Chapter XVI · ON TO MATHURÂ OR MUTTRA. CONDITION AND CUSTOMS OF CENTRAL INDIA; OF THE MONKS, VIHÂRAS, AND MONASTERIES.
James Legge translation
[Chinese]
From the place where (the travellers) crossed the Indus to Southern India, and on to the Southern Sea, a distance of forty or fifty thousand le, all is level plain. There are no large hills with streams (among them); there are simply the waters of the rivers.
Notes in this chapter
Note 1 · Muttra, ‘the peacock city;’ lat. 27° 30′ N., lon. 77° 43′ E. (Hunter); the birthplace of Kṛishṇa, whose emblem is the peacock.Note 2 · This must be the Jumna, or Yamunâ. Why it is called, as here, the Pʽoo-na has yet to be explained.Note 3 · In Pâli, Majjhima-desa, ‘the Middle Country.’ See Davids’ ‘Buddhist Birth Stories,’ page 61, note.Note 4 · Eitel (pp. 145, 6) says, ‘The name Chaṇḍâlas is explained by “butchers,” “wicked men,” and those who carry “the awful flag,” to warn off theNote 5 · ‘Cowries;’ 貝齒, not ‘shells and ivory,’ as one might suppose; but cowries alone, the second term entering into the name from the marks insideNote 6 · See chap. xii, note 3, Buddha’s pari-nirvâṇa is equivalent to Buddha’s death.Note 7 · See chap. xiii, note 6. The order of the characters is different here, but with the same meaning.Note 8 · See the preparation of such a deed of grant in a special case, as related in chapter xxxix. No doubt in Fâ-hien’s time, and long before and Note 9 · ‘No monk can eat solid food except between sunrise and noon,’ and total abstinence from intoxicating drinks is obligatory (Davids’ Manual, pNote 10 · The expression here is somewhat perplexing; but it occurs again in chapter xxxviii; and the meaning is clear. See Watters, Ch. Rev. viii. 28Note 11 · Śâriputtra (Singh. Seriyut) was one of the principal disciples of Buddha, and indeed the most learned and ingenious of them all, so that he Note 12 · Mugalan, the Singhalese name of this disciple, is more pronounceable. He also was one of the principal disciples, called Buddha’s ‘left-handNote 13 · See chapter 12, note 2.Note 14 · 14 14 The different parts of the tripiṭaka. See chapter 1, note 4.Note 15 · A passage rather difficult to construe. The ‘families’ would be those more devout than their neighbours.Note 16 · One rarely hears this preaching in China. It struck me most as I once heard it at Osaka in Japan. There was a pulpit in a large hall of the Note 17 · This last statement is wanting in the Chinese editions.Note 18 · There was a Kâśyapa Buddha, anterior to Śâkyamuni. But this Mahâkaśyapa was a Brahmân of Magadha, who was converted by Buddha, and became onNote 19 · The bhikshuṇîs are the female monks or nuns, subject to the same rules as the bhikshus, and also to special ordinances of restraint. See HarNote 20 · The Śrâmaṇeras are the novices, male or female, who have vowed to observe the Shikshâpada, or ten commandments. Fâ-hien was himself one of tNote 21 · The eldest son of Śâkyamuni by Yaśodharâ. Converted to Buddhism, he followed his father as an attendant; and after Buddha’s death became theNote 22 · 22 See note 14.Note 23 · There are six (sometimes increased to ten) pâramitâs, ‘means of passing to nirvâṇa:—Charity; morality; patience; energy; tranquil contemplatNote 24 · According to Eitel (pp. 71, 72), A famous Bodhisattva, now specially worshipped in Shan-se, whose antecedents are a hopeless jumble of histoNote 25 · Kwan-she-yin and the dogmas about him or her are as great a mystery as Mañjuśrî. The Chinese name is a mistranslation of the Sanskrit name ANote 26 · Compare what is said in chap. v.Note 27 · This nirvâṇa of Buddha must be—not his death, but his attaining to Buddhaship.Note 28 · From this place they travelled south-east, passing by a succession of very many monasteries, with a multitude of monks, who might be countedNote 29 · All south from this is named the Middle Kingdom.3 In it the cold and heat are finely tempered, and there is neither hoar-frost nor snow. TheNote 30 · After Buddha attained to pari-nirvâṇa,6 the kings of the various countries and the heads of the Vaiśyas7 built vihâras for the priests, and Note 31 · The regular business of the monks is to perform acts of meritorious virtue, and to recite their Sûtras and sit wrapt in meditation. When strNote 32 · Where a community of monks resides, they erect topes to Śâriputtra,11 to Mahâ-maudgalyâyana,12 and to Ânanda13, and also topes (in honour) oNote 33 · When Śâriputtra was a great Brahmân, he went to Buddha, and begged (to be permitted) to quit his family (and become a monk). The great Mugal