Chinese and Arabian Literature - E. Wilson - The Search For Mecca

a72
THE TRAVELS OF FA-HIEN
blessing will withdraw from society among the hills ; and when
the wicked have exterminated one another, they will again
come forth, and say among themselves, ' The men of former
times enjoyed a very great longevity ;
but through becoming
exceedingly wicked, and doing all lawless things, the length
of our life has been shortened and reduced even to five years.
Let us now unite together in the practice of what is good, cher-
ishing a gentle and sympathizing heart, and carefully cultivat-
ing good faith and righteousness. When each one in this
way practises that faith and righteousness, life will go on to
double its length till it reaches eighty thousand years. When
Maitreya appears in the world, and begins to turn the wheel
of this Law, he will in the first place save those among the dis-
ciples of the Law left by the Sakya who have quitted their fami-
lies, and those who have accepted the three Refuges, undertaken
the five Prohibitions and the eight Abstinences, and
given offerings to the Three Precious Ones ; secondly and
thirdly, he will save those between whom and conversion there
is a connection transmitted from the past.' "*
Such was the discourse, and Fa-hien wished to write it down
as a portion of doctrine ; but the man said, " This is taken from
no Siitra, it is only the utterance of my own mind."
CHAPTER XL
After Two Years Fa-hien Takes Ship for China
Fa-hien abode in this country two years ; and, in addition
to his acquisitions in Patna, succeeded in getting a copy of the
Vinaya-pitaka of the Mahisasakah school ; the Dirghagama
and Samyuktagama Siitras ; and also the Samyukta-safichayapitaka
;—all being works unknown in the land of Han. Hav-
ing obtained these Sanscrit works, he took passage in a large
merchantman, on board of which there were more than two
hundred men, and to which was attached by a rope a smaller
vessel, as a provision against damage or injury to the large
one from the perils of the navigation. With a favorable wind,
they proceeded eastward for three days, and then they en-
countered a great wind. The vessel sprang a leak and the
• That is, those whose Karma in the past should be rewarded by such conversion
in the present.