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"â-Hien, and the Sorrows of Han"


Fa-hien, however, whose original purpose had been to secure the
introduction of the complete Vinaya rules into the land of Han, returned
there alone.

[Footnote 1: Mahasanghika simply means "the Great Assembly," that is, of
monks.]
[Footnote 2: It was afterwards translated by Fa-hien into Chinese.]
[Footnote 3: A gatha is a stanza, generally consisting of a few,
commonly of two, lines somewhat metrically arranged.]
[Footnote 4: "A branch," says Eitel, "of the great vaibhashika school,
asserting the reality of all visible phenomena, and claiming the
authority of Rahula."]

CHAPTER XXXVII
~Fa-hien's Stay in Champa and Tamalipti~

Following the course of the Ganges, and descending eastward for eighteen
yojanas, he found on the southern bank the great kingdom of Champa, with
topes reared at the places where Buddha walked in meditation by his
vihara, and where he and the three Buddhas, his predecessors, sat. There
were monks residing at them all. Continuing his journey east for nearly
fifty yojanas, he came to the country of Tamalipti, the capital of which
is a seaport. In the country there are twenty-two monasteries, at all of
which there are monks residing. The Law of Buddha is also flourishing in
it. Here Fa-hien stayed two years, writing out his Sutras, and drawing
pictures of images.
After this he embarked in a large merchant-vessel, and went floating
over the sea to the southwest.


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