To give an exhaustive account of the objects crowded together at this fountain-head of Buddhism would be impossible. The following abbreviated version of the Rev. S. Beal’s translation (ii. 115) of Hiouen Thsang’s description, throws great light on the state of Buddhism in the seventh century:—
Going south-west from Mount Prāgbodhi, we came to the Bodhi-tree. It is surrounded by a brick wall, and is about 500 paces round. Within the wall the sacred traces touch one another in all directions. In one place there are Stūpas, in another place Vihāras. In the middle of the enclosure is the Bodhi-tree, under which is the diamond throne called Bodhi-maṇḍa. On this the Buddha sat and attained the holy path of perfect wisdom. When the earth is shaken, this spot alone is unmoved. In old days, when Buddha was alive, the Bodhi-tree—which is a Pippala or sacred fig-tree—was several hundred feet high. Although it has often been injured by cutting, it is still forty or fifty feet high. The leaves never wither either in winter or summer, but always remain shining and glistening, except on every successive Nirvāṇa-day, when the leaves fade, and then in a moment revive as before. On this day thousands and ten thousands assemble from different quarters, and bathe the roots with scented water and perfumed milk. King Aṡoka, before he was converted, tried to destroy the tree by force, and after him king Saṡāṅka tried again, but the roots sprang up as full of life as ever.
To the east of the Bodhi-tree, there is a Vihāra about 160 or 170 feet high, built of blue tiles covered with chunam; all the niches in the different stories holding golden figures. The four sides of the building are covered with ornamental work. The whole is surmounted by a gilded copper Amalaka fruit. To the right and left of the gate are niches; in the left is a figure of Avalokiteṡvara Bodhi-sattva and in the right a figure of Maitreya. On the site of the present Vihāra, Aṡoka at first built a small Vihāra. Afterwards a Brāhman, who became a convert to Buddhism, reconstructed it on a larger scale.
To the north of the Bodhi-tree is the place where Buddha walked up and down, about 70 paces or so long. When he had obtained enlightenment, he remained perfectly quiet for seven days. Then rising, he walked up and down during seven days to the north of the tree. Not far to the south of the tree is a Stūpa about 100 feet high, built by King Aṡoka. To the east of the tree is the place (marked by two Stūpas) where Māra tempted Gautama to become a Universal Monarch. To the north-west is a Vihāra in which is an image of Kāṡyapa Buddha, noted for its miraculous qualities. Occasionally it emits a glorious light, and the old records say, that if a man, actuated by sincere faith, walks round it seven times, he obtains the power of knowing the place and condition of his previous births. Outside the south gate is a large tank, about 700 paces round, the water of which is clear and pure as a mirror. To the east of this is the lake of the Snake-king, Mućalinda. On the west bank is a small Vihāra. Formerly, when Tathāgata acquired complete enlightenment, he sat here for seven days in perfect composure, and ecstatic contemplation, while Mućalinda protected him with his folds wound seven times round his body. (Compare the frontispiece.)
By the side of the river, not far off, is the place where Buddha received the rice-milk, and where two merchants offered some wheat-flour and honey from their travelling-store ([p. 40] of this volume).
Near this a Stūpa marks the spot where the four Kings presented Buddha with four golden dishes. The Lord declined such costly offerings. Then the four Kings, casting away the golden vessels, offered silver ones; and afterwards vessels of crystal, lapis-lazuli, cornelian, amber, ruby, and so on in succession; but the Lord of the World would accept none of them. Lastly, the four Kings offered stone vessels.
Near this spot the Buddha worked various wonders to convert those who were capable of conversion. For example, it was here that the Buddha overcame the fiery snake-demon (see [p. 46] of this volume). In the middle of the night the Nāga vomited forth fire and smoke, and the chamber seemed to be filled with fiery flames; but the Buddha having forced the fiery dragon into his alms-bowl, came forth next day holding it in his hand, and showed it to the unbelievers.
To the south of Mućalinda’s tank is a Stūpa, which indicates the spot where Kāṡyapa, having embarked in a boat to save Buddha during an inundation, saw the Lord of the World walking on the water as on land.
Sārnāth near Benares.
The city of Benares (Banāras, properly Vārāṇasī) is the most sacred place of Brāhmanism[198], and is certainly the second most holy place of Buddhism. For it was from this centre that the stream of Buddhist teaching first flowed, and in the days of Aṡoka and of his immediate successors, Buddhism must have vied with Brāhmanism in the number of its shrines and sacred objects collected there.
We have already seen that memorial Stūpas and temples, not intended to contain relics, were reared at various holy spots of ground, consecrated by the presence of Gautama on special occasions. The immense ruined Stūpa—once a tower-like monument—at a spot now called Sārnāth (Sāraṅga-nāth[199]), three or four miles from the modern city of Benares, is a memorial of this kind. It is all that remains of the celebrated structure erected at the spot in the Mṛiga-dāva or deer-park, once called Isi-patana (for Sanskṛit Ṛishi-patana), where Gautama first turned the wheel of the Law (Dharma-ćakra)—that is, where he preached his first sermon ([p. 42]). It was to this place that Buddhist pilgrims once flocked, and here vast numbers of votive relic-shrines and Stūpas were deposited, as at Buddha-Gayā.
I visited this ancient ruin, in company with the late Mr. Sherring, in 1876, and enjoyed the advantage of his guidance in inspecting it, as well as all that remains of the monastic buildings and other adjacent ruins, including the octagonal tower called Chaukandi, about half a mile distant. In his book on Benares, Mr. Sherring has followed General Sir A. Cunningham, who describes the principal monument—now of a bee-hive shape, and called Dhamek[200]—as 93 feet in diameter at the base, 292 feet in circumference, and 128 feet above the general level of the soil. The lower part—to a height of 43 feet—is built of stone, and all the upper part of bricks. There are eight projecting faces with empty niches, which once held statues.
An old man who was in charge of the ruins when we examined them, lighted a candle, and took us into the horizontal tunnel-like gallery which the General had excavated some years before, in the hope that relics or memorials of some kind might be found buried in the interior. A shaft or well had been previously sunk from the summit, and at the depth of 10½ feet a slab was discovered, inscribed with the well-known Buddhist formula ‘Ye dharmā,’ etc. ([p. 104]); but the search for relics proved unsuccessful. The Stūpa, in fact, turned out to be merely memorial, like that at Buddha-Gayā.
Probably some monumental Stūpa existed here from the earliest times, and certainly from Aṡoka’s time. The present Stūpa was seen by Hiouen Thsang, who has described it in rather a confused manner (Beal, ii. 45). Hence it must be as old as about the ninth century. Fā-hien saw a Stūpa of some kind there in the fifth century ([p. 387]).
About fifty yards from the Stūpa, Sir A. Cunningham found the interesting sculpture given at [p. 477].