THE PAST BUDDHAS AND KAA'SYAPA IN INDIAN ART AND EPIGRAPHY
Leiden, J.Ph. Vogel
Asiatica
vol.65
1954
p.808-816
p.808
A very remarkable development in the early history
of Buddhism is what we may call the multiplication
of its founder. It was the belief that the doctrine
promulgated by 'Saakyamuni had been preached by
previous Buddhas, their careers too being similar to
his. The four Nikaayas mention six predecessors of
'Saakyamuni w Vipassin (Skt. Vipa'syin(, Sikhin
(Skt. 'Sikhin) , Vessabhuu (Skt. Vi'svabhuk or
Vi'svabhuu) , Kakusandha (Skt.Krakucchanda) ,
Konaagamana (Skt. Kanakamuni) and Kassapa (Skt.
Kaa'syapa). These names agree in all the schools, a
circumstance pointing to an early date of this
development. The doctrine of a succession of Buddhas
led to the belief in a future Buddha. It was
Metteyya (Skt. Maitreya) who was supposed to dwell
in the Tu.sita heaven. It was considered a point of
great importance that each Buddha in the course of
his career had met the being predestined to become
his successor in a later existence and had revealed
to him his future Buddhahood. This revelation was
called vyaakara.na.
The homage paid to the former Buddhas is evidenced
by epigraphical documents. In March 1895 Dr. Fhrer
discovered two broken parts of a pillar-shaft on the
bank of a large tank a mile south of the village of
Nigliva in the Nepal Taraaii(1) . The Braahmii
inscription on the shaft proved to be a record of
A'soka. It reads(2):"When the King, His Majesty
Piyadassi, had been anointed fourteen years, he
enlarged the Stuupa of the Buddha Konaakamana to the
double (of its original size) and when he had been
anointed [twenty] years, he came himself and
worshipped (this spot) [and] caused [a stone pillar
to be set up]." The missing words in the concluding
portion of the text were supplemented by Georg
Bhler (3) from the similarly worded inscription on
the A'soka pillar, discovered by Dr. Fhrer at
Rummindei in December 1896. This pillar was erected
by A'soka on the site of the Lumbinii Garden, the
traditional place of the Nativity of 'Saakyamuni.
It is well known that in early Buddhist art the
Tathaagata is never represented in bodily form. In
scenes relating to his last existence, including the
events preceding his Enlightenment, his presence is
indicated by a footprint either single or double, an
empty seat, a parasol over his horse (in the
Mahaabhini.skrama.na) or some other
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1 A. Fhrer, Monograph on Buddha 'Saakyamuni's
Birth-place in the Nepalese Tarai (Archl. Survey of
Northern India, vol.VI.) Allahabad 1897, pp. 33f.
2 E.Hultzsch,Inscriptions of Asoka (Corpus Inscr.
Ind., vol.I) Oxford 1925, pp. XXIII, 165.
3 Wiener Zschr., vol. IX.
p.809
symbol. The same rule applies to his predecessors,
the six former Buddhas. This is evident from the
railing belonging to the stuupa of Bharhut which is
assigned to the middle of the 2nd century B.C. Here
we find the six Buddhas symbolised by their
respective Bodhi-trees, which enabled the initiated
to identify them. These reliefs are moreover
provided with short inscriptions in each of which
the name of the respective Buddha is mentioned. The
first reads: Bhagavato Vipasino Bodhi and the others
are couched in the same formula. The circular
reliefs must have been employed to decorate the
stambhas of the railing; but it is impossible to
make out their original position. When Sir Alexander
Cunningham discovered the famous monument in 1873,
the body of the stuupa had been almost destroyed by
the neighbouring villagers, but portions of the
eastern tora.na and the railing were found by him
beneath the ruins and removed to the Calcutta
Museum. He notes however that the reliefs referring
to Vipassi and Kakusandha were found in the
north-west, thosed of Vessabhu and Konigamana in the
south-east and that of Kassapa in the south-west
quadrant. We may therefore conclude that they were
placed at some distance from one another(4).
The railing of the Great Stuupa of Sanchi with its
four profusely decorated tora.nas still occupies its
original position. These tora.nas were erected
during the time of the Andhra dynasty about the
latter part of the first century B.C. The southern
and western gateways which had collapsed owing to
injudicious diggings, were restored in 1881-83 and
in the process some of the composing members were
misplaced. It is a point of great significance that
the seven Maanu.si-Buddhas (viz. the six past
Buddhas and 'Saakyamuni)are symbolically represented
on the four gateways and moreover on three of them
occupy a very conspicuous position on the front face
of the top lintel(5). In the case of the southern
tora.na, it is true, the relief in question is now
at the back; but there can be little doubt that this
is due to an error committed in the reconstruction
of 1881. The west gateway shows the symbols of the
seven Buddhas not on the top lintel but on the four
dies supporting the superstructure. Sir John
Marshall ascribes this divergent arrangement to the
slovenness alike of composition and execution
characterizing the sculptural decoration of the
western tora.na. On the north and east gateways we
find the bodhidrumas of the seven Buddhas of our age
placed side by side on the same lintel, but also
four or five stuupas alternating with three or two
trees. It may be assumed that the latter arrangement
was chosen for the sake of variety. Anyhow the place
of honour assigned to these symbols seems to imply a
great veneration of the personages whom they
indicate.
The creation of the Buddha image ( circa 50 A.D.
according to Marshll), which we may safely attribute
to the Graeco-Buddhist School of Gandhaara,
revolutionized Buddhist iconography. The excavations
carried out for a century in the North-West have
yielded an incredible number of images of every size
showing the Buddha characterized by his monastic
dress and by the halo encircling his head. It was
Grnwedel who first recognised the seven Buddhas on
a piece of sculpture in the
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4 A. Cunningham, The Stuupa of Bharhut. London
1879, pp.45f., 132, 135, 137, plates 29-30. A relief
relating to Sikhin, the second Buddha, is absent but
the Bodhitree of 'Saakyamuni is reproduced, pl.31.
5 John marshall and A. Foucher, The Monuments of
Sanchi. Calcutta 1940. pp.38, 142, 200, 231, 234;
plates 15, 21, 39, 54.
P.810
lahore Museum, said to have been found near the
village Muhammad Naarii(6). It shows the facade of a
vihaara enshrining a Buddha figure seated on a lotus
in the attitude of preaching (dharmacakramudraa)
between two standing Bodhisattvas. Beneath the
central figure the relief shows a row of eight
nimbused figurines, seven in monastic robes being
Buddhas, whereas the last in secular dress, and
holding a vessel in his left hand, must be the
future Buddha, Maitreya. Grnwedel's conclusion
enabled him to identify the numerous detached images
of this Bodhisattva which have come to light in the
monasteries of Gandhaara(7).
Grnwedel draws attention to the sixth figure re-
presenting the Buddha Kaa'syapa, the immediate
predecessor of 'Saakyamuni. He wears a robe fitting
close to the body and his right hand wrapped in it
clasps it on his breast. But the author was mistaken
in assuming that this attitude "which in some ways
reminds us of the statue of Sophocles in the
Lateran", is typical of Kaa'syapa Buddha. A well
preserved relief from Takht-i-Bahai now in the
Peshawar Museum shows the standing figures of the
seven Buddhas and Maitreya; but here the attitude
referred to above is associated with the fourth and
seventh figures representing Krakucchanda and
'Saakyamuni. Evidently the artist varied the
postures merely for aesthetic reasons(8).
In this connection we may mention an interesting
Gandhaara sculpture in the Museum fr Vlkerkunde,
Berlin(9). It offers a unique representation of the
Buddha Kaa'syapa acquainting the young Brahmin
Jyotipaala with his future rebirth in which he will
become the Buddha Gautama(10). It deserves notice
that no other examples of this scene have come to
light, whereas Gandhaara has yielded numerous
replicas of the earlier revelation (vyaakara.na)
made by the Buddha Diipa^nkara.
At Mathuraa too the motif of the eight Buddhas was
known, as appears from two reliefs, the one in the
local collection and the other in the Lucknow
Museum(11). Both must have been the right hand half
of a lintel over the entrance to a small shrine. The
sculpture in the Mathuraa Museum shows five figures
seated cross-legged each with two attendants
standing behind. Four of the seated figures wear
monk's robes, but the last of the row has a high
head-dress and ornaments and must be Maitreya. On
the piece in the Lucknow Museum we have four seated
figures, the last of the row recognisable as
Maitreya by his dress and ornaments and by the
little vessel in his left hand. A kneeling figure at
his side, apparently wearing a crown, turns his
clasped hands towards the buddha of the future age.
The place assigned at Mathuraa to the eight Buddhas
over the doorway of a sanctuary agrees with the
prominent position occupied by their symbols on the
tora.nas of Sanchi. On the other hand, their
appearance in bodily shape must derive from
Gandhaara. This motif therefore affords an example
of the mixed character of Mathuraa Art derived from
the Buddhist mounments of Central India, but also
influenced by
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6 A locality of this name is not traceable in the
Peshawar district. Perhaps it has been erroneously
applied to the village of Narai, 3 miles west of
Takht-i-Bahai.
7 A. Grnwedel, Buddhistische Kunst in Indien.
Berlin 1900, pp. 164f. Cf. James Burgess, Buddhist
Art in India, London 1901, pp.188f., A. Foucher, Art
grco-bouddhique du Gandhaara, vol.I, p.193, fig.77.
8 Foucher, op. cit., vol. II, p.323, fig. 457.
9 Ibidem, pp. 332 f., fig. 458.
10 Jyotipaalasuutra, Mahaavastu (ed. Senart), vol.
I,pp.319-335.
11 A.S.R. 1909-10. Calcutta 1914, p.68, pl.25a and
fig. 3.
P.811
the Graeco-Buddhist school of the north-west. We are
tempted to suggest also a connection between the
Mathuraa sculptures described above and the
Brahmanical temples of the mediaeval period where
seated figures of the nine Grahas are often found
over the lintel of the door. A similar connection we
have traced between the Yak.sii ('saalabha~njikaa)
figures decorating the tora.nas of Sanchi and
Mathuraa and the images of Ga^ngaa and Yamunaa which
from the Gupta period onwards flank the doorways of
Brahmanical temples (12).
These developments are clearly expressed in the
pictorial art of Ajanta. Among the twenty-six caves
constituting the marvellous rock-cut sa^nghaaraama
the large monastic cave no. XVII is remarkable for
its profuse and varied paintings. Above the central
entrance to the inner court there is a well
preserved frieze showing eight figures seated
cross-legged with heads marked by aureoles and hands
held in various symbolical attitudes (13). They
evidently represent the seven Buddhas of the present
age and Maitreya the future saviour. The latter is
depicted with long curly locks, a high crown and
rich ornaments in contrast with the other wearing
monk's robes. The six predecessors of 'Saakyamuni
have alternately their right shoulder bare of
covered with the robe, these two characteristics
being associated with the abhaya-and dhyaana-mudraa.
'Saakyamuni himself is distinguished by the
dharmacakra-mudraand Maitreya apparently by the
varamudraa. There is also a marked difference in the
complexion of the eight figures. w According to
Griffiths, the first four are black, the fifth
(Kanakamuni) is grey and the remaining three are
golden-yellow. It is moreover evident from
Dr.Yazdani's polychrome reproduction(14) that the
robes of the eight Buddhas are also marked by
different colours w cream-coloured for the first
five, darkgreen for Kaa'syapa and orange-coloured
(Pali kaasaaya!) for 'Saakyamuni and Maitreya. Above
each figure his special bodhi-tree is delineated in
such manner that in most cases it is readily
recognised.
In strange contrast with the hieratic row of solemn
Buddha figures we notice under it is frieze of eight
panels, each containing an amatory couple. The
mithuna is a favourite decorative motif frequently
found not only on Buddhist monuments but also, from
the Gupta period all through the Middle Ages, on
Brahmanical temples, especially above and at the
sides of the doorway.
At Ajanta another example of the eight Buddhas is
found in cave XXII, a temple consisting of a double
verandah, a square inner court and a sanctuary. Here
the subject is depicted on the right hand wall
inside the shrine. Except the fourth figure
(Krakucchanda), who sits in the European fashion on
a si.mhaasana, they are seated cross-legged on
lotus-flowers, each under his bodhi-tree with
cherubs, some holding strings of flowers, hovering
above. Their names in Gupta script are written below
whilst inscriptions above the figures give the name
of the trees(15).
Archaeological research has produced a few in-
scriptions indicative of a special worship devoted
to 'Saakyamuni's predecessor, the Buddha kaa'syapa.
Among the
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12 Etudes Asiatiques, 1925, vol.II, pp.385-402, pl.
52-59.
13 J.griffiths,The Paintings in the Buddhist Cave-
Temples at Ajanta. London, 1896, vol.I, p.36, pl.61.
14 G.Yazdani, Ajanta.The Colour and Monochrome Re-
production of the Ajanta Frescoes based on
Photography, Part.III, pl. 69-70.
15 Griffiths, op. cit., vol. I, p. 40, pl. 91.
P.812
numerous Buddhist monuments exposed in the course of
Sir John Marshall's extensive excavations at Taxila
is the Jauliaa~n monastery situated on the top of a
hill at some distance from the Parthian city. The
monastery, a building of moderate dimensions, is
contiquous with two stuupa courts on different
levels. The main stuupa stands in the upper court
amidst a cluster of smaller caityas, the court being
enclosed on its four sides by lines of chapels
enshrining images and facing the central monument.
The plinths of the subsidiary caityas in both courts
exhibit a fine stucco decoration in which Buddha
figures are prominent. Two of them (A 15 and D 5)
deserve special notice on account of short
Khar.s.thii inscriptions which in the case of D5
contain the designation of the images to which they
belong. The inscriptions beneath the central figure
on the south and west face of this caitya read
Ka'savo Tathagato and justify the conclusion that it
was erected in honour of the Buddha Kaa'syapa(16).
The stucco figures decorating the main stuupa are
ascribed by Marshall to a relatively late date, viz.
the fifth century A.D.
Another discovery relating to the present subject
was made at Mathuraa by Dr. V.S.Agrawala, then
curator of the local museum. it consists of the
lower half of a standing image if sandstone which
must belong to the Kushaa.na period(17). This may be
infered from the style and from the character of the
Braahmii inscription incised in clear lettering on
the pedestal. It was read by Dr.Agrawala: Ruvakasa
daana.m deva-putro Maagho Budhasa Ka'sapasa
padramahasthakena. The interpretation of this short
inscription is far from easy, but at any rate it
designates the figure as an effigy of Kaa'syapa.
We note parenthetically that the epigraphical
designation of the Buddha is in itself remarkable.
The inscriptions of the Ku.saa.na period usually
indicate the image as `Bodhisattva' even when it is
clearly intended to show the Buddha after his
enlightenment. This is certainly the case with the
colossal standing image erected by Friar Bala of
Mathuraa at Benares on the ca^nkrama of the Lord(18)
in the third year of Kani.ska and with similar
statues set up by the same person in other sacred
spots.It is exceptional that the term Buddhapratimaa
is used as in the Anyor image in the Mathuraa
Museum.
The itineraries of the Chinese pilgrims contain
several passages indicating that the Buddha
kaa'syapa took a part in popular worship. Fa-hsien
visited a town, To-wai, believed to be Kaa'syapa's
birthplace,which was situated fifty li to the west
of the city of 'Sraavastii(19). "Towers were erected
on the spot where he had an interview with his
father and also where he entered Nirvaa.na. A great
tower (i.e. a stuupa) has also been erected over the
relics of the entire body of Kaa'syapa Tathaagat."
The same information is found in the Si-yu-ki of
Hsan-tsang(20) who locates the town at a
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16 Sir John Marshall,Taxila,an illustrated Account
of Archl. Excavations carried out between the years
1913 and 1934. Cambridge, 1951, vol. I, p.375. Cf.
Sten Konow, Kharo.s.thii Inxcriptions, pp. 94-97.
17 Journal United Prov. Hist. Soc.,vol.X, part II,
Dec.1937, p.35-38, pl. I-II. Annual Report on the
Curzon Museum of Archaeology, Muttra, for the year
ending 31st March 1938, Allahabad 1939, p. 2, pl. I,
no. 2739.
18 Ep.Ind.,vol.VIII, 1905/6, p.176. and D.R.Sahni,
Catalogue of the Museum of Archaeology at Saarnaath,
Calcutta 1914, p.35.
19 Buddhist Records of the Western World, transl.
by S.Beal, London 1884, vol.I, p. XLVIII. Record fo
Buddhistic Kingdoms, transl. by James Legge, Oxford,
1886, p.63.
20 Beal, op. cit., vol. II, p.13. Thomas Watters,
On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, London 1905, vol.
I,p.400.
P.813
distance of 60 li or so to the north-west of
'Sraavastii, but does not mention its name nor does
he make mention of the Nirvaa.na Stuupa. The other
two stuupas of Fa-hsien's account, situated to the
north and south of the town he ascribes to A'soka.
Cunnigham (21) has identified the birthplace of
Kaa'syapa with Tandvaa, a village situated nine
miles west of the extensive ancient site, known as
Sahe.th-Mahe.th, which has been definitely proved to
represent the famous town of Sraavastii and the
neighbouring Jetavana. Tandvaa was twice visited by
Cunningham (in 1861 and 1871), who explored a mound
to the north-west of the village which contained the
remains of a large stuupa of solid brickwork with a
diameter of 74 feet. It must have been enclosed by a
stone railing which evidently had been partly
destroyed by the villagers and utilised for building
purposes. Among the thousands of stone fragments
examined by Cunningham there was a piece which must
have belonged to the coping (u.s.nii.sa) of the
railing. It is inscribed with six ak.saras of early
Braahmii. This fragmentary inscription was read by
Cunningham sthaha.mva aaraa[ma]. It is tempting to
accept his suggestion that the first word is the
ancient name of Tandvaa. The birthplace of the
Buddha Kaa'syap is one of the many Buddhist sites
which certainly ought ot be completely excavated.
The inscription on the railing shows that Hsan-
tsang's attribution of the stuupa to A'soka is
perhaps correct. Cunningham traced a monastery not
far from the great stuupa and another mound which he
suspected to mark the site of the monument erected
on the spot where Kaa'syapa was believed to have met
his father. The fate which has befallen the
inscribed railing of the great stuupa and, we may
add, numberless other ancient monuments all over
India clearly shows that there is periculum in mora.
After visiting To-wai, Fa-hsien came to a town
named Na-pei-kea, the reputed birthplace of
Krakucchanda Buddha, where he saw two stuupas
erected at the places where his Buddha met his
father and where he attained parinirvaa.na. It was
situated at a distance of twelve yojanas to the
south-east from 'Sraavastii. Travelling north from
Na-pei-kea(22) less than a yojana, he came to
another town believed to be the birthplace of
Kanakamuni. Here he saw two stuupas marking the
spots where the same events in the career of this
Buddha had taken place.Hsan-tsang too visited both
towns but does not mention their names. In each of
them he beheld the same two memorial stuupas which
he attributes to A'soka. It is evident from his
account that the place at which either Buddha met
his father was the reputed spot of their Bodhi. At
the side of the two Nirvaa.na-stuupas the pilgrim
noticed a stone pillar crowned by the figure of a
lion and inscribed with a record of the events
connected with the Nirvaa.na of the respective Buddha.
What Hsan-tsang says about the contents of the in-
scription need not prevent us from identifying the
lion-pillar at the Nirvaa.na-stuupa of Kanakamuni
with the Nigliiva pillar mentioned above. For we may
safely assume that the guardians of the sacred
monument, from whom the pilgrim derived his
information, were unable to read the Braahmii of the
third century B.C.
The Chinese pilgrims do not speak of memorial
stuupas erected in honour of the three earlier
Buddhas Vipa'scit, 'Sikhin and Vi'svabhuu. In this
connection it is inter-
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21 A.S.R. vol.I, Simla 1871, pp. 348-350, and vol.
XI, Calcutta 1880, pp.70-78, p. XXI-XXIII.
22 Watters (II, 6) calls the place Na-p'i-ka and
identifies it with Naabhika " the name of a town in
the far north".
P.814
esting to note a passage in the Dipava.msa(23) in
which the chronicler relates at great length how the
king of La^nkaa, Devaanampiya Tissa, was converted
by Mahinda, the son of Asoka, and the first
monastery Tissaaraama was founded. When Mahinda
after a stay of five months wished to return to
Jambudiipa, the king of La^nkaa informed him that he
intended to raise a thuupa in honour of the Teacher.
The novice Sumana was then deputed to Paa.taliputa
in order to obtain the indispensable relics for such
a monument.Dharmmaasoka on receiving the joyful
tiding filled the ammsbowl of his son's messenger
with relics and Sumana carrying these teasures to
La.nkaa, alighted on Mount Missaka.Here king Tissa
at the head of his army came to meet him and placed
the holy relics on the frontal globe of an elephant.
The noble elephant after passing through the town
proceeded to the very spot which Kakusandha,
Konaagamana and Kassapa had formerly visited and
here the thuupa was built. The chronicler seizes the
opportunity to insert accounts of the visits of the
three former Buddhas(24). These accounts are of one
and the same pattern, differing only in the motive
of each visit and in the nomenclature of the persons
and localities. The monastery founded in the days of
Kakusandha was named Pa.tiyaaraama after the
drinking vessel of that Buddha, and the two thuupas
connected with Konaagamana and Kassapa were the
Kaayabandhana-and the Dakasaa.tikacetiya, thus named
after the girdle and bathingmantle of those two
Buddhas. Are we allowed to conclude from this
passage that paaribhogika relics of the past Buddhas
were actually worshipped in Ceylon(25)?
Sung-yun (26) notices a stuupa and temple in Gand-
haara at the place "where Tathaagate plucked out his
eyes to give in charity". The place of the Eyegift
was Pu.skalaavatii, the ancient capital of
Gandhaara."On a stone of the temple", the pilgrim
says, "is the impress of the foot of Kaa'syapa
Buddha".
It is well known that footprints of 'Saakyamuni
were and still are worshipped in Buddhist countries.
They are sometimes natural cavities in the rock
resembling the impress of a human foot or more
frequently they were carved on a stone slab and show
the sign of the cakra and other lak.sa.nas, which in
the course of time tended to increase in number. The
ca^nkrama of the Buddha developed into a monument in
the shape of a terraced cloister, the footsteps
being marked by conventional lotus-flowers. A
notable example of such a "walk" was recovered by
Cunninghan at Bodh-Gayaa(27). But it existed also in
the Convent of the Dharmacakrapravartana near
Benares, as the "Bodhisattva" of the third year of
Kani.ska's reign is stated in the inscription on the
back fo the image to have been set up at Benares on
the ca^nkrama of the Lord (Baaraa.nasiye Bhagavato
ca.mkame).
In Hsan-tsang's itinerary we frequently meet with
short references to "traces where the three (or
four) past Buddhas sat down and walked". When such
hallowed traces were shown to the pilgrim near the
top of some mountain, as was the case near
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23 The Diipava.msa an ancient Buddhist Historical
Record, edited and translated by Hermann Oldenberg,
London 1879, chapters XI-XV.
24 Ibidem, XV, 34-73.
25 H.Kern,Geschiedenis van het Buddhisme in Indiee,
Haarlem 1884, vol. II, p.200. Dr. paranavitana,
Archaeological Commissioner of Ceylon, informs me
that " there is no evidence that the monuments
ascribed to the three predecessors of 'Saakyamuni
actually existed at any time during the historical
period".
26 Beal, op. cit., vol. I, p. CIII.
27 A. Cunningham,Mahaabodhi, London 1892, pp.8-10,
pl. V.
P.815
the hot springs on the Vipulagiri, one of the five
mountains enclosing Raajag.rha (Girivraja) (28) or
on the Hira.nyaparvata near the right bank of the
Ganges, we may safely assume, that they were
svaya.mbhuu, i.e. natural cavities in the rock. When
on the contrary they belonged to some sa^nghaaraama
in the plains, e.g. at Naalandaa, they probably were
artificial imitations in the shape of carved slabs
of stone.
In the course of this paper we have mentioned
examples of images of Kaa'syapa Buddha. The Chinese
pilgrims furnish brief acconts of two sanctuaries
dedicated to the worship of this Buddha.
Fa-hsien(29) gives in his thirty-fifth chapter a
very fantistic description of a rock-cut monastery
consisting of five stages which he calls a
sanghaaraama of the former Buddha Kaa'syapa and
locates in the Deccan. At the end of the chapter he
says that what he reports is merely from hearsay. It
must be the same marvellous convent described by
Hsan-tsang and apparently seen by him from a
distance on his way from Kali^nga to Andhrade'sa.
But he connects it with Naagaarjuna and makes no
mention of Kaa'syapa.The older pilgrim's information
may therefore be discarded as valueless.
Hsan-tsang's detailed account of Mahaabodhi, the
present Bodh-Gayaa, contains a passage of great
interest for our subject. "To the north-west of the
Bodhi-tree", he says, "in a vihaara is an image of
Kaa'syapa Buddha. It is noted for its miraculous and
sacred qualities. From time to time it emits a
glorious light. The old records say that if a man
actuated by sincere faith walks round it seven
times, he obtains the power of knowing the place and
condition of his former births". Cunningham found
the remains of a small vihaara which answer exactly
the described position but the miraculous image it
enshrined was not recovered. The Chinese pilgrim in
his further description of Mahaabodhi mentions a
stuupa and stone pillar marking the spot where the
Buddha Kaa'syapa had sat in meditation. By its side
were vestiges of the site used for sitting and
walking by the four past Buddhas(30).
Another great place of pilgrimage, the site of the
M.rgadaava near Benares, where 'Saakyamuni started
turning the Wheel of the Law, also contained a
memorial of Kaa'syapa. Outside the enclosure of the
Dharmacakrapravartana-Sanghaaraama Hsan-tsang saw
not only a 'stuupa on the spot where 'Saakyamuni
predicted the future attainment of Buddhahood to
Maitreya but not far from it a similar monument
erected on the place where he had received a similar
prophecy from his predecessor K'aa'syapa. Near this
stuupa there was an artificial platform of dark blue
stone, fifty paces long by seven feet high, which
had been a ca^nkrama of the four past Buddhas(31).
The evidence of the ancient monuments supplemented
by the narratives of the Chinese pilgrims testifies
the reverence in which the Indian Buddhists held the
past Buddhas and in particular Kaa'syapa. It must be
borne in mind that the stuupas and monasteries which
have been recovered and explored are only a small
part of the numberless Buddhist sanctuaries which
once were scattered over the whole subcon-
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28 On the five mountains of Raajag.rha cf. M. Bh.
(Bombay ed.) , II, 21, 1-3) Buddhacarita (ed.
Johnston) X, 2.
29 Legge, Fa-hien's Record, pp. 96f. Beal, op.cit.
vol. II, pp.214 f. Watters, op. cit. vol.II, P.207.
30 Beal,II,124,139;Watters, II,139,141.Cunningham,
Mahaabodhi, p.36.
31 Beal, II,48; Watters II,52. 'Saakyamuni's name
in this previous birth, as pointed out by Watters,
was not Prabhaapaala, but Jyotirpaala (Pali
Jotipaala).
P.816
tinent. Those which we have mentioned supply but
scanty information regarding the religious and
secular motives underlying this popular worship.
According to Hsan-tsang's informants a sevenfold
circumambulation of the shrine of Kaa'syapa at
Mahaabodhi procured the faithful the remembrance of
their previous existences (jaatismara.na). No more
precise indications are available and we are
therefore reduced to hypothesis. The inscriptions on
images and relic-caskets supply some indications on
the benefits generally desired by the donors. In the
Kharo.s.thii inscriptions found on Buddha images and
relic-caskets in Gandhaara a favour frequently
solicited by the donor is the bestowal of health
(arogadak.si.naa)(32) on himself, his relatives and
in a single case on all beings. But in other votive
inscriptions of the Ku.saa.na period it is stated
that the image was dedicated for the worship of all
Buddhas (sarvabuddhaanaa.m pujaartham).
We may well assume that it was this Buddhabhakti,
first paid to the Teacher and soon extened to his
predecessors, which prompted his followers to
consecrate tangeable monuments to their memory.
Stuupas were built not only to enshrine their bones
and other bodily relics, but also to mark the
hallowed spots where great events in their career
were believed to have taken place. The creation of
the Buddha image enabled the faithful to expand
their fervour on effigies of the Master which often
were invested with miraculous properties such as he
himself had possessed. Among the innumerable Buddha
figures adorning the ancient sa^nghaaraamas many may
have been meant to represent the Buddhas of the
past. Western critics will be inclined to question
what blessings the worshipper could expect from
superhuman beings, who, after preaching the doctrine
in remote ages, had passed into the state of
parinirvaa.na. But in religious matters the mind of
the believers is not moved by rational motives but
by promptings of sentiment.
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32 Sten Konow, op. cit.p.181, List of Words, i.v.
arogadakshi.nae.