ty by the south
gate, and proceeding south four le, one enters a valley, and comes to
a circular space formed by five hills, which stand all round it, and
have the appearance of the suburban wall of a city. Here was the old
city of king Bimbisara; from east to west about five or six le, and
from north to south seven or eight. It was here that Sariputtra and
Maudgalyayana first saw Upasena;(8) that the Nirgrantha(9) made a pit
of fire and poisoned the rice, and then invited Buddha (to eat with
him); that king Ajatasatru made a black elephant intoxicated with
liquor, wishing him to injure Buddha;(10) and that at the north-east
corner of the city in a (large) curving (space) Jivaka built a vihara
in the garden of Ambapali,(11) and invited Buddha with his 1250
disciples to it, that he might there make his offerings to support
them. (These places) are still there as of old, but inside the city
all is emptiness and desolation; no man dwells in it.

NOTES

(1) Called by Hsuan-chwang Indra-sila-guha, or "The cavern of Indra."
It has been identified with a hill near the village of Giryek, on the
bank of the Panchana river, about thirty-six miles from Gaya. The
hill terminates in two peaks overhanging the river, and it is the more
northern and higher of these which Fa-Hsien had in mind. It bears an
oblong terrace covered with the ruins of several buildings, especially
of a vihara.

(2) This does not mean the top or summit of the hill, but its
"headland," where it ended at the river.

(3) See the account of this visit of Sakra in M. B., pp. 288-290.
It is from Hardy that we are able to complete here the name of the
musician, which appears in Fa-Hsien as only Pancha, or "Five." His harp
or lute, we are told, was "twelve miles long."

(4) Hardy (M. B., pp. 288, 289) makes the subjects only thirteen,
which are still to be found in one of the Sutras ("the Dik-Sanga,
in the Sakra-prasna Sutra"). Whether it was Sakra who wrote
his questions, or Buddha who wrote the answers, depends on the
punctuation. It seems better to make Sakra the writer.

(5) Or Nalanda; identified with the present Baragong. A grand
monastery was subsequently built at it, famous by the residence for
five years of Hsuan-chwang.

(6) See chap. xvi, note 11. There is some doubt as to the statement
that Nala was his birthplace.

(7) The city of "Royal Palaces;" "the residence of the Ma