Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms [25]
accumulated both winter and summer. On the north (side) of the mountains, in the shade, they suddenly encountered a cold wind which made them shiver and become unable to speak. Hwuy-king could not go any farther. A white froth came from his mouth, and he said to Fa-hien, "I cannot live any longer. Do you immediately go away, that we do not all die here;" and with these words he died.[3] Fa-hien stroked the corpse, and cried out piteously, "Our original plan has failed;--it is fate.[4] What can we do?" He then again exerted himself, and they succeeded in crossing to the south of the range, and arrived in the kingdom of Lo-e,[5] where there were nearly three thousand monks, students of both the mahayana and hinayana. Here they stayed for the summer retreat,[6] and when that was over, they went on to the south, and ten days' journey brought them to the kingdom of Poh-na,[7] where there are also more than three thousand monks, all students of the hinayana. Proceeding from this place for three days, they again crossed the Indus, where the country on each side was low and level.[8]
NOTES
[1] These must have been Tao-ching and Hwuy-king.
[2] Probably the Safeid Koh, and on the way to the Kohat pass.
[3] All the texts have Kwuy-king. See chapter xii, note 13.
[4] A very natural exclamation, but out of place and inconsistent from the lips of Fa-hien. The Chinese character {.}, which he employed, may be rendered rightly by "fate" or "destiny;" but the fate is not unintelligent. The term implies a factor, or fa-tor, and supposes the ordination of Heaven or God. A Confucian idea for the moment overcame his Buddhism.
[5] Lo-e, or Rohi, is a name for Afghanistan; but only a portion of it can be here intended.
[6] We are now therefore in 404.
[7] No doubt the present district of Bannu, in the Lieutenant- Governorship of the Punjab, between 32d 10s and 33d 15s N. lat., and 70d 26s and 72d E. lon. See Hunter's Gazetteer of India, i, p. 393.
[8] They had then crossed the Indus before. They had done so, indeed, twice; first, from north to south, at Skardo or east of it; and second, as described in chapter vii.
CHAPTER XV
BHIDA. SYMPATHY OF MONKS WITH THE PILGRIMS.
After they had crossed the river, there was a country named Pe- t'oo,[1] where Buddhism was very flourishing, and (the monks) studied both the mahayana and hinayana. When they saw their fellow-disciples from Ts'in passing along, they were moved with great pity and sympathy, and expressed themselves thus: "How is it that these men from a border-land should have learned to become monks,[2] and come for the sake of our doctrines from such a distance in search of the Law of Buddha?" They supplied them with what they needed, and treated them in accordance with the rules of the Law.
NOTES
[1] Bhida. Eitel says, "The present Punjab;" i.e. it was a portion of that.
[2] "To come forth from their families;" that is, to become celibates, and adopt the tonsure.
CHAPTER XVI
ON TO MATHURA OR MUTTRA. CONDITION AND CUSTOMS OF CENTRAL INDIA; OF THE MONKS, VIHARAS, AND MONASTERIES.
From this place they travelled south-east, passing by a succession of very many monasteries, with a multitude of monks, who might be counted by myriads. After passing all these places, they came to a country named Ma-t'aou-lo.[1] They still followed the course of the P'oo-na[2] river, on the banks of which, left and right, there were twenty monasteries, which might contain three thousand monks; and (here) the Law of Buddha was still more flourishing. Everywhere, from the Sandy Desert, in all the countries of India, the kings had been firm believers in that Law. When they make their offerings to a community of monks, they take off their royal caps, and along with their relatives and ministers, supply them with food with their own hands. That done, (the king) has a carpet spread for himself on the ground, and sits down in front of the chairman;--they dare not presume to sit on couches in front of the community. The laws and ways, according to which the kings presented
NOTES
[1] These must have been Tao-ching and Hwuy-king.
[2] Probably the Safeid Koh, and on the way to the Kohat pass.
[3] All the texts have Kwuy-king. See chapter xii, note 13.
[4] A very natural exclamation, but out of place and inconsistent from the lips of Fa-hien. The Chinese character {.}, which he employed, may be rendered rightly by "fate" or "destiny;" but the fate is not unintelligent. The term implies a factor, or fa-tor, and supposes the ordination of Heaven or God. A Confucian idea for the moment overcame his Buddhism.
[5] Lo-e, or Rohi, is a name for Afghanistan; but only a portion of it can be here intended.
[6] We are now therefore in 404.
[7] No doubt the present district of Bannu, in the Lieutenant- Governorship of the Punjab, between 32d 10s and 33d 15s N. lat., and 70d 26s and 72d E. lon. See Hunter's Gazetteer of India, i, p. 393.
[8] They had then crossed the Indus before. They had done so, indeed, twice; first, from north to south, at Skardo or east of it; and second, as described in chapter vii.
CHAPTER XV
BHIDA. SYMPATHY OF MONKS WITH THE PILGRIMS.
After they had crossed the river, there was a country named Pe- t'oo,[1] where Buddhism was very flourishing, and (the monks) studied both the mahayana and hinayana. When they saw their fellow-disciples from Ts'in passing along, they were moved with great pity and sympathy, and expressed themselves thus: "How is it that these men from a border-land should have learned to become monks,[2] and come for the sake of our doctrines from such a distance in search of the Law of Buddha?" They supplied them with what they needed, and treated them in accordance with the rules of the Law.
NOTES
[1] Bhida. Eitel says, "The present Punjab;" i.e. it was a portion of that.
[2] "To come forth from their families;" that is, to become celibates, and adopt the tonsure.
CHAPTER XVI
ON TO MATHURA OR MUTTRA. CONDITION AND CUSTOMS OF CENTRAL INDIA; OF THE MONKS, VIHARAS, AND MONASTERIES.
From this place they travelled south-east, passing by a succession of very many monasteries, with a multitude of monks, who might be counted by myriads. After passing all these places, they came to a country named Ma-t'aou-lo.[1] They still followed the course of the P'oo-na[2] river, on the banks of which, left and right, there were twenty monasteries, which might contain three thousand monks; and (here) the Law of Buddha was still more flourishing. Everywhere, from the Sandy Desert, in all the countries of India, the kings had been firm believers in that Law. When they make their offerings to a community of monks, they take off their royal caps, and along with their relatives and ministers, supply them with food with their own hands. That done, (the king) has a carpet spread for himself on the ground, and sits down in front of the chairman;--they dare not presume to sit on couches in front of the community. The laws and ways, according to which the kings presented