He might be more than fifty years old, and all
the kingdom looked up to him. By means of this one man, the Law of
Buddha was widely made-known, and the followers of other doctrines did
not find it in their power to persecute the body of monks in any way.
By the side of the tope of Asoka, there has been made a mahayana
monastery, very grand and beautiful; there is also a hinayana one; the
two together containing six hundred or seven hundred monks. The rules of
demeanor and the scholastic arrangements in them are worthy of
observation.
Shamans of the highest virtue from all quarters, and students, inquirers
wishing to find out truth and the grounds of it, all resort to these
monasteries. There also resides in this monastery a Brahman teacher,
whose name also is Manjusri, whom the Shamans of greatest virtue in
the kingdom, and the mahayana Bhikshus honor and look up to.
The cities and towns of this country are the greatest of all in the
Middle Kingdom. The inhabitants are rich and prosperous, and vie with
one another in the practice of benevolence and righteousness. Every year
on the eighth day of the second month they celebrate a procession of
images. They make a four-wheeled car, and on it erect a structure of
five stories by means of bamboos tied together. This is supported by a
king-post, with poles and lances slanting from it, and is rather more
than twenty cubits high, having the shape of a tope.
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