A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t4.39

v2.c19.s6.t4.39

When there is such frequent talk of thousands or myriads of tens of millions of Stūpas, which are erected over the relics of a Buddha, or of hundreds of tens of milions of Vihāras, which are described as splendid buildings, furnished with the greatest comfort and luxury, there must have been at least many hundreds of Stūpas and Vihāras (topes and monasteries) in the land, and these must have been furnished with pictures of Buddha made of jewels, statues of Buddha made of wood and metal, and with reliefs and frescoes.¹ On the other hand, the Saddharma-Puṇḍarīka inspired Buddhist art.² It has always ranked foremost as a book of edification, among the Buddhists of China and Japan. The Chinese pilgrim I-tsing relates that the "Lotus of the Good Religion" was the favourite book of his teacher Hui-hsi; during a period of more than sixty years he read it through once daily, so that he read it twenty thousand times.³ Even at the present day it may be found in every Buddhist temple in Japan: it is the most sacred book of the Hokke-shū or "Saddharma-Puṇḍarīka sect," founded by Nichiren in 1252 A.D., and one of the principal works upon which the Tien-tai school in China, and the Tendai sect in Japan also take their stand.⁴