Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 3Eliot, Charles
Religion
Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 3
Eliot, Charles
Asia -- Religion; Buddhism; Hinduism
The Liang annals contain also the following statements. Between the
years 357 and 424 A.D. named as the dates of embassies sent to China,
an Indian Brahman called Ch'iao-ch'ên-ju (Kauṇḍinya) heard a
supernatural voice bidding him go and reign in Fu-nan. He met with a
good reception and was elected king. He changed the customs of the
country and made them conform to those of India. One of his
successors, Jayavarman, sent a coral image of Buddha in 503 to the
Emperor Wu-ti (502-550). The inhabitants of Fu-nan are said to make
bronze images of the heavenly genii with two or four heads and four or
eight arms. Jayavarman was succeeded by a usurper named Liu-t'o-pa-mo
(Rudravarman) who sent an image made of sandal wood to the Emperor in
519 and in 539 offered him a hair of the Buddha twelve feet long. The
Sui annals (589-618) state that Citrasena, king of Chên-la, conquered
Fu-nan and was succeeded by his son Iśânasena.
Two monks of Fu-nan are mentioned among the translators of the Chinese
scriptures[256], namely, Saṇghapâla and Mandra. Both arrived in
China during the first years of the sixth century and their works are
extant. The pilgrim I-Ching who returned from India in 695 says[257]
that to the S.W. of Champa lies the country Po-nan, formerly called
Fu-nan, which is the southern corner of Jambudvîpa. He says that "of
old it was a country the inhabitants of which lived naked; the people
were mostly worshippers of devas and later on Buddhism flourished
there, but a wicked king has now expelled and exterminated them all
and there are no members of the Buddhist brotherhood at all."
These data from Chinese authorities are on the whole confirmed by the
Cambojan inscriptions. Rudravarman is mentioned[258] and the kings
claim to belong to the race of Kauṇḍinya[259]. This is the name
of a Brahman gotra, but such designations were often borne by
Kshatriyas and the conqueror of Camboja probably belonged to that
caste. It may be affirmed with some certainty that he started from
south-eastern India and possibly he sailed from Mahâbalipûr (also
called the Seven Pagodas). Masulipatam was also a port of embarcation
for the East and was connected with Broach by a trade route running
through Tagara, now Têr in the Nizam's dominions. By using this road,
it was possible to avoid the west coast, which was infested by
pirates.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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