Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch Volume III Part 14

[Footnote 288: Jnapada as the name of a locality is cited by Bthlingck and Roth from the Gan?a to Pnin?i, 4. 2. 82.]

[Footnote 289: Possibly others may have held office during this long period, but evidently all three priests lived to be very old men and each may have been Guru for forty years.]

[Footnote 290: This place which means merely "the abode of Hari and Hara" has not been identified.]

[Footnote 291: _Corpus_, II. Inscrip. lvi. especially pp. 248-251.]

[Footnote 292: Veal Kantel. _Corpus_, I. p. 28.]

[Footnote 293: Inscr. of Prah Khan, _B.E.F.E.O._ 1904, p. 675.]

[Footnote 294: _B.E.F.E.O._ 1904, p. 677.]

[Footnote 295: Just as a Vedic sacrifice was performed in the court of the temple of Chidambaram about 1908.]

[Footnote 296: Aymonier, _Cambodja_, I. p. 442.]

[Footnote 297: Sst sounds like a t.i.tle of Skyamuni, but, if Aymonier is correct, the personage is described as a Bodhisattva.

There were paG.o.da slaves even in modern Burma.]

[Footnote 298: See Coeds, "La Stle de Tp Pran?am?," in _J.A._ XI. 1908, p. 203.]

[Footnote 299: Inscrip. of Ta Prohm, _B.E.F.E.O._ 1906, p. 44.]

[Footnote 300: See Senart in _Revue Archologique_, 1883. As in many inscriptions it is not always plain who is speaking but in most parts it is apparently the minister promulgating the instructions of the king.]

[Footnote 301: Inscript. of Prasat Prah Khse, _Corpus_, I. p. 173.]

[Footnote 302: Buddhnm agran?r api, _J.A._ XX. 1882, p. 164.]

[Footnote 303: See Coeds, "Inscriptions de Bt c.u.m?," in _J.A._ XII. 1908, pp. 230, 241.]

[Footnote 304: The Bodhisattva corresponding to the Buddha Akshobhya.

He is green or blue and carries a thunderbolt. It seems probable that he is a metamorphosis of Indra.]

[Footnote 305: An exceedingly curious stanza eulogizes the doctrine of the non-existence of the soul taught by the Buddha which leads to identification with the universal soul although contrary to it. Vuddho vodhm vidaddhyd vo yena nairtmyadarsanam? viruddhasypi sdhktam? sdhanam? paramtmanah?.]

[Footnote 306: Aymonier, I pp. 261 ff. Senart, _Revue Archologique_, Mars-Avril, 1883.]

[Footnote 307: Nanjio, 1244 and 1248.]

[Footnote 308: The common designation of Avalokita in Camboja and Java. For the inscription see _B.E.F.E.O._ 1906, pp. 44 ff.]

[Footnote 309: Stanza XLVI.]

[Footnote 310: The inscription only says "There are here (atra)." Can this mean in the various religious establishments maintained by the king?]

[Footnote 311: See also Finot, _Notes d'Epig_. pp. 332-335. The Mahvam?sa repeatedly mentions that kings founded hospitals and distributed medicines. See too, Yule, _Marco Polo_, I. p. 446. The care of the sick was recognized as a duty and a meritorious act in all Buddhist countries and is recommended by the example of the Buddha himself.]

[Footnote 312: Their somewhat lengthy t.i.tles are Bhaishajyaguruvaidryaprabharja, Sryavairocanacan?d?aroci and Candravairocanarohinsa. See for an account of them and the texts on which their wors.h.i.+p is founded the learned article of M. Pelliot, "Le Bhais?ajyaguru," _B.E.F.E.O._ 1903, p. 33.]

[Footnote 313: His narrative is translated by M. Pelliot in _B.E.F.E.O._ 1902, pp. 123-177.]

[Footnote 314: Pelliot (_B.E.F.E.O._ 1902, p. 148) cites a statement from the Ling Wai Tai Ta that there were two cla.s.ses of bonzes in Camboja, those who wore yellow robes and married and those who wore red robes and lived in convents.]

[Footnote 315: M. Finot conjectures that it represents the Siamese Chao (Lord) and a corruption of Guru.]

[Footnote 316: See chapter on Siam, sect. 1.]

[Footnote 317: _Corpus_, II. p. 422.]

[Footnote 318: The strange statement of Chou Ta-kuan (pp. 153-155) that the Buddhist and Taoist priests enjoyed a species of _jus prim noctis_ has been much discussed. Taken by itself it might be merely a queer story founded on a misunderstanding of Cambojan customs, for he candidly says that his information is untrustworthy. But taking it in connection with the stories about the Aris in Burma (see especially Finot, _J.A._ 1912, p. 121) and the customs attributed by Chinese and Europeans to the Siamese and Philippinos, we can hardly come to any conclusion except that this strange usage was an aboriginal custom in Indo-China and the Archipelago, prior to the introductions of Indian civilization, but not suppressed for some time. At the present day there seems to be no trace or even tradition of such a custom. For Siamese and Philippine customs see _B.E.F.E.O._ 1902, p. 153, note 4.]

[Footnote 319: The French Archological Commission states that exclusive of Angkor and the neighbouring buildings there are remains of 600 temples in Camboja, and probably many have entirely disappeared.]

[Footnote 320: Maspro, pp. 62-3.]

[Footnote 321: The food is prepared in the monasteries, and, as in other countries, the begging round is a mere formality.]

[Footnote 322: But in Chinese temples notices forbidding smoking are often posted on the doors.]

[Footnote 323: The word dhyna is known, but the exercise is more commonly called Vipa.s.san or Kammathna.]

[Footnote 324: M.G. Coeds in _Bull. Comm. Archol._ 1911, p. 220.]

[Footnote 325: Although there is no reason why these pictures of the future life should not be Brahmanic as well as Buddhist, I do not remember having seen them in any purely Brahmanic temple.]

[Footnote 326: After spending some time at Angkor Wat I find it hard to believe the theory that it was a palace. The King of Camboja was doubtless regarded as a living G.o.d, but so is the Grand Lama, and it does not appear that the Potala where he lives is anything but a large residential building containing halls and chapels much like the Vatican. But at Angkor Wat everything leads up to a central shrine. It is quite probable however that the deity of this shrine was a deified king, identified with Vishn?u after his death. This would account for the remarks of Chou Ta-kuan who seems to have regarded it as a tomb.]

[Footnote 327: See especially the inscription of Ba.s.sac. Kern, _Annales de l'Extrme Orient_, t. III. 1880, p. 65.]

[Footnote 328: Pali books are common in monasteries. For the literature of Laos see Finot, _B.E.F.E.O._ 1917, No. 5.]

CHAPTER x.x.xIX

CHAMPA[329]

THE kingdom of Champa, though a considerable power from about the third century until the end of the fifteenth, has attracted less attention than Camboja or Java. Its name is a thing of the past and known only to students: its monuments are inferior in size and artistic merit to those of the other Hindu kingdoms in the Far East and perhaps its chief interest is that it furnishes the oldest Sanskrit inscription yet known from these regions.

Champa occupied the south-eastern corner of Asia beyond the Malay Peninsula, if the word corner can be properly applied to such rounded outlines. Its extent varied at different epochs, but it may be roughly defined in the language of modern geography as the southern portion of Annam, comprising the provinces of Qung-nam in the north and Bnh-Thuan in the south with the intervening country. It was divided into three provinces, which respectively became the seat of empire at different periods. They were (i) in the north Amarvat (the modern Qung-nam) with the towns of Indrapura and Sinhapura; (ii) in the middle Vijaya (the modern Bing-Dinh) with the town of Vijaya and the port of Sr-Vinaya; (iii) in the south Pn?d?urnga or Panran (the modern provinces of Phanrang and Binh-Thuan) with the town of Vrapura or Rj.a.pura. A section of Pn?d?urnga called Kauthra (the modern Kanh hoa) was a separate province at certain times. Like the modern Annam, Champa appears to have been mainly a littoral kingdom and not to have extended far into the mountains of the interior.

Champa was the ancient name of a town in western Bengal near Bhagalpur, but its application to these regions does not seem due to any connection with north-eastern India. The conquerors of the country, who were called Chams, had a certain amount of Indian culture and considered the cla.s.sical name Champa as an elegant expression for the land of the Chams. Judging by their language these Chams belonged to the Malay-Polynesian group and their distribution along the littoral suggests that they were invaders from the sea like the Malay pirates from whom they themselves subsequently suffered. The earliest inscription in the Cham language dates from the beginning of the ninth century but it is preceded by a long series of Sanskrit inscriptions the oldest of which, that of Vo-can[330], is attributed at latest to the third century, and refers to an earlier king. It therefore seems probable that the Hindu dynasty of Cham?pa was founded between 150 and 200 A.D. but there is no evidence to show whether a Malay race already settled in Champa was conquered and hinduized by Indian invaders, or whether the Chams were already hinduized when they arrived, possibly from Java.

The inferiority of the Chams to the Khmers in civilization was the result of their more troubled history. Both countries had to contend against the same difficulty--a powerful and aggressive neighbour on either side. Camboja between Siam and Annam in 1800 was in very much the same position as Champa had been between Camboja and Annam five hundred years earlier. But between 950 and 1150 A.D. when Champa by no means enjoyed stability and peace, the history of Camboja, if not altogether tranquil, at least records several long reigns of powerful kings who were able to embellish their capital and a.s.sure its security. The Chams were exposed to attacks not only from Annam but also from the more formidable if distant Chinese and their capital, instead of remaining stationary through several centuries like Angkor Thom, was frequently moved as one or other of the three provinces became more important.