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śāstra
master
won the contest the buddha-dharma would be destroyed, and if the monks
were undefeated then the
śāstra
master would cut off his tongue.
At that time the monks, fearing that they might be defeated, assembled
to discuss the matter, saying, “The Sun of Wisdom has sunk and the Bridge
of the Dharma is about to be destroyed. How can we compete with the heretics
who have the king standing by their side? Under these circumstances what
should we do?” The assembly remained silent and no one ventured to raise
a proposal. Dharmapāla Bodhisattva, then a young man who was eloquent,
intelligent, and learned, and who enjoyed a widespread reputation, declared
to the assembly, “Although I am an ignorant person I venture to make a brief
statement. It would truly befit you to send me promptly to answer the king’s
order. If I win the debate it will be due to spiritual protection, and if I fail
my youthfulness can be blamed. In this way we can give an explanation in
either case and no censure will be incurred upon the Dharma or the community
of monks.” The whole assembly consented to his proposal and, according
to his suggestion, Dharmapāla was sent to answer the king’s order.
He mounted the seat of discussion and the heretical [
śāstra
master] recited
his book in a rhythmic voice, brought out all the essentials of his work, and
waited for a refutation. Dharmapāla listened to his recitation and said with
a smile, “I have won. Shall I recite your book backward, or shall I recite it
with the phrases transposed in order?” The heretic was dismayed and said,
“You should not be self-important. One who can fully understand the meanings
of my book is the winner. First recite it in its proper sequence and then give
an explanation of the text.” Dharmapāla then imitated the heretic’s rhythmic
voice, recited the text, and expounded the meanings of its contents, with no
fault either in phraseology or in principles, nor was there any deviation in
the intonation. After hearing this, the heretic made ready to cut off his tongue.
Dharma pāla said to him, “Cutting off your tongue is not a way to amend
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The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions
yourself. Real repentance is to correct your [wrongly] grasped opinions.”
He preached the Dharma to the heretic, who began to have faith in it and
understand its meanings. The king gave up the erroneous way and embraced
the Dharma in adoration.
Beside the place where Dharmapāla subdued the heretic is a stupa built
by King Aśoka. Though the foundations have collapsed it is still more than
two hundred feet high. Formerly the Tathāgata preached the Dharma for six
months at this place. Beside it is a place where [he] walked up and down and
a stupa containing his hair and nail relics.
Going northward from here for one hundred seventy or eighty
li,
I reached
the country of Viṣaka (in the domain of Central India). The country of Viṣaka
is more than four thousand
li
in circuit and its capital city is sixteen
li
in
circuit. It abounds in cereal crops and yields plenty of flowers and fruit. The
climate is moderate and the people are sincere and honest by custom. They
are fond of learning without getting tired and they never regress in performing
good deeds. There are more than twenty monasteries with over three thousand
monks, all of whom study the teachings of the Saṃmitīya sect of the Hinayana
school. There are over fifty
deva
temples with a great many heretics.
To the south of the city there is a large monastery on the left side of the
road in which the arhat Devaśarman composed the
Vijñānakāya-śāstra
to
advocate the theory of the non-self in the human body, while the arhat Gopa
wrote the
Treatise on the Essential Truth of the Holy Teachings
(
Sheng jiao
yao shi lun
) to maintain the doctrine of the existence of the self in the human
body. These incompatible views about the Dharma caused much controversy.
It was also in this monastery that Dharmapāla Bodhisattva subdued one hun-
dred Hinayana
śāstra
masters in seven days. Beside the monastery is a stupa
more than two hundred feet high built by King Aśoka. Formerly the Tathāgata
preached the Dharma for six years at this place to edify the people. There is
a marvelous tree, about six or seven feet tall, which neither sprouts leaves
in springtime nor withers in autumn. Formerly the Tathāgata cast down a
tooth twig he had used for cleaning his teeth, which took root and grew into
the luxuriant tree that it there now. People holding heterodox views and
heretics have tried to cut the tree down but it grows back as before. Not far
away from the tree are places where the four past buddhas used to sit and
142
Fascicle V
walk up and down, and there is also a stupa containing the Tathāgata’s hair
and nail relics. The foundations of the holy sites are connected with one
another in a wood with ponds, in which the shapes of the trees are reflected.
Going from here to the northeast for over five hundred
li,
I reached the country
of Śrāvastī (formerly known as Shewei erroneously, in the domain of Central
India).
End of Fascicle V of
The Great Tang Dynasty
Record of the Western Regions
143
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