Eternal India Encyclopedia

A GREAT DESTINATION

ETERNAL

INDIA

encyclopedia

considerable liberty. They studied philosophy and could take mo-

nastic vows. Sati was unusual. The Indians, says Megasthenes,

were honest. They left their houses unguarded, made no written

contracts and no written laws. They seldom went to lawcourts.

Disputes were settled by the local panchayat.

FA-HIEN

Fa-hien, the first of the three Chinese pilgrims to travel in

India, came in order to obtain authentic copies of the Buddhist

scriptures. He was distressed at the state of the Buddhist disci-

pline in China and made up his mind, together with several friends,

to go to India to obtain the "rules". Starting from Chang-an around

400 A.D. they reached Tun-huang at the end of the Great Wall. He

walked all the way across the Gobi Desert and over the Hindu

Kush. Fa-hien notes the prevalence of Indian culture in the

countries he visited in Central Asia. Travelling through Afghani-

stan he reached Mathura and then the heart of the Gupta empire in

the region of Magadh (South Bihar) around 405 A.D.

His often-quoted description of the country is brief but to the

point:

"It has a temperate climate, without frost or snow; and the

people are prosperous and happy, without registration or official

restrictions. Only those who till the King's land have to pay so much

on the profit they make. Those who want to go away may go; those

who want to stop may stop. The King in his administration has no

corporal punishments; criminals are merely fined according to the

gravity of their offences. Even for a second attempt at rebellion the

punishment is only the loss of the right hand. The men of the King's

bodyguard have all fixed salaries."

In the rest of what he says, however, Fa-hien seems to apply

to the whole country what he observed in the viharas; for he

affirms: "Throughout the country no one kills any living thing, nor

drinks wine, nor eats onions or garlic. In this country they do not

keep pigs or fowls, there are no dealings in cattle, no butchers’

shops or distilleries in their market place." He takes note particu-

larly of the Chandalas (untouchables who lived apart and, had to

announce their presence on the roads in the city or near the market

by striking a piece of wood, so that men knew and avoided them and

did not come in contact with them, and were the only class that

went hunting and dealt in flesh.) Cowries were used as a medium

of exchange, and charitable endowments in favour of Buddhist

priests were numerous, time-honoured and well respected.

"Rooms with beds and mattresses, food and clothes are provided

for resident and travelling priests without fail, and this is the same

in all places."

He has high praise for Magadh. "Of all the countries of central

India, this has the largest towns and cities. Its people are rich and

thriving and emulate one another in possessing charity of heart and

duty to one's neighbour." He notes the free hospitals in the cities.

Fa-hien spent three years in Pataliputra learning to write and

speak Sanskrit (or Pali) and copying out the disciplines. He left

India around 411 A.D. returning to China via Ceylon in a merchant

vessel around 414 A.D. some 15 years after he had left it. He had

spent six years in travelling to India, he had stayed in India for six

years and the return journey had taken three more years.

HIUEN-TSANG

Hiuen-Tsang was 26 when he left China around 628 A.D. He

became a Buddhist monk at the age of 13 and soon mastered the

law of Buddhism. But he was perplexed by the numerous differ-

ences among the various schools and uncertainties in doctrines and

made up his mind to travel to India and obtain clarification from the

wise men there on the joints that were troubling his mind.

Reaching Kashmir in 631 A.D. after many adventures and

overcoming many difficulties, he spent two years there studying

philosophy and having Buddhist documents copied to take home

with him. Travelling east he noted everywhere the growing triumph

of Hinduism and the decline of Buddhism. After visiting Ayodhya

and on his way to Prayag, he fell into the hands of thugs, devotees

of Durga, who wanted to sacrifice him to their goddess. He was

saved by a miraculous and timely storm.

Travelling north he visited Kapilavastu, the Buddha's native

town, the garden of Lumbini, where he was born and Kusinagara,

where he attained nirvana. And then to Benares (Varanasi).

From his account Benares does not seem to have changed much

over the years. Hiuen-Tsang could have been describing present -

day Varanasi: "The greater part worship Shiva. Some cut off their

hair , then pile it on the top of their heads. Some there are (the

Jainas) who are naked, others rub their bodies with ash, or practise

cruel mortifications to escape Samsara.” From Benares the pilgrim

journeyed to Bodh Gaya, the place where the Buddha had attained

enlightenment, and Nalanda, the famous seat of learning of the

time, where there were ten thousand monks who studied besides

the Buddhist works, the Vedas, medicine, arithmetic, the occult

sciences and other subjects. Hiuen-Tsang spent fifteen months

there learning the Yogacara doctrine. He also studied Hindu

philosophy and perfected his knowledge of Sanskrit.

Leaving Nalanda, Hiuen-Tsang decided to go to Ceylon to

study the Hinayana form of Buddhism prevalent there. But on

reaching Kanchipuram in Southern India, he was told that it was

inadvisable to go to Ceylon because of a civil war raging there. So

he went north again through the western Deccan, visiting Sindh and

Multan. Hiuen-Tsang travelled east again towards Nalanda. The

monks at Nalanda wanted him to stay there and give up any thought

of returning to China. But the learned monk turned down their

request as he was anxious to return home and give his people the

benefit of the knowledge he had acquired during his travels in India.

Meanwhile his fame had spread to Assam (Kamrup) where the

King invited him to his court. So he went there. Very soon Emperor

Harshavardhana sent word to Assam inviting the Chinese pilgrim

to his capital at Kanauj.

He went there in 643 A.D. and was warmly received by Harsha.

He attended the two grand assemblies that were summoned to

honour Hiuen-Tsang and the Mahayana form of Buddhism which

he preached . It was attended by twenty Kings besides thousands

of Buddhists, Brahmanical and Jaina theologians and priests. The

gathering at Prayag included about 500,000 people who had been

summoned from all corners of the kingdom to receive gifts from the

Emperor. Harsha went to the assembly accompanied by the Chi-

nese Master of the Law and the Kings of twenty countries. Harsha

also pleaded with Hiuen-Tsang that he should not return to China

but to no avail.

Hiuen-Tsang crossed the Indus early in 644 A.D. on the return

journey. He arrived in China in 645. He refused to accept the post of

Minister offered to him by the emperor and spent the rest of his life

in a monastery, specially built in the capital to lodge him and his