On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c19.50

v2.c19.50

The Chinese for the last clause is *tao-poh-san-shêng* (道播三乘) and it is rendered by Julien "dans sa carrière il avait su faire usage des trois Vehicules". But this rendering is not in accordance with the construction of the passage, or the meaning of the word *poh*. In a note Julien gives the three Vehicles as those of the śrāvaka, the Pratyeka Buddha, and the Bodhisattva. These are the three mentioned in Buddhist books, and they are states or degrees of spiritual attainment, the lowest being that of the śrāvaka and the highest that of the Bodhisattva, which is also called the "Great Vehicle". Our pilgrim makes Aśvaghosha have a twofold test for detecting the cooperation of evil spirits with a man who is a fine talker. The test is that the man does not give a real answer to a question, and that he cannot repeat what he has once said to another. In the public discussion the test is applied with marked success. Julien's translation misses all the point of the passage, and spoils the story. Then Julien makes Yuan-chuang state that Ma-ming (Aśvaghosha) "connaissait les démons", but Yuan-chuang merely states that Ma-ming "mentally recognized evil spirits" that is, became convinced that his suspicion as to the source of the brahmin's powers was correct. Julien translates the phrase *chüi-hou* (絕後) by "n'a pas de successeurs", and he supports his rendering by a reference to an expression quoted in the "P'ei-wên-yun-foo". But the reference is an unfortunate one, as the painter in the passage cited had a successor by whom he was surpassed. The translation is not good, and it is un-Chinese as an expression of praise. *Chui-hou* or *Chui-yü*(追)-*hou* means to stand out to posterity or to be above those who follow. The man who has genius to know others sheds a glory on his ancestors, and is a standard of superiority to his followers or posterity. The Ma-ming P'u-sa or Aśvaghosha Bodhisattva of this passage is apparently the bhikshu who flourished 300, or according to some 600 or 800 years after Buddha's decease. This Aśvaghosha was originally a brahmin, and was converted and ordained, according to some authorities by Fu-na-shê supposed to be for Puṇya-yaśa,¹ and according to others by the great Pārśva.² This last defeated Aśvaghosha in a controversy held in Shi-ka, apparently in or near Magadha. As a Buddhist monk Aśvaghosha attained to great eminence by his powers of argument and discussion, and he was given to Ka-ni-t'a (Kanishka perhaps), king of the Yue-ti country, as part of a war indemnity. This king treated the bhikshu with much kindness and esteem,³ and Aśvaghosha continued his labours in his new place of abode in Kashmir. He was the author of the "Ch'i-hsin-lun" (起信論), the "Ta-chuang-yen-ching-lun" (大莊嚴經論) and numerous other treatises. In the Patriarchal succession Aśvaghosha is the next after Puṇyayaśa, and in Japan he is regarded as a teacher of the "Pure Land" doctrine, and is the first patriarch of the Avatamsaka sūtra sect and the 12th of the "Contemplatist School".⁴ We read, however, of several eminent bhikshus with this name, one living so early as the time of the Buddha.⁵ These, however, may all be the same man assigned to different dates. He was called "Horse-voice" (Aśvaghosha) because at his birth horses neighed, or because on one occasion when he preached hungry horses forgot to feed, and listened to his sermon neighing with pious delight. There are also other stories told to account for the name which in one treatise is given as Giu-lo-wei-ni, perhaps for Ghoravin.⁶ Here we have probably the original vernacular sobriquet given to the monk because he held horses (ghora) spell-bound by his lute (vīṇā). This great Buddhist, who apparently lived in the second century of our era, was a poet, musician, scholar, religious controversialist and zealous Buddhist monk, orthodox in creed, and a strict observer of discipline.