1891.] 
47 
S. C. Das —Life of Atisa. 
initiated in the practice of monastic discipline, he appointed two novice¬ 
monks ( S'ramanera ) to attend to each of them, and thereby increased the 
strength of his institution to twenty-one. Not satisfied with the Buddhist 
teachers of Tibet, whose cult had become greatly debased by the ad¬ 
mixture of Tantrik and Pon mysticism, he sent these young monks to 
Kashmir, Magadha and other places of India where pure Buddhism still 
prevailed, with a view to their studying the philosophy of Ananda Garbha 
of Kashmir and the code of monastic discipline. He commanded them to 
invite to Tibet, if possible, the renowned Kashmirian Pandit Ratna Vajra 
and Dhannapala (the Buddhist hierarch of Magadha) and other holy men 
whose acquaintance they might make during their sojourn in India. He 
also instructed them to ascertain if there were any other pandits who, when 
invited, would be useful to the cause of Buddhist reformation in Tibet. 
Accordingly they proceeded to India in search of knowledge and holy 
men, bidding a long farewell to their native country. Though the king 
succeeded in getting the services of thirteen Indian pandits, it is said, 
that out of the twenty-one monks whom he had sent to India, nineteen died 
there from heat, fever, snake-bite and other causes. Rinchhen frssan- 
po, the great Lochava, and Legs pa/ii S'erab were the only surviv- 
ers who had the good luck of returning to Tibet crowned with success. 
They studied Sanskrit under some of the eminent Sanskrit scholars of 
India and acquired great proficiency in the Buddhist literature. Bear¬ 
ing in mind the instructions of their royal master, they visited Vikrama¬ 
sila to inquire of the STamanas if there was a saintly scholar in their midst 
who, when invited to Tibet, would be useful to the reformation of Bud¬ 
dhism. There they heard of Dipamkara S'rijnana, whose spiritual attain¬ 
ments and learning were of a superior order, and who then occupied the 
first position among the Buddhist scholars of Magadha. They were also 
told that he was, in fact, the second Sarvajna of the school of 500 Ar- 
hats which is commonly called the Mahdsangika. The Lochavas, how¬ 
ever, did not venture to ask him to visit Tibet, being told that any such 
proposal would be premature at this time, if not absurd. On their return 
to Tibet they submitted an account of their experiences in India, and also 
of the condition of the Buddhist church of Magadha. 
Greatly desirous of seeing the renowned sage of Magadha, the 
king commanded jRgya-tson-gru senge, a native of Tag-tslial in Tsang 
to proceed to Vikramasila, taking with him one hundred attendants 
and a large quantity of gold. After encountering immense hardships 
and privations in the journey, the traveller reached Magadha. Arrived 
at Vikramasila, he presented to Dipamkara the king’s letter with 
a large piece of bar gold as a present from his sovereign and begged him 
to honour his country with a visit. Hearing this, Dipamkara replied :— 
