The Country of Yilannabofaduo伊爛拿缽伐多國

The country of Yilannabofaduo is more than three thousand li around. The great capital city of the country looks north upon the Qingqie river, and it is more than twenty li around. Planting and reaping grow well there, and flowers and fruits are thick on every side. The climate is mild and clear, and the customs are simple and plain. There are more than ten monasteries and more than four thousand monks, and most of them study the Law of the Zhengliang school of the Lesser Vehicle. There are more than twenty temples of the gods, and followers of other ways live mixed among them. In recent times a neighboring king put down the lord of this country and gave the great capital city to the body of monks. Within this city he built two monasteries, each with a little under a thousand monks, and both study the Sarvastivada school of the teaching of the Lesser Vehicle.

Beside the great city, looking out upon the Qingqie river, there is Mount Yilanna. It takes in smoke and haze and breathes them out again, and it hides and dims the sun and the moon. Immortals and sages of old and of today have come one after another and lodged their spirits there. There is a temple of the gods there now, and it still follows the rule left from of old. Long ago the Tathagata also dwelt here, and he spoke the wondrous Law at large for the gods and for men.

South of the great city there is a stupa. The Tathagata spoke the Law here for three months. Beside it is the place where the three Buddhas of the past sat and walked, and their traces are left there.

Not far west of the place where the three Buddhas walked there is a stupa. This is the place where the monk Shiluduopinshedijuzhi was born.

Long ago there was an elder in this city, lordly and honored and greatly rich, who got a son to carry on his line only late in life. He gave the man who brought him the news two hundred million gold coins, and for that reason he named his son Wenerbaiyi. Until he was grown he had never once trodden on the ground, so the hair on the soles of his feet was more than a foot long, shining and glossy and fine and soft, and its color was like gold. He loved the boy as a treasure and got him every kind of delight. From his house all the way to the snowy mountains, at the post stations and at the far corners, servant boys passed along the roads, and whenever some rare medicine was needed they told it to one another in turn and handed it on, and it never took longer than its hour. Such was his wealth and his lordliness. The World Honored One knew that the boy's roots of good were about to open, and so he ordered Motejialuozi to go and turn him to the Law. He came to the gate, but there was no way to make himself known. The elder's house made offering to the sun each day, and every morning they bowed toward the east. Then the venerable one, by the power of his spirit, came down out of the wheel of the sun and stood before them. The elder's son thought he was the god of the sun, and so he gave him fragrant rice and went back, and the scent of that rice went through the whole city of Wangshe. King Pinpisuoluo was startled by the strange fragrance and sent his men to ask everywhere, and it was the rice that Motejialuozi of the bamboo grove hermitage had brought from the elder's house. So the king learned that the elder's son had this strange thing about him, and he sent to call him. The elder received the order and thought how he might go there in comfort. To float a boat and ply the oars had the danger of wind and waves. To ride a carriage or drive an elephant had the fear of stumbling and falling. So from his house to the city of Wangshe he cut a channel and opened a waterway, and he poured in mustard seed until it was full, and he steered the boat and made it lie quiet and drew it with a long rope. When he came to the city of Wangshe he first paid his respects to the World Honored One. The World Honored One said to him, "King Pinpisuoluo has sent to call you for nothing more than to see the hair on the soles of your feet. If the king wishes to look, you should sit with your legs crossed. To stretch out your legs toward the king is death by the law of the country." The elder's son took the teaching and went, and he was led into the court and presented. When the king wished to see the hair, he sat with his legs crossed, and the king thought well of his good manners and held him dear with a rare love. When at last he was allowed to return, he came back to the place where the Buddha was. The Tathagata then spoke the Law and taught and admonished him, and he heard and was moved and awakened, and so he left his home. Then he worked hard at his practice and sought to gain the fruit, and he did not leave off walking, until his feet ran with blood. The World Honored One said to him, "Good man, when you were at home did you know how to play the lute?" He said, "I knew it." "If that is so, take this as a likeness. If the string is tight the sound does not meet the tune, and if the string is slack the notes are not harmonious and fair. Neither tight nor slack, the sound is then in accord. It is the same with one who practices. If he is tight, his body grows weary and his mind grows idle. If he is slack, his feelings loosen and his will runs free." He took up the teaching the Buddha had pointed out to him and went about it accordingly, and in this way before long he gained the fruit and realized it.

From the south of the Qingqie river on the western border of the country one comes to a small lone mountain, where the layered peaks are high and steep. Long ago the Buddha kept the retreat of three months here and subdued the yaksha Bojuluo. Below the cliff on the southeast of the mountain, on a great stone, there is the trace where the Buddha sat. It goes into the stone more than an inch, and it is five feet two inches long and two feet one inch wide. Above it a stupa has been raised. Next to it, on a stone to the south, there is the trace where the Buddha set down his junzhijia. It is more than an inch deep and makes a flower pattern of eight points. Not far southeast of the trace where the Buddha sat there is the footprint of the yaksha Bojuluo. It is one foot five or six inches long and seven or eight inches wide, and a little less than two inches deep. Behind the trace of the yaksha there is a seated image of the Buddha made of stone, six or seven feet high. Next to it, not far west, there is the place where the Buddha walked. On the top of that mountain there is the old chamber of the yaksha. Next to it, to the north, there is a footprint of the Buddha, one foot eight inches long, a little more than six inches wide and about half an inch deep. Above the print there is a stupa. Long ago the Tathagata subdued the yaksha and made him stop killing men and eating flesh. He received the precepts of the Buddha with reverence, and afterward he was born in heaven.

West of this there are six or seven hot springs, and their water is very hot. In the great mountains and forests on the southern border of the country there are many wild elephants, and their bodies are huge and grand.

From here one follows the southern bank of the Qingqie river and goes east more than three hundred li, and comes to the country of Zhanpo.