Do?" He then again exerted himself, and they succeeded in crossing to
the south of the range, and arrived in the kingdom of Lo-e,[5] where
there were nearly three thousand monks, students of both the mahayana
and hinayana. Here they stayed for the summer retreat,[6] and when
that was over, they went on to the south, and ten days' journey
brought them to the kingdom of Poh-na,[7] where there are also more
than three thousand monks, all students of the hinayana. Proceeding
from this place for three days, they again crossed the Indus, where
the country on each side was low and level.[8]
NOTES
[1] These must have been Tao-ching and Hwuy-king.
[2] Probably the Safeid Koh, and on the way to the Kohat pass.
[3] All the texts have Kwuy-king. See chapter xii, note 13.
[4] A very natural exclamation, but out of place and inconsistent from
the lips of Fa-hien. The Chinese character {.}, which he employed, may
be rendered rightly by "fate" or "destiny;" but the fate is not
unintelligent. The term implies a factor, or fa-tor, and supposes
the ordination of Heaven or God. A Confucian idea for the moment
overcame his Buddhism.
[5] Lo-e, or Rohi, is a name for Afghanistan; but only a portion of it
can be here intended.
[6] We are now therefore in 404.
[7] No doubt the present district of Bannu, in the Lieutenant-
Governorship of the Punjab, between 32d 10s and 33d 15s N. lat., and
70d 26s and 72d E. lon. See Hunter's Gazetteer of India, i, p. 393.
[8] They had then crossed the Indus before. They had done so, indeed,
twice; first, from north to south, at Skardo or east of it; and
second, as described in chapter vii.
CHAPTER XV
BHIDA. SYMPATHY OF MONKS WITH THE PILGRIMS.
After they had crossed the river, there was a country named Pe-
t'oo,[1] where Buddhism was very flourishing, and (the monks) studied
both the mahayana and hinayana. When they saw their fellow-disciples
from Ts'in passing along, they were moved with great pity and
sympathy, and expressed themselves thus: "How is it that these men
from a border-land should have learned to become monks,[2] and come
for the sake of our doctrines from such a distance in search of the
Law of Buddha?" They supplied them with what they needed, and treated
them in accordance with the rules of the Law.
NOTES
[1] Bhida. Eitel says, "The present Punjab;" i.e. it was a portion of
that.
[2] "To come forth from their families;" that is, to become celibates,
and adopt the tonsure.
CHAPTER XVI
ON TO MATHURA OR MUTTRA. CONDITION AND CUSTOMS OF CENTRAL INDIA;
OF THE MONKS, VIHARAS, AND MONASTERIES.
![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
- Do you immediately go away, that we do not all die here; and
with these words he died.[3] Fa - Page 36](../images/travel.jpg)
