Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna

Author(s): Satiś Chandra Achārya Vidyābhūṣaṇa

Source: The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, (Jan., 1900),
pp. 29-42
Published by: Cambridge University Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25208166
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 29

Art. III.?Mahdydna and Hinaydna. By Professor Satis

Chandra Acharya Vidyabhusana, M.A.

As there is still much uncertainty as to use of these terras,

found exclusively, of course, in Mahay anu texts, I have
brought together a series of passages in which the
expressions occur, and would venture to draw one or two
conclusions from the manner in which they are used.
In the Lalitavistara, page 38 (Bengal Asiatic Society's
edition), we find the word Hlnayilna used in contrast to the
glorious religion of Buddha :

Asayo dharmiilokamukham Illnayanilsprhanatayai sam

vartato |
Adhyilsayogo dharmiilokamukham udiirabuddha-dharmii
valarabanatiiyai samvartate |
" Reflection is an initiatory light of religion which makes
people feel aversion against the Hlnayilna. Con
centration is an initiatory light of religion which
makes people lean on the glorious religion of
Buddha."

Again:
Asmin Mahuyilne sa tilm mahatlm bodhisattvadeva
parsadam etad avocat.1
"In this great vehicle he said to the large assembly of
Bodhisattvas and Devas as follows." 2

1 Lalitavistara, p. 25.
1 [This passage is manifestly corrupt. And it makes no better sense if tho
words ' in this Mnluiyana' are taken to the preceding clause. Professor Bendall
lias been kind enough to compare the Tibetan version, and informs me that an
adjective meaning * firm in * seems to have been omitted. The right translation
would then be simply * lie, firm in this great vehicle, said/ etc.?fin. D.]

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30 MA1IAYANA AND 1UNAYANA.

On page 142 the word agraydna is used as a synonym

for that Mahilyilna to which the peoples of the world were
to be converted by Gautama :
Kintii janasjra anuvnrtanatilm karoti
Lipi-siiliim iigatum susiksita-siksaniirtham |
Paripiicanilrtham bahudiiraka agrayiine
Anyiims ca sattvaniyutiin amrte vinetum || l
"He (Gautama), following the practice of ordinary men,
comes to attend school in order that ho might impart
instructions to the good, and might convert many
boys to the excellent vehicle (agra-yiina), and might
lead innumerable people to ambrosia."

Arya-deva, who, as a disciple of Niigiirjuna, probably

belongs to the second century a.d., describes the distinctive
characteristics of the Mahiiyiina and Hinayana in the
following verses :

Hinayiiniibhirfidhilnam mrtyu-fsankii pado pade |

Samgriima-jayas tu tcsiim dura eva vyavasthitah || 52 ||
Mahayanabhirfidhas tu karuna-dharma-varmitah |
Krpii-naya-dhanur-viTno jagaduddharaniisayah || 53 ||
MahiTsattvo mahopiiyah sthira-buddhir atandritah |
Jitvii dustara-sanigrilmam tiirayaty apariiu api || 54 ||
Pasavo 'pi hi klisyantc sviirthainiitra-pariiyaniih |
Jagadartha-vidhiitiiro dhanyiis te viraliih janiih || 55 ||
SKa-viitildi-duhkhilni sahante sviirtha-lampatiih |
Jagadartha-pravrttiis te na sahante katham nu te || 56 ||
Nilrakilnyahi duhkhiini sodhavyiini krpillubhih |
?Slta-vatiidi-duhkhiiui kas tiiny api viciirayet || 57 ||
Niinista-kalpaniini kuryilt nopaviisain na ca kriyam |
Sniina-saucam na caiviitra griima-dharmani vivarjayet||58||
Nakha-dantiisthi-majjiinah pituh siikra-vikiirajah |
Miimsa-sonita-kesiidi miitr-sonita-sambhavam 11 59 11

1 Lalitavistara, p. 142.

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 MAIIAYANA AND 1I1NAYANA. 31

Ittham asuci-sambhfitah pindo' hy asuci-puritah |

Kathara san tiidrsah kilyo Gangil-sniinena sudhyati || 60 ||
Na hy asuci-ghatastoyaih ksiilito' pi punah punah |
Tadvad asuci-sampurnah pindo 'pi na visudhyati || 61 ||
Pratarann api Gangiiyiim naiva svil suddhim arhati |
Tasmild dharma-dhiyiim pumsam tlrtha-sniinam tu nispha
lam || 62 ||
Dharmo yadi bhavct snilnilt kaivartilnilm krtilrthatil |
Naktam divain pravistaniiiii niatsyadimlin tu kit kathil||63il
Pilpa-ksajro 'pi sniluena naiva syild iti niscayah |
Yato rilgildi buddhis tu drsyate tlr'tha-sevinilm || 64 II1

" 52. The peoj)l(? of the little vehicle; (Illnayilnaj are

afraid of death at every step; their achievement of
victory in war lies indeed very far off.

53. The man of the great vehicle (Mahayiina) is clad

with the armour of mercy ; he, intent on saving the
world, is fully equipped with the bow and arrows
of sympathy and morality.

54. Great in force, efficient in means, firm in purpose,

freed from slothfulncss, he comes out victorious from
the terrible war and brings about the emancipation
of others.

55. For the sake of selfish interest even the beasts

undergo pains, but it is only those few people who
suffer pains for the sake of the world that deserve
our thanks.

56. In securing their selfish ends people submit to

suffering from cold and wind: why, then, do they
not desire to undergo sufferings for the sake of the
world ?

1 II. P. Sliastri's Discovery ol a work by Arya-dcva, Journal oi the Rengal

Asiatic Society, vol. Ixvii, pt. 1, No. 2, 1898.

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32 MAIllYlNA AND HInAYANA.

57. Even the miseries of hell should be borne by the

kind-hearted; who cares for the sufferings arising
from cold and wind ?

58. No one should meditate injury to others, none should

observe fasting or ceremonies, none should care for
the purity of bathing; all pagan observances should
be avoided.
59. The nails, teeth, bones, and nerves grow up from the
semen of the father; while the flesh, blood, and
hair, etc., grow up from the blood of tho mother.

60. Thus this lump of flesh (this body) is produced by

impure substances and remains full of them. Being
of that nature, how cau it be purified by bathing in
the Ganges ?
61. An impure water-pot, though washed again and again
by water, cannot be rendered pure; so the lump full
of impurities (the body) can never be rendered pure.
62. A dog, though he cross the Ganges b}r swimming,
does not deserve to be considered pure ; much more
is bathing in holy places absolutely useless to the
good.
63. If bathing can confer merit, fishermen are very
meritorious ; not to speak of the fishes and others
who are immersed in water day and night.
64. It is certain that from bathing sin is not even
dissipated, because lust, hatred, etc., are fouud
existing in people who are in the habit of making
pilgrimages."

In the above verses the followers of the Muhilyiina are

characterized as being merciful and liberal, and always
determined to save the people of the world; while it is
the followers of the Hlnayilna who are apparently spoken
of as being selfish, and as observing ritualistic ceremonies,
such as bathing in the Ganges, making pilgrimages, etc.
Now, it may be asked, was it not the Brahmans and other

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 MAHAYANA AND HINAYANA. 33

Tirthikaa that preached the efficacy of bathing in the

Ganges, making pilgrimages, etc. Can it be possible that
to Arya-deva the term Hinayiina included the followers of
Brahmanism? On this compare Santi-deva, who, in his
Bodhi-caryiivatiira, says :

Nuiiv asiddham Mahilyiinam katham siddhas tvad agamah |

Yasmiid ubhaya-siddho 'sau na siddho 'sau taviidituh ||42||
Yat-pratyayii ca tatriisthii Mahiiyiino 'pi film kuru |
Anyobhayesta-satyatve vediider api satyatil || 43 ||
Saviviidam Mahilyiinam iti ced iigamam tyaja |
Tirthikaih saviviidatvilt svaih parais ciigamiintaram || 44 ||l

"42. If the great vehicle (Mahayima) is not inadmissible,

how is your tradition admissible ? For the reason for
which you rely on your books, treat the Mahayana in
the 6ame manner. Authorities must be acknowledged
as authorities, and it is not yours alone that should
be regarded as being so.
43. The grounds which have led you to cherish faith in
your Siistras should lead you to cherish the same
in the Mahayana too. It is on account of the very
infallibility vested in both these doctrines that your
Vedas also derive their authority.
44. If tho Mahayana Biistra is to be rejected as being
full of contradietioiivS and inconsistencies, then the
Silstra of the Tirthikas is also to be rejected on
the very same ground of contradictions and incon
sistencies being contained therein."

The Mahiiyana was also called Cira-yilna, Bodhisattva

yiina, Eka-yiina, Buddba-yiina, Prathama-yana, agra-yiina,
uttaraa-yiina, Srestha-yana, and so forth. So the Asta
eahasrikii Prajfiiipiiramita says:

1 Bodhi-caryilvatilra, published iu the Journal of the Buddhist Text Society,

vol. ii, pts. 1 and 2.
J.R.A.8. 1900. 3

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34 mahayana and uinayana.

Evam uktc ilyusmiln Subhiitir Bhagavantam etad av

Mahiiyilnam Mahiiyilnam iti Bhagavan ucyate.
devitsuramanusyalokam abhibhavan niryilsyati ilk
samatayii atimahattayii tan Mahiiyilnam. Yathil ilk
aprameyilnilra asamkhyeyilnilm sattvilnilm avakils
evam eva Bhagavan asm in yanc aprameyilnilm asa
khye3rilnilm sattvilnilm avakilsah. Anena Bhaga
paryilyena : Mahiiyilnam idam Bodhisattvilniirn Ma
sattvilnilm, Naiviisya ilgamo drsyate naiviisya nirg
dilate nilpyasya sthilnam samvidyate. Evam as
Bhagavan Jlahilyilnasya naiva purvilnta upalabhy
nilpi madhya upalabhyate, atha samani Bhagav
tad yilnam. Tasmilt Mahilyuriam Mahiiyilnam
ucyate.1
"After this had been said the long-lived Subhfiti spoke
thus to the Lord: ' 0 Lord, Mahiiyilna is called the
il/tf//a-yiina (great vehicle). It is called Mahiiyilna
because it will lead gods, men, and demons, being
as spacious as tho sky. Just as the sky may be
a receptacle for immeasurable and innumerable
objects, so also, O Lord, this vehicle (yiinu) is
a receptacle for immense and innumerable sentient
beings (sattva). In this book, 0 Lord, the Mahii
yilna is to be understood to be a receptacle for the
Bodhisattvas alone. It is not seen whence it comes,
whither it goes, and where it stops. Thus, 0 Lord,
neither the beginning, nor end, nor middle of tho
Mahiiyilna is perceptible. This vehicle (yiina),
0 Lord, is of equal dimensions throughout. It is
for these reasons that the Mahayana is called Mahd
yilna, great vehicle.'"

Agaiu :
Ye ca khalu punar ime ilyusman Suhhute trayo Bodhi
sattvayiinikilh pudgalilh Tathilgatena akhyatilh, esam

1 Astnsiihasrika Prnjfulp:lramitii, Bengal Asiatic Society's edition, Piathama

vivarta, p. 24.

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 MAHAYlXA AND HTNAYINA. 35

trayiiniim vyavasthiinam na bhavati | Ekam eva hi

yiinam bhavati yaduta Buddha-yiinam Bodhisattva
yiinara | l
" 0 long-lived Subhiiti, as to the three classes of passengers
on the Buddha vehicle, described by the Tathilgata,
there is no room for throe. In fact there is only one
vehicle called Buddha-yiina or Bodhisattva-yiina."

Katham ca Ananda Bodhisattvcna Mahiisattvena aparesiim

Bodhisattvayiinikiiniim antike sthiitavyam | Tadya
thiipi niima Ananda silstari | lite mama Bodhisattvii
Mahiisattvah siistiira ity evam sthiitavyam | Eka-yilna
samilrfidha vata ime Bodhisattvii Mahiisattvii eka
miirga-sniniirudhii vata ime mama Bodhisattvii Mahil
sattvilh samilnabhipriiyii vata ime mama Bodliisattvii
Mahiisattvah | 2
" 0 Ananda, how should a Bodhisattva behave himself
towards other people on tho same vehicle ? Just as,
O Ananda, towards the Lord. He should regard
them as his Lords. He should remember also that
they too are passengers on the same vehicle (eka
yiina), travellers on the same road (eka-miirga),
and their ends are also the same as his."

A detailed account of tho Mahiiyiina is to be found in

chapter xi of the {Sata-siihasrika-Prajfiilpiiramita, manu
scripts of which are contained in the Library of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal.
Asvaghosa in his Buddhacarita-kiivya writes :
Prabhiisan ksepayet kalpam natu Buddha-guna-ksayam |
Evam mayiitra Sambuddha-sadguno 'bhyanuvarnyate ||84ll
Srutviinumodanilm krtva samcaradhvam sadii subhe |
Idam miirsi? Mahilyiinam Sambuddha-dharma-sudhanara |
Sarva-8attva-hitiidhiinam sarvabuddhaih praciiritam II 85 II3

1 A?tastiha3rikfi prajfiupararoita, p. 319.

2 A^asahasrika Prajnaparamita, p. 422, Bengal Asiatic Society's edition.
3 Buddhacarita Kavya, chap. xvi.

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 36 MAIIAYlNA AND IHNAIANA.
Professor E. B. Cowell translates the slokas as follows :
"84. A narrator might spend a kalpa, but the virtues of
the Buddha would not come to an end,?thus by me
has the multitude of the virtues of the Buddha been
described.

85. Having heard this and welcomed it with joy, go on

ever in happiness; this, sirs, is the Mahiiyilna, the
instrument of the Law of the perfect Buddha
[sambuddha, fully enlightened one], which is the
establisher of tho welfare of ali beings, set forth
by all the Buddhas."l

In the Samildhi-rilja-siitra, which is a Gatha-Sanskrit

work of considerable antiquity, we find that the term
Mahiiyilna was used as being the source of all Buddhist
knowledge, and as denoting the religion professed by the
Buddhists:

Anirodham anutpannam anilvilam anaksaram |

Mahilyiluam ahain stosye Buddha-jmlnabhivanchayii ||

Aprupnticam nirillambam Bodhisattvair uamaskrtam |

Namiimi sirasiijasram Mahiiyilnam asamskrlam ||2

"With the object of attainiug a Buddha's knowledge,

I adore the Mahiiyilna (great vehicle), which is
neither destroyed nor made, which is devoid of stains,
and which cannot be described by words. I repeatedly
bow down to the Mahiiyilna, which is devoid of an}r
contingency, non-conditional, uncreate, and reverenced
by the Buddhists."

In the Amitayur-dhyana-sfitra, which was perhaps trans

lated into Chinese in the first century a.d., we come across
the following passage :?

1 Buddhacarita, p. 184, S.B.E. Scries.

2 Samadhiraja Sutra, p. 1, Buddhist Text Society's edition.

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 MAHAYANA AND HINAYANA. 37

" 0 my son in the Law, thou hast practised the Mahuyiina

doctrine; thou hast understood and believed the
highest truth ; therefore I now come to meet and
welcome thee." l

In the Saddharma-pundarika (chap, ii, verse 101, S.B.E.

Series, xxi, 53) we find the mention of cka-yiina, the single
vehicle for the conveyance of the Buddhists of all sections.
In the Dharma-sangraha, section ii, three yiinas (vehicles)
aro mentioned.

Trlni yiiniini ||
Sravakayiinam Pratyeka-buddha-yiinam Mahiiyiinam ceti |a

In tho Piiii work Buddha-vamsa, the same three yiinas

are mentioned :
Kassa vacanam ti ? Siivaka-Paccekabuddhiiniim asiidha
ranam Sammiisambuddhassa eva vacanam | 3
" Whoso word is it? Tt is the word of the Sambuddha
(the perfectly enlightened one), which is not to be
compared with that of Sriivakas and Pratyeka
buddhas."

II. A. Jiischke, in his Tibetan-English Dictionary, p. 235,

writes:
" Teg-pa?2, for attaining to salvation ; teg-pa 7sura,
three conveyances, are generally mentioned, but in
most cases only two are specified, viz., teg-pa
dman-pa, Hinayana, and tdg-pa ccn-po, Mahiiyana,
generally called the little and the great conveyance
or vehicle, by means of which the distant shore of
salvation ma)' be reached. Yet mention is also
made of a snags-kyi teg-pa, Mantra-j'iina, e.g.
Tar. 18?, 18."

1 Amituyur-dhyana-sutia, translated into English hy J. Takakusu, S.B.E.

Scries, vol. xlix, pt. 3, p. 190.
8 Dharmasai'itfraha, sect, ii, Aryan Series, vol. i, pt. 5.
3 Pali Text Society's Buddhavainna, pp. x, xi. [Commentary, not text.?Ed.]

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38 mahayXna and ihnayana.

With this compare the following from the Lalitavistara :

Yo iinamista sada guruniim Buddhu-srilvaka-Pratyeka
jinaniim | 1
" He who always bowed down to the respected Srilvakas,
Pratyeka-buddhas, and Buddhas."

In the Brhat Svayambhu Purilna the Srilvakas and

Tratyeka-buddhas are mentioned without any feeling of
disrespect to them :
Sravnkilnilm api niltha Pratyekiinilm tathaiva ca |
Mahilyilnilnam sarvesilm vidyiiuiim guruh siddhakah || 2
" He is the Lord over the Srilvakas and Pratyeka-buddhas;
he is the successful teacher of the branches of Mahii
yilna learning."
In the Akilsa-garbha Sfitra, quoted in the Siksit-samuccaya,
we find that Srilvaka-ship is considered as lower than the
Mahiiyilna :
Akilsa-garbha-siitre tu iiha | Srilvakayilnain evilsj'a na
bhavati prilgcva Mahilyilnamiti |3
"He has not acquired the Srilvakayilna, much less the
Mahayana."
Sravaka-yiinists and Pratyeka-buddha-yilnists arc ridiculed
in some texts. In Siksil-samuccaya, p. 7, we find one
who did not pay respect to the Mahiiyilna (Buddha-yilna),
but followed the Srilvaka-yilua, designated as PaSu-ratha
gatika, a passenger of the beasts' carriage.
The Srilvakas were listeners, learners, exercising their
energies iu acquiring Buddhist knowledge for themselves,
but not necessarily trying to teach their fellow-men to achieve
the same. The Pratyeka-buddhas, themselves enlightened,
were not of any service in spreading enlightenment to others.
It was the Buddhas alone that worked hard to deliver their
fellow-men.

1 Lalitavistara, chap, xx, p. 368, Bengal Asiatic Society's edition.

2 Brhat Svayambhu Purana, fasc. iv, p. 322, Bibliotheca Indica Series.
8 S'iksiisaniuccaya, rrathama-pariccheda, p. 11.

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 MAHlYANA AND HINAYANA. 3?>

In the Vajra-cchedikii we find that a man of the Buddha

vehicle should make it a point to save his fellow-men by
preaching among them the religion of Buddha.
Atha khalu Ayusraiin Subhiitir Bhagavantam etad avocat |
Katham Bhagavan Bodhisattva-yiina-samprasthitena
sthiitavyam katham pratihattavyam katham cittani
pragrahitavyam | Bhagaviiniiha | iha Subhute Bodhi
sattva-yiina-samprasthitena evam cittam utpiidayi
tavyam sarvo sattvii mayii anupadhisese nirviina
dhiitau parinirviipayitavyiih | l
"Then the long-lived Subhuti said thus to the Lord :
' How, 0 Lord, should the passenger of the Buddhist
vehicle conduct himself, how train himself, how
should he discipline his heart?' The Lord replied:
'The passenger of tho Buddhist vehicle should \\vrc
cherish such desire that he may bring about the
salvation of all sentiont beings by enabling them
to enter into the unconditional element of Nirvana.' "

In the Karima-pundarika we find the distinction between

the Sriivaka- and Pratyeku-buddha-yiinas on the one hand,
and the Mahiiyiina on the other, stated as follows:

Yat tvam Brahmana svapnam adriikslh apare manusyii

mahisa - rathabhirudhah sumanomiilii - lankrtasirasah
apathena daksiniibhimukham gacchanti te api tvayil
Brahmana kulaputriih trisu punya-kriyii - vastusu
pratisthiipitiih kcvalam iitma - damaniirtham iitma
samaniirtham sriivakayiina - samprasthitiih tesiini
sriivakayiina-sainprasthitiinam Briihmana-pudgaliiniim
idam purvanimittam | 2
" 0 Brahman, you saw in a dream that some men,
ornamented on the head by garlands of flowers,
were going astray towards the south by riding
buffaloes. Those men, too, were made by you to

1 Vajiacchodika, pp. 35, 3G, Oxford editiou.

2 Karuna-pundarika, Buddhist Text Society's edition, p. 21.

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40 MAHAYANA and hinayIna.

accept articles of virtue ; they, for the sake of

controlling themselves and for setting themselves
in repose, took up tbe vehicle of the Sriivakas.
0 Brahman, your dream was a forecast of the people
of Sriivakayiina."

On page 67 of tho Karunil - pundariku the following

passage occurs:
Na ca punah Sriivaka - Pratyeka - buddha - yana - bhilasi
anuttarayilnam akilnksilmi |
"I am not a candidate for the Sravaka-yilna nor for the
Pratyeka-buddha-yilna, but I desire the attainment of
the anuttarayana (excellent vehicle)."

On pages 65 and 66 of the Karuna-pundarika (Buddhist

Text Society's edition), the Sriivakas and Pratyeka-buddhas
are described as being those who did not forsake the world,
and whose thirst was not totally quenched. The Mahil
yilnists were, on the other hand, described as being those
whose longings for tho world were completely extinct, and
whose exertions wero wholly devoted to the deliverance of
their fellow-men.
From the above wo may perhaps draw the conclusion
that in the earliest Mahiiyilna books the authors looked upon
every view of life, different from their own, as Hlnayilna,
the meaner, lower, lesser vehicle. They did not confine it
exclusively to designate other Buddhists. But from the
fourth century downwards, in the period of Hindu revival,
when Buddhism, waning in India, was spreading rapidly
in adjoining aud other countries, and the demand for
missionaries became great, the word Mnhilyilnist meant
especially those who wero willing to go forth as preachers
to save the world; and Hinayilnist meant especially a
Buddhist who would not, or did not, do this. It never
meant the Buddhists of Ceylon, Burma, and Siam.

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 MAHAYANA AND HINAYANA. 41

NOTE BY PROFESSOR C. BENDALL.

As the foregoing paper was submitted to me by tho

Council, for opinion, I subjoin at the request of the acting
oditor of the Journal some notes upon it.
The collection of passages from books mainly untranslated
is in itself interesting; but with tho chief conclusion, as to
tho meaning of ' Hinayiina,' few serious students will,
I think, agree.
The key to one of the chief difficulties is to be found in
a passage, clearly from an early Mahayana-sutra, presented
in tho Mahilvyutpatti (? 10. 152), the most authoritative of
the old glossaries of Buddhist Sanskrit, where we read:
" vi&iftaparinirrdndrtham satvd hinaydnam prdrthayante yad
idam irdvakapratyekabuddhaydnam, {creatures seek after the
Hinayiina, to wit, tho yiina of the Sriivakas and Pratyeka
buddhas.' "
This explanation brings several of the above passages well
into line with the usually received view as to the two main
divisions of Buddhist thought. The extract from Aryadeva1
is both interesting and humorous, but I cannot see that in
stanzas 60-04 the Hinayiinists are still spoken of.
It is not clear to me what the author means to prove by
his quotation from Bodhic, IX. 42-44. I may mention,
however, that tho commentary printed in de la Vallee
Poussin's " Bouddhisme," pp. 282 seqq , understands the
disputants to be Buddhists, as the point is, what is
' approved ' (siddham) as being the * word ' of Buddha
(Bhagavad-vacanam . . . Buddharacanam). In the next
verses non-Buddhists are introduced by way of illustration;
Vcdddi is explained as meaning " lhe Vcdas, the Siirikhya
writings, and so on," while the tirthikas are " Mimiimsakaa
and others."

1 The poem is called, as I have recently discovered from a Buddhist anthology,

CittaviSuddhipiakarana.?0. B.

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42 MAHAYANA AND 1UNAYANA.

But we have fortunately other means for determining the

question as to the real meaniug of the terms Mahiiyilna and
Hlnayilna.
The testimony of the Chinese Pilgrims seems quite clear.
I-tsing's notes (at pp. 14, 15 of Takakusu's translation of
his "Record") on the local distribution, the points of union
(e.g. the Vinaya, the five shandhas, the four dryasatyas) and
disunion (worship of Bodhisattvas) leave hardly a doubt as
to what he thought. Other passages may be found through
Takakusu's index, s.v. Hlnayilna. As for Hiuen Tsang, ho
goes through the Buddhist world classifying countries and
monasteries, according to the ' Great' or * Little ' Vehicle.
From monuments the testimony is less conclusive, but no
intelligent traveller has much difficulty in recognizing the
Mahiiyilna caves with their images of Avalokitesvara and
Padmapilni. It would be interesting to work out this latter
line in detail, with inscriptions.
As to the writer's concluding sentence, it is too much to
expect topographical information on distant countries from
authors like the Indian Mahiiyilna doctors, but as to Ceylon
it ma}r bo worth while to note here that recent discoveries,
archaeological and literary, have disclosed tho real existence
of worshippers of Avalokitesvara in the island, so that the
rather confused tradition recorded by Hiuen Tsang, though
questioned by Beal ("Buddhist Records," ii, p. 247, n. 18),
may still have an element of truth. However the facts may
have been, the important point lor us now is that Hiuen
Tsang docs (if he be correctly translated) describe some of
the ' Buddhists of Ceylon ' as of ' the Little Vehicle.'

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