Chapter C: Heavens of formless entities (6)

Of course it was only to be expected that memorial structures intended to mark important epochs in the life of the extinct Buddha, and calculated to foster feelings of reverence in the minds of his followers, should have been erected at this and various other holy spots of ground consecrated by the presence and acts of Gautama on great occasions. And of all such Buddhist monuments the ancient pyramidal temple at Buddha-Gayā, which I visited in 1876 and 1884, is the most striking and full of interest. Probably a monument of some kind was erected there not very long after the Buddha’s death, and Hiouen Thsang (see p. 399) mentions the temple built there by Aṡoka. The temple which I saw on the occasion of my first visit was probably not built till the middle of the second century, but was erected on the foundation of Aṡoka’s temple, the ruins of which are traceable under the present one[190]. The materials consist of bluish bricks, plastered with lime. Hiouen Thsang states that in his time it had eleven stories and an altitude of about 165 feet. It also had niches in each story, with a golden statue of Buddha in each niche. The whole was crowned with the representation of an Amalaka fruit (Emblic myrobalan) in gilt copper (Cunningham’s Report, i. 5). The Burmese probably restored the temple between 1035 and 1078 A.D. Though falling into decay in 1876, its appearance struck me as exceedingly imposing,—even more so than that of the grand pyramidal towers, built over the entrances to the great South Indian temples[191]. The annexed engraving of this ancient monument as it appeared in 1880, before its restoration, is from a photograph by Mr. Beglar, taken on the spot, and enlarged by Mr. Austen.

Erected about the middle of the second century over the ruins of Aṡoka’s
temple, at the spot where Gautama attained Buddhahood.

The original object of its erection seems to have been simply and solely to serve as a monument, and not as a Dāgaba or receptacle for relics. Very soon, however, monuments of this kind were made to enshrine images, and were used as temples and places of worship. On inquiry I found that the ancient image or images of Buddha, which once occupied the shrine in the ancient Buddha-Gayā temple, had been destroyed or carried off at different times[192], and that another stone image, believed to have been carved in the eighth century, had been recently substituted for it. It is remarkable that during the process of restoring the so-called ‘diamond throne,’ on which the statues were placed, a mass of fragments of coral, sapphire, cornelian, crystal, ruby, pearl, ivory, and gold, but no diamond, was found compacted or cemented together in front of it[193].

At the back of the raised terrace which surrounded the ancient temple was a Pīpal or sacred fig-tree, fabled to be the very tree under which Gautama sat during his course of profound meditation ending in Buddhahood (see p. 31). Its vitality was on the wane, for its decaying branches drooped over the parapet as if they sought, like those of a neighbouring Banyan tree, to gain new life by rooting themselves in the ground beneath. Some Buddhist pilgrims happened, at the moment of my visit, to be worshipping at the temple, deputed by the King of Burma to present offerings. I observed that they had brought packets of gold-leaf, and had gilded the stone steps that surrounded the tree. Having performed this act of homage, they sat near muttering their prayer-formularies. No doubt they believed it to be the very Bodhi-tree of Gautama’s time, the stem of which had been miraculously preserved, though, had it been really so, the stem would have been about twenty-three centuries old. Considering the well-known properties of the Pīpal tree, it is possible that the worshippers were, after all, paying honour to the descendant of the original tree, the fact, no doubt, being that as each tree began to decay a new one was produced, by the dropping of seeds into the old roots and the springing up of fresh scions. Probably most of the sacred trees in the neighbourhood of Buddhist temples throughout India, Ceylon, and Burma were originally raised from seeds brought from the ancient Buddha-Gayā tree.

It is a received tradition that a shoot from this tree was taken by the Missionary Mahendra, son of Aṡoka, in the third century B.C. to Ceylon, and planted at Anurādha-pura, where its descendant still flourishes.

When I again visited Buddha-Gayā in 1884, I found that the old pyramidal temple had been restored according (as is conjectured) to Hiouen Thsang’s description of the Vihāra of his day.

It is said that the late Burmese government, not very long ago, spent about thirty thousand rupees in building a wall round the temple and making excavations with a view to its restoration. Then our government, about 1881 or 1882, undertook the work, and I believe at least a lakh of rupees has been spent in completing it. I give a representation of the restored temple (as it appeared in 1884), from a photograph taken by Mr. Beglar, and enlarged by Mr. Austen. Its present height is 176 feet, as it has several tiers of the usual umbrella-like ornament, tapering to a point at the summit[194].

The reconstruction of the temple led of course to the removal of the sacred Bodhi-tree, but an effort was made to preserve the tree by transplanting it to a neighbouring garden. No sooner was this done than parties of pilgrims from Burma and Ceylon, in their pious desire to maintain the vitality of the venerated tree, covered the stem with gold-leaf, and, bringing Eau de Cologne and other scents, poured them over the roots, at the same time manuring them with the contents of boxes of sardines steeped in oil, choice biscuits, and other delicacies. Of course, the result was the speedy destruction of the tree, root and branch. To compensate for its loss, a new Pīpal tree was planted behind the restored temple by Sir A. Cunningham in 1885. Another near the temple appeared to be in a flourishing condition in 1884, and I observed that both Hindū and Buddhist pilgrims met together there as worshippers of the same sacred object.

The idol-shrine, under the principal tower of the restored temple, consists of a small vaulted stone-chamber lighted only by the door. My first act, on arriving at Gayā in 1884, was to descend to this interesting spot. At the further end is the principal statue of Buddha, seated, in the ‘witness-attitude’ (see p. 480)—on an altar-like throne having five pilasters, and supposed to represent the original Bodhi-maṇḍa. The pedestal of the statue is ornamented with diamond-shaped carvings, and sculptures of two elephants and two lions[195].

Inside the shrine, at the moment of my visit, were five Burmese pilgrims from Mandelay. They were apparently monks, as all were habited in yellow dresses. Each man bowed down before the image, with hands joined in reverence, occasionally touching the ground with his forehead, and going through a course of prayer-repetition by help of a rosary. After worshipping for some time, they deposited a quantity of offerings, of a somewhat miscellaneous description, in front of the image. I noticed among other things, rice, fruit, vegetables, flowers of the Bel-tree, tin boxes filled with sardines, Huntley and Palmer’s biscuits, bottles of the genuine Maria Farina’s Eau de Cologne for watering the sacred-trees, and a large number of packets of gold-leaf. I left the shrine for two or three hours, and on returning found that the pilgrims had crowned their act of worship by gilding the image with the contents of these packets, reserving a supply for covering the other images in the vicinity of the temple. The cost of the whole process must have been considerable.

At the back of the great Buddha-Gayā temple, I found a stone tablet for offerings, recently brought and fixed horizontally in the ground by another pilgrim who was from Colombo in Ceylon. It bore an inscription indicating that the slab had been placed there as a votive offering by a person calling himself Guṇa-ratna Muddali Rājā of Kolamba-pur. The date carved on it (Buddha-vasse 2427) shows that the Buddhists of Ceylon are no believers in the researches of modern scholars. They still reckon from B.C. 543 for the supposed Nirvāṇa of Buddha.

At a little distance in front of the great Temple, but on the right side, are the two smaller temples called Tārā-devī and Vāgīṡvarī. In the latter is a circular stone with nine circles of complicated ornaments. This is called a Vajrāsana, from the thunderbolt ornament in the second circle, but it is not the true Bodhi-maṇḍa.

I may mention here that a portion of the original Aṡoka stone-railing, with an inscription, lotus-ornaments and carvings, was discovered in a fair state of preservation by Sir A. Cunningham, and is now to be seen _in situ_. The Buddha’s walking place was unearthed by Mr. Beglar. The massive new brick railing which now encloses the temple has been well constructed after an ancient pattern, and ornamented with numerous carvings representing scenes in the lives of the Buddha (p. 111). The paved quadrangle sets the whole off to great advantage. Indeed, the present appearance of the square and the sacred area of ground adjoining—strewn with ruins of the Stūpas erected by Aṡoka and others—and according to the legend by the gods Indra and Brahmā—is one of the most striking sights in all India, and must be seen to be appreciated.

In truth, Buddha-Gayā is a kind of Buddhist Jerusalem, abounding in associations of thrilling interest, not only to the followers of Buddha, but to all who see in that spot the central focus whence radiated a system which for centuries has permeated the religious thought of the most populous regions of Eastern Asia, and influenced the creed of a majority of the human race.

Another remarkable characteristic of this spot is that it was converted into a kind of Buddhist Necropolis, teeming with the remains of generations of the Buddha’s adherents contained in relic-receptacles called Stūpas (pp. 503-506), some of which have been brought to light, while countless others still remain to be unearthed.

The fact was that immense numbers of pilgrims from all parts of India and the outlying countries once thronged in crowds to Buddha-Gayā, and nearly every pilgrim brought with him a Stūpa or relic-shrine of some kind, according to his means, and deposited it as a votive offering in this hallowed region, either with the object of acquiring religious merit for himself, or of promoting the welfare of the deceased in other states of being. Often it was inscribed with the usual Buddhist formula, Ye Dharmā, etc. (see p. 104), and sometimes bore a date and the name of the reigning king. Generally the votive Stūpa contained the relics of deceased relatives—perhaps the ashes of a father or mother, or pieces of bone, or a small fragment of a single bone placed in an earthen vessel or casket of some other material, and buried in the interior of the Stūpa.

Relics, however, were not always forthcoming, and so the votive Stūpas were frequently mere cenotaphs or models in clay or stone of actual Stūpas erected in other places. Often they were beautifully carved and ornamented with rows on rows of images of the Buddha. I obtained some beautiful specimens for the Indian Institute at Oxford, a drawing of one of which will be given (see p. 505). Layers on layers of these have been exhumed during the process of the excavations. They are of every variety of size, from three inches to several feet high, and of every variety of material, from terra cotta and clay turned on a potter’s wheel to elaborately sculptured brick and stone. All the upper layers are now gone (those made of clay and pottery having naturally crumbled to pieces), but the lowest are still _in situ_, and furnish specimens of all ages from the second century to the tenth or twelfth. I noticed hundreds lying about on the ground in 1884.

A sacred tank, mentioned by Hiouen Thsang, is situated three or four hundred yards to the left of the Buddha-Gayā temple. I found, on visiting it, that this hallowed pool is quite as much venerated by Hindūs as by pilgrims from Buddhist countries.

Indeed, I was much struck by the evidence which Buddha-Gayā affords of the inter-relationship between Buddhism and Hindūism—especially that form of the latter called Vaishṇavism. For instance, on one side of the temple I noticed the tombs of the Mahants, or Heads of the neighbouring Hindu monastery, who are buried there in a sitting posture. Near these again are shrines of the five Pāṇḍava heroes (who take the place of the five Buddhas), and a shrine containing the supposed impression of the two feet of Vishṇu. The upper portion of a small Buddhist Stūpa has been sawn off and inverted[196], and Vishṇu’s footsteps carved on the smooth surface. This certainly symbolizes in a remarkable manner the merging of Buddhism in Vaishṇavism, and bears out Dr. Sachau’s assertion that in Alberūnī’s time Vishṇu-worship was dominant in India.

Then, again, on the right of the entrance to the principal temple is a raised platform of earth, on which are images of Vishṇu, Ṡiva, Pārvatī, and Gaṇeṡa. Here I saw a Ṡrāddha ceremony[197], in the act of being performed by some Hindūs—just arrived from the neighbouring town of Gayā. They were repeating their mantras, offering their Piṇḍas, and putting the finishing stroke to the funeral services (previously performed by them at the Vishṇu-pad temple at Gayā), under the shadow of a Pīpal tree, held as sacred by them as by Buddhists.

To give an exhaustive account of the objects crowded together at this fountain-head of Buddhism would be impossible. The following abbreviated version of the Rev. S. Beal’s translation (ii. 115) of Hiouen Thsang’s description, throws great light on the state of Buddhism in the seventh century:—

Going south-west from Mount Prāgbodhi, we came to the Bodhi-tree. It
is surrounded by a brick wall, and is about 500 paces round. Within
the wall the sacred traces touch one another in all directions. In one
place there are Stūpas, in another place Vihāras. In the middle of the
enclosure is the Bodhi-tree, under which is the diamond throne called
Bodhi-maṇḍa. On this the Buddha sat and attained the holy path of
perfect wisdom. When the earth is shaken, this spot alone is unmoved.
In old days, when Buddha was alive, the Bodhi-tree—which is a Pippala
or sacred fig-tree—was several hundred feet high. Although it has
often been injured by cutting, it is still forty or fifty feet high.
The leaves never wither either in winter or summer, but always remain
shining and glistening, except on every successive Nirvāṇa-day, when
the leaves fade, and then in a moment revive as before. On this day
thousands and ten thousands assemble from different quarters, and
bathe the roots with scented water and perfumed milk. King Aṡoka,
before he was converted, tried to destroy the tree by force, and after
him king Saṡāṅka tried again, but the roots sprang up as full of life
as ever.

To the east of the Bodhi-tree, there is a Vihāra about 160 or 170 feet
high, built of blue tiles covered with chunam; all the niches in the
different stories holding golden figures. The four sides of the
building are covered with ornamental work. The whole is surmounted by
a gilded copper Amalaka fruit. To the right and left of the gate are
niches; in the left is a figure of Avalokiteṡvara Bodhi-sattva and in
the right a figure of Maitreya. On the site of the present Vihāra,
Aṡoka at first built a small Vihāra. Afterwards a Brāhman, who became
a convert to Buddhism, reconstructed it on a larger scale.

To the north of the Bodhi-tree is the place where Buddha walked up and
down, about 70 paces or so long. When he had obtained enlightenment,
he remained perfectly quiet for seven days. Then rising, he walked up
and down during seven days to the north of the tree. Not far to the
south of the tree is a Stūpa about 100 feet high, built by King Aṡoka.
To the east of the tree is the place (marked by two Stūpas) where Māra
tempted Gautama to become a Universal Monarch. To the north-west is a
Vihāra in which is an image of Kāṡyapa Buddha, noted for its
miraculous qualities. Occasionally it emits a glorious light, and the
old records say, that if a man, actuated by sincere faith, walks round
it seven times, he obtains the power of knowing the place and
condition of his previous births. Outside the south gate is a large
tank, about 700 paces round, the water of which is clear and pure as a
mirror. To the east of this is the lake of the Snake-king, Mućalinda.
On the west bank is a small Vihāra. Formerly, when Tathāgata acquired
complete enlightenment, he sat here for seven days in perfect
composure, and ecstatic contemplation, while Mućalinda protected him
with his folds wound seven times round his body. (Compare the
frontispiece.)

By the side of the river, not far off, is the place where Buddha
received the rice-milk, and where two merchants offered some
wheat-flour and honey from their travelling-store (p. 40 of this
volume).

Near this a Stūpa marks the spot where the four Kings presented Buddha
with four golden dishes. The Lord declined such costly offerings. Then
the four Kings, casting away the golden vessels, offered silver ones;
and afterwards vessels of crystal, lapis-lazuli, cornelian, amber,
ruby, and so on in succession; but the Lord of the World would accept
none of them. Lastly, the four Kings offered stone vessels.

Near this spot the Buddha worked various wonders to convert those who
were capable of conversion. For example, it was here that the Buddha
overcame the fiery snake-demon (see p. 46 of this volume). In the
middle of the night the Nāga vomited forth fire and smoke, and the
chamber seemed to be filled with fiery flames; but the Buddha having
forced the fiery dragon into his alms-bowl, came forth next day
holding it in his hand, and showed it to the unbelievers.

To the south of Mućalinda’s tank is a Stūpa, which indicates the spot
where Kāṡyapa, having embarked in a boat to save Buddha during an
inundation, saw the Lord of the World walking on the water as on land.

_Sārnāth near Benares._

The city of Benares (Banāras, properly Vārāṇasī) is the most sacred place of Brāhmanism[198], and is certainly the second most holy place of Buddhism. For it was from this centre that the stream of Buddhist teaching first flowed, and in the days of Aṡoka and of his immediate successors, Buddhism must have vied with Brāhmanism in the number of its shrines and sacred objects collected there.

We have already seen that memorial Stūpas and temples, not intended to contain relics, were reared at various holy spots of ground, consecrated by the presence of Gautama on special occasions. The immense ruined Stūpa—once a tower-like monument—at a spot now called Sārnāth (Sāraṅga-nāth[199]), three or four miles from the modern city of Benares, is a memorial of this kind. It is all that remains of the celebrated structure erected at the spot in the Mṛiga-dāva or deer-park, once called Isi-patana (for Sanskṛit Ṛishi-patana), where Gautama first turned the wheel of the Law (Dharma-ćakra)—that is, where he preached his first sermon (p. 42). It was to this place that Buddhist pilgrims once flocked, and here vast numbers of votive relic-shrines and Stūpas were deposited, as at Buddha-Gayā.

I visited this ancient ruin, in company with the late Mr. Sherring, in 1876, and enjoyed the advantage of his guidance in inspecting it, as well as all that remains of the monastic buildings and other adjacent ruins, including the octagonal tower called Chaukandi, about half a mile distant. In his book on Benares, Mr. Sherring has followed General Sir A. Cunningham, who describes the principal monument—now of a bee-hive shape, and called Dhamek[200]—as 93 feet in diameter at the base, 292 feet in circumference, and 128 feet above the general level of the soil. The lower part—to a height of 43 feet—is built of stone, and all the upper part of bricks. There are eight projecting faces with empty niches, which once held statues.

An old man who was in charge of the ruins when we examined them, lighted a candle, and took us into the horizontal tunnel-like gallery which the General had excavated some years before, in the hope that relics or memorials of some kind might be found buried in the interior. A shaft or well had been previously sunk from the summit, and at the depth of 10½ feet a slab was discovered, inscribed with the well-known Buddhist formula ‘Ye dharmā,’ etc. (p. 104); but the search for relics proved unsuccessful. The Stūpa, in fact, turned out to be merely memorial, like that at Buddha-Gayā.

Probably some monumental Stūpa existed here from the earliest times, and certainly from Aṡoka’s time. The present Stūpa was seen by Hiouen Thsang, who has described it in rather a confused manner (Beal, ii. 45). Hence it must be as old as about the ninth century. Fā-hien saw a Stūpa of some kind there in the fifth century (p. 387).

About fifty yards from the Stūpa, Sir A. Cunningham found the interesting sculpture given at p. 477.

_Rāja-gṛiha._

Rāja-gṛiha (Pāli, Rāja-gaha) is the modern Rāj-gīr. The old city had the epithet Giri-vraja, ‘surrounded by hills[201].’ It was the first metropolis or mother-city of Buddhism, and the original capital of the powerful kingdom of Magadha, when under the rule of the Kings Bimbi-sāra (p. 48) and his son Ajāta-ṡatru, who were contemporaries and friends of Gautama, and converted by him to Buddhism[202]. The sacred character of the place is attested by the ruins of vast numbers of Buddhist Stūpas and Vihāras which once existed here. Unhappily Brāhmans and Musalmāns have used the materials for their temples, tombs, and mosques.

It was here that Gautama first studied under the Brāhmans Āḷāra and Uddaka (p. 29), and here he first imbibed the philosophical ideas which afterwards coloured his teaching. It is not surprising, therefore, that at a later period of his career he was fond of returning to Rāja-gṛiha for retirement during Vassa; his two favourite resorts[203] being the Bambu grove (Veḷu-vana, p. 48) and the hill called Vulture-peak (Gṛidhra-kūṭa, Legge’s Fā-hien, 81, 83), both in the neighbourhood of the city.

It was here, too, that several interesting incidents in the life of Buddha occurred. For example, it was here in a cavern that the Buddha often meditated. It was here that he often preached and taught; and it was here, or in the neighbourhood of the city, that the god Ṡakra (Indra) once appeared to Buddha, bringing a musician from heaven to entertain him, and afterwards testing his knowledge by forty-two questions. These the god traced with his finger on the rock, and the impression of them, according to Fā-hien, was to be seen there in his time, and a monastery was built on the spot. With reference to this legend we may note that the answers to the forty-two questions are supposed to be contained in a celebrated Tibetan work called the ‘Forty-two points on which the Buddha gave instruction[204]’, the importance of which is proved by its being translated into several languages.

It was in this neighbourhood, too, that Buddha’s two chief disciples—Ṡāriputra and Maudgalyāyana (Pāli, Moggallāna, p. 47)—had their noted meeting with Aṡvajit (Pāli, Assaji), already mentioned (p. 104). Here, also, a Jaina ascetic made a pit of fire and poisoned the rice, and then invited Buddha to eat. Lastly, it was here that many of Deva-datta’s plots against the Buddha’s life (see p. 52) were carried on. The story of these is so interesting that I abridge it from the Sacred Books of the East (vol. xx. p. 238):—

Now at that time the Venerable One was seated preaching the Law and
surrounded by a great multitude, including the king and his retinue.
And Deva-datta rose from his seat, and said, ‘The Venerable One is now
aged, he has accomplished a long journey, and his term of life is
nearly run. Let the Venerable One now dwell at ease and give up the
Saṅgha to me, I will be its leader.’ Then said the Buddha, ‘I would
not give over the Saṅgha, even to Sāriputta and Moggallāna; how much
less then to so evil-living a person as you.’

Then Deva-datta thought: ‘The Venerable One denies me before the king,
and calls me “evil-living,” and exalts Sāriputta and Moggallāna.’ With
these thoughts in his mind he departed, angry and displeased, and went
to Ajāta-sattu and said, ‘Do you, prince, kill your father, and become
Rājā; and I will kill the Venerable One and become the Buddha.’ And
prince Ajāta-sattu, taking a dagger, entered his royal father’s
chamber. And the Rājā Bimbi-sāra said, ‘Why do you want to kill me, O
prince? if you want the kingdom, let it be thine.’ And he handed it
over to Ajāta-sattu. Then Deva-datta said, ‘Give orders, O king, to
your men, that I may deprive the Samana Gotama of life.’ And
Ajāta-sattu did so. Then sixteen men were sent to kill Gotama. They
went, and returned and said, ‘We cannot kill him. Great is the power
of the Venerable One.’

Next Deva-datta climbed up the Vulture’s Peak, and hurled down a
mighty rock on the Venerable One. But two mountain peaks came together
and stopped that rock. [Fā-hien says that it hurt one of his toes.
Legge, p. 83.] Now at that time there was at Rāja-gṛiha an elephant
named Nālāgiri, fierce and a man-slayer. And Deva-datta caused the
elephant to be let loose against Gotama. But the Venerable One infused
a sense of love into the elephant. And the elephant extended his trunk
and took up the dust from off the feet of the Venerable One and
sprinkled it over his own head, and retired bowing backwards, gazing
upon the Venerable One.

It may be noted here that the hell to which Deva-datta was condemned for his attempts upon the Buddha’s life, is thus described by Burmese authorities:—

The impious Deva-datta, a cousin and brother-in-law of the Buddha,
suffers terrible punishment in Hell. His feet are sunk ankle-deep in
burning marl. His head is incased with a red hot metal cap down to the
lobe of the ears. Two large red-hot bars transfix him from back to
front, two horizontally from right to left, and one impales him from
head to foot. (Shway Yoe’s ‘Burman,’ i. 121.)

It should be mentioned in connexion with Rāja-gṛiha that Ajāta-ṡatru built a grand Stūpa there, over a portion of the Buddha’s ashes, soon after his cremation.

Another fact which enhances the interest of this place is the propinquity of the celebrated Satta-paṇṇi cave (p. 55), where the Buddhist brotherhood first assembled after their leader’s death.

_Ṡrāvastī._

Ṡrāvastī (Pāli, Sāvatthī), sometimes spelt Ṡrāvasti, has been identified by General Cunningham with a place now called Sāhet-Māhet, about fifty-eight miles north of Ajūdhyā in Oudh. The town is said to derive its name from the fact that it was built by a certain King Ṡrāvasta. Other native authorities derive it from a Ṛishi named Sāvattha, who is said to have resided there. It was certainly the ancient capital of Kosala (Oudh), and was ruled over by King Prasena-jit (Pāli, Pasenadi), who was Gautama’s contemporary. Moreover, it was the Buddha’s favourite place of retreat[205] during the rainy seasons (p. 48 of this volume), about half of his Vassas having been spent there[206] in the Jeta-vana monastery built for him by the wealthy merchant Anātha-piṇḍika (Anepidu), sometimes called Su-datta.

Doubtless on this account Ṡrāvastī was once much resorted to by the Buddha’s followers, and ultimately became an important seat of Buddhist learning.

The celebrated monastery, the ruins of which still exist, was erected in the garden (vana) of Prince Jeta, who parted with the land to Su-datta on condition that he would cover it with gold coins. This was done, till eighteen krores of coins had been spread out like a pavement on the ground. Both Fā-hien and Hiouen Thsang mention this incident, and the former states that the monastery was seven stories high[207]. The pavement of coins is represented in one of the sculptures belonging to the Stūpa of Bharhut (Cunningham, pp. 84-87), as well as on one of the pillars of Aṡoka’s railing at Buddha-Gayā.

Ṡrāvastī was the place where, according to Fā-hien, the first sandal-wood image of Buddha was set up in a monastery by King Prasena-jit (see p. 471)[208]. A colossal erect figure of the Buddha was found here in a temple excavated by Sir A. Cunningham, but this was of stone.

With regard to the celebrated sandal-wood image, Fā-hien (p. 57) relates a strange legend of its preservation by a miracle:—

‘The kings and people of the countries around vied with one another in
their offerings (to the image). Hanging up about it silken canopies,
scattering flowers, burning incense, and lighting lamps. It happened
that a rat, carrying in its mouth the wick of a lamp, set one of the
canopies on fire, which caught the Vihāra, and the seven stories were
all consumed. The kings and people were all very sad, supposing that
the sandal-wood image had been burned; but lo! when a small Vihāra to
the east was opened, there was seen the original image!’

Fā-hien goes on to describe another miracle:—

‘To the north-west of the Vihāra there is a grove called “The getting
of Eyes.” Formerly there were five hundred blind men, who lived here;
Buddha preached his Law to them, and they all got back their eyesight.
Full of joy they stuck their staves in the earth, and did reverence.
The staves immediately began to grow, and formed a grove’ (Legge, pp.
58, 59).

Hiouen Thsang states that in his time the towns and monasteries about Ṡrāvastī were mostly in ruins. He, too, gives an interesting account of a miraculous incident which occurred there:—

To the north-east of the Jeta-vana garden is the place where the
Buddha washed a sick Monk, who lived apart by himself in a solitary
place. The Lord of the World seeing him inquired, ‘What is your
affliction?’ He answered, ‘In former days, my disposition being a
careless one, I never looked on any sick man with pity, and now when I
am sick, no one looks on me.’ Thereupon the Buddha said to him, ‘My
son! I will look on you,’ and touching him with his hand, he healed
the sickness. Then leading him forth, he washed his body, and gave him
new clothes, and said, ‘From this time forward be diligent and exert
yourself.’ Hearing this, the penitent monk, moved by gratitude and
filled with joy, followed the Buddha and became his disciple. (Founded
on Beal, ii. 5, abridged.)

_Vaiṡālī._

Vaiṡālī (in Pāli Vesālī, now Besārh) lies twenty miles north of Hāji-pur, on the left bank of the Ganges, and twenty-seven north-east of Patnā. This town (the city of the Liććhavis) is celebrated as the scene of the second Council (p. 57). Near it, at a place called Bakhra, is a celebrated ancient pillar surmounted by a lion (see Cunningham, i. 59). Vaiṡālī, however, is chiefly noted as one of the places where Gautama often preached and taught, and where he stopped on his way to Kusinārā, the place of his death. His usual residence was in a Vihāra, described by Fā-hien as double-galleried, and in a garden presented to him by the courtesan Amba-pālī, whom he converted and induced to live a virtuous life. He also resided for the fifth year of his teaching in a building called the Kūṭāgāra[209] hall.

Hiouen Thsang speaks of the town and of the objects of interest round it thus (Beal, ii. 66-75):—

Both heretics and believers are found here living together. There are
several hundred monasteries (Saṅghārāmas) which are mostly
dilapidated. There are also several Deva temples, occupied by
sectaries of different kinds. The followers of the Nirgranthas (i. e.
of the Jains) are very numerous.

To the north is a Stūpa which indicates the place where Tathāgata
stopped and took leave of the Liććhavis, on his way to Kuṡi-nagara to
die. Wishing him to quit the world, Māra (compare p. 41) came to
Buddha and said, ‘You have now dwelt sufficiently long in the world.
Those whom you have saved from the circling streams of transmigration
are as numerous as the sand.’ The Buddha replied, ‘No, those who are
saved are as the grains of dust on my nail; those who are not saved
are like the grains of dust on the whole earth. Nevertheless, after
three months I shall die.’ Māra hearing this was rejoiced, and
departed.

Both within and without the city of Vaiṡālī and all round it, the
sacred vestiges are so numerous, that it would be difficult to recount
them all. To the north-west is a Stūpa at the spot where Buddha dwelt
when he recited the history of his former birth (Jātaka) as a
Ćakra-vartin or Universal Monarch (compare p. 423) possessed of the
seven treasures. To the south-east is a great Stūpa, marking the place
where the convocation of the seven hundred sages and saints was held,
one hundred and ten years after the Nirvāṇa of Buddha, to compel the
monks who had broken the laws of Buddha to obey them.

It appears that the Liććhavis of Vaiṡālī obtained a large quantity of the relics of the Buddha’s body, and built a Stūpa over them.

According to Fā-hien they also erected a Stūpa over half the relics of the burnt body of Ānanda (see p. 47 of this volume), the other being deposited near Rāja-gṛiha. His narrative runs as follows:—

When Ānanda was going from Magadha to Vaiṡālī, wishing his
Pari-nirvāṇa to take place there, king Ajāta-ṡatru heard of his
intention, and set out with his retinue to follow him.

The Liććhavis, too, when they heard that Ānanda was coming to their
city, went out to meet him. In this way both parties arrived together
at the river, and Ānanda, thinking to himself that he ought to please
both, burnt his own body in the middle of the river, and thus attained
Pari-nirvāṇa in a fiery ecstasy of Samādhi. Then his body was divided
into two, so that each got one half as a sacred relic (Legge, pp.
75-77).

_Kauṡāmbī._

Kauṡāmbī (in Pāli Kosāmbī), now Kosam[210], on the river Jumnā, about thirty miles from Allahābād, was once a place hallowed by many Brāhmanical associations, and is mentioned in the Rāmāyaṇa. It was the capital of the Kauṡāmba country, and is said to have been founded by Kuṡāmba, tenth in descent from Purūravas. Without doubt it was one of the most ancient cities of India. It was also the city of King Udayana, whose story is alluded to by the greatest of all Sanskrit poets, Kāli-dāsa, in his ‘Cloud-Messenger[211].’ Furthermore, Kauṡāmbī is the city in which the scene of the Sanskṛit drama Ratnāvalī was laid[212].

The Buddha resided there in the sixth and ninth years of his Buddhahood, and probably visited the place at other times. This was the chief cause of its reputation in connexion with Buddhism. But it also derived its sacred character from the fact that it contained the celebrated sandal-wood image[213] of the Buddha, believed to have been carved during his life-time, by a sculptor sent by Moggallāna (see last line, p. 414) at King Udayana’s request, to the Trayastriṉṡa heaven, when the Buddha was there preaching the Law to his mother (see p. 207).

In a village near at hand Sir A. Cunningham (i. 308) found two sculptured pillars, and the pedestal of a statue inscribed with the ‘Ye dharmā’ formula (see p. 104). A great monolith was also discovered there. In Fā-hien’s time a Vihāra existed at the spot where the Buddha had explained the Law (Legge, p. 96). Hiouen Thsang mentions that a lofty Stūpa, 200 feet high, was erected by Aṡoka near at hand.

There was also a cavern in which the Buddha had left his shadow impressed on the rock. He also speaks of ten monasteries all in ruins.

_Nālanda._

Nālanda[214] was the greatest seat of Buddhist learning in India. It has been identified by Sir A. Cunningham with the village of Baragaon, about seven miles north of Rāja-gṛiha, about thirty miles south-east of the modern Patnā, and about forty miles from Buddha-Gayā. Sir Alexander states that Baragaon possesses immense ruins and more numerous specimens of sculpture than any other place visited by him. According to Hiouen Thsang, the Buddha preached the Law there for three months. The vast extent and importance of the monastery (Saṅghārāma) or monasteries at Nālanda have been already alluded to (p. 169). Fā-hien, however, does not mention them, which seems to indicate that they were built subsequently to A.D. 425. Hiouen Thsang, who travelled in the seventh century, is said to have resided there for five years as a student. Ten thousand monks, renowned for their learning, lived and studied in six magnificent buildings. The following is an extract from the later Chinese traveller’s description of it (Beal, ii. 70):—

The monks of Nālanda, to the number of several thousands, are men of
the highest ability. Their conduct is pure and unblamable, although
the rules of the monastery are severe. The day is not sufficient for
asking and answering profound questions. From morning till night the
monks engage in discussion; the old and the young mutually helping one
another. Those who cannot discuss questions out of the Tripiṭaka are
little esteemed, and are obliged to hide themselves for shame. Hence
learned men from different cities come here in multitudes to settle
their doubts; and thence the streams of their wisdom spread far and
wide. For this reason some persons usurp the name of Nālanda students,
and in going to and fro receive honour in consequence.

If men from other quarters desire to enter and take part in the
discussions, the keeper of the gate proposes some hard questions;
those who are unable to answer have to retire. One must have studied
deeply both old and new books, before gaining admission. Those
students who come as strangers, have to show their ability by hard
discussion; those who fail compared with those who succeed are as
seven or eight to ten.

_Saṅkāṡya._

Saṅkāṡya, now called Saṅkisa, about fifty miles north-west of Kanouj, was identified by Sir A. Cunningham in 1842. It was evidently once a large town with many remarkable monuments, and ought to be reckoned among the most sacred places of Buddhism. Hiouen Thsang describes it under the name Kie-pi-tha (Kapitha).

It is said that the Buddha’s mother died seven days after his birth (see p. 24 of this volume), and was thus deprived of the advantage of hearing the Law from her son’s lips. To compensate her for this loss, the Buddha ascended by his own supernatural power in three steps to the Trayastriṉṡa heaven of Indra (p. 207), to which his mother had been transported, and there recited the Law for three months for her benefit. His return to earth seems to have been a more difficult matter; for his descent was not effected without the help of a ladder with three parallel flights of steps, made for him by the god Indra.

Fā-hien describes this miraculous incident in the following manner (Legge, 48, abridged):—

Saṅkāṡya is the place where Buddha came down after ascending to the
Trayastriṉṡa heaven, and there preaching his Law for three months for
his mother’s benefit. Buddha had ascended there by his supernatural
power, without the knowledge of his disciples; but seven days before
his return, Anuruddha, by his own supernatural vision, saw him in
heaven, and requested Moggallāna (see p. 47 of this volume) to ascend
to Indra’s heaven to inquire after ‘the World-honoured one.’
Moggallāna did so, and returned with the information that in seven
days the Buddha would return. Then the kings of eight countries with
their people, not having seen Buddha for a long time, were all eagerly
looking up for him to return. But the female mendicant Utpalā[215]
thought in her heart, ‘To-day, the kings, with their ministers and
people, are all going to meet Buddha. I am but a woman; how shall I
succeed in being the first to see him?’ Then Buddha, by his
supernatural power, changed her into the appearance of a Universal
Emperor, so that she was the foremost of all to meet and to do
reverence to him.

At his descent three flights of steps were created. Buddha descended
on the middle flight, composed of the seven precious substances;
Mahā-Brahmā, king of the Brahmā heavens (see p. 211 of this volume),
came down by a flight of silver steps on the right side, and Ṡakra
(Indra), lord of the thirty-three divinities (p. 207), descended by
steps of gold on the left side, holding a canopy made of the seven
precious substances. An innumerable multitude of gods followed. No
sooner had the Buddha come down than all three flights disappeared in
the ground, except seven steps, which continued to be visible.

Afterwards King Aṡoka, being eager to ascertain where their ends
rested, sent men to find out by digging. They dug down till they
reached a yellow spring, but could not discover the bottom of the
steps. Hence the king felt an increase of devotion, and built a Vihāra
over the steps, with a standing image of Buddha sixteen cubits high.
Behind the Vihāra he erected a stone pillar, about fifty cubits high,
with a lion on the top of it. A dispute arose between some heretics
and the Buddhist monks about the ownership of the place, and the
former agreed to give up their claim if any supernatural sign
occurred; upon which the lion on the column gave a great roar.

Fā-hien adds that a Stūpa was erected on the spot where Buddha descended; another where the female mendicant caught the first sight of Buddha at his descent.

The basement of King Aṡoka’s pillar was found by General Cunningham in 1876. On a previous occasion he discovered the capital of the ancient pillar surmounted by an elephant, which may have been mistaken by Fā-hien for a lion (see Cunningham, i. 274).

Hiouen Thsang, in his account of the three ladders (Beal, i. 202), says that they were arranged side by side from north to south, so that those who descended might have their faces to the east, and that the flight by which Indra descended was of crystal (not of gold), while that used by Brahmā was of silver, and the Buddha’s steps were of gold (or of the seven precious substances, of which gold was one). This indicated the superiority of Buddha over the two gods who accompanied him.

In harmony with these ideas Indra and Brahmā are sometimes represented in Buddhistic sculptures standing one on each side of the Buddha, and protecting him. They were also present at his birth (see p. 483 and engraving opposite p. 477).

Hiouen Thsang adds that some centuries before his time the ladders still existed in their original position; but, when he visited the spot, they had sunk into the earth, and disappeared. Saṅkāṡya, however, was still much frequented. A magnificent image of the Buddha was preserved in a large monastery there, and 1000 priests were studying the doctrines of the Sammatīya, a school of the Hīna-yāna, in four monasteries. Furthermore, many ‘myriads’ of pious laymen lived in the neighbourhood.

The story of Buddha’s descent from heaven by help of golden steps is commonly believed both in Ceylon and Burma to the present day. The legend, as current in Ceylon, is given by Spence Hardy (Manual, p. 311).

It appears that when Buddha was about to return to earth from the god Indra’s heaven, the god reflected that, although Buddha had ascended in three steps, his descent ought to be celebrated ‘with special honours.’ He therefore caused a ladder of gold to extend from the Mountain Meru (see p. 206 of the present Lectures) to Saṅkāṡya, 80,000 Yojanas[216] in length. The steps were alternately of gold, silver, coral, ruby, emerald and other gems. At the right side of the ladder he created another, also of gold, by which Indra, blowing the conch, descended, accompanied by his own gods; and on the left another ladder of silver, by which Brahmā and the Brahmā gods (p. 210) descended, holding umbrellas over the Buddha. The three flights of steps appeared to the people of the earth like three rainbows. When Buddha commenced his descent all the worlds were illuminated by the light from his body.

With this extravagant myth—believed in as a historical fact by most Buddhists—we may contrast the simple narrative of Jacob’s dream in Genesis xxviii.

Nevertheless the legend is curious, and I was greatly pleased by discovering in the Indian Section of the South Kensington Museum, a small bronze model of the triple ladder, lately dug up at Moulmein. Mr. Purdon Clarke, C.I.E., the present Keeper, kindly had the model photographed, and presented me with a drawing of it. This I have had engraved, and here give.

It will be observed that an image of the Buddha is represented above the ladder, as if seated in Indra’s heaven, and as if engaged in the act of teaching there; while the earth is typically represented below in the shape of a square platform, with four small Buddhist temples, one at each of the four quarters of the compass (compare p. 85).

A ruder representation of the ladder occurs in the sculptures of the Bharhut Stūpa (Cunningham, p. 92). The General found an imperfect representation of it carved in soap-stone at Saṅkisa in 1876 (Report, xi. 26).

_Sāketa._

Sāketa is a name of the ancient city Ayodhyā (now Ajūdhyā) described in Valmīki’s great epic the Rāmāyanṇa, and believed to have been founded by Manu, the progenitor of the human race. This renowned city, which was a great centre of Brāhmanism, was also, no doubt, at one time a considerable centre of Buddhism. At all events, the identification of certain Buddhist sites there has been made clear by Sir A. Cunningham, who considers Sāketa to be the same as the Pi-so-kia (Viṡākhā) of Hiouen Thsang and the Shā-che or Shā-khe of Fā-hien. The former found twenty monasteries there, and 3000 priests studying the Little Vehicle according to the Sammatīya school; also fifty Deva temples and very many heretics.

In one of the monasteries resided the Arhat Deva-ṡarmā, who wrote a treatise called the Vijñāna-kāya-ṡāstra in defence of the doctrine of the non-existence of any Ego or personal self. A Stūpa, 200 feet high, was built by Aṡoka in the place where Buddha is supposed to have preached and taught during six years.

Both Fā-hien and Hiouen Thsang mention the legend that he one day threw on the ground a twig he had used to clean his teeth (danta-kāshṭha), which sprouted and grew into a miraculous tree seven cubits high, at which height it always remained. The Brāhmans became jealous of the miracle and sometimes cut the tree down, sometimes uprooted it, but it always grew again and remained at the same height. Here also is the place where the four Buddhas (p. 400) walked and sat (Legge, pp. 54, 55; Beal, i. 240).

_Kanyā-kubja (Kanouj)._

Kanyā-kubja[217] is the Sanskṛit name for the ancient city of Kanouj; (often spelt Kanoj), once the capital of Northern India, and said to be the oldest city in India, next to Ayodhyā.

When Hiouen Thsang visited this place it was the capital of the celebrated monarch Harsha-vardhana, also called Ṡilāditya (see p. 167 of this volume), whose kingdom extended from Kashmīr to Assam and from the river Narbadā to Nepāl. When he carried off a tooth-relic of the Buddha from Kashmīr, his procession back to his capital was attended by a large number of tributary kings. Hiouen Thsang, in describing the piety of this great monarch, says of him, that ‘he sought to plant the tree of religious merit to such an extent that he forgot to sleep and to eat.’ He goes on to state as follows:—

King Ṡilāditya forbade the slaughter of any living thing as food on
pain of death. He built several thousand Stūpas, each about 100 feet
high. Then in all the highways of the towns and villages throughout
India he erected hospices, and stationed physicians there with
medicines for travellers and the poor persons round about. On all
spots where there were holy traces of Buddha, he built monasteries.
Once in five years he held the great assembly called Moksha. Then
every year he assembled the monks, and bestowed on them the four kinds
of alms (food, drink, medicine, clothing). He ordered them to carry on
discussions, and himself judged of their arguments. He rewarded the
good and punished the wicked. He promoted the men of talent, and
degraded evil men. Wherever he moved he dwelt in a travelling-palace,
and provided choice meats for men of all sorts of religion. Of these
the Buddhist priests would be perhaps a thousand; the Brāhmans five
hundred[218]. He divided each day into three portions. During the
first he occupied himself on matters of government; during the second
he practised himself in religious devotion (Beal, i. 214).

Notwithstanding Hiouen Thsang’s description of various Stūpas, monasteries and monuments seen by him, General Sir A. Cunningham was not able to identify any of the existing ruins in the neighbourhood of Kanouj, ‘so completely has almost every trace of Hindū occupation been obliterated by the Musalmāns’ (Report, i. 284).

Fā-hien mentions a Stūpa near the town, built on the spot where the Buddha preached a discourse on ‘the bitterness and vanity of life,’ comparing it to ‘a bubble or foam on water’ (Legge, 54).

_Pāṭali-putra._

Pāṭali-putra (now Patnā) seems to have existed as a village at a very early period. Its ancient name was Kusuma-pura. It was enlarged and practically founded about the time of the Buddha’s death by Ajāta-ṡatru[219], who did not, however, remove there from his own capital city Rāja-gṛiha. One of his successors, the great King Aṡoka, the well-known patron of Buddhism (p. 66), converted Pāṭali-putra into the metropolis of the kingdom of Magadha, and it thenceforward became an important centre of Buddhism. Sir A. Cunningham states that it continued flourishing as the capital of the great Gupta kingdom during the fourth and fifth centuries of the Christian era.

Fā-hien relates a tradition that King Aṡoka’s palace in the city was built by genii (spirits), who brought great rocks and constructed chambers by heaping them together. He describes a monastery belonging to the Great Vehicle, and a temple belonging to the Little Vehicle, in the neighbourhood of the city, and gives an account of a Buddhist procession of four-wheeled cars and images which took place once a year. Each car was twenty-two feet or more high, and had five stories, with niches on four sides, in which were placed images of the Buddha and the Bodhi-sattvas, along with images of the gods (dēvas). They were made to look like moving pagodas (or Dāgabas). The Hindūs, as we know, have similar car-processions to this day, when the images of Kṛishṇa are dragged through the streets of towns and villages.

Fā-hien mentions the interesting fact that the nobles of the country had founded hospitals in the city to which destitute, crippled, and diseased persons might repair, and receive advice, food, and medicines suited to their cases, gratuitously. He adds that Aṡoka, wishing to build 84,000 Stūpas[220] in place of the eight originally constructed over the Buddha’s ashes, built the first Stūpa and a pillar near Pāṭali-putra.

Near it he says was an impression of the Buddha’s foot, over which a temple with a door towards the north had been erected (Legge, pp. 77-80; Beal, i. lv-lviii). The position of the Stūpa and column has been discovered by Sir A. Cunningham (xi. 157, 158).

_Kesarīya._

Kesarīya is a large village about thirty miles distant from Vaiṡālī (Besārh). It is chiefly remarkable for a mound of ruined brick-work, 62 feet in height, supporting a solid brick Stūpa (nearly 68½ feet in diameter), which is also partly in ruins. The people call it the Stūpa of the Ćakravartī (Universal Monarch) Veṇa, father of King Pṛithu. In Manu, VII. 41; IX. 66, 67, King Veṇa is described as an arrogant monarch who resisted the authority of the Brāhmans. Probably he favoured the Buddhists. At any rate the Buddhists assert that the remarkable Stūpa at this place was built to mark the spot where Gautama Buddha preached a discourse, in which he described one of his previous births as a Ćakravartī king.

Not far from the Stūpa a small mound has been excavated, and the head and shoulders of a colossal statue of Buddha brought to light (Cunningham, i. 67).

_Kuṡi-nagara._

Kuṡi-nagara (in Pāli Kusi-nārā) was the place where the Buddha died, or—to speak more correctly—passed away in Pari-nirvāṇa (see pp. 48, 49, 140). It was long searched for in vain, but has recently been identified by Sir A. Cunningham with the modern Kasia, eighty miles east of Kapila-vastu, and 120 miles N.N.E. of Benares.