BHIDA. SYMPATHY OF MONKS WITH THE PILGRIMS.
After they had crossed the river, there was a country named
Pe-tʽoo,[1] where Buddhism was very flourishing, and (the monks)
studied both the mahâyâna and hînayâna. When they saw their
fellow-disciples from Tsʽin 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 Punjâb;’ i.e. it was a portion of
that.
[2] ‘To come forth from their families;’ that is, to become celibates,
and adopt the tonsure.