Law of
Buddha." His native Chinese afforded no better character than {.} or
Law, by which our author could express concisely his idea of the
Buddhistic system, as "a law of life," a directory or system of Rules,
by which men could attain to the consummation of their being.
[2] Sakra is a common name for the Brahmanic Indra, adopted by
Buddhism into the circle of its own great adherents; - it has been
said, "because of his popularity." He is generally styled, as here,
T'een Ti, "God or Ruler of Devas." He is now the representative of the
secular power, the valiant protector of the Buddhist body, but is
looked upon as inferior to Sakyamuni, and every Buddhist saint. He
appears several times in Fa-hien's narrative. E. H., pp. 108 and 46.
[3] The Chinese character is {.}, "formerly," and is often, as in the
first sentence of the narrative, simply equivalent to that adverb. At
other times it means, as here, "in a former age," some pre-existent
state in the time of a former birth. The incident related is "a Jataka
story."
[4] It occurs at once to the translator to render the characters {.}
{.} by "changed himself to." Such is often their meaning in the
sequel, but their use in chapter xxiv may be considered as a crucial
test of the meaning which I have given them here.
