Now, as
of old, there is a company of monks there, most of whom are students
of the hinayana.
East from (this), when you have travelled eight yojanas, is the place
where Buddha converted[14] the evil demon. There, and where he walked
(in meditation) and sat at the place which was his regular abode,
there have been topes erected. There is also a monastery, which may
contain more than a hundred monks.
NOTES
[1] Fa-hien is here mentioned singly, as in the account of his visit
to the cave on Gridhra-kuta. I think that Tao-ching may have remained
at Patna after their first visit to it.
[2] See chap. xxvii, note 1.
[3] "The city surrounded by rivers;" the modern Benares, lat. 25d 23s
N., lon. 83d 5s E.
[4] "The rishi," says Eitel, "is a man whose bodily frame has
undergone a certain transformation by dint of meditation and ascetism,
so that he is, for an indefinite period, exempt from decrepitude, age,
and death. As this period is believed to extend far beyond the usual
duration of human life, such persons are called, and popularly
believed to be, immortals." Rishis are divided into various classes;
and rishi-ism is spoken of as a seventh part of transrotation, and
rishis are referred to as the seventh class of sentient beings.
Taoism, as well as Buddhism, has its Seen jin.
