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When discussing the position of Kuśinagara I was compelled by the necessity of avoiding undue prolixity to assume without proof the correctness of the current belief that the ancient and famous city of Vaisāli (Vesāli) is now represented by the ruins at Basāṛ and the neighbouring villages in the Muzaffarpur District of North Bihār.
page 267 note 1 Ante, p. 143.
page 267 note 2 Cunningham: Arch. S. Reports, i, 55, 56; xvi, 6.
page 267 note 3 “On the Identification of Kusinara, Vaisāli, and other places mentioned by the Chinese pilgrims,” by Hoey, W., Litt.D., I.C.S.: J.A.S.B., 1900, vol. lxix, pt. 1, pp. 78, 83.Google Scholar Cherand stands on the northern bank of the Ganges, in approximately N. lat. 25° 41′ and E. long. 84° 55′, about seven miles south-east from Chaprā.
page 268 note 1 The correct spelling is said to be Basāṛ (षसाड़), but I believe that the spelling Basāṛh (षसाइ) is also permissible. The first syllable is certainly not Be-, बॆ, as it is written by Cunningham and Hoernle. The Indian Atlas (Sheet 102) spells the name as ‘Busadh Puttee.’ Basāṛh represents Vaisāli or Vesāli more accurately than does the form Basāṛ. Cunningham (Reports, i, 55) erroneously places Basāṛ ”a little to the east of north from Patna.” The mistake is probably due to a misprint.
page 269 note 1 Hājīpur possesses an ancient fort dating from Hindū times, and the principal mosque stands on the site of earlier buildings. The ruins of a Hindū temple known as Maṛhai exist two miles to the north of the town. (Cunningham, Reports, xvi, 5.) A hoard of gold Gupta coins, ranging in date from about A.D. 320 to 400, was found in the bazaar in 1893. (Proc. A.S.B., March, 1894, p. 57.)
page 270 note 1 Beal: Records, ii, 74–77. The statement that the Bodhisattva-piṭaka sūtra was revealed at Śvetapura is taken from the “Life of Hiuen Tsiang” (p. 101), which defines the position of Śvetapura by the rather obscure words : “Leaving the southern borders of Vaisāli and following the Ganges river for 100 li or so [27 or 28 miles], we came to the town of Śvetapura.” The Life, as M. Sylvain Lévi has pointed out, was written for edification, and is not to be depended on for geographical or topographical details. Many statements in the book are manifestly erroneous. The Records, on the other hand, the more they are tested, the more accurate they are proved to be.
page 270 note 2 Beal, ii, 81.
page 271 note 1 The ancient and modern routes can be traced on Sheets 102 and 103 of the Indian Atlas. No doubt in ancient times several passes into the valley of Nepāl were open to the traveller. The royal route led to the Goramasān Pass, as well as to the Bhiknā Thorī Pass, but the latter was probably that generally used.
page 271 note 2 “Five yojanas” (Beal and Giles). The distance of “ten yojanas” stated in Legge's translation is out of the question.
page 273 note 1 Fā-hien, ch. xxvi, xxvii, in Legge's version. For the changes in the courses of the rivers see the discussion by Cunningham and Beglar in Reports, vol. viii, pp. v, vi, xi, 23, and plate i. Cunningham (pp. vi and xi, with a misprint at p. vi) cites Patanjau as mentioning “Pāṭaliputra on the Son,” anu Sonam Pāṭaliputram. Patanjali is supposed to have lived about B.C. 150. I have myself seen the remains of the riverside stairs on the old bank of the Son near Bankipore. They were traced by Bābū P. C. Mukherjī for a distance of about 1,000 feet to the north of Nayātola, midway between Patna and Bankipore railway stations, and adjoining Kumrāhār (also called Nema or Nima), the site of the Maurya palace.
page 274 note 1 The fort is 1,580 feet in length from north to south, by 750 feet in width from east to west, and the circuit round the crest of the mound measures 4,660 feet (Cunningham, Reports, i, 55; xvi, 6), equivalent to about 5 li at the rate of 5⅓ li to the mile. The extensive forest to the north of the city was still standing in Fā-hien's time, about A.D. 405, in the reign of Candra Gupta II. The final ruin of the city was probably due to the destructive wars with the White Huns half a century later.
page 275 note 1 The exact date of the death of Gautama Buddha Śākyamuni is not known, and is probably unascertainable. The Ceylonese date, B.C. 543, which has been treated with undue respect, appears to be a little too early. If the figures 256 in Aśoka's Minor Rock Edicts express a date, they indicate that Aśoka believed Gautama to have died in or about B.C. 508. As an approximate round figure, B.C. 500 may be considered correct. As to the authenticity of the Piprāvā relics, see Professor Davids', Rhys paper “Aśoka and the Buddha-relics” in J.R.A.S., 07, 1901, p. 398.Google Scholar
page 275 note 2 My map is based on a tracing of plate ii in vol. xvi of Cunningham's Reports. The scale of Cunningham's map is really the same as that of mine, but is misprinted. Some details are taken from his earlier, and apparently less correct, plate xxi in vol. i of the same series. The additions made by me are supported by my interpretation of the Chinese pilgrims' texts, and by some notes supplied by Bābū P. C. Mukherjī, who visited the locality in November, 1897, on behalf of the Government of Bengal. His notes, although too crude for publication as a whole, contain valuable matter. The position of Chak Rāmdās is misrepresented in the map in Reports, xvi. This hamlet is really contiguous to Baniyā, from which it is divided by a narrow passage. (Ibid., 91.)
page 277 note 1 Cunningham: Reports, i, 56, 58–63; xvi, 12–16. The distance of the temple from the stūpa is given in the text as stated in Reports, xvi, 16; in ibid., i, 61, the distance is stated to be 500 feet. The existence of the mediæval statue may be explained by the well-known devotion of the Pāla kings to Buddhism. Lieutenant-Colonel Waddell's observation was communicated to me by letter. For the Mathurā variant of the monkey legend, see Beal, i, 182. Hiuen Tsiang was not disturbed by the duplication of the story.
page 277 note 2 Fā-hien, ch. xxv (Legge); Turnour in J.A.S.B. for 1838, pp. 790 and 1,200; Burnouf, Introduction, p. 74. The last two references are given by Cunningham, and I have not verified them. As to Kolhuā, Cunningham (xvi, 12) writes: “Near the village of Kolhua, 2 miles to the north-west of Besârh, and 1 mile to the south-east of the village of Bakhra, stands the massive stone pillar known as the Bakhra lât, or monolith.” In my map I have, therefore, inserted Kollua as north of the Monkey Tank. Bābū P. C. Mukherjī spells the name of the village as Kolluā, and states that there is a large mound on the eastern side.
page 278 note 1 The name is given as Abora in Reports, xvi, pl. ii, and aa Aboha in ibid., i, pl. xxi. The latter form is probably a misprint.
page 281 note 1 See my paper on “The Identity of Piyadasi (Priyadarśin) with Aśoka Maurya, and some connected problems,” in this Journal for October, 1901.
page 282 note 1 “ A Report on a Tour of Exploration of the Antiquities in the Tarai, Nepāl, the Region of Kapīlavastu, during February and March, 1899,” by Bābū P. C. Mukherjī, with a Prefatory Note by Vincent A. Smith; being No. xxvi, pt. 1, of the Imperial Series of Reports of the Archæological Survey of India ; Calcutta, 1901. I refer especially to pp. 10 and 21 of my Prefatory Note.
page 282 note 2 Indian Antiquary, vol. xxx (1901), p. 95.
page 282 note 3 Ibid., p. 387.
page 284 note 1 Journal of the Pāli Text Society for 1897–1901, p. 79. For the distances stated Professor Rhys Davids refers to “Dhammapāla on S.N. 2. 1.”
page 284 note 2 The best published discussion of the value of the yojana is that given by Professor Rhys Davids in “Ancient Coins and Measures of Ceylon,” pp. 15–17. He finds that the yojana used by Fā-hien was approximately equal to 7½ miles, and with this finding I agree. Both the Chinese pilgrims reckoned 40 li to the yojana, and their li, therefore, is equivalent to about 3⅙ of a mile, or, in other words, 5⅓ li go to the mile. Cunningham reckoned 6 li to the mile. The modern Chinese li is about one-third of a mile. Gibbon, with his usual accuracy, did not fail to perceive the lower value of the ancient li, “ According to the present standard,” he observes, “ 200 li (or, more accurately, 193) are equal to one degree of latitude; and one English mile consequently exceeds three miles of China. But there are strong reasons to believe that the ancient li scarcely equalled one half of the modern.” (Note to ch. xxvi.)
Hiuen Tsiang records the fact that the yojana had three values, namely:—
(1) According to the old accounts, 40 li;
(2) According to the common reckoning in India, 30 li; and
(3) In the sacred books, 16 li (Beal, i, 70).
Hiuen Tsiang's measurements in li, when compared with Fā-hien's in yojanas, always give a value of 40 li for the yojana. I have not noticed in any book a clear example of the yojana containing only 30 li, equivalent to 5⅝ miles. But examples of the yojana of the value of three miles, containing only 16 li, or an equivalent Indian measure, seem to occur in ‘ the sacred books ’ The following quotations are from Spence Hardy's “ Manual of Buddhism,” 2nd ed Hardy drew his information from Pāli authorities.
The distance from Kapilavastu to Anoma river, according to him, was 480‘miles,’ and from the same river to Rājagrha the distance was equal. Hardy's ‘ mile ’ seems to be the sixteenth of a yojana, and the two distances stated would be 30 yojanas each (pp. 164, 165). This interpretation is fully justified by the statement (p 204) that when Buddha commenced his journey he proceeded each day sixteen ‘ miles,’ and accomplished the distance of 60 yojanas between Rajagrha and Kapilavastu in two months, that is to say, in sixty days he travelled sixty yojanas of 16 ‘ miles,’ or li, each He is, therefore, alleged to have moved at the very leisurely rate of 3 English miles a day. But, even if the yojana be taken at this minimum value of 3 miles, the total distance as stated of 180 miles (60 x 3) between Rājagrha and Kapilavastu is not nearly correct The position of Rājagrha is certain, and Kapilavastu stood a few miles westward from Rummindeī, the certain site of the Lumbini Garden The direct distance from Rājagrha to Kapilavastu is about 225, and the marching distance about 250 miles The estimate of 60 yojanas cannot be reconciled with any of the known values of the yojana.
The distance between Rājagrha and Śrāvastī is stated to be 45 yojanas, or 45 days' journey for Buddha (ibid, pp. 224, 225) But the site of Śrāvastī is nearly 100 miles further from Rājagrha than is Kapilavastu, the distance from which place to Rājagrha is stated as 60 yojanas.
From Śrāvastī to Vaisāli the distance is said (p 291) to be 54 yojanas, and the distance from Kapilavastu to Vaisāli (p 354) is given as 49 yojanas, whereas the distance from Śrāvastī to Kapilavastu is known to have been 12½ long yojanas, equivalent to 500 li. From such figures it is difficult to deduce any valuable result.
page 286 note 1 A convenient summary of the Jain traditions, with references to the original authorities, will be found in Dr. Hoernle's masterly address delivered to the Asiatic Society of Bengal on the 2nd February, 1898. As an indication of the early pre-eminence of Vaisāli, see the curious story about “ the water of the tank in Vesāli City where the families of the kings get water for the ceremonial sprinkling,“ in Jātaka No. 465, the Bhadda-Sāla (Rouse, transl. iv, 94).
page 287 note 1 The full proof of this proposition will be found in my work entitled “ The Jain Stûpa and other Antiquities of Mathurâ,” now in the press, which will be published as volume xx of the Imperial Series of Reports of the Archæological Survey of India. Dr. Führer left behind him a series of valuable plates depicting the Jain remains at Mathur¯a, to which I have added a brief descriptive commentary.
page 288 note 1 The prospectus of the India Exploration Fund fully recognizes the special interest attaching to the Vaisāli site. If that Fund should ever come into being it will, so far as I understand, simply result in a small cash contribution to the Archæological Department of the Government of India for expenditure on works selected by the managers of the Fund.
page 288 note 2 Journal of the Pāli Text Society, 1901, p. 79.