On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c23.s17.2

v2.c23.s17.2

The pilgrim next tells of the petrified body of this sovereign preserved in a cave in the steep side of a mountain above 100 *li* to the south-east of the capital. His lineal descendants had reigned ever since, and because their first ancestress was a Chinese lady and their first ancestor a sun-deva, they styled themselves "China-[sun]-deva stock". But the successors of the first king came to lose their prestige and be kept down by powerful Countries, and when Asoka came to rule he built a tope in the palace. Hereupon the king then reigning removed to the north-east of the palace, and made a splendid monastery of the old palace for the śāstra-master *T'ung-shou* (Kumāralabdha). This man, we are told by the pilgrim, was a native of Takshaśilā who in early youth embraced the religious life, and became an enthusiastic student of sacred literature. He composed some tens of treatises which were widely known and read; and he was the founder of the Sautrāntika School. He was brought by force from his native land to this country. In his time Aśvaghosha in the east, Deva in the south, Nāgārjuna in the west, and Kumāralabdha in the north were called the Four Shining Suns.