Dialogue July-September 2008, Volume 10 No. 1
Kashmir and
Central Asia
in the First Millenium
Lokesh Chandra
Kashmir has been celebrated throughout
Asia
as the vale of wisdom, adorned by galaxies of scholars, and a land that humbles
even Indra’s domain:
vfLr LofLrerkexz;a ef.Mra cq/ke.MyS%A
[kf.Mrk[k.Mykoklni± dehje.Mye~ Ï
Eminent
poets blessed by the grace of Sarasvati made
Kashmir
the envy of the Sanskritic world. The light of Buddhism and its artistic
glories, meditational enlightenment and enchanting murals of the cloisters of
Kashmir inspired artists to illumine monastic interiors in the sands of Central
Asia, in the snows of
Tibet
and the sprawling monasteries of
China
. To paint was to evoke. In the eleventh century (to be precise, in A.D. 1052)
Somendra the son of the polymath Kœemendra, bemoaned the fading glories of
Buddhist convents: “Gone are the monasteries in the flow of time whose
cloisters were painted with charming murals of Buddhist avadanas in golden hues
and which held the eyes in rapture”. These murals found a new life in
Tibet
.
As the prime
land
of
Buddhism
, it was natural that Kashmir play a pivotal role in its dissemination to
Central Asia
. Hsüan-tsang relates that Arhat Vairocana from
Kashmir
first preached Buddhism in Khotan and established a Buddhist monastery there.
The Tibetan Annals of Khotan too confirm it. The local traditions prevalent in
the early part of last century and archaeological evidence suggests special
relationship of Khotan with Kashmir in Buddhism and other importations from
India
(Stein 164). When Vairocana was practicing meditation, the King of Khotan came
to see him, being informed of
* Prof. Lokesh Chandra, M.A., D. Litt., former Member
of Parliament.
his n
strange appearance and dress. The Arhat exhorted him to follow the Dharma. The
King offered to believe in Buddha if he could see him. Sung-yün says that
Vairocana inspired the King to build a stupa of the ‘turned-up bowl’ shape
to gain blessings. This simile of the upturned bowl survived till late in
Iranian literature: “the inverted bowl they call the sky” in Omar Khayyam.
The Tibetan Annals of Li-yul (=Khotan) point out that Vairocana invited the Någa
king Hu-lor to bring from Kashmir a caitya which contained the relics of the
Seven Tathågatas.
The ‘Records’ and ‘Life’
of Hsüan-tsang record an ancient tradition that an Arhat of Kashmir fell
dangerously ill and asked for a peculiar cake of rice. His saintly teacher
obtained this for him from Khotan, whereupon the Sramanera, who much relished
the dish, prayed to be reborn in that country. Having obtained his wish and
become king of Khotan in his new birth, he crossed the snowy mountains and
attacked
Kashmir
. Before retiring to Khotan the king presented himself the Buddha statue to
which he had paid worship in his former birth, and took it homewards with his
army. When the statue arrived at P’o-ch’ieh-i it refused to be moved
further. Thereupon the king constructed a convent around the statue and placed
upon its head his own diadem adorned with precious stones. This legend is of
interest in several respects. It proves that
Kashmir
was credited with having supplied to Khotan statuary of ancient date, a fact
throwing light on one of the channels through which Khotan art derived its
unmistakable connection with the art of Gandhara (Stein 118).
The legend of the foundation of
Khotan has been preserved in the Tibetan Annals. It opens characteristically
with the Buddhist adaptation of a legend popular in
Kashmir
. Khotån was converted into a lake by its Nagas because of ill-treatment to «œis
by the people. When Buddha visited Khotan he predicted that after his nirvna the
lake would dry up and become a country. It has a parallel in the draining of the
lakes believed to have once occupied the present valleys of
Kashmir
as told in the Nilamata Puråµa. There are other correspondences between the
legendary lore of
Kashmir
and Khotan. Anthropological affinities between the people of Khotan and
Kashmiris have been pointed out by Stein (165).
The queen of king Vijayasa¶gråm
of Khotån came from
Kashmir
(Stein 582).
Scholars of Kashmir travelled to
the farthest limits of
Central Asia
, namely, to Tun-huang. In A.D. 284 Dharmarakœa was staying at Tun-huang.
Dharmarakœa has the honour of contributing more than anyone else to the
conversion of
China
to Buddhism. During his sojourn at Tun-huang he got a copy of the Yogacår-bhømi
from a layman of
Kashmir
whose name is given in Chinese translation as Cheng-jo (Zürcher 66). Dharmarakœa
translated this work into Chinese in collaboration with his Indian guest. In
A.D. 300 a monk from Kashmir brought a manuscript of the Bhadrakalpåvadån to
Dharmaraksa who belonged to a Yüeh-chih family of
Central Asia
(Zürcher 67).
The years A.D. 380-385 were
characterised by the translation of several important scriptures into Chinese.
Some scholars came from Kashmir, a stronghold of Sarvstivåd
school
of
Buddhism
. Others came from the Buddhist kingdoms of
Central Asia
, like Dharmanandin from Tukhåra and Kumårbodhi from Turfån. The Kashmiri and
Central Asian masters worked together under
Chu
Fo-nien who was well-versed in Sanskrit and in several Central Asian Languages
(Zürcher 202)
The Biography of Shih Hui-yüan
(334-416) states: “Later there was Sa¶ghadeva, monk from
Kashmir
, who possessed an extensive knowledge of the pictures. When in the sixteenth
year of the T’ai-yüan era (391 A.D.) he arrived at Hsün-yang.” Hui-yüan
asked him to make a second translation of the “Heart of the Abhidharma” and
of the San fa-tu lun (Zürcher 246).
On 27 May 412 A.D. Buddhabhadra
the dhyån-master from
Kashmir
performed the solemn inauguration of a chapel in which a painting of the
“shadow” of Lord Buddha was consecrated. He gave a detailed description of
this painting as it was in the mountain cave at Nagarahår (modern Jelalabad).
Hui-yüan wrote the eulogy on the Buddha shadow. It was seen by Fa-hsien in A.D.
399, by Sung-yün in A.D. 520, and by Hsüan-tsang in A.D. 630. The Buddha after
having converted the Någa-king Gopåla left at the latter’s request his
“shadow” (a reflection of his body) on the wall. All descriptions emphasize
the remarkable phenomenon that the image was clearly distinct if seen from some
distance, fading away and eventually disappearing when one approached the wall (Zürcher
224).
Kumårajðva was born in Kuchå
of a Brahman father and a Kuchean princess. The Kucheans were an Italo-Celtic
people whose Kuchean language had words like nyø for new, oxo for
ox. Kumårajðva followed his mother
into the Buddhist sa¶gha, at the tender age of seven. They travelled together
to
Kashmir
to study Buddhist texts under one of the most famous masters of the Buddhist
world, Bandhudatta. After three years in
Kashmir
, mother and son went to Kashgar to study the Vedas, astronomy and mathematics.
At Kashgar, Kumårajðva studied Mahåyån Søtras and became a Mahayanist.
After an year at Kashgar, Kumårajðva returned to his native kingdom. He
invited Bandhudatta to Kucha from
Kashmir
and succeeded in converting him to Mahyna. In 401 Yao Hsing despatched armies
to Liang-chou to bring Kumårajðva to his capital Ch’ang-an. Under his
patronage Kumårajðva carried on translation activities in the
Hsiao-yao
Gardens
with a thousand monks in daily sessions. Some of the greatest classics of
Chinese Buddhism are the translations of Kumårajðva. Yao Hsing felt that
Kumrajðva’s extraordinary brilliance and understanding should be transmitted
to off-spring, so he assigned ten girls to live with Kumårajðva and installed
them in separate quarters. Kumårajðva complied with the ruler’s wishes, but
he realized his own short-comings, for it is recorded that when he preached he
warned his audience to take only the lotus that grew out of the mud and to leave
the mud alone (Chen 83).
There was an old tradition about
Lao-tzu’s activities in India, localised at the Court of Kashmir, as recorded
in the Hsiao tao lun (A.D. 570, Zürcher 299, 302). Whatever the varacity of
this tradition, it goes to show that Kashmir occupied a prominent place in the
cultural life of
China
.
Hsüan-tsang (602-664) halted at
Srinagar
, the capital of
Kashmir
. He dined at the palace, to meet the great Buddhist philosopher Sa¶ghayœ[as,
who was getting on for seventy. Inspite of his poor health, the philosopher
arranged a strenuous program for Hsüan-tsang. In the morning he lectured on
Abhidharma-koœa, in the afternoon on nyya and in the evening on grammar and
logic. The introduction of Indian logic into
China
was Hsüan-tsang’s most important achievement. The evening lessons in
Kashmir
, extending over two years, had become a new starting-point in Chinese thought.
The T’ang Annals furnish
geographical data on
Kashmir
which they transliterate as Ku-shih-mi (Stain 6).
In A.D. 693, Cintåmaµi (Chin.Pao-ssu-wei)
of the kœatriya caste from Kashmir arrived at
Loyang
where he died in A.D. 721 at the age of more than a hundred years. He founed a
monastery on the
Lung-men
Mountain
and translated nine Sanskrit works into Chinese (Hobogirin 148).
The Chinese considered it vital
to retain hold over ‘Little P’o-lu’ to keep the route to
Kashmir
absolutely safe and open for food convoys. The T’ang Annals have preserved a
letter addressed to the Chinese Emperor by Muktåpðæa (Chin. Mu-to-pi) on his
accession to the
Kashmir
throne in A.D. 733 (Stein 13).
The complete defeat of Kao
Hsien-chih by the Arabs in A.D. 751 led to the rapid decline of the Chinese
Imperial power in the ‘Western kingdoms’ of NW India. It also forced them to
abandon active relations with Gilgit, Kashmir,
Kabul
and Udyåna (Chavannes 295).
In A.D. 759 the Chinese pilgrim
Wu-k’ung visited from Gandhåra (present Peshwar district) and stayed there
till A.D. 763. Wu-k’ung correctly described
Kashmir
as enclosed on all sides by mountains and three roads opening through them
secured by gates or watch-stations.
In 781 Pråjña arrived in
Canton
, and worked in Ch’ang-an till 785. He was born in
Kashmir
in A.D. 744. In 790-92 he visited
Central Asia
. On return he resided at
Loyang
till his death in A.D. 810 (Hobogirin 253). In 806 he taught Sanskrit, Indian
Buddhism and Någari calligraphy to Kobo Daishi the greatest personality in the
cultural history of
Japan
. Kobo Daishi created the Japanese syllabary (alphabet) and democratised
education by bringing it to all persons irrespective of their birth or rank. The
Tripitaka Master Pråjña had told Kobo Daishi on the eve of his return home:
“I was born in Kashmir and was initiated into Buddhism while still young and
went on a pilgrimage all over
India
. With the pledge to transmit the torch of the Dharma, I came to
China
. I wish to sail for
Japan
, but circumstances do not allow me to fulfill my intention. Take with you the
new Avata´saka Søtra, and Œa»-Pårmitå Søtra, both of which I have
translated, and these Sanskrit manuscripts. I sincerely hope that these will
help create conditions in which to propagate Buddhism so that people will be
saved” (Hakeda 149, Kobo Daishi’s Memorial to the Japanese Emperor dated
A.D. 806).
In A.D. 982, Deva[nti (Chin.
T’ien-si-toai) of Kashmir arrived in
China
with Dånapål. Till his death in A.D. 1000 he translated 17 Sanskrit works
into Chinese, including Tantric texts (Hobogirin 283).
In the 13th century,
the Ilkhanid Mongols in
Iran
, were in close touch with
Kashmir
. They invited Buddhist monks from Kashmir before the conversion of King Ghazan
to Islam in A.D. 1295 and the consequent destruction of Buddhist vihras in
Iran
. Pangs of memories brood over the loss of Mongol identity as recorded by Rashid
al-Din (1247-1318) who was commissioned by King Ghazan: “ After a year had
passed, he once summoned me and said: “Thanks to God, we have become Muslim.
Two or three generations have already passed since the arrival of my uncle
Hulegu from
Mongolia
. The Mongols, who will be born after us, will have forgotten the languages, the
words, the soil, the regions, and will not even remember their ancestors. Many
tribes are living in
Mongolia
and some are of Mongol stock, while others are not. All of that you shall learn
and describe”. I replied, when he gave me this order: “An individual may
accomplish a duty, but you are charging me with a great task”. The Khan said:
“Nobody can accomplish this work, but you. We possess books which are written
in the Mongol language. There are people, who remember the events which have not
been described”. Hence, I received the assistance of six Mongols, who were
familiar with the ancient Mongol language” (Zamcarano 2). The Buddhist monk
Kamala[›rð was at the Mongol court in
Iran
and he supplied a detailed account of Buddhism to Rashid al-Din for his World
History Jami al-Tawarikh. The Fatih albums at
Istanbul
and
Berlin
have a direct connection with Buddhist scroll-paintings from
China
. The manuscript of the World History of Rashid al-Din contains illustrations of
Buddhist themes (Gray 34).
Mongols speak of Kashmiri beauty
to this day. During my visit to Ulanbator in 1957, Madame Indri the wife of
the-then Deputy Prime Minister narrated how the Mongols speak of her son: “He
is as handsome as an Indian”, evidently reminiscing of the 13th century
when bakshis or bhiksus from Kashmir manned the Imperial Mongol court and
monasteries in Iran and elsewhere.
Reference:
Chavannes 1903, Edouard Chavannes, Documents sur les
Tou-kiue (Turcs) occidentaux, St. Petersbourg.
Ch’en 1964, Kenneth Ch’en, Buddhism in
China
,
Princeton
.
Gray 1978, Basil Gray, The World History of Rashid al-Din,
London
.
Hakeda 1972, Yoshi to S. Hakeda, Kukai: major works,
New York
.
Hobogirin 1978, Paul Demieville, Hubert Dutt, Anna Seidel, Hobogirin:
Repertore du Canon Bouddhique Sino-Japanais, Edition de Taisho,
Tokyo
.
Stein 1907, M. Aurel Stien, Ancient Khotan,
Oxford
.
Zamcarano 1955, C.Z. Zamcarano, The Mongol Chronicles of the
Seventeenth Century,
Wiesbaden
(0tto Harrassowitz).
Zurcher 1972, E. Zurcher, The Buddhist Conquest of
China
,
Leiden
.