This copy of the
rules, however, is the most complete, with the fullest explanations. [2]
He further got a transcript of the rules in six or seven thousand
gathas, [3] being the sarvastivadah [4] rules--those which are observed
by the communities of monks in the land of Ts'in; which also have all
been handed down orally from master to master without being committed to
writing. In the community here, moreover, he got the
Samyuktabhi-dharma-hridaya-sastra, containing about six or seven
thousand gathas; he also got a Sutra of two thousand five hundred
gathas; one chapter of the Pari-nirvana-vaipulya Sutra, of about five
thousand gathas; and the Mahasanghika Abhidharma.
In consequence of this success in his quest Fa-hien stayed here for
three years, learning Sanscrit books and the Sanscrit speech, and
writing out, the Vinaya rules. When Tao-ching arrived in the Central
Kingdom, and saw the rules observed by the Sramanas, and the dignified
demeanor in their societies which he remarked under all occurring
circumstances, he sadly called to mind in what a mutilated and imperfect
condition the rules were among the monkish communities in the land of
Ts'in, and made the following aspiration: "From this time forth till I
come to the state of Buddha, let me not be born in a frontier-land." He
remained accordingly in India, and did not return to the land of Han.
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