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Men of such character have scarcely been found among the heretics or other people. (Note by I-tsing): Their lives arg fully described in the ‘Biography of the Ten Virtuous Men (or Bhadantas) of India *’ ( Gina—Ginaprabha). ee eee * Kasyapa says, that it is not ‘Dragon and Elephant, but it is ‘ Dragon- Elephant,’ for the best kind of elephant is called dragon (=Naga). He seems to be right; so in Pali, ‘ete ndg4 mahapaa#A’ (SamantapfsadikA, p.. 313). * I-tsing thus gives Nagarguna first, then Deva and Asvaghosha. This order was changed in the French translation of M. Fujishima (Journal Asiatique, Nov.— Dec. 1888, p. 434), as quoted by Prof. Cowell in his Buddhaéarita (Preface, p. v, Aryan Series, Anecdota Oxoniensia). I-tsing does not place Asvaghosha first and before Nagarguna. Asa patriarch of the Northern Buddhism, however, Asvaghosha has an earlier-place than the rest, for he is the twelfth patriarch, while Nagarguya and Deva occupy the fourteenth and fifteenth respectively. 5 The text has 3 =‘remote’ (x), = middle’ (2), and r= tecent’ (3). M. Fujishima has (rz) ‘dans les temps anciens,’ (2) ‘dans les temps modernes,’ and (3) ‘parm: nos contemporains’ Prof. Wassilief has expressed a doubt about the accuracy of M. Fujishima’s rendering in the Zapiski of the Petersburg Archaeo- logical Society, iv, 32. I have no objection to his translation (2), but ‘parmi-nos contemporains’ (3) is somewhat misleading. ’ ~ 4 Tam trying to find out what this book is, though not yet successful. 182 A RECORD OF BUDDHIST PRACTICES. XXXIV. Dharmakirti made a further improvement in Logic (after Gina) ; Guzaprabha popularised for a second time ‘he study of the Vinaya- pitaka; Guzamati devoted himself to the school of the Dhyana (i.e. meditation), and Prag#agupta (not Matipdla) fully expounded the true doctrine by refuting all antagonistic views. As invaluable gems display their beautiful colours in the vast and unfathomable ocean where whales alone can live; and as medical herbs present their excellent qualities on the Fragrant Peaks (Gandhamddana) of immeasurable height, so all kinds of worthy men are found among those who adhere'to the Buddha- dharma, which is wide and comprehensive. These men could compose a work on the spot, whatever subject was required. What need then was there for them of fourteen steps'? Such men could commit to memory the contents even of two volumes?, having heard them only once. What, then, was the need to them of reading a book a hundred times (as Sui-shih did, see above, p. 175)? ; (Note by I-tsing): A heretic composed 600 slokas, with which he disputed with Dharmapala *; the latter understood and remembered his opponent's verses, hearing them only once before the assembly. The Brahmans are regarded throughout the five parts of India as . the most honourable (caste). They do not, when they meet in a place, associate with the other three castes, and the mixed classes of the people have still less intercourse with them. The scriptures they revere are the four Vedas, containing about 100,000 verses; ‘ Veda’ hitherto was wrongly transcribed by the Chinese characters ‘ Wei-t'o ;’ the mean- ing of the word is ‘clear understanding’ or ‘knowledge,’ The Vedas have been handed down from mouth to mouth, not transcribed on paper or leaves. In every generation there exist some intelligent Brahmans who can recite the 100,000 verses. In India there are two traditional * This probably refers to the story that T‘so-chi was commanded by his brother Wén Ti (of Wei) to compose a Chinese poem in seven steps; he did so. The Indian teachers are able to compose verses at once, not wanting an interval of seven steps. But why ‘fourteen’? 2 *T wo volumes; probably the 600 slokas of the heretic were in two ‘volumes. THE METHOD OF LEARNING IN THE WEST. 183 ways by which one can attain to great intellectual power. Firstly, by repeatedly committing to memory the intellect is developed1; secondly, the alphabet fixes one’s ideas. By this way, after a practice of ten days ora month, a student feels his thoughts rise like a fountain, and can commit to memory whatever he has once heard [not requiring to be told twice]. This is far from being a myth, for I myself have met such mien. In Eastern India there lived a great man (Mahdsattva) named Kandra? (lit.‘Moon-official, it may be ‘Kandradasa’), being dike a Bodhi- sattva, endowed ®ith great talent. This man was still alive when I, I-tsing, visited that country. One day a person asked him: ‘Which is the more injurious, temptation or poison?’ He at once answered : ’ ‘There is indeed a great difference between the two; poison is injurious only when it is swallowed, whilst the other destroys (burns) one’s in- tellect when only contemplated.’ Kasyapa-matanga and Dharmaraksha * preached good tidings in the eastern capital Lo (Honan-fu); the fame of Paramartha‘ reached even to the Southern Ocean (i.e. Nanking), and the venerable Kumaragiva® supplied a virtuous pattern to the foreign land (China). Afterwards , tJ. has fa Ba A Hi, which my translation follows. But the other editions have 7B % Re AR, of which it is difficult to make sense. _ M. Fuji- shima tried to translate it from the latter reading, but not very well. J. is decidedly ‘better. 7 x BH A = in all editions; if we follow this, it ought to be, ‘He was named the Sun-moon’ (something like Sfiryatandra or Sfryasoma). But as we had before a man called ‘Moon-official,’ a native of Eastern India, and styled Mahdsattva, we have reason to think that this reading is a misprint for x A A EB. i.e. ‘He was named Moon-official,’ and to take this as the same man with ‘Moon-official’ of chap. xxxii, p. 164. Kasyapa actually says that a Korean text has =| for H , and therefore the name is ‘ Moon-official,’ but not ‘ Sun-moon-official.’ : * These two were the first Indian Buddhists in China; they came to China in A.D. 67,,and translated several Sfitras. Nanjio’s App. ii, 1 and 2. + Paramartha came to China a. . 348, and translated thirty-one works. * Kumaragiva came to China about a.p. 401, and translated fifty Sanskrit books into Chinese. Nanjio’s App. ii, 59, 104-105. "184 A RECORD OF BUDDHIST PRACTICES. XXXIV. the Bhadanta Hiuen Thsang followed out his professorial career in his own country. In this way, both in. the past and present, have teachers spread far and wide the light of Buddhism (or ‘the Sun of the Buddha’). To those who learn the doctrines of ‘existence’ and ‘non-existence’ the Tripiéaka itself will be their Master, while for those who practise the Dhy4na (meditation) and Prag#a (wisdom) the seven Bodhi-angas? will be a guide. The following are the (most distinguished) teachers who now live in the West. G#Anasandra, a master of the Law, lives in the monastery Tiladha (in Magadha)?; in the Nalanda monastery, Ratnasimha; in Eastern India, Divakaramitra?; and in the southernmost district, Tatha- gatagarbha. In Sribhoga‘ of the Southern Sea resides SAakyakirti, who travelled all throughe the five countries of India in order to learn, and is at present in Sribhoga (in Sumatra). All these men are equally renowned for their brilliant character, equal to the ancients, and anxious to follow in the steps of the Sages. When they have understood the arguments of HetuvidyA (logic), they aspire to be. like Gina (the great reformer of logic); while tasting the doctrine of Yogaharya they zealously search into the theory of Asanga. When they discourse on the ‘non-existence’ they cleverly imitate Nagarguna; whilst when treating of the ‘existence’ they thoroughly fathom the teaching of Sanghabhadra.. I, I-tsing, used to converse with these teachers so intimately that I was able to receive invaluable in- struction personally from them (lit. ‘I came closely to their seats and desks and received and enjoyed their admirable words’). ? The seven constituents of Bodhi, i.e. recollection, investigation, energy, joy, calmness, contemplation, and equanimity. See Childers, s. v. bogganigo; Burnouf, Lotus, 796; Kasawara, Dharma-samgraha, § 49; Mahavyutpatti, § 39. * Tiladha monastery is Tiladhaka of Hiuen Thsang (Julien, Mémoires, viii, 440, and Vie, iv, 211). I-tsing mentions this monastery as two yoganas distant from Nalanda in his Memoirs (see Chavannes, p. 146, note). Modern Tillara, W. of Nalanda. Cf. Cunningham, Ancient Geography of India, i, 456. : * A Divakaramitra is referred to as a Buddhist Bhadanta in the Harshafarita, the Kashmir edition, pp. 488 and 497. M. Fujishima gives Sakgamitra by mis- take. See Julien, Méthode pour Déchiffrer les Noms Sanscrits, p. 76. 1 eee TR mitt ae nut meses ee 2 ee THE RULE AS TO HAIR. 185 T have always been very glad that I had the Opportunity of acquiring knowledge from them personally which I should otherwise never have possessed, and that I could refresh my memory of past study by com- paring old xotes with new ones. : It is my only desire to receive the light handed down from time to time, and my satisfaction is in the fact that I have learned the Law [in the morning], and my wish is to dispel my hundred doubts rising as dust, and (if my wish be fulfilled in the morning) I shall not regret dying at eventide 1. While still gathering a few gems left behind on the Vulture Peak, I picked up some very choice ones ; when searching for jewels deposited in the Dragon River (Naganadi = Agiravatt), I have obtained some excellent ones. Through the unseen help of the Phree Jewels and by the far-reaching influence of the royal favour, I was enabled at last to turn the course of my travel eastward, sailed from Tamralipti?, and arrived at Sribhoga 4, Here I have remained over four years, and, employing my time in various ways, have not yet determined to leave this place for my native country. CHAPTER XXXV.