A Record Of Buddhistic Kingdoms - Being An Account By The Chinese Monk Fa-hien Of His Travels In India And Ceylon (a.d. 399-414) By James Legge
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Suddenly (One Day), When By
The Side Of This Image Of Jade, He Saw A Merchant Presenting As His
Offering A Fan Of White Silk;[5] And The Tears Of Sorrow Involuntarily
Filled His Eyes And Fell Down.
A former king of the country had sent to Central India and got a slip
of the patra tree,[6] which he planted by the side of the hall of
Buddha, where a tree grew up to the height of about 200 cubits.
As it
bent on one side towards the south-east, the king, fearing it would
fall, propped it with a post eight or nine spans round. The tree began
to grow at the very heart of the prop, where it met (the trunk); (a
shoot) pierced through the post, and went down to the ground, where it
entered and formed roots, that rose (to the surface) and were about
four spans round. Although the post was split in the middle, the outer
portions kept hold (of the shoot), and people did not remove them.
Beneath the tree there has been built a vihara, in which there is an
image (of Buddha) seated, which the monks and commonalty reverence and
look up to without ever becoming wearied. In the city there has been
reared also the vihara of Buddha's tooth, on which, as well as on the
other, the seven precious substances have been employed.
The king practises the Brahmanical purifications, and the sincerity of
the faith and reverence of the population inside the city are also
great.
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