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high, reminded Fa Hian of his native country, he " gave way to his sorrow- ful feelings, and the tears flowing down filled his eyes." After a residence of two years in Ceylon, and after * obtaining copies of the Vinaya Pitaka and other, works "hitherto unknown * in China, Fa Hian shipped him- self on board a great merchant vessel which carried about 200 men. A great tempest arose, and the ship sprung aleak, and much cargo had to be thrown over- board Fa Hian threw over board his pitcher and his basin, " and was only afraid lest the merchants Digitized SO BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV. should fling into the sea his sacred books and images." The hurricane abated after thirteen days, the passen- gers came to a little island where they stopped the leak, and then put to sea again. " In this ocean there are many pirates who, coming on you suddenly, destroy everything. The sea itself is boundless in ex- tent ; it is impossible to know east or west, except by- observing the sun, moon or stars, and so progress. * * At length the weather clearing up, they got their right bearings and once more shaped a correct course and proceeded onwards," and after over ninety days they reached Ye-po-ti (Java or Sumatra). " In this country heretics and Brahmans flourish." Stopping here for nearly five months, Fa Hian em- barked on board another merchant vessel with a crew of about 200 men, who took fifty days' provisions with them. After they had sailed for over a month, a storm again arose, and the superstitious Brahmans said to one another, " It is because we have got this Sraman (Fa Hian) on board we have no luck, and have incurred this great mischief. Come let us land this Bhikshu on any island we may meet, artd let us not all perish for the sake of one man." But Fa Hian's patron bold- ly stood by him and saved him from a miserable death in some lonely island. After sailing for 82 days they arrived at the southern coast of China. Our readers will not regret the length of the above account of the voyage which we have given. It is Digitized by Google CHAP. VI.] FA HIAN'S ACCOUNT. 8 1 among the very few accounts which have been left to us of the state of navigation between India and China in the Buddhist Period. We learn from this account that merchant vessels from India, with crew of 200 or more, braved the perils of the deep fifteen centuries ago ; that the bold voyagers trusted to the stars and the sun and the moon to know the direction they were going ; and that in fair weather they could thus ascertain their bearings. We learn further that Brahman mer- chants sailed in these vessels to Sumatra and Java and to China ; and that in Sumatra and Java Hindu re- ligion * and civilization flourished. Such enterprise has died out in India with the decline of the nation until a voyage in the present day entails loss of caste ! The travels of Sung Yun (518 A. D.) need not detain us long as he scarcely came as far as Hindustan pro- per. He came to Udyana (near Cabul), and found the king to be a faithful Buddhist and merciful in his administration. He then came to G&ndh&ra, a kingdom which closely resembled Udydna, but the king did not believe the law of Buddha ; he was warlike and powerful, and ever engaged in his frontier wars. Cross- ing the Indus, Sung Yun came to the city Nagarah&ra, and after visiting a few neighbouring sites, commenc- ed his return in 521 A. D. • The present writer has seen in the museum of Leyden in Holland, stone image of Ganesa, Durga, Siva, and other Hindu gods, brought from the temples and shrines of Java. R. C. D., A. L— IH. 6 Digitized by Google CHAPTER VII. HOUEN TSANG'S ACCOUNT OF INDIA. WE now come to the records of the most eminent of Chinese travellers, Houen Tsang, whose story has shed a flood of light on the state of India after the close of the Buddhist Period. He left China in 629 A. D. and came through Ferganah, Sumarkand, Bokhara and Balk, to India where he lived and travelled for many years and finally returned to China in 645 A. D. At the commencement of his account of India, he gives a general description of the arts and manners of the Hin- dus which we will consider when we come to treat of their social manners and civilization. We proceed now with the travellers account of the Hindu kingdoms he visited. NAGARAHiRA, the old capital of the Jelalabad district was 4 miles in circuit. The country was rich in cereals and fruits, the manners of the people were simple and honest, and their disposition ardent and courageous. Buddhism was the prevailing religion, but Hinduism was also followed, and there were five Deva temples and about a hundred worshippers in the city. To the east of the city was a sttipa 300 feet high, built by Asoka, and wonderfully constructed of stone beautifully adorn- ed and carved. There were many SangharAmas, of Digitized by Google CHAP. VII.] HOUEN TSANG'S ACCOUNT. 83 which one, four miles to the south-west of the city, had a high hall and storied tower made of piled up stone, and a stfipa 200 feet high. The kingdom of GAndhAra had its capital at Pesha- war, and both Nagarah&ra and Gandhira were then subject to the king of Kapisa (near the Hindu Kush) and were governed by his deputies. The towns and villages of Gindhira were deserted, and there were but few inhabitants. The country was rich in cereals, and the people were timid and fond of literature. The 1,000 Sanghlriraas were deserted and in ruins, and there were about 100 Hindu temples. While speaking of the kingdom of Gindhira, Houen Tsang gives us an anecdote of Manohrita, a great Bud- dhist writer. He lived in the time of Vikramaditya "of wide renown," but Vikramlditya was a patron of Hinduism and Hindu learning, and Manohrita, was disgraced in a controversy in his court, and retir- ed in disgust, saying "in a multitude of partizans there is no justice." Vikramaditya's successor Sfla- ditya however was a patron of Buddhist learned men, and he honored Vasabandhu, the pupil of Manoh- rita, and the Hindu learned men " were abashed and retired." Elsewhere, in his account of Malwa, Houen Tsang says that Siladitya reigned sixty years before his time, i about 580 A. D. and Vikramaditya's long irign would therefore fall before 550 A. D. which cor- responds with the date we have given him. Digitized 84 BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV. Near the town of Polusha, our traveller come to a high mountain on which he found a figure of Bhima Devi (Durga) carved out of bluish stone. Rich and poor assembled here from every part, near and distant, and saw the image after prayers and fasting. Below the mountain was a temple of Mahesvara, and the Hindu sect (Pasupata), who covered themselves with ashes came here to offer sacrifice. From these places Houen Tsang came to Salatura, the birthplace of Panini the grammarian. At UdYaNA or the country round Cabul, where Fa Hian had found Buddhism flourishing two centuries before, Houen Tsang found the Sangharamas waste and desolate, and few monks residing in them. There were ten temples of Devas. Crossing the Indus, the traveller ascended the river through mountain gorges to LITTLE Thibet. " The roads are craggy and steep, the mountains and the valleys are dark and gloomy. Sometimes we have to cross by ropes, sometimes by iron chains stretched (across the gorges). There are footbridges suspended in the air, and flying bridges across the chasms." From Little Thibet, Houen Tsang went to Takshasila and Sinhapura, both subject to Kashmir, and at Sinha- pura he met with the sects of Jainas called Svetamba- ras and Digambaras. " The laws of their founder are mostly filched from the principles of the books of Bud- dha.. * • The figure of their sacred master (Mahavira) Digitized by Google CHAP. VII.] HOUEN TSANG'S ACCOUNT. 85 they stealthily class with that of Tathdgata (Buddha) ; it differs only in point of clothing ; the points of beauty are absolutely the same." There is no doubt Houen Tsang regarded the Jainas as separatists from Buddhism. Kashmir is said to have been 1,400 miles in curcuit, and its capital was 2 ]4 miles in length and a mile broad. The soil produced cereals and abounded in fruits and flowers. The climate was cold and stern. There was much snow, but little wind. The people wore leather doublets and clothes of white linen. They were light and frivolous, and of a weak pusillanimous disposition. They were handsome in appearance, but were given to cunning. They loved learning and were well instructed. There were both Hindus and Buddhists among them. There were about 100 Sanghdr&mas and 5,000 monks. Kashmir was still redolent of the fame of Kanishka, and our traveller has of course something to say of that powerful king. Here and elsewhere Houen Tsang states that the Nirvlna of Buddha took place a hundred years before the time of Asoka. When therefore Houen Tsang says that " in the four hundredth year after the Nirvana of Tath&gata, Kanishka king of G&ndhdra having succeeded to the kingdom, his kingly renown reached far, and he brought the most remote under his jurisdiction," — we must understand him to say that Kanishka lived 300 years after Asoka, i. e. % about 78 Digitized by Google 86 BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV A. D., and this corresponds with the date which has been given to him, and with the Saka Era. In connexion with Kanishka our traveller gives an ac- count of the great Council of Northern Buddhists which took place in his reign. We are told that the five hun- dred sages who assembled composed three commentaries, viz., the Upadesa Sdstra to explain the Sutra Pitaka, the Vinaya VibhAsA Sdstra to explain the Vinaya Pita- ka, and the Abhidarma VibhAsA SAstra to explain the Abhidarma Pitaka.