹ As this word means side it is translated into Chinese by Hsie (脇) which also means side or ribs. The Buddhist Doctor with this name was also called Nan-shêng or "Hard to be born", which is perhaps a translation of Durjāta. He was so called because, for misdeeds in a former existence, he was six (or sixty) years in his mother's womb, and was born with gray hair. Regarded as one of the Patriarchs he is placed by some ninth, and by others tenth, in the line of succession, and as such he is said to have been a native of "Mid India" and to have lived in the 5th century B. C.¹ But these statements are to be set aside as comparatively late inventions. From other sources we learn that Pārśva was a native of North India, and that he was a contemporary of king Kanishka, at whose Buddhist Council he assisted. His date is thus the first century A.D., and he is said to have lived 400 years after the Buddha's decease. All authorities agree that he was a bhikshu of great zeal and devotion, an ardent student and an indefatigable propagator of Buddhism, eloquent and expert in argument. Among the numerous converts he made the greatest was the celebrated Aśvaghosha who was a brahmin teacher having an unchallenged preeminence in his own country in Mid India. Pārśva, however, defeated him in a public discussion, and according to agreement Aśvaghosha became his disciple, and was ordained as a bhikshu.² Pārśva is cited by our pilgrim as a maker of śāstras; but no treatise bearing his name is known to have come down to us, and there does not seem to be any particular work ascribed to him in the Chinese books although he is often quoted in some of these.³ Nor is there anything, so far as we know, to confirm or warrant Yuan-chuang's story of Pārśva being ordained at the age of 80 years, and the city boys jeering at him in consequence. We do read in a work already cited that when Pārśva was on his way to Mid India the boys at one town made fun of him for wearing shoes, and carried these off from him.

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¹ Pi-p'o-sha-lun, or Vibhāshā-śāstra, ch. 1 (No. 1279).

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¹ In "Fo-tsu-t'ung-chi" (No. 1661), ch. 34, and in "Fu-fa-tsang-yin-yuan-ching" (No. 1340) Pārśva is the ninth Patriarch; in the "Chih-yue-lu", ch. 3, he is the tenth.

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² Ma-ming-p'u-sa-chuan (No. 1460). See also Tār. S. 59 and Was. S. 52 note and 231.

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³ E. g. in the Abhi-ta-vib., and the Abhi-shun-chêng-li-lun (No. 1265).

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On the east side of Pārśva's chamber was the old house in which Shih-ch'in (世親) P'usa (Vasubandhu) composed the A-pi-ta-mo-ku-shi-lun (Abhidharmakośa-śāstra), and posterity in reverential remembrance had set a mark on the old house.

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As Yuan-chuang has told us, Vasubandhu was a native of this country, having been born in Purushapur. His father's name was Kausika and his mother's name was Bilindi, and he was the second of three brothers all named Vasubandhu. The eldest became celebrated as the great Buddhist teacher Asanga, the youngest was called Bilindibhava from his mother's name, and the middle one remained Vasubandhu simply. This last following the example of his elder brother became a Buddhist monk, and was at first an adherent of the Vaibhāshikas of the Sarvāstivādin School.¹

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¹ Ta-shêng-pai-fa-ming-mên-lun (No. 1213) Intn; P'o-su-p'an-tou (Vasubandhu)-fa-shi-chuan (No. 1463); Was. S. 240.

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The Abhidharmakośa-śāstra, or "Disquisition on the Treasury of Buddhist Philosophy", mentioned here, originated with 600 aphorisms in verse composed by Vasubandhu as a Sarvāstivādin Vaibhāshika. These were sent by the author from Ayodhyā to the Kashmir Vaibhāshikas who were greatly pleased with them. But as the aphorisms were very terse and hard to understand, the Brethren requested the author to expand them into a readable form. Vasubandhu in the meantime had become attached to the Sautrāntikas, and when he expanded his aphorisms into a prose treatise he criticised some of the doctrines of the Kashmir Vaibhāshikas from the point of view of a Sautrantika. This book also was written in Ayodhyā in the reign of Vikramāditya or his son Balāditya. It was regarded by the Vaibhāshikas of Kashmir as hostile to them, and it was refuted by the learned Sanghabhadra who composed two treatises against it and in defence of the Vaibhāshikas. But Vasubandhu's treatise continued to have a great reputation and it was held in esteem by the adherents of both "Vehicles". Several commentaries were written on it in Sanskrit, and it was twice translated into Chinese, the first translation being by the great Indian Buddhist Paramārtha, and the second by our pilgrim. In this treatise the author does not shew any hostility to the Vaibhāshikas, and he frankly acknowledges his indebtedness to them.¹

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¹ See Abhi-kü-shê(kośa)-lun (No. 1267), and Abhi-kośa-shih-lun (No. 1269); Abhi-kośa-lun-pên-sung (No. 1270).

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The Vasubandhu of this passage, who will meet us again, is not to be confounded with the Buddhist of the same name who is given as the 21st of the Patriarchs of the Buddhist Church.

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About fifty paces south from Vasubandhu's house was the second tier of high halls; here the śāstra-master Mo-nu-ho-la-t'a (末奴曷剌他) (Manoratha) composed a "vibhāsha-lun". This Master made his auspicious advent within the 1000 years after the Buddha's decease; in youth he was studious and clever of speech. His fame reached far and clericals and laymen put their faith in him. At that time the power of Vikramāditya king of Srāvasti was widely extended; on the day on which he reduced the Indias to submission he distributed five lakhs of gold coins among the destitute and desolate. The Treasurer, fearing that the king would empty the Treasury, remonstrated with him to the following effect—Your Majesty's dread influence extends to various peoples and the lowest creatures. I request that an additional five lakhs of gold coins be distributed among the poor from all quarters; the Treasury being thus exhausted new taxes and duties will have to be imposed; this unlimited taxation will produce disaffection; so Your Majesty will have gratitude for your bounty, but Your Ministers will have to bear insulting reproaches. The king replied that giving to the needy from the surplus of public accumulation was not a lavish expenditure of public money on himself, and gave the additional five lakhs in largesse to the poor. On a future occasion the king, while out hunting, lost trace of a wild boar and rewarded the peasant who put him on the track with a lakh of gold coins. Manoratha had once paid his barber a like sum for shaving his head, and the State annalist had made a record of the circumstance. This fact had wounded the king's pride, and he desired to bring public shame on Manoratha. To effect this he called together 100 learned and eminent non-Buddhists to meet Manoratha in discussion. The subject selected for discussion was the nature of the sense-perceptions about which, the king said, there was such confusion among the various systems that one had no theory in which to put faith. Manoratha had silenced 99 of his opponents and was proceeding to play with the last man on the subject, as he announced it, of "fire and smoke". Hereupon the king and the Non-Buddhists exclaimed that he was wrong in the order of stating his subject for it was a law that smoke preceded fire. Manoratha, disgusted at not being able to get a hearing, bit his tongue, sent an account of the circumstances to his disciple Vasubandhu, and died. Vikramāditya lost his kingdom, and was succeeded by a king who shewed respect to men of eminence. Then Vasubandhu solicitous for his Master's good name came to this place, induced the king to summon to another discussion the former antagonists of Manoratha, and defeated them all in argument.

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The name of the great Buddhist master here called Mo-nu-lo-ha-t'a, and translated by Yuan-chuang Ju-yi (如意) or "As you will", has been restored by me as Manoratha. Julien here as in the Vie having the B reading Mo-no-ho-li(利)-t'a restores the name as Manorhita. This seems to be a word of his own invention, but it has been adopted by the P. W., and by subsequent writers on our pilgrim's narrative. The Chinese characters of Julien's text, however, cannot be taken to represent this word, and they might stand for a word like Manoriddha. This would perhaps suit Yuan-chuang's rendering, and also the Tibetan term Yid-on. But Manoratha is the name given by Burnouf from the Abhidharma-kośa-vyākhya, by Paramārtha, who translates it by Hsin-yuan or "Mental desire", and by Schiefner in his translation of Tāranātha.¹ But the Tibetan books make the bearer of the name to be a native of South India and a contemporary of Nāgasena. This Manoratha is not to be regarded as the same person as the Manor or Manura who is represented as the 21st (or 22d) Patriarch.

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¹ Bur. Int. p. 567; Life of Vasubandhu (No. 1463); Tār. S. 3, 298.

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Yuan-chuang here ascribes to Manoratha the composition of a *Vibhāsha-lun*, that is an expository Buddhistic treatise. Julien very naturally took this term to be the name of a particular treatise which he calls the "Vibhāshā śāstra". There is a learned and curious work in the Canon with the name "Vibhāshā-lun", the authorship of which is ascribed to *Shi-t'o-pan-n'i* (尸陀槃尼) restored by Julien as "Siddhapaṇi", and by some to Kātyāyani-putra, but not to Manoratha.¹ Nor is this last the author of the treatise bearing the name "Vibhāshā-vinaya", or of any other work in the sacred Canon.

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¹ Bun. No. 1279 and 收 9 of Jap. Reprint.

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According to Yuan-chuang Manoratha flourished (*lit.* was seen to profit, 利見 a phrase from the Yih-Ching) within 1000 years after the decease of the Buddha. This, taking the Chinese reckoning, would place the date of the śāstra-master before A.D. 150.

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The pilgrim relates of Vikramāditya that "on the day on which he reduced the Indias to submission he distributed five lakhs of gold coins"—For these words the Chinese is *shih-ch'ên-chu-In-tu-jih-yi-wu-yih-chin-ch'ien-chou-kei* (使臣諸印度日以五億金錢周給). Julien, who instead of *chu*, the reading of the A, C, and D texts, had *yi* (詣) of the B text, translates—"Quand un de ses envoyés arrivait dans (un royaume de) l'Inde, il distribuait chaque jour cinq cent mille pièces d'or pour secourir les pauvres, les orphelins et les hommes sans famille." This is very absurd and is not in the text. The first character here *shih* is not needed, and is not in the D text; and the meaning seems to be very clear that, on the day on which India became subject to him, the king distributed five lakhs of gold coins among his own needy and desolate. Then the narrative makes the Treasurer try to frighten the king by proposing that he should distribute another lakh, among the poor from all quarters, thereby exhausting the Treasury and causing oppressive taxation. The Treasurer's speech, which is rather absurd, seems to be clearly expressed; but Julien does not seem to have understood its meaning. A little farther on we have the reasons alleged by the king for summoning the non-Buddhists and Buddhists to a public debate. He said "he wanted to set right seeing and hearing and study (lit. travel in) the real objects of the senses" (欲收視聽遊諸真境), the diverse theories on sense perceptions having led to confusion and uncertainty. The king's language refers to the great controversies about the senses and their objects, and the word he uses for the latter, ching (境), is that employed in Yuan-chuang's translation of the Abhidharmakośa-lun. There were great differences of opinion among the rival schools as to the relations between the senses and their respective objects. Thus, for example, as to sight, it was discussed whether it was the eye or the mind which saw, and whether the "true realm" of sight was colour or form. For the purpose at least of suppressing Manoratha, the philosophers at the debate were agreed on the point that smoke should precede fire.

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From the Kanishka Monastery Yuan-chuang went north-east above 50 li, crossing a large river, to the city which he calls Pu-se-ka-lo-fa-ti (Pushkaravati). This was about fourteen or fifteen li in circuit, was well peopled, and the wards were connected by passages. Outside the west gate of the city was a Deva-Temple with a marvel-working image of the Deva. To the east of the city was an Asoka tope on the spot where the Four Past Buddhas had preached. The Buddhist sages who in old times came from "Mid India" to this district and taught mortals were very numerous. It was here that Vasumitra composed his "Chung-shih-fên-Abhidharma-lun". Four or five li north of the city was an old monastery in ruins and with only a few Brethren who were all Hinayānists. In it Dharmatrāta composed the "Tsa-abhidharma-lun".

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The Pushkaravati of this passage, which the Life makes to be 100 li from the Kanishka Monastery, is evidently the Fo-sha-fu of the Ka-lan-chi and the Pukaravati of other works, and it is supposed to be represented by the modern Hashtnagar. Here according to our text Vasumitra composed his *Chung-shih-fên* (象事分)-Abhidharma-lun" or "Abhidharma-prakaraṇa-pāda-śāstra". It is worthy of note that Yuan-chuang, who is sparing in his references to his predecessors, uses here the translations of the title of this work given by Guṇabhadra and Bodhiyaśa, the first translators of the treatise. For his own version Yuan-chuang used a more correct translation of the title "Abhidharma-p'in-lei-tsu(品類足)-lun"1. Yuan-chuang here ascribes to Dharmatrāta the authorship of a work which he calls "Tsa-abhidharma-lun". But no treatise with this name is known to the collections of Buddhist scriptures, and it is perhaps a mistake for "Tsa-abhidharma-hsin(心)-lun"; there is in the Canon a work with this name and it is ascribed to Dharmatrāta (or Dharmatāra) as author.2

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Beside the monastery was an Asoka tope some hundreds of feet high, the carved wood and engraved stone of which seemed to be the work of strangers. Here Sākya Buddha in his P'usa stage was born 1000 times as a king, and in each birth gave his eyes in charity. A little to the east of this were two stone topes, one erected by Brahmā and one by Indra, which still stood out high although the foundations had sunk. At the distance of 50 *li* to the north-west of these was a tope at the place where the Buddha converted the Kuei-tzŭ-mu or "Mother of Demons", and forbade her to kill human beings. The people of the country worshipped this Demon-mother and prayed to her for offspring.

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The word "thousand" in the statement here about the thousand gifts of his eyes by the Bodhisattva in as many previous existences as a king is perhaps a mistake. Describing the commemorating tope our author tells us that the *tiao-mu-wên-shih-p'oh-yi-jen-kung* (彫木文石頗異人工). These words seem to have the meaning given to them above, but they have also been taken to mean "the carved wood and engraved stone are superhuman work". Julien's translation, which is the tope "est fait en bois sculpté et en pierres veinées; les ouvriers y ont déployé un art extraordinaire" seems to be far wrong.

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The Kuei-tzŭ-mu or "Mother of Demon-children" of this passage is evidently the goddess whom I-ching identifies with the Ha-li-ti (Hārītī) of the Sarvāstivādin Vinaya.¹ This goddess, in the time of the Buddha, was a Yakshinī living near Rajagriha, and married to a Yaksha of Gandhāra. Her name was *Huan-hsi* (Nandā?) or "Joy", and she was supposed to be a guardian deity to the people of Magadha. But as the result of a spiteful wish in a previous life she took to stealing and eating the children of Rājagaha. When the people found that their goddess was secretly robbing them of their offspring to feed herself and her 500 sons, they changed her name to Hārītī or Thief. On the petition of the victims the Buddha undertook to put an end to the Yakshinī's cannibal mode of life.² In order to convert her he hid her youngest and favourite son, in one account called Pingala, in his alms-bowl, and gave him up to the mother on her promise to renounce cannibalism and become a lay member of his communion. Then to provide for the subsistence of the mother and her numerous offspring the Buddha ordained that in all monasteries food should be set out for them every morning. In return for this service the Yakshinī and her sons were to become and continue guardians of the Buddhist sacred buildings. The Sar. Vin. does not make any mention of Hārītī undertaking to answer the prayers of barren women for children, but in one of the sūtras the Kuei-tzŭ-mu agrees to comply with the Buddha's request in this matter.³ I-ching tells us that the name Kuei-tzŭ-mu was used by the Chinese before they had the story of Hārītī, and a goddess of children with that name is still worshipped by Chinese women. She is commonly represented by a standing image with a baby in her arms and two or three children below her knees as described by I-ching. As the word *kuei* has only unpleasant associations ever since the T'ang period the Chinese have occasionally substituted for it in the name of this goddess the word for nine, calling her *Kiu-tzŭ-mu*, "Mother of nine (that is, many) sons"

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¹ Nan-hai-ch'i-kuei, *ch.* 1 and Takakusu p. 37.

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² Sar. Vin. Tsa-shih (No. 1121), *ch.* 31.

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³ See the "Kuei-tzŭ-mu-ching" (No. 759) where the scene is laid in the 不兒 country; Tsa-pao-tsang-ching (No. 1329) *ch.* 9 where the baby is Pin-ka-lo (Pingala) and the name of the country is not given; Tsa-a-han-ching, *ch.* 49 where the scene is in Magadha and the demon-mother's baby is Pi-lêng-ka. See also Waddell's ‘Buddhism of Tibet’ p. 99; and Ch'i-Fo-so-shuo-shên-chou-ching, last page (No. 447).

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Above 50 *li* north from the 'scene of the conversion of the Kuei-tzŭ-mu was another tope. This marked the place at which the P'usa in his birth as Śama while gathering fruit as food for his blind parents was accidentally shot by a poisoned arrow aimed by the king at a deer of which he was in pursuit. The perfect sincerity of the P'usa's conduct moved the spiritual powers and Indra provided a remedy which restored the son to life.

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It will be remembered that Brahminical literature has a similar story about Krishna. The Jātaka is a well known one and is related in several books.¹

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¹ See Wilkins' Hind. Myth. p. 188, 209; Jātaka Vol. VI. p. 71; P'u-sa-san-tzŭ-ching (No. 216); Liu-tu-chi-ching, *ch*. 5 (No. 143).

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From the Śamaka (or Śama) Tope a journey of above 200 *li* south-east brought the pilgrim to the city called *Po-lu-sha* (Palusha). To the north of this city was a tope to mark the place at which the P'usa in his birth as Prince *Su-ta-na* (Sudāna) bade adieu on being sent into exile for having given the elephant of the king his father to a brahmin. At the side of this tope was a monastery with above fifty Brethren all adherents of the "Small Vehicle". Here the Master of Śastras, Īśvara, composed the "Abhidharma-ming-chêng-lun".

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The Palusha of this passage was apparently about 100 *li* to the south-east of Pushkaravati. Cunningham has proposed to identify it with the modern Palo-dheri which is about forty miles from Pushkaravati or Hashtnagar. As it is also, however, apparently about forty miles south-east from the Samaka tope, Palo-dheri may correspond to the site of Palusha.

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The name Sudāna of the text is explained in a note as meaning "having good teeth", but this, as has been pointed out by others, is evidently wrong. Better renderings are *Shan-yü* and *Shan-shih* (善與 J 施), both meaning liberal or generous. As Sudāna is apparently an epithet for the prince whose name was Viśvantara (Wessantara), so *Shan-ya* or "Good-teeth" may have been the name of the much prized white elephant which the prince gave away to the brahmin from the hostile country.

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As to the Abhidharma treatise which Yuan-chuang here ascribes to the śastra master Īśvara no work with the name "Abhidharma-ming-chêng-lun" seems to be known to the Buddhist canon. Instead of the *ming-chêng* (明證) of the ordinary texts the D text has *ming-têng* (燈), making the name to be the "Abhidharma Shining lamp śastra".

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Outside the east gate of the Palusha city was a monastery with above 50 Brethren all Mahāyānists. At it was an Asoka tope on the spot at which the brahmin, who had begged the son and daughter of the Prince Sudāna from him on the *Tan-to-lo-ka* (Dantaloka) mountain, sold the children. Above twenty *li* north-east from Palusha was the Dantaloka mountain on which was an Asoka tope at the place where Prince Sudāna lodged. Near it was the tope where the Prince having given his son and daughter to the Brahmin the latter beat the children until their blood ran to the ground; this blood dyed the spot and the vegetation still retained a reddish hue. In the cliff was the cave in which the Prince and his wife practised samādhi. Near this was the hut in which the old rishi lived; above 100 *li* north from it beyond a small hill was a mountain; on the south of this was a monastery with a few Brethren who were Mahāyānists; beside this was an Asoka tope where the rishi *Tu-ch'io* (Ekaśringa) once lived; this rishi was led astray by a lustful woman and lost his superhuman faculties, whereupon the lustful woman rode on his shoulders into the city.

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In their renderings of the text of the above passage the translators have made a serious mistranslation which injures the narrative. They make the pilgrim state that the tope at the east gate of Palusha was at the place where Prince Sudāna sold his two children to a brahmin. But the Prince never did anything like this, and the Chinese states clearly that it was the brahmin who sold the children after having begged them from their father on the mountain. This agrees with the context and with the story in the Scriptures. According to the latter the brahmin on the instigation of his wife went to the Danta mountain to beg the Prince to give him the son and daughter of whom the Prince and his wife were very fond; and by his urgent entreaty he prevailed on the father, in the absence of the mother, to give up the children to serve in his household. But when the Brahmin brought them to his home his clever wife saw they were of superior birth, and refused to keep them as slaves. Hereupon the brahmin took them away to sell, and against his will, under the secret influence of Indra, he found himself with the children at the royal city, where they fell into the hands of the king their grandfather. This happy incident led to the recall of the all-giving Prince and his faithful devoted consort.

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Then the stone-hut on the Danta mountain was not merely one which had been inhabited by “a rishi”. It was the hut supposed to have been once occupied by the old rishi Akshuta, in Chinese transcription A-chu-t’ê, the Acchuta of Fausböll. This was the aged hermit who welcomed the banished Prince and family on their coming to stay on his mountain.

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The name of this mountain is given by Yuan-chuang as Tan-to-lo-ka, which Julien restored as Dantaloka; the restoration has been adopted by the P. W., and by subsequent writers. But the old and common form of the name in Chinese translations is T’an-t’eh (檀特), and the original may have been Daṇḍa. The “Mountain of punishment” would be an appropriate designation, and the suggestion is strengthened by the Tibetan rendering “forest of penance”. Our pilgrim places the mountain at a distance of above twenty li north-east from Palusha; but instead of twenty we should probably read 2000 li as in the Fang-chih. All the legends represent the mountain of exile as being far away from any town or place of human habitation. It was beyond the Chetiya country, or in Udyāna, or in Magadha. In the Jātaka it is called Vaṃkaparvata, and a Chinese authority explains *T'an-t'eh-shan* as meaning "the dark shady mountain (*yin-shan*)."¹

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¹ Liu-tu-chi-ching, *ch.* 2: *T'ai-tzŭ-su-ta-na-ching* (No. 254) in this work the elephant's name is *Su-tan-yen*; Hardy M. B. p. 118; *Jāt.* Vol. VI last jātaka where the mountain is *Vaṅkapabbato*; Feer's *Chaddanta-jātaka* p. 81; Schiefner Tib. Tales p. 257.

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In his remarks about the rishi whom he calls "Single-horn" (or *Ekaśringa*) our pilgrim is apparently following the "Jātaka of Rāhula's mother". In this story, the scene of which is laid in the Benares country, the ascetic of mixed breed, human and cervine, is named Unicorn on account of the horn on his forehead. He has attained great power by his devotions and becoming offended he stops the rain. The king is told that in order to save his country from a prolonged drought he must find a means by which the rishi's devotions will be stopped. A very clever rich "lustful woman" comes forward and undertakes to seduce the saint. She takes 500 pretty girls with her, and by means of love potions, disguised wines, and strong love-making she overcomes the rishi and makes him fall into sin. Beguiling her lover-victim to the city of Benares she pretends on the way to be faint and the rishi carries her on his shoulders into the city.² In other versions of this curious wellknown legend the lady who woos and wins the simple, innocent, but very austere and all-powerful, hermit is a good princess, the daughter of the king of the country. For her father's sake and at his request she undertakes the task of wiling the saint from his austerities and devotions: he is captivated, becomes the princess's lover, marries her and succeeds her father on the throne. In most versions of the story the saint to be seduced is called *Rishyaśringa*, the Pali *Isisinga*; the lady who leads him astray is *Śāntā* in the Chinese translations and some other versions, but *Nalinī* or *Nalinikā* in other versions.³ In the "Jātaka of Rāhula's mother” the rishi and his tempter are respectively the Bodhisattva and his wife Yasodhara, but in the Jātaka it is the wise father of the rishi who is the Bodhisattva, and the rishi and the lady are a certain bhikshu and his former wife.

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² Ta-chih-tu-lun, *ch.* 17; cf. Hsing-chi-ching, *ch.* 16.

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³ Kshemendra's *Kalpalatā* in J. B. T. S. Vol. i. P. II, p. 1, here the rishi is *Ekaśringa*, the lady is the Princess *Nalinī*, and the two

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Above 50 *li* to the north-east of Palusha (Julien’s Varusha?) was a great mountain which had a likeness (or image) of Maheśvara’s spouse Bhīmā-devī of dark-blue stone. According to local accounts this was a natural image of the goddess; it exhibited prodigies and was a great resort of devotees from all parts of India; to true believers, who after fasting seven days prayed to her, the goddess sometimes shewed herself and answered prayers. At the foot of the mountain was a temple to Maheśvara-deva in which the Ash-smearing “Tirthikas” performed much worship.

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Going south-east from the Bhīmāla (or Bhīma) Temple 150 *li* you come to *Wu-to-ka-han-t’u* (or *ch’a*) city, twenty *li* in circuit and having the Indus on its south side; its inhabitants were flourishing and in it were collected valuable rarities from various regions.

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A journey of above 20 *li* north-west from *Wu-to-ka-han-t’u* brought one to the *P’o* (or *Sha*)-lo-tu-lo city, the birth place of the rishi Pāṇini who composed a *shêng-ming-lun* (Treatise on Etymology). At the beginning of antiquity, our author continues, there was a very luxuriant vocabulary. Then at the end of the *kalpa*, when the world was desolate, and void the immortals became incarnate to guide mankind; and from this written documents came into existence, the flow of which in after times became a flood. As opportunity arose Brahma and Indra produced models. The rishis of the various systems formed each his own vocabulary; these were emulously followed by their successors, and students applied themselves in vain to acquire a knowledge of their systems. When the life of man was a century Pāṇini appeared; of intuitive knowledge and great erudition he sorrowed over the existing irregularities and desired to make systematic exclusions and selections. In his studious excursions he met Siva to whom he unfolded his purpose; the god approved and promised help. So the rishi applied himself earnestly to selecting from the stock of words and formed an

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are the Bodhisattva and Yasodhara of after births, cf. Appx I of the same Vol.; Mahāvastu T. III, p. 143; Bud. Lit. Nep. p. 63; Takakusu in Hansei Zashi Vol. xiii, No. 1; Jāt. Vol. v, p. 123 where the lady is Nalinikā, p. 152 where she is the apsarā Alambusā.

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