‘There exists,’ says the French Missionary (ii. 194), ‘a very touching custom at Lhāssa. In the evening, just as the day is verging on its decline, all the Tibetans stop business and meet together, men, women, and children, according to their sex and age, in the principal parts of the town and in the public squares. As soon as groups are formed, every one kneels down, and they begin slowly and in undertones to chant prayers.
‘The religious concerts produced by these numerous assemblages create throughout the town a solemn harmony, which operates forcibly on the soul. The first time we witnessed this spectacle, we could not help drawing a painful comparison between this pagan town, where all prayed together, and the cities of Europe, where people would blush to make the sign of the cross in public.’
LECTURE XIV.
Sacred Places.
It was only to be expected, that Buddhism, closely connected as it was with Brāhmanism and Hindūism, and yet in some respects opposed to those systems, should have certain sacred places and hallowed regions, some of which were identical with those of Brāhmanism and Hindūism, and some peculiarly its own.
In the Mahā-parinibbāna-sutta (V. 16-22, Rhys Davids), we have the following declaration:—
‘There are four places which the believing man should visit as a pilgrim with feelings of reverence and awe. The place at which he can say, “Here the Tathāgata (one of the names of Buddha, see [p. 23]) was born.” The place at which he can say, “Here the Tathāgata attained to perfect insight and enlightenment.” The place at which he can say, “Here the Law was first preached by the Tathāgata.” The place at which he can say, “Here the Tathāgata passed finally away in that utter passing away which leaves nothing whatever behind” (see [p. 142, note], and [p. 477]).
‘And they who die, while with believing heart they journey on such pilgrimages, shall be reborn, in the happy realms of heaven.’
The Chinese traveller, Fā-hien, names the same four sacred places (Chap. xxxi.), and says that the situation of the four great Stūpas (see [p. 504]) has been fixed, namely, (1) where the Buddha was born, (2) where he attained wisdom, (3) where he began to turn the wheel of his Law, (4) where he attained Pari-nirvāṇa ([p. 142]). Compare engraving of sculpture opposite [p. 477].
Elsewhere Fā-hien mentions two other sacred spots—the place where the Buddha discomfited the advocates of erroneous doctrines[189], and the place where he descended after ascending to the Trayastriṉṡa heaven (see [p. 414] of this volume), to preach the Law to his mother (Legge’s Fā-hien, 68).
These places are all situated within the area of the sacred land of Buddhism (see map opposite [p. 21]);—that is to say, the land which was the scene of the Buddha’s itineration for forty-five years—a region about 300 miles long, by nearly 200 broad, lying in Gangetic India, within the modern provinces of Oudh and Behār (Bihār for Vihāra), or the ancient kingdoms of Kosala and Magadha, and having Ṡrāvastī and Buddha-Gayā for its limit towards the north and south respectively.
It will be interesting to note a few particulars in regard to these and other sacred spots scattered throughout this region, in the following order:—Kapila-vastu, Buddha-Gayā, Sārnāth near Benares, Rāja-gṛiha, Ṡrāvastī (often written Ṡrāvasti), Vaiṡālī, Kauṡāmbi, Nālanda, Saṅkāṡya, Sākeṭa (Ajūdhyā), Kanyā-kubja (Kanauj), Pāṭali-putra (Patnā), Kesarīya, Kuṡi-nagara. The map opposite [p. 21] will make these clear.