]
CHAPTER X
~Gandhara--Legends of Buddha~
The travellers, going downwards from this towards the east, in five days
came to the country of Gandhara, the place where Dharma-vivardhana, the
son of Asoka, [1] ruled. When Buddha was a Bodhisattva, he gave his eyes
also for another man here; 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.
[Footnote 1: 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, 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.
His grandson was converted to Buddhism by the bold and patient demeanor
of an Arhat whom he had ordered to be buried alive, and became a most
zealous supporter of the new faith.]
CHAPTER XI
~Takshasila--Legends--The Four Great Topes~
Seven days' journey from this to the east brought the travellers to the
kingdom of Takshasila, which means "the severed head" in the language of
China. Here, when Buddha was a Bodhisattva, he gave away his head to a
man; and from this circumstance the kingdom got its name.
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