CHAPTER X
GANDHARA. LEGENDS OF BUDDHA.
The travellers, going downwards from this towards the east, in five
days came to the country of Gandhara,[1] the place where Dharma-
vivardhana,[2] the son of Asoka,[3] ruled. When Buddha was a
Bodhisattva, he gave his eyes also for another man here;[4] and at the
spot they have also reared a large tope, adorned with layers of gold
and silver plates. The people of the country were mostly students of
the hinayana.
NOTES
[1] Eitel says "an ancient kingdom, corresponding to the region about
Dheri and Banjour." But see note 5.
[2] Dharma-vivardhana is the name in Sanskrit, represented by the Fa
Yi {.} {.} of the text.
[3] Asoka is here mentioned for the first time; - the Constantine of
the Buddhist society, and famous for the number of viharas and topes
which he erected. He was the grandson of Chandragupta (i.q.
Sandracottus), a rude adventurer, who at one time was a refugee in the
camp of Alexander the Great; and within about twenty years afterwards
drove the Greeks out of India, having defeated Seleucus, the Greek
ruler of the Indus provinces. He had by that time made himself king of
Magadha. His grandson was converted to Buddhism by the bold and
patient demeanour of an Arhat whom he had ordered to be buried alive,
and became a most zealous supporter of the new faith.
![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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[5] That is, had become Buddha, or completed his course {.} {.}.
[6] This seems to be the contribution of {.} (or {.}), to - Page 53](../images/travel.jpg)
