1900.] W. Hoey — Identification of Kusinara, Vaisali, 
87 
yield none. If you know any remedy for this, tell me.” The messenger 
though a Dusadh had been a king in a former birth but because of his 
misconduct he had been reborn as a Dusadh, and all his wealth and 
greatness and evil deeds lay buried at the root of this tree, and pre- 
vented the tree fulfilling its purpose as a fruit-bearer. Now, by his 
interview wifh Ramacandra, he had obtained illumination and was 
enabled to see his former life, and he at once knew that it was under 
this tree that his wealth lay buried : so he told the tree to lean over 
that he might take out what lay at its root. This the tree did and the 
man took out his former wealth and recovered his greatness. He be- 
came a Raja once more, employed a number of men and built a palace on 
the spot. He enlisted an army and marched to marry the princess 
Kanchavi. He encamped in her father’s country. The king thinking 
of his daughter’s unmarried state came out and asked him to marry her 
but, not desiring to seem anxious, he refused, saying that he did not 
intend to marry for he preferred to spend his days in visiting places of 
pilgrimage. When the king pressed him he married Kanchavi, who 
subsequently recognised him by certain marks which he bore. When 
he returned to his country he built four forts amd his descendants were 
kings for four hundred years. The four forts lie in the Ballia District: 
the first Waina is in the Wainaban where he had found his wealth under 
the tree ; the second is Kopachit ; the third is Sikandarpur ;i and the 
fourth was where Husenabad now is in the Banodih Tahsil. 
At first sight this seems a very silly tale but the key to its value 
lies in the word ‘ Pi^van,’ which is from the Sanscrit Pi 9 ‘ yellow.’ 
There is no caste or race in India called Pi^van but the word refers 
obviously to a yellow Race. This is the Mongolian or Chinese people, 
Hwen Thsang tells us of the men from Tu-ko-Io beyond the snowy 
mountains (obviously yellow people) who came and wandered in India 
friendless and inhospitably treated, till they met a king who built for 
them the monastery of the ‘ unpierced ears.’ It was an ornamented 
building of small dimensions near a lake. The modern Waina in Ballia 
has ancient remains and it lies to the south of the broad expanse of 
water known as the Suraha Tal. A few miles S. E. is Ballia itself, 
the Bhrgva 9 rama, the Kapile 9 vara and the Dharmaranya; and until 
the last floods washed it away here too on the Ganges bank, I am 
told, was a temple of the Sun-God, Surya-Narayana. The general con- 
clusion is that the monastery of the unpierced ears will be found at 
1 There are extensive ruins at Sikandarpur and close by we meet with Rabila- 
pali, which reminds us of Rahula and the old Brahman. This place with reference 
to Sewau as Kusinara fits in with the place visited by Hwen Thsang on his way to 
Benares. 
