On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c21.s16: Mo-Lo-Kü-T’A (Malakuṭa)
On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c21.s16
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Mo-Lo-Kü-T’A (Malakuṭa)
v2.c21.s16.1
The pilgrim’s narrative next proceeds to relate that from Kāñchi city he went south above 3000 *li* to the *Mo-lo-kü-t’a* (Malakuṭa) country. This country he describes as being above 5000 *li* in circuit with a capital above 40 *li* in circuit. The soil was brackish and barren; the country was a depôt for sea-pearls; the climate was very hot and the people were black; they were harsh and impetuous, of mixed religions, indifferent to culture and only good at trade. There were many remains of old monasteries, very few monasteries were in preservation and there was only a small number of Brethren. There were hundreds of Deva-temples, and the professed adherents of the various sects, especially the Digambaras, were very numerous. Not far from the east side of the capital were the remains of the old monastery built by Asoka’s brother, *Ta-ti* (大帝) or Mahendra, with the foundations and dome, the latter alone visible, of a ruined tope on the east side of the remains. The tope had been built by Asoka to perpetuate the memory of Buddha having preached, made miraculous exhibitions, and brought a countless multitude into his communion at the place. The long lapse of time had served to increase the efficacious powers of the tope and prayers offered at it were still answered. In the south of the country near the sea was the *Mo-lo-ya* (Malaya) mountain, with lofty cliffs and ridges and deep valleys and gullies, on which were sandal, camphor and other trees. To the east of this was the *Pu-ta-lo-ka* (Potalaka) mountain with steep narrow paths over its cliffs and gorges in irregular confusion; on the top was a lake of clear water, whence issued a river which, on its way to the sea, flowed twenty times round the mountain. By the side of the lake was a stone Deva-palace frequented by Kuan-tzŭ-tsai P'usa. Devotees, risking life, brave water and mountain to see the P'usa, but only a few succeed in reaching the shrine. To the people at the foot of the mountain who pray for a sight of the P'usa, he appears sometimes as a Pāśupata Tirthika, or as Maheśvara, and consoles the suppliant with this answer. To the north-east of Potalaka on the sea-side was a city, the way to Sêng-ka-lo (Ceylon) of the south sea, and local accounts made the voyage from it to Ceylon one of about 3000 *li* to the south-east.
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The passage here slightly abridged in translation presents some difficulties, and does not agree with the Life. It seems to state that Julien personally visited the Malakuṭa country, while the Life represents him as only hearing about it. The words of the Life are—"Distant from the confines of this country (i. e. Draviḍa) above 3000 *li* he heard that there was the Malakuṭa country".¹ As this is not very clear, and as the direction is not given, we should not lightly accept the statement. There is nothing in the pilgrim's account of the country to show that he did not visit it, and see its capital and the district around, although he may not have gone to remote objects of interest. We must remark, however, that he does not tell us anything about the nature of the country between Draviḍa and Malakuṭa, and that in the next *chuan* he represents himself as continuing his pilgrimage from Draviḍa. He may not have gone to Malakuṭa, but the descriptions of the country, the people, and the Buddhist remains are evidently those of an eye-witness.
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¹ Life, ch. 4. Julien, I, p. 193.
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A note to our text tells us that another name for the country was *Chih* (枳)-mo-lo, not *Ki-mo-lo* as some editors represent. Cunningham says that "the province of Malakuṭa must have included the modern districts of Tanjor and Madura, on the east, with Coimbator, Cochin, and Travancore, on the west".¹ The remarks of Fergusson on this part of our pilgrim's text are of little value, partly because he was misled by Julien's vagaries. ²
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¹ A. G. I. p. 549.
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² op. c. p. 266.
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Yuan-chuang, we have seen, mentions the ruins of an old monastery near the capital, which he says had been erected by Mahendra a brother of Asoka. If he had derived his information about this monastery from the Ceylon Brethren he would have called Mahendra (Mahinda) a son, not a brother, of Asoka. The account of this monastery, and its Asoka tope of which only the dome remained visible, is apparently that of a visitor at the time of the description. Then we have the Malaya mountain in the south of the country, and this must have been known to the pilgrim from the Buddhist scriptures. Thus the famous "Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra" purports to have been delivered by the Buddha "Laṅkāpura-samudra-Malaya-śikhare" which the Indian translator into Chinese renders "in the city of Laṅkā on the summit of the Malaya mountain on the border of the sea".³ A mountain of this name is given as in the southern division in the Bṛihat Samhitā, and is well known from its occurrence in Indian literature. It was famous for its sandal trees, and Malayaja is a name for sandal-wood. Its name and that of the city seem to have been transferred to Ceylon, where we find a Malaya mountain and district, and a Laṅkā mountain and city,⁴ but Laṅkā is commonly used as the name of a city. We are not required, however, to believe that the Malaya mountain associated with the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra, the gospel of Madhyamika Mahāyānism, was an actual geographical unit. It was in reality a poetical creation to which the semblance of earthly reality was given by the use of well known names, a district of Utopia with a topical definition. It had no existence except as the scene of the great assembly in which Rāvaṇa, king of Rākshasas, and Mahāmati the Bodhisattva, elicit from Buddha the strange theories of universal negation. But we find Malaya also given as the name of a country which is apparently the Draviḍa of our pilgrim and other authorities. Thus the great Buddhist Vajrabodhi who came to China in A. D. 719 is described as a native of the Malaya country adjoining Mount Potalaka, the palace of Kuan-yin, his father being preceptor of the king of Kāñchi.¹
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³ No. 176. See also Nos. 175, 177.
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⁴ e. g. chuan XI of the Records.
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¹ Sung-kao-sêng-chuan, ch. 1.
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Our pilgrim next mentions the Potalaka mountain to the east of the Malayagiri, and this also must have been known to him from his study of the sacred books. In that very delightful sūtra known in Chinese by its short title "Hua-yen-ching" he had read of this chosen abode of Kuan-tzŭ-tsai P'usa. In this sūtra also Potalaka is on the sea-side in the south, it has woods, and streams, and tanks, and is in fact a sort of earthly paradise. Buddhabhadra (A. D. 420) calls Kuanyin's mountain Kuang-ming (光明) or "Brilliance", which is usually given as the rendering for Malaya, but a later translator, Śikshānanda, transcribes the name Potalaka.² This mountain is called in translation "White flower mountain", "Island mountain", "Hill of the shrub with small flower"; it is also called Potala, and a city of unknown antiquity at the mountain bears its name. Potalaka mountain appears as a favourite resort of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva for a long time, and Tāranātha makes mention of several visits paid to the Bodhisattva by pious Buddhists. Śantivarman by divine help reached the summit of the mountain, and found the palace of the Bodhisattva deserted; another pilgrim saw only the stone image of the Bodhisattva, and another heard the music made for the Bodhisattva by Nāgas and Asuras.³ Here again the Potalaka of the scriptures, the inaccessible mountains of cliffs and ravines guarded by gods and demons and sacred to Avalokiteśvara, is not to be identified with any one of the mountains by the sea-side in South India.
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² Ta-fang-kuang-Fo-Hua-yen-ching, ch. 50 (No. 87); Ta-fang-kuang-Fo-Hua-yen-ching, ch. 68 (No. 88).
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³ Tār. S, 141 ff., S. 157, 223. See also Beal in J. R. A. S. Vol. XV, p. 333 ff.
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The seaport which our pilgrim mentions as being to the north-east of Potalaka is said in the Fan-chih to be "the old Sêng-ka-lo". If this statement be correct it is interesting information, and helps to explain some difficulties. The port was evidently to the pilgrim's mind near the south point of India, and this agrees with a statement in the T'ang-Shu to the effect that the Malaya (Mê-lai 沒來) country was in the extreme south of India. In connection with the name given to the port it may be noticed that in the Bṛihat Saṃhitā and other works Laṅkā is treated as a city or island quite distinct from Simhala.¹ But the direction from this port to Ceylon is not quite correct, and the distance, 3000 *li* (about 600 miles) is far too great.
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¹ See Fleet, op. c., p. 183.
Cites (3)
- Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra — Classical Chinese
- Bṛhatsaṃhitā — Varāhamihira, Sanskrit
- Laṅkāvatārasūtra — Sanskrit