KOŚALA AND ŚRÂVASTÎ. THE JETAVANA VIHÂRA AND OTHER MEMORIALS AND
LEGENDS OF BUDDHA. SYMPATHY OF THE MONKS WITH THE PILGRIMS.
Going on from this to the south, for eight yojanas, (the travellers)
came to the city of Śrâvastî[1] in the kingdom of Kośala,[2] in which
the inhabitants were few and far between, amounting in all (only) to a
few more than two hundred families; the city where king Prasenajit[3]
ruled, and the place of the old vihâra of Mahâ-prajâpatî;[4] of the
well and walls of (the house of) the (Vaiśya) head Sudatta;[5]
and where the Aṅgulimâlya[6] became an Arhat, and his body was
(afterwards) burned on his attaining to pari-nirvâṇa. At all these
places topes were subsequently erected, which are still existing in
the city. The Brahmâns, with their contrary doctrine, became full of
hatred and envy in their hearts, and wished to destroy them, but there
came from the heavens such a storm of crashing thunder and flashing
lightning that they were not able in the end to effect their purpose.
As you go out from the city by the south gate, and 1,200 paces from
it, the (Vaiśya) head Sudatta built a vihâra, facing the south; and
when the door was open, on each side of it there was a stone pillar,
with the figure of a wheel on the top of that on the left, and the
figure of an ox on the top of that on the right. On the left and right
of the building the ponds of water clear and pure, the thickets of
trees always luxuriant, and the numerous flowers of various hues,
constituted a lovely scene, the whole forming what is called the
Jetavana vihâra.[7]
When Buddha went up to the Trayastriṃśas heaven, and preached the
Law for the benefit of his mother,[8] (after he had been absent for)
ninety days, Prasenajit, longing to see him, caused an image of him to
be carved in Gośîrsha Chandana wood,[9] and put in the place where he
usually sat. When Buddha on his return entered the vihâra, this image
immediately left its place, and came forth to meet him. Buddha said
to it, ‘Return to your seat. After I have attained to pari-nirvâṇa,
you will serve as a pattern to the four classes of my disciples,’[10]
and on this the image returned to its seat. This was the very first
of all the images (of Buddha), and that which men subsequently copied.
Buddha then removed, and dwelt in a small vihâra on the south side
(of the other), a different place from that containing the image, and
twenty paces distant from it.
The Jetavana vihâra was originally of seven storeys. The kings
and people of the countries around vied with one another in their
offerings, hanging up about it silken streamers and canopies,
scattering flowers, burning incense, and lighting lamps, so as to make
the night as bright as the day. This they did day after day without
ceasing. (It happened that) a rat, carrying in its mouth the wick of
a lamp, set one of the streamers or canopies on fire, which caught the
vihâra, and the seven storeys were all consumed. The kings, with their
officers and people, were all very sad and distressed, supposing that
the sandal-wood image had been burned; but lo! after four or five
days, when the door of a small vihâra on the east was opened, there
was immediately seen the original image. They were all greatly
rejoiced, and co-operated in restoring the vihâra. When they had
succeeded in completing two storeys, they removed the image back to
its former place.
When Fâ-hien and Tâo-ching first arrived at the Jetavana monastery,
and thought how the World-honoured one had formerly resided there for
twenty-five years, painful reflections arose in their minds. Born in a
border-land, along with their like-minded friends, they had travelled
through so many kingdoms; some of those friends had returned (to
their own land), and some had (died), proving the impermanence and
uncertainty of life; and to-day they saw the place where Buddha had
lived now unoccupied by him. They were melancholy through their pain
of heart, and the crowd of monks came out, and asked them from what
kingdom they were come. ‘We are come,’ they replied, ‘from the land
of Han.’ ‘Strange,’ said the monks with a sigh, ‘that men of a border
country should be able to come here in search of our Law!’ Then they
said to one another, ‘During all the time that we, preceptors and
monks,[11] have succeeded to one another, we have never seen men of
Han, followers of our system, arrive here.’
Four le to the north-west of the vihâra there is a grove called ‘The
Getting of Eyes.’ Formerly there were five hundred blind men, who
lived here in order that they might be near the vihâra.[12] Buddha
preached his Law to them, and they all got back their eyesight. Full
of joy, they stuck their staves in the earth, and with their heads and
faces on the ground, did reverence. The staves immediately began to
grow, and they grew to be great. People made much of them, and no one
dared to cut them down, so that they came to form a grove. It was in
this way that it got its name, and most of the Jetavana monks, after
they had taken their midday meal, went to the grove, and sat there in
meditation.
Six or seven le north-east from the Jetavana, mother Vaiśakha[13]
built another vihâra, to which she invited Buddha and his monks, and
which is still existing.
To each of the great residences for monks at the Jetavana vihâra there
were two gates, one facing the east and the other facing the north.
The park (containing the whole) was the space of ground which the
(Vaiśya) head Sudatta purchased by covering it with gold coins. The
vihâra was exactly in the centre. Here Buddha lived for a longer time
than at any other place, preaching his Law and converting men. At the
places where he walked and sat they also (subsequently) reared
topes, each having its particular name; and here was the place where
Sundari[14] murdered a person and then falsely charged Buddha (with
the crime). Outside the east gate of the Jetavana, at a distance of
seventy paces to the north, on the west of the road, Buddha held a
discussion with the (advocates of the) ninety-six schemes of erroneous
doctrine, when the king and his great officers, the householders, and
people were all assembled in crowds to hear it. Then a woman belonging
to one of the erroneous systems, by name Chañchamana,[15] prompted by
the envious hatred in her heart, and having put on (extra) clothes in
front of her person, so as to give her the appearance of being with
child, falsely accused Buddha before all the assembly of having acted
unlawfully (towards her). On this, Śakra, Ruler of Devas, changed
himself and some devas into white mice, which bit through the strings
about her waist; and when this was done, the (extra) clothes which she
wore dropt down on the ground. The earth at the same time was rent,
and she went (down) alive into hell.[16] (This) also is the place
where Devadatta,[17] trying with empoisoned claws to injure
Buddha, went down alive into hell. Men subsequently set up marks to
distinguish where both these events took place.
Further, at the place where the discussion took place, they reared a
vihâra rather more than sixty cubits high, having in it an image
of Buddha in a sitting posture. On the east of the road there was
a devâlaya[18] of (one of) the contrary systems, called ‘The Shadow
Covered,’ right opposite the vihâra on the place of discussion, with
(only) the road between them, and also rather more than sixty
cubits high. The reason why it was called ‘The Shadow Covered’ was
this:—When the sun was in the west, the shadow of the vihâra of the
World-honoured one fell on the devâlaya of a contrary system; but when
the sun was in the east, the shadow of that devâlaya was diverted to
the north, and never fell on the vihâra of Buddha. The mal-believers
regularly employed men to watch their devâlaya, to sweep and water
(all about it), to burn incense, light the lamps, and present
offerings; but in the morning the lamps were found to have been
suddenly removed, and in the vihâra of Buddha. The Brahmâns were
indignant, and said, ‘Those Śramaṇas take out lamps and use them for
their own service of Buddha, but we will not stop our service for
you!’[19] On that night the Brahmâns themselves kept watch, when they
saw the deva spirits which they served take the lamps and go three
times round the vihâra of Buddha and present offerings. After this
ministration to Buddha they suddenly disappeared. The Brahmâns
thereupon knowing how great was the spiritual power of Buddha,
forthwith left their families, and became monks.[20] It has been
handed down, that, near the time when these things occurred, around
the Jetavana vihâra there were ninety-eight monasteries, in all of
which there were monks residing, excepting only in one place which was
vacant. In this Middle Kingdom[21] there are ninety-six[21] sorts of
views, erroneous and different from our system, all of which recognise
this world and the future world[22] (and the connexion between them).
Each had its multitude of followers, and they all beg their food:
only they do not carry the alms-bowl. They also, moreover, seek (to
acquire) the blessing (of good deeds) on unfrequented ways, setting
up on the road-side houses of charity, where rooms, couches, beds, and
food and drink are supplied to travellers, and also to monks, coming
and going as guests, the only difference being in the time (for which
those parties remain).
There are also companies of the followers of Devadatta still existing.
They regularly make offerings to the three previous Buddhas, but not
to Śâkyamuni Buddha.[23]
Four le south-east from the city of Śrâvastî, a tope has been
erected at the place where the World-honoured one encountered king
Virûdhaha,[24] when he wished to attack the kingdom of Shay-e,[24] and
took his stand before him at the side of the road.[25]
NOTES
[1] In Singhalese, Sewet; here evidently the capital of Kośala. It is
placed by Cunningham (archæological Survey) on the south bank of
the Rapti, about fifty-eight miles north of Ayodyâ or Oude. There are
still the ruins of a great town, the name being Sâhet Mâhat. It was in
this town, or in its neighbourhood, that Śâkyamuni spent many years of
his life after he became Buddha.
[2] There were two Indian kingdoms of this name, a southern and a
northern. This was the northern, a part of the present Oudh.
[3] In Singhalese, Pase-naḍi, meaning ‘leader of the victorious army.’
He was one of the earliest converts and chief patrons of Śâkyamuni.
Eitel calls him (p. 95) one of the originators of Buddhist idolatory,
because of the statue which is mentioned in this chapter. See Hardy’s
M. B., pp. 283, 284, et al.
[4] Explained by ‘Path of Love,’ and ‘Lord of Life.’ Prajâpatî was
aunt and nurse of Śâkyamuni, the first woman admitted to the monkhood,
and the first superior of the first Buddhistic convent. She is yet to
become a Buddha.
[5] Sudatta, meaning ‘almsgiver,’ was the original name of
Anâtha-piṇḍika (or Piṇḍada), a wealthy householder, or Vaiśya head,
of Śrâvastî, famous for his liberality (Hardy, Anepidu). Of his old
house, only the well and walls remained at the time of Fâ-hien’s visit
to Śrâvastî.
[6] The Aṅgulimâlya were a sect or set of Śivaitic fanatics, who made
assassination a religious act. The one of them here mentioned had
joined them by the force of circumstances. Being converted by Buddha,
he became a monk; but when it is said in the text that he ‘got the
Tâo,’ or doctrine, I think that expression implies more than his
conversion, and is equivalent to his becoming an Arhat. His name in
Pâli is Aṅgulimâla. That he did become an Arhat is clear from his
autobiographical poem in the ‘Songs of the Theras.’
[7] Eitel (p. 37) says:—‘A noted vihâra in the suburbs of Śrâvastî,
erected in a park which Anâtha-piṇḍika bought of prince Jeta, the son
of Prasenajit. Śâkyamuni made this place his favourite residence for
many years. Most of the Sûtras (authentic and supposititious) date
from this spot.’
[8] See chapter xvii.
[9] See chapter xiii.
[10] Ârya, meaning ‘honourable,’ ‘venerable,’ is a title given only to
those who have mastered the four spiritual truths:—(1) that ‘misery’
is a necessary condition of all sentient existence; this is duḥkha:
(2) that the ‘accumulation’ of misery is caused by the passions; this
is samudaya: (3) that the ‘extinction’ of passion is possible; this is
nirodha: and (4) that the ‘path’ leads to the extinction of passion;
which is mârga. According to their attainment of these truths,
the Âryas, or followers of Buddha, are distinguished into four
classes,—Śrotâpannas, Sakṛidâgâmins, Anâgâmins, and Arhats. E. H., p.
14.
[11] This is the first time that Fâ-hien employs the name Ho-shang
(和尙), which is now popularly used in China for all Buddhist monks
without distinction of rank or office. It is the representative of
the Sanskrit term Upadhyâya, ‘explained,’ says Eitel (p. 155) by ‘a
self-taught teacher,’ or by ‘he who knows what is sinful and what is
not sinful,’ with the note, ‘In India the vernacular of this term is
殞社 (? munshee [? Bronze]); in Kustana and Kashgar they say 鶻社
(hwa-shay); and from the latter term are derived the Chinese
synonyms, 和闍 (ho-shay) and 和尙 (ho-shang).’ The Indian term
was originally a designation for those who teach only a part of the
Vedas, the Vedâṅgas. Adopted by Buddhists of Central Asia, it was made
to signify the priests of the older ritual, in distinction from the
Lamas. In China it has been used first as a synonym for 法師, monks
engaged in popular teaching (teachers of the Law), in distinction
from 律師, disciplinists, and 禪師, contemplative philosophers
(meditationists); then it was used to designate the abbots of
monasteries. But it is now popularly applied to all Buddhist monks.
In the text there seems to be implied some distinction between
the ‘teachers’ and the ‘ho-shang;’—probably, the Pâli Â_k_ariya and
Upa_ggh_âya; see Sacred Books of the East, vol. xiii, Vinaya Texts,
pp. 178, 179.
[12] It might be added, ‘as depending on it,’ in order to bring out
the full meaning of the 依 in the text. If I recollect aright, the
help of the police had to be called in at Hong Kong in its early
years, to keep the approaches to the Cathedral free from the number
of beggars, who squatted down there during service, hoping that
the hearers would come out with softened hearts, and disposed to be
charitable. I found the popular tutelary temples in Peking and other
places, and the path up Mount Tʽâi in Shan-lung similarly frequented.
[13] The wife of Anâtha-piṇḍika in note 5, and who became
‘mother superior’ of many nunneries. See her history in M. B., pp.
220–227. I am surprised it does not end with the statement that she
is to become a Buddha.
[14] See E. H., p. 136. Hsüan-chwang does not give the name of this
murderer; see in Julien’s ‘Vie et Voyages de Hiouen-thsang,’ p.
125,—‘a heretical Brahmân killed a woman and calumniated Buddha.’ See
also the fuller account in Beal’s ‘Records of Western Countries,’ pp.
7, 8, where the murder is committed by several Brahmâcharins. In this
passage Beal makes Sundari to be the name of the murdered person (a
harlot). But the text cannot be so construed.
[15] Eitel (p. 144) calls her Chañcha; in Singhalese, Chinchi. See the
story about her, M. B., pp. 275–277.
[16] ‘Earth’s prison,’ or ‘one of Earth’s prisons.’ It was the Avîchi
naraka to which she went, the last of the eight hot prisons, where
the culprits die, and are born again in uninterrupted succession
(such being the meaning of Avîchi), though not without hope of final
redemption. E. H. p. 21.
[17] Devadatta was brother of Ânanda, and a near relative therefore
of Śâkyamuni. He was the deadly enemy, however, of the latter. He had
become so in an earlier state of existence, and the hatred continued
in every successive birth, through which they reappeared in the world.
See the accounts of him, and of his various devices against Buddha,
and his own destruction at the last, in M. B., pp. 315–321, 326–330;
and still better, in the Sacred Books of the East, vol. xx, Vinaya
Texts, pp. 233–265. For the particular attempt referred to in the
text, see ‘The Life of the Buddha,’ p. 107. When he was engulphed, and
the flames were around him, he cried out to Buddha to save him, and we
are told that he is expected yet to appear as a Buddha under the name
of Devarâja, in a universe called Deva-soppana. E. H., p. 39.
[18] ‘A devâlaya (天寺 or 天祠), a place in which a deva is
worshipped,—a general name for all Brahmânical temples’ (Eitel, p.
30). We read in the Khang-hsî dictionary under 寺, that when Kaśyapa
Mataṅga came to the Western Regions, with his Classics or Sûtras, he
was lodged in the Court of State-Ceremonial, and that afterwards there
was built for him ‘The Court of the White-horse’ (白馬寺), and
in consequence the name of Sze (寺) came to be given to all Buddhistic
temples. Fâ-hien, however, applies this term only to Brahmânical
temples.
[19] Their speech was somewhat unconnected, but natural enough in
the circumstances. Compare the whole account with the narrative in
I Samuel v. about the Ark and Dagon, that ‘twice-battered god of
Palestine.’
[20] ‘Entered the doctrine or path.’ Three stages in the Buddhistic
life are indicated by Fâ-hien:—‘entering it,’ as here, by becoming
monks (入道); ‘getting it,’ by becoming Arhats (得道); and
‘completing it,’ by becoming Buddha (成道).
[21] It is not quite clear whether the author had in mind here Central
India as a whole, which I think he had, or only Kośala, the part of it
where he then was. In the older teaching, there were only thirty-two
sects, but there may have been three subdivisions of each. See Rhys
Davids’ ‘Buddhism,’ pp. 98, 99.
[22] This mention of ‘the future world’ is an important difference
between the Corean and Chinese texts. The want of it in the latter has
been a stumbling-block in the way of all previous translators. Rémusat
says in a note that ‘the heretics limited themselves to speak of the
duties of man in his actual life without connecting it by the notion
that the metempsychosis with the anterior periods of existence through
which he had passed.’ But this is just the opposite of what Fâ-hien’s
meaning was, according to our Corean text. The notion of ‘the
metempsychosis’ was just that in which all the ninety-six erroneous
systems agreed among themselves and with Buddhism. If he had wished to
say what the French sinologue thinks he does say, moreover, he would
probably have written 皆知今世耳. Let me add, however, that the
connexion which Buddhism holds between the past world (including
the present) and the future is not that of a metempsychosis, or
transmigration of souls, for it does not appear to admit any separate
existence of the soul. Adhering to its own phraseology of ‘the wheel,’
I would call its doctrine that of ‘The Transrotation of Births.’ See
Rhys Davids’ third Hibbert Lecture.
[23] See note 17; and chapter xvii, note 19.
[24] Or, more according to the phonetisation of the text, Vaidûrya.
He was king of Kośala, the son and successor of Prasenajit, and the
destroyer of Kapilavastu, the city of the Śâkya family. His hostility
to the Śâkyas is sufficiently established, and it may be considered as
certain that the name Shay-e, which, according to Julien’s ‘Méthode,’
p. 89, may be read Chiâ-e, is the same as Kiâ-e (迦夷), one of the
phonetisations of Kapilavastu, as given by Eitel.
[25] This would be the interview in the ‘Life of the Buddha’ in
Trübner’s Oriental Series, p. 116, when Virûdhaha on his march found
Buddha under an old sakotato tree. It afforded him no shade; but he
told the king that the thought of the danger of ‘his relatives and
kindred made it shady.’ The king was moved to sympathy for the time,
and went back to Śrâvastî; but the destruction of Kapilavastu was only
postponed for a short space, and Buddha himself acknowledged it to be
inevitable in the connexion of cause and effect.