The Mahratta

Raja.

Pulakesa, the king of Maharashtra, was a true CHAPTER V. Kshatriya. His views were large and profound. His liberality was unbounded. His subjects served him with absolute devotion. He thus belonged to a very different type from that of Sivajee; and had sprung from a different stock to that of Scindia and Holkar. He flourished in a golden age which has passed away from Maharashtra; and may yet be succeeded by another which shall surpass it in real glory.

Hiouen-Thsang

and Northern

India.

The personal adventures of Hiouen-Thsang are Travels of chiefly valuable on account of the light they throw in Central Asia on the religious condition of Hindustan. He commenced his travels at the age of twenty-six. He pursued a route somewhat similar to that of FahHian, but seems to have made a detour much farther to the north and west. He crossed the river Jaxartes into Bokhara, and paid a visit to Samarkand. He next crossed the river Oxus into Balkh, and then proceeded over the western Himalayas at Bámyán into the kingdom of Kapisa, which seems to have been seated in the modern Cabul. Along the whole of this route Buddhism was in a flourishing condition. In Kapisa there was a Kshatriya king, and a hundred monasteries with six thousand monks; but there were also scores of temples, which were evidently of a Brahmanical character, and many sects of heretics of the old Brahmanical type. Some went about naked; others rubbed themselves with ashes, and wore skulls as ornaments. He then entered northern India, and visited Lampá or Langhán. On the south-east lay

85

85 Kapisa, the Capissa of Pliny, was at this period the seat of an empire which extended over two kingdoms.

CHAPTER V. Gandhára, with its capital named Purushapura, the modern Peshawar, which at this time was subject to Kapisa; the inhabitants were effeminate, but devoted to literature. Here were numerous Buddhist monasteries and stupas in ruins, including many a monument built by Asoka or Kanishka. The multitude of temples proved the prevalence of Brahmanism, especially in association with the worship of Iswara, or Siva. Hiouen-Thsang proceeded northwards to Udyána, where most of the Buddhist monasteries were in ruins. He entered Cashmere, and found it subject to a dynasty of kings who supported Brahmanism. Proceeding

Encounter with

river pirates

southwards to Mathura and Tanesar, he found that Brahmanism was at least as prevalent as Buddhism. At this stage he appears to have heard some distorted legend of the great war recorded in the Mahá Bhárata; and refers to the bones of the warriors which have covered the plain of Kurukshetra from the remotest antiquity, and were of an enormous size. Amongst other places he visited the city of Kanouj, which was about four miles long and one mile broad. Its king was named Harshavardhana, and takes a prominent part hereafter in the description of Buddhist India. He belonged to the Vaisya caste and had assumed the name of Síláditya. He had established his ascendancy over the greater part of India, and was a zealous patron of Buddhism, and a follower of the great Vehicle. The kingdom of Kanouj was wealthy and full of merchandise.

Hiouen-Thsang next proceeded to Ayodhya, between Avod- where Buddhism appeared to be in a struggling condition; and to Prayága, where Brahmanism was

hya and Pra

yagi

decidedly flourishing. Between these two places he CHAPTER V. met with an adventure, which is related by his two disciples. He was descending the Ganges in a boat, which carried eighty other persons, and was attacked by river-pirates, who worshipped the goddess Durgá after the fashion of the modern Thugs, and prepared to offer up the Chinese pilgrim as a sacrifice to that terrible deity. Fortunately the piratical boats were upset by a sudden squall, and Hiouen-Thsang was saved. The pirates escaped with difficulty, and are said to have been so affected by the circumstance, that they prostrated themselves before the holy man, and restored all the property they had stolen. Hiouen-Thsang took the opportunity of teaching them the five commandments, which they received with respect, and then went their way."

86

Buddhism sur

Brahmanism.

South-west of Prayaga was a dense forest infested Holy places of with wild beasts and elephants. At Kausambi and rounded by Srávasti Brahmanism was flourishing and Buddhism in decay. Kapila, the birth-place of Gótama Buddha, was in ruins. At other localities associated with the life of Buddha, including the city of Benares, Brahmanism was in the ascendant, and generally associated with the worship of Iswara or Siva. Some of the heretics cut their hair; others left a tuft on the top of their heads, and went about naked; others rubbed themselves with ashes; whilst others practised painful austerities. Vaisali was a heap of ruins. Buddhist monasteries were deserted, whilst Brahmanical temples were flourishing on all sides. In Magadha there were fifty Buddhist monasteries with ten thousand monks; but the

86 Saint Hilaire, part ii., chap. i.

CHAPTER V. Brahmanical temples were also numerous and well frequented. Patali-putra had long been deserted; it had fallen into ruins after the visit of Fah-Hian, but its remains covered an area of fourteen miles. Hiouen-Thsang counted hundreds of broken-down monasteries, stupas, and pagodas. Gayá was a well-defended city, but very difficult of access. It was thinly peopled, but contained a thousand families of Bráhmans. Ancient Rajagriha was in ruins; but there was a new Rajagriha occupied by numerous Bráhman families.

Hiouen-Thsang invited to Ná

landa.

The Buddhist university.

Whilst staying at Bodhimanda, the spot where Sákya Muni became Buddha, Hiouen-Thsang received an invitation to take up his abode in the Sangháráma of Nálanda. This sacred retreat was the largest and most celebrated Buddhist college in all India, and was under the special patronage of Síláditya, the great sovereign of Magadha and Kanouj. Hiouen-Thsang dwelt five years at Nálanda; and the description which has been preserved of the buildings and studies, furnishes one of the most graphic pictures of these ancient seats of Buddhist learning.

After making every allowance for oriental exaggeration, it is evident that the Sangháráma at Nálanda must have been the most magnificent university in the eastern world. If the bare statement may be accepted that ten thousand monks and novices were lodged within the walls, an idea of vastness is found which can scarcely be realized. It may, however, be remarked that the site was regarded as the holiest spot in all Magadha. It was said to be the mango grove which some rich merchants had made over to Gótama Buddha, and

where he had passed a considerable portion of his CHAPTER V. life. Again, the institution had not been founded by a single king, but had been enlarged, embellished, and endowed at intervals by a succession of pious sovereigns, extending possibly over a period of nine centuries from Asoka downwards. Towers, domes, and pavilions rose above a paradise of shady trees, secluded gardens, and sparkling fountains. There were six large blocks of buildings four stories high, in which the inmates were lodged. There were a hundred lecture-rooms in different branches of study. There were other large halls for conferThe whole was distributed in eight courts. Every necessary was gratuitously supplied to the ten thousand inmates, including vestments and medicines as well as lodging and board.

ences.

dhism and

In this splendid retreat, far away from the busy studies in Budturmoil of the court and capital, the monks and Brahmanism. novices pursued their daily studies without cares and without distractions. The Sangháráma became celebrated throughout India, not only for the beauty of its structures and gardens, but for the learning of its pupils, and the high intellectual calibre of its masters. The monks in general belonged to the great Vehicle; but all the eighteen sects of Buddhism were represented within the walls; and besides the religious books all the sciences were studied, even medicine and arithmetic. A thousand individuals could be found within the Sangháráma, who could explain twenty books of the Sútras and Sástras; five hundred who could explain thirty books; but only ten who understood fifty books. Sílabhadra, the Superior of the Sangháráma, had read and learnt all the Sútras and all the Sástras; and it was to his eminent virtues,