Looking at it from a distance of more than ten paces, you seem
to see Buddha's real form, with his complexion of gold, and his
characteristic marks in their nicety, clearly and brightly displayed.
The nearer you approach, however, the fainter it becomes, as if it were
only in your fancy. When the kings from the regions all around have sent
skilful artists to take a copy, none of them have been able to do so.
Among the people of the country there is a saying current that "the
thousand Buddhas must all leave their shadows here."
Rather more than four hundred paces west from the shadow, when Buddha
was at the spot, he shaved off his hair and clipped his nails, and
proceeded, along with his disciples, to build a tope seventy or eighty
cubits high, to be a model for all future topes; and it is still
existing. By the side of it there is a monastery, with more than seven
hundred monks in it. At this place there are as many as a thousand topes
of Arhans and Pratyeka Buddhas.
[Footnote 1: Now in India, Fa-hien used the Indian measure of distance;
but it is not possible to determine exactly what its length then was.
The estimates of it are very different, and vary from four and a half or
five miles to seven, and sometimes more.]
[Footnote 2: The present Hidda, west of Peshawur, and five miles south
of Jellalabad.]
[Footnote 3: "The vihara," says Hardy, "is the residence of a recluse or
priest;" and so Davids--"the clean little hut where the mendicant
lives.
Pages:
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257