186 



On the "Ruins of Buddha Gay a. 



[No. 2, 



times around him, and then flew away. The PJiousa advanced 

 towards the tree Puto, held out the grass of happy omen towards 'the 

 east, and sat down. Then the Icing of the demons sent three beautiful 

 girls who came from the north to tempt him, and himself came with 

 the same purpose. The Phousa then struck the ground with his toes 

 and the bands of the demon recoiled and dispersed themselves • the 

 three girls were transformed into old women. During six years he 

 imposed upon himself the greatest mortifications. In all these places 

 people of subsequent times have built towers and prepared images 

 which exist to this day." Lest this be supposed too general, Fa Hian 

 again observes " The four great towers erected in commemoration of 

 all the holy acts that Foe performed while in the world, are preserved 

 to this moment since the ni houan of Foe. These four great towers are 

 (1st) at the place where Foe was born, (2nd) at the place where he 

 obtained the law, (3rd) at that where he turned the wheel of the law, 

 and (4th) at that where he entered into ni houan." Here we have 

 the positive testimony of the very traveller whom General Cunning- 

 ham has quoted that a great tower, one of the four largest, existed in 

 his time at Buddha Gay a at the end of the 4th century. But had this 

 evidence been wanting the fact of one of the minor temples at that 

 place having a statue inscribed with the Gupta character of the 4th 

 century, would fully warrant the assumption of the main temple, whose 

 reflected sanctity the little ones sought to imbibe, being considerably 

 older. If we add to this the Buddhist belief reported by Hiouen 

 Thsang and the Ceylonese chronicles, of Asoka having raised a lofty tem- 

 ple at Buddha Gaya, we have ample grounds to assign to the existing 

 temple an age dating from the third century before Christ, and under 

 any circumstance one considerably anterior to the 4th century A. D. of 

 the Christian era. 



The second argument of General Cunningham is founded upon the 

 authenticity of the inscription translated by Sir Charles Wilkins, and 

 the deduction of Kalidasa, Varaha Mihira and Amara Sinha having 

 been contemporaries in the 6th century. But as I have, I hope, satis- 

 factorily shewn that that inscription is " not historically true," " the 

 claims of reason," to quote the language of Mebuhr, " must be assert- 

 ed, and we must not take anything as historical which cannot be 

 historical." 



