by Ruskin Bond
After stopping here for fifteen days, the party went south for four days, and entering upon the Bolor-Tagh range, arrived at the country of Tash-Kurghan, where they went into retreat.
When this retreat was finished, they journeyed on for twenty-five days and reached the country of Kashgar, where they rejoined Hui-ching and his party. The king of this country was holding the pancha parishad, which is called in Chinese “the great quinquennial assembly.” To this he invites Shamans from all quarters, and these collect together like clouds. The place where the priests are to sit is splendidly adorned beforehand with streaming pennants and canopies of silk; silk, embroidered with lotus flowers in gold and silver, is also laid over the backs of the seats. When all is in order, the king and his ministers make their offerings according to rite. The assembly may last for one, two, or three months, and is generally held in the spring…
This country is mountainous and cold; and with the exception of wheat, no grain will grow and ripen. When the priests have received their annual (land) tithes, the mornings forthwith become frosty; therefore the king is always urging the priests to get the wheat ripe before pay-day.
This country has a spittoon which belonged to Buddha; it is made of stone and of the same color as his alms bowl. There is also one of Buddha’s teeth, for which the people have raised a pagoda. There are over one thousand priests, all belonging to the Lesser Vehicle. From the hills eastward, the people wear coarse clothes like the Chinese, the only difference being that the former use felt and serge. The observations of the Faith by the Shamans are varied, and too numerous to be recorded here. This country is in the middle of the Bolor-Tagh range; and from this onward all plants, trees, and fruits are different from those of China, with the exception of the bamboo, pomegranate, and sugarcane.
From this point traveling westward toward northern India, the pilgrims after a journey of one month succeeded in crossing the Bolor-Tagh range. On these mountains there is snow in winter and summer alike. There are also venomous dragons, which, if provoked, spit forth poisonous winds, rain, snow, sand, and stones. Of those who encounter these dangers, not one in ten thousand escapes. The people of that part are called men of the Snow Mountains.
On passing this range the travelers were in northern India. Just at the frontier there is a small country, called Darel, where also there are many priests, all of the Lesser Vehicle. In this country there was formerly a Lo-han who, using his divine power, carried a clever artisan up to the Tushita heavens to observe the height, complexion, and features of the Bodhisattva Maitreya, so that when he came down he might carve an image of him in wood. Altogether he made three journeys for observation and afterward executed an image eighty feet in height, the folded legs of which measured eight feet across. On fast-days it always shines with a brilliant light. The kings of near countries vie with one another in their offerings to it. From of old until now, it has been on view in this place.
Keeping to the range, the party journeyed on in a southwesterly direction for fifteen days over a difficult, precipitous, and dangerous road, the side of the mountain being like a stone wall ten thousand feet in height. On nearing the edge, the eye becomes confused; and wishing to advance, the foot finds no resting-place. Below there is a river, named Indus. The men of former times had cut away the rock to make a way down, and had placed ladders on the side of the rock. There are seven hundred rock-steps in all; and when these and the ladders have been negotiated, the river is crossed by a suspension bridge of ropes. The two banks of the river are somewhat less than eighty paces apart. According to the Records of the Nine Interpreters, neither Chang Ch’ien nor Kan Ying of the Han dynasty reached this point. Various priests had asked Fa-Hien if he knew when Buddhism first went eastward, to which Fa-Hien replied, “When I inquired of the people of those parts, they all said that according to an old tradition Shamans from India began to bring the Sutras and Disciplines across this river from the date of setting up the image of Maitreya Bodhisattva.” This image was put up about three hundred years after the Nirvana of Buddha, which occurred during the reign of King P’ing of the Chou dynasty (770–719 B.C.E.); hence it was said that the Great Doctrine began to spread abroad from the setting up of the image…
Having crossed the river, the pilgrims arrived at the country of Udyana [Swat] which lies due north of India. The language of Central India is universally used here, Central India being what they call the “Middle Kingdom.” The clothes and food of the people are also very like those of our Middle Kingdom, and the religion of Buddha is extremely flourishing. They call the places where the priests live or temporarily lodge “Gardens for Assembly” or monasteries. There are altogether five hundred of them, all belonging to the Lesser Vehicle. If any wandering mendicant-priests arrive, they are found in everything for three days, after which they are told to shift for themselves. Tradition says that when Buddha came to Northern India he visited this country, and left behind him a footprint. The footprint appears to be long or short according to the faith in each particular person, and such remains the case up to the present day. The stone too on which Buddha dried his clothes, and the spot where he converted the wicked dragon, may also still be seen. The stone is fourteen feet in height by over twenty in breadth, and one side of it is smooth. Hui-ching, Tao-cheng, and Hui-ta now went on ahead toward “Buddha’s Shadow” in the country of Nagarahara [Nangarhar, Afghanistan]. Fa-Hien and the others remained in this country for their summer retreat; and when that was over, they went down southward to the country south of Udyana.
In this country the religion of Buddha is also very flourishing. Of old, Indra, God of Heaven, in order to try the Bodhisattva (as Buddha then was), caused the appearance of a kite pursuing a dove. The Bodhisattva cut off a piece of his flesh to ransom the dove; and when he had perfected his faith and become the Buddha, wandering hither with his disciples, he said, “This is the spot where I cut off my flesh to ransom a dove.” Thus the people of the country came to know it, and erected at the place a pagoda ornamented with both gold and silver.
From this point descending eastwards for five days, the pilgrims arrived at the country of Gandhara, which was governed by Fa-i, the son of King Asoka. It was here that Buddha, when a Bodhisattva, sacrificed his eyes for a fellow creature; and it was here too that a pagoda was erected, ornamented with both gold and silver. The people of the country belong mostly to the Lesser Vehicle.
At a distance of seven days’ journey eastward from this, there is a country named Takshasila, which in Chinese means “cutting off the head.” When Buddha was a Bodhisattva, it was here that he sacrificed his head for a fellow creature; hence the name. After again traveling eastward for two days, the pilgrims arrived at the place where he gave his body to feed a hungry tiger. At both the above spots great pagodas were built, adorned with all the preciosities combined. The kings, ministers, and people of the neighboring countries vie with one another in making offerings, scattering flowers, and lighting lamps, continuously without intermission. Together with the above-mentioned two pagodas, the people of the district call them the Four Great Pagodas.
Traveling from Gandhara southward for seven days, the pilgrims arrived at the country of Peshawur…
Buddha’s alms bowl being in this country, the king of the Ephthalites formerly got together a large army and attacked, with a view to carrying off the bowl. When he had conquered the country, as he himself was an ardent believer in the religion of Buddha, he wished to take possession of the bowl, and therefore began to make offerings. When he had made his offering to the Precious Trinity, he richly decorated a huge elephant and placed the bowl on its back. Thereupon the elephant promptly collapsed and was unable to move. A four-wheeled cart was then made to convey the bowl, and a team of eight elephants was harnessed to it. When these, too, were unable to stir, the king knew that his hour for possession of the bowl had not yet come. Filled with shame and regret, he built a pagoda on the spot and also a monastery, leaving a gar
rison to guard the bowl and making all kinds of offerings. There are here perhaps over seven hundred priests; and when it is just on noon, they bring out the bowl and, together with the people, present all kinds of offerings. They then eat their midday meal; and in the evening, at the hour for vespers, they replace the bowl as before. It holds perhaps over two pecks, and is of several colors, chiefly black. The four joinings (of the four bowls fused by Buddha into one) are clearly distinguishable. It is about one-fifth of an inch thick, of transparent brilliancy and of a glossy luster. Poor people throw in a few flowers, and it is full; very rich people wishing to make an offering of a large quantity of flowers, may throw in a hundred or thousand or ten thousand bushels, without ever filling it.
Pao-yun and Seng-ching merely made their offerings and went back home; Hui-ching, Hui-ta, and Tao-cheng had previously gone on to the country of Nagarahara to present offerings before the shadow, tooth, and skull bone of Buddha. Hui-ying now fell ill, and Tao-cheng remained to nurse him; Hui-ta went back alone to Peshawur, where he met the others; and then Hui-ta, Pao-yun, and Seng-ching returned to China. Hui-ying fulfilled his destiny at the Buddha-Bowl Monastery, and Fa-Hien went on alone toward the place of Buddha’s skull bone.
Traveling westward sixteen yojanas, Fa-Hien reached the frontier of Nagarahara. In the city of Hiro (= bone; now Hidda) there is a shrine which contains Buddha’s skull bone, entirely covered with gold leaf and ornamented with the seven preciosities. The king of the country deeply venerates this skull bone and, fearing lest it should be stolen, has appointed eight men of the leading families in the kingdom to hold each of them a seal, with which to seal and guard the shrine and bone. In the early morning, when the eight have all arrived, and each one has inspected his own seal, they open the door; they next wash their hands in scented water, and then bring out the skull bone which they place on a high altar outside the shrine, resting it on a round block of seven preciosities and covering it with a bell made of brass, both richly studded with pearls and precious stones. The bone is of a yellowish white color, oval in shape, with a length of four inches, and a convex upper side. Every day, when the bone has been brought out, those in charge of the shrine mount to a lofty upper story, beat a big drum, blow a conch, and clash copper cymbals. The king, on hearing the sound, forthwith proceeds to the shrine and makes offerings of flowers and incense, after which he and his attendants in turn bend in adoration and depart, having entered by the east gate and leaving by the west gate. Every morning the king makes offerings and worships in this manner, afterward transacting affairs of state. The elders of the merchant class also first make offerings and then attend to their private affairs. The program is every day the same, without any remissness; and when all the offerings have been made, the skull bone is put back in the shrine, in which there is a pagoda of self-liberation from earthly trammels, which can be opened and closed, made of seven preciosities and over five feet in height, to contain it. In front of the gate to the shrine there will be found, regularly every morning, sellers of flowers and incense, so that all who wish to make offerings may buy of all kinds. The kings of the countries round about also regularly send envoys to make offerings. The shrine stands in a square of forty paces in extent. Though the heavens should quake and the earth gape, this spot would not move.
From this point traveling one yojana to the north, Fa-Hien arrived at the capital of Nagarahara, where (Buddha, then a) Bodhisattva bought with silver money some five-stalked flowers for an offering to Dipankara Buddha (his twenty-fourth predecessor). Here, too, in this city there is a Buddha-Tooth pagoda, offerings being made in the same way as for the skull bone. One yojana to the northeast of the city brought Fa-Hien to the mouth of a valley where there is Buddha’s pewter-topped staff; and there too a shrine has been raised at which offerings are presented. The staff is made of sandalwood from the (fabulous) Bull’s-head mountain, and is over sixteen or seventeen feet in length. It is kept in a wooden sheath, from which a hundred or thousand men would try to draw it in vain.
Entering the valley and traveling west for four days, Fa-Hien reached a shrine where one of Buddha’s robes is the object of worship. When there is a great drought in this country, the officials gather together, bring out the robe, pray, and make offerings; rain then falls in great abundance.
Half a yojana to the south of the capital of Nagarahara, there is a cave. It is on the southwest face of Po mountain. Buddha left his shadow on the rock inside. Looking at it from a distance of ten paces or so, it is like Buddha’s actual self, with his golden complexion, his thirty-two greater and eighty lesser characteristic marks, all brightly visible. The nearer one goes, the more indistinct it becomes, appearing as if it were really He. The kings of the various countries round about have sent skillful artists to sketch it, but they have not been able to do so. The people of the country have a tradition which says, “A thousand Buddhas are all to leave their shadows here.”
A hundred or so paces to the west of the shadow, Buddha, when here, shaved his head and cut his nails, and with the help of his disciples built a pagoda seventy to eighty feet in height, as a model for pagodas in the future. It exists to this day, and by its side there is a monastery in which there are over seven hundred priests. In this place there is a pagoda in honor of the Lo-han and Buddhist saints, of whom nearly a thousand have dwelt here.
In the second moon of winter, Fa-Hien and his companions, three in all, went southward across the Little Snowy Mountains (Safed Koh), which retain the snow, summer and winter alike. On the northern side, which is in the shade, it is frightfully cold; and when a gale gets up, it makes one shut the mouth and shiver. Hui-ching could go no farther; he foamed at the mouth, and said to Fa-Hien, “I too cannot recover; you had better go on while you can; do not let us all pass away here”; and so he passed. Gently stroking the corpse, Fa-Hien cried out in lamentation, “Our original design cannot be carried out; it is destiny; what is there to be done?”
Then the pilgrims once more struggled forward; and having got across to the south of the range, they arrived at the country where there are approximately three thousand priests belonging to both the Greater and Lesser Vehicles.
Here they kept their summer retreat; and when it was over, they proceeded southward for ten days and reached the country of Falana or Bannu, where also there are over three thousand priests, all belonging to the Lesser Vehicle. From this point they journeyed eastward for three days and again crossed the Indus, on both banks of which the land is flat.
Across the river the pilgrims were in a country called Bhida (in the Punjab), where the Faith is very flourishing under both the Greater and Lesser Vehicles. When the people of the country saw Buddhist priests from China coming among them, they were much affected and said, “How is it possible for foreigners to know that renunciation of family is the essence of our religion, and to travel afar in search of the Faith?” Then they gave to the pilgrims whatsoever they required, and treated them in accordance with the faith.
From this point traveling southeast for somewhat less than eighty yojanas, the pilgrims passed by many monasteries, containing in all nearly ten thousand priests. Having passed by all these, they arrived at a country called Muttra or Mandor, and went along the river Jumna…
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AN EMPEROR’S SOJOURN*2
Jahangir
The second new year of my auspicious reign began on the twenty-second of Zu-l-ka’da, 1015 A.H. (March 10, 1606 C.E.), and on the seventh of Zu-l-hijja, 1015 A.H. (April 1606 C.E.), I left the fort of Lahore at a prosperous hour, and crossing the Ravi, I alighted at the garden of Dilamez, where I stopped four days…
On Thursday, the fourteenth, we encamped in the sub-district of Chandwala, and, after one intervening stage, arrived at Hafizabad on Saturday. In two marches more I reached the banks of the Chinab, and on Thursday, the twenty-first of Zu-l-hijja, I crossed the river by a bridge of boats and pitched my tents in the sub-district of Gujarat. When Em
peror Akbar was proceeding to Kashmir, he built a fort on the other side of this river, where he settled the Gujars, who had hitherto been devoted to plunder. The place was consequently named Gujarat and formed into a separate sub-district. The Gujars live chiefly upon milk and curds, and seldom cultivate land.
On Friday we arrived at Khawaspur, five leagues from Gujarat, and after two further marches we reached the banks of the Behat, where we pitched our tents. In the night a very strong wind blew, dark clouds obscured the sky, and it rained so heavily that even the oldest persons said they had never seen such floods. The storm ended with showers of hailstones, which were as large as hens’ eggs, and the torrent of water, combined with the wind, broke the bridge. I crossed the river in a boat with the ladies of my harem, and as there were but very few boats for the other men, I ordered them to wait till the bridge was repaired. This was accomplished in a week, after which the whole camp crossed the river without trouble.
The source of the river Behat is a fountain in Kashmir called Virnag, a word which in the Hindi language signifies a snake, since it appears that at one time a very large serpent haunted the spot. I visited this source twice during the lifetime of my father. It is about twenty leagues from the city of Kashmir and rises in an octagonal basin about twenty yards in length by twenty in breadth. The neighborhood contains many vestiges of the abodes of devotees, consisting of numerous caves and chambers made of stone. The water of this spring is so clear that, although its depth is said to be beyond estimation, if a poppy seed be thrown in, it will be visible till it reaches the bottom. There are very fine fish in it. As I was told that the fountain was unfathomably deep, I ordered a stone to be tied to the end of a rope and thrown into it, and thus it was found that its depth did not exceed the height of a man and a half. After my accession to the throne, I ordered its sides to be paved with stones, a garden to be made round it, and the stream which flowed from it to be similarly decorated on both sides. Such elegant chambers and edifices were raised on each side of the basin that there is scarcely anything to equal it throughout the inhabited world.