My diary of Events, from Kosambi to Nanjing, home

Part 4

The purpose of this journey was to seek copies of the Monastic Rules to take home, however, throughout the entire trip till now, I did not manage to get a single copy as the rules were transmitted orally. Here I was able to obtain a copy used by the Mahasanghikas at Jetavana monastery. I spent three long years learning Sanskrit and copying out the Rules. Then following the course of the Ganges river in an easterly direction, I travelled to Tamralipti (modern Tamluk in West Bengal), and there I spent another two years copying the sacred texts and drawing image pictures.

From the port of Tamralipti, I took a ship to Sri Lanka and spent two more years collecting and copying the Buddhist texts includ­ing the Mahisasaka monastic rules, which are unknown in China.

I have been away from my own homeland for many years. Of the four monks who accompanied me to India, only one returned to China after going only as far as Peshawar. Sadly, two died in India and one remained behind in India. I saw a merchant making a religious offering of a white silk fan from China at the Abhayagiri monastery in Anuradhapura made me feel sad and homesick. Thus having reached my goal of obtaining the knowledge of the precepts to spread throughout the land of Han, I decided to return home.

I had many unbelievable escapes during the voyage home by sea, and luckily, I managed to save all the sacred texts and information and get home safely.

After resting at Tsing-Chow for the summer, I then proceeded to Nanjing and exhibited the sacred books I had brought back.

I was away fourteen years and had encountered great hardships and dangers in my many travels through nearly thirty differ­ent countries. Having been protected by the power of the Triple Gem and delivered safely from all dangers, I shared my experiences with many by writing these records of my travels from 399-414 AD.

In short, i almost walked from central China in AD 399, across the Taklamakan desert, over the Pamir Plateau, and through India down to the mouth of the Hoodly, in the city of Tamluk, India. From there I took a ship and returned by sea to my homeland China, sailing via Ceylon and Sumatra, across the Indian Ocean and the China Sea, and finally reaching Nanjing, China, in AD 414.

I am now eighty-eight and am about to die. However I have no regrets because I accomplished my other mission of translating the Buddhist texts I brought home into Chinese. I have also managed to share my knowledge, and thus, I am happy.

This is the end of my diary. Farewell.