~Buddha's Subjects of Discourse~
Fâ-Hien stayed at the Dragon vihara till after the summer retreat, [1]
and then, travelling to the southeast for seven yojanas, he arrived at
the city of Kanyakubja, lying along the Ganges. There are two
monasteries in it, the inmates of which are students of the hinayâna. At
a distance from the city of six or seven li, on the west, on the
northern bank of the Ganges, is a place where Buddha preached the Law to
his disciples. It has been handed down that his subjects of discourse
were such as "The bitterness and vanity of life as impermanent and
uncertain," and that "The body is as a bubble or foam on the water." At
this spot a tope was erected, and still exists.
Having crossed the Ganges, and gone south for three yojanas, the
travellers arrived at a village named A-le, containing places where
Buddha preached the Law, where he sat, and where he walked, at all of
which topes have been built.
[Footnote 1: This was, probably, in A.D. 405.]