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194
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[JULY, 1881.
manifestation as Buddha, when its aim would be accomplished. Praising the third body, or the Dharmakaya, he says: “Co-extensive with the universe and inbabiting all time with excellences as innumerable as the sand or grains of dust-it is beyond all human character and transcending all human language."
The three seats or thrones are, first, that at Gaya, which is the centre (navel) of the earth, springing from the depth of the golden circle, on which all the Buddhas have overcome the armies of Mara, with their lion voice.
The second is co-extensive with the three worlds, reaching above the heavens-renewed ever after the destruction of the world.
The third is without beginning or end-unaffected by time or circumstance, imperishable as the body of the Law) itself.
The inscription continues in the same lauda- tory terms, and ends with the statement that in the year above named, viz., A. D. 1022, two men called I-tsing and I-lin were sent from the Eastern Capital with a kashaya garment in a golden case which they hung above the Bodhi Tree-and which fact is recorded as supplementary to the hymn of praise of HoYun.
These inscriptions are not of much value for any critical purposes, but are worth consideration because they shew the strength of the religious impulse that urged so many pilgrims from China to visit this sacred spot, and the sincerity of their belief in the virtue of their pilgrimage. III. I-tsing and other Pilgrims by the
Southern Sea route. Now to continue in brief outline our account of the Chinese visitors to India :
1. I-tsing (the author of the work from which we quote) left China towards the end of the year 671 A. D., and sailing from Canton proceeded to the islands of the Southern Sea, that is the distriot about Java and Malaka, and after two years' sojourn in different parts of this neighbourhood, he arrived at Tamralipti in 673 A. D. He remained here five months, and afterwards following his companion went on to Nalanda, and thence proceeded to Buddha Gay & to . Jul. Methode, p. 103.
K. I. p. 7, 1.
Compare Bretachneider, "The Knowledge possessed by the Ancient Chinese of the Arabs, &c." p. 16 n.
K. I. p. 11, 1. . 10 Perhape Palo Lingam off the coast of Sumatra.
adore the sacred vestiges of his religion. After this he returned to Fo-s hai (Sribhôja), where he was able to draw up and entrust to his friend the account of what he had seen, and the information he had gleaned, respecting Buddhism. He returned to China in 693 A. D.
2. I-tsing next' refers to two priests of Corea, their names unknown, who, starting from Chang'an, and taking ship on the coast, proceeded to the Southern Sea. Having arrived at Shi-lifo-shai (Sribhôja) they proceeded westward to the country of Po-lu-s se, and there died. We know with some certainty that the country of Po-la-sse is Sumatra. We may therefore place Fo-shai (Śribhôja) to the eastward of Sumatra.
3. Hai Ning, a priest of Yih-chau (in Chi-li), left China by sea for the South in the year 665 A. D. and passed three years in the country called Ho-ling. This is generally the equivalent of the Kalinga country, but it seems also to be used for the country along the coast of Pegu as well as to an island in the Southern Seas.10
4. Wan-K'i of Kjau-Chau (in Chi-li?) spent ten years in the Southern Seas, and was very learned in the language of Kunlun and partly acquainted with Sansksit. He afterwards retired to a lay life, and resided at Shi-li-f 0-8 hi (Sribhôja). Kunlun, we know," represents the islands of Condore." The negroes of this island, or rather these islands, were generally sold as slaves, and their language and habits were much studied by Chinese travellers.
5. Mochadeva, a Cochin Chinese, (or, of Kian-Chan) went to India by the Southern Sea route, and having visited all the countries of that part, arrived at the Mahâbôdhi Temple, where he adored the sacred relics, and died æt. 24.
6. Kwei-chang, another priest of Cochin China, went by the Southern Seas to Ceylon, afterwards in company with a priest called Hün-chiu he proceeded to the Bodhi Tree and afterwards to Rajagriha, and being taken sick in the Bambu Garden (Veluvana), he died there aged 30 years.
11 Klaproth, Now. Journal Asiat., tom. XII, p. 332.
11 It is also so marked in the map illustrating Fah-hisn's travels in the Fo.koue-ki. Bretechneider also refers to it, and confirms Klaproth's conclusion: he is mistaken, however, in saying that the name Kun-lun, 88 applied to Palo Condore, is first to be met with in the history of the Sung dynasty A. D. 960 (op. cit. p. 14 n.)
