following legend: One day, when taking exercise, a mendicant, who was the steward of the monastery, saw a flock of geese high in the air, and as the monks of his fraternity, although strictly abstemious, had experienced great difficulty in procuring sufficient food, he exclaimed playfully"To-day the pittance of the monks is insufficient. O noble beings (Mahasattwas) you ought to have compassion on our circumstances." No sooner had he spoken these words, than one of the geese fell dead at his feet. The horror-struck mendicant ran to tell the tale to his brethren, who became overwhelmed with grief. "Buddha," said they, "established his law for man's guidance under all circumstances. The Mahayana (Great Vehicle) is the source of truth, while we have foolishly followed the doctrine of the Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle). Let us renounce our former opinions. This goose has taught us a salutary lesson, let us do honour to her eminent virtue by transmitting it to the most distant ages." They accordingly built a stupa over the dead goose, which was interred in the base of the monument, and adorned it with an inscription relating the pious devotion of the goose. If my identification of the Giryek Hill with the Indrasila-guha of Hwen Thsang is correct, there can be little doubt that Jarasandha's Tower is the very stupa that was built in honour of the devoted goose. Only this one stupa is mentioned by Hwen Thsang, and Jarasandha's Tower is the only one now existing on the hill. In further corroboration of this identification, I may mention that close by I found a broken figure with a large goose carved on the pedestal; and further, that one of the stupas on the lac seals found on the spot, appears to bear a goose on its summit. As no mention is made of any stupa by Fa-Hian, the erection of this tower most probably took place between his date and that of Hwen Thsang, or about A. D. 500. The position of Giryek corresponds so exactly both in bearing and distance with that of the hill of Indra-silaguha, that I feel quite satisfied of their identity. No etymology has yet been proposed for the name of Giryek; but it seems to me not unlikely that it is nothing more than Girieka, "one hill," that is, the Hill of the Isolated Rock of Fa-Hian. Both of the pilgrims mention the cave in the southern face of the mountain, which corresponds exactly with the natural cavern of Gidha Dwâr, which I have already described. Gidha Dwár, in Sanskrit Gridhra-dwára, means the Vulture's pass, or opening. By Hwen Thsang the cave is called Indra-sila-guha, or "the cave of Indra's stone," being thus named after the stone on which were delineated the 42 points on which Indra had questioned Buddha. Fa-Hian adds that Indra himself drew the marks upon the stone with his finger. A second cave is described by Hwen Thsang as the Vulture's Cave in the hill called Gridhra-kuta-parvata "or Vulture's Cave hill."* This name was derived from the story of Ananda's adventure with the demon Mâra in the shape of a vulture. The demon suddenly stopped before the cave and terrified Ananda, when Buddha passing his hand through the rock laid hold of Ananda's arm, and at once removed his fear. The cleft in the rock said to have been made by Buddha's hand, was seen by Fa-Hian early in the 5th century.† Major Kittoe thought that the Gidha Dwar Cave was the Vulture's Cave of the Chinese pilgrims, but its distance of 4 miles from the old capital of Rajagriha is too great, as both Fa-Hian and Hwen Thsang place the Vulture's Cave at 15 li from old Râjagriha, that is, at only 2 miles from it. This cave besides answers exactly to that described by Hwen Thsang under the name of Indra-sila-guha, and the two caves were certainly distinct. I made every enquiry for another cave, but could only hear of one very close to that of Gidha Dwár, which was quite inaccessible. But taking the distance and direction from old Râjagriha, the Vulture's Cave must have been in the lofty precipitous hill now called Sila-giri, or the "Rocky Mountain." Gidha Dwâr is the name of a narrow pass where the two parallel ranges of hills before described close together within two miles of Giryek, and the Gidha Dwâr Cave is immediately above the pass. VII. RAJGIR. Whatever doubts may exist regarding the identification of Kurkihâr and Giryek, there can fortunately be none Julien's Hwen Thsang, III., 20. + Beal's Fa-Hian, c. 29. respecting Rajgir, as the representative of the ancient Rajagriha. The name is still preserved in the modern Rajgir, and I found it repeated in numerous inscriptions in the temples on the Baibhâr and Vipula Mountains. The old city of Rajagriha is described by Fa-Hian as situated in a valley between five hills, at 4 li (or two-thirds of a mile) to the south of the new town of Râjagriha. The same position and about the same distance are given by Hwen Thsang, who likewise mentions the hot springs which exist to this day.* The old city of Râjagriha is called Kuságarapura, or the city of the Kusa grass, by Hwen Thsang, who further describes it as the "town surrounded by mountains." This last is almost a translation of Giri-vraja, or the city of "many hills," which is the old name of the capital of Jarasandha, preserved both in the Rámáyana and the Mahábhárata. FaHian states that the "five hills form a girdle like the walls of a town," which is an exact description of the site of old Râjgir.† A similar description is given by Turnour from the Pali annals of Ceylon, where the five hills are named Gijjhakuto, Isigili, Webháro, Wepullo, and Pandawo. In the Mahabharata the five hills are named Vaihára, Varáha, Vrishabha, Rishigiri, and Ghaityaka; but at present they are called Baibhár-giri, Vipula-giri, Ratna-giri, Udaya-giri, and Sona-giri. In the inscriptions of the Jain temples on Mount Baibhár the name is sometimes written Baibhâra, and sometimes Vyavahára. It is beyond all doubt the Webharo Mountain of the Pali annals, in which was situated the far-famed Sattapanni Cave in front of which was held the first Buddhist Synod in 543 B. C. The Baibhâr Hill lies to the west of the hot springs, and the Vipula Hill to the east. In Baibhâr there still exists a large cave called Son-bhándár, or the "Treasury of Gold." The situation corresponds exactly with that of the Pi-po-lo cave of the two Chinese pilgrims, in which Buddha used to meditate after his noon-day meal.‡ The famous Sattapanni Cave must be looked for in the * Beal's Fa-Hian, c. 28; and Julien's Hwen Thsang, I., 159, III., 23. + See Plate XIV. for the relative positions of these five hills. Both M. Julien (in Hwen Thsang, III., 24) and Mr. Beal (in Fa-Hian, c. 30) read Pi-po-lo as the Pippal tree, but I would suggest that it may be only the Chinese transcript of Vaibhara. As, however, the great cave in which the First Synod was held was called the cave of the Nyagrodha tree (Banian, see Asiat. Res. XX., 91), it is very probable that this other cave was called the Pippal tree cave. northern face of the south-west end of the mountain, at above one mile from the Son-bhândâr Cave. Mount Vipula is clearly identical with the Wepullo of the Pali annals, and as its summit is now crowned with the ruins of a lofty stupa or chaitya, which is noticed by Hwen Thsang, I would identify it with the Chaityaka of the Mahabharata. Regarding the other three mountains, I have nothing at present to offer, but I may mention that they are also crowned with small Jain temples. The old city between the hills is described by Fa-Hian to be 5 or 6 li from east to west, and 7 or 8 li from north to south, that is, from 24 to 28 li or 43 miles in circuit. HwenThsang makes it 30 li or 5 miles in circuit, with its greatest length from east to west. My survey of the ancient ramparts gives a circuit of 24,500 feet, or 4th miles, which is between the two statements of the Chinese pilgrims. The greatest length is from north-west to south-east, so that there is no real discrepancy between the two statements as to the direction of the greatest length of the old city. Each of them must have taken his measurement from the Nekpai embankment on the east (which has been described by Major Kittoe) to some point on the north-west. If taken to the PânchPandu angle of the ramparts, the direction would be W. N. W., and the length upwards of 8,000 feet; but if taken to the temple of Torha Devi, the direction would be N. N. W., and the distance upwards of 9,000 feet. I have already quoted Fa-Hian's statement that the "five hills form a girdle like the walls of a town." This agrees with Hwen Thsang's description, who says that "high mountains surround it on four sides, and from its exterior walls, which have a circuit of 150 li or 25 miles. For this number I propose to read 50 li or 83 miles, a correction which is absolutely necessary to make the statement tally with the measurements of my survey. The following are the direct distances between the hills: |