On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c19.176

v2.c19.176

In his rendering of the original here Julien has failed to express his author's meaning. Thus his "le tonnerre gronda dans l'espace, et des éclairs menaçants sillonnèrent les sombres nues" is for the Chinese lei-tien-hui-ming (雷電晦冥) "thunder, lightning and darkness". Then follows— "Des jets de feu et des tourbillons de fumée, un déluge de sable et une grêle de pierres remplacèrent les boucliers et les lances, et tinrent lieu d'arcs et de flèches." The italics here are mine and the original is given below,¹ its literal meaning being "stirring up sand and agitating stones, full equipment of spears and shields, and exhaustive use of bows and arrows." It is not possible to get "remplacèrent" out of pei-chü, or "tinrent lieu" out of chi-yung. Moreover in the next sentence the narrative tells how the "warlike weapons" of Māra's host were changed into lotus flowers. Yuan-chuang had evidently read the legends which describe the motley terrible army summoned by the Evil One to intimidate the aspirant to Buddhahood and drive him from the Bodhimanda, and the means by which the army tried to carry out their chief's command. The fierce creatures howled and yelled, raised tempests and sent down deluges, hurled thunderbolts and flashed lightnings, made day into night enveloping the P'usa in darkness, upheaved rocks and raised sandstorms, flung spears and arrows and all kinds of warlike missiles at the P'usa. These weapons, however, as they passed through the air became lotus flowers, and fell harmless at his feet. All the time he sat calm and motionless, absorbed in an ecstatic contemplation of universal compassion. The account of Māra's attempt to overpower the P'usa and drive him from the Bodhi Tree is given at length in the "Lalitavistara", the "Hsing-chi-ching", and several other treatises.¹ If the Pali Vinaya the attainment of bodhi is described without any mention of an attack by Māra and his army, but the attack was probably taken to be known as the passage speaks of "scattering Māra's host".² The corresponding sections in the "Ssŭ-fên" and "Wu-fên" Vinayas also do not contain any reference to the great onslaught.³ It may be noticed that in the latter of these two works instead of "Māra's host" we have "Māra's darkness", and this agrees with the words which follow.