Buddha's Shadow, Nagarahara (Cave of)

Location

Amongst the Chinese Pilgrims who visited the Buddhist shrines in "India", Fa Hian in the year 402 AD (note 1), Sung Yun and Hwei Sang in the years 519-520 (note 2), and Xuanzang in 630 AD (note 3), all saw near the ancient town of Nagarahara (note 4) a cave where the shadow of the Buddha (note 5) was known to appear (note 6). This apparently natural cave was characterised by a narrow cave entrance and water that found »its way in various rivulets into this cavern« Buddha's Shadow Cave was said to be large and dark, deep and profound, but the last known eye-witness has visited site more than 1370 years before present. Since the cave appears to have existed in a not very durable conglomerate, we may reckon it was washed away in the meantime by the adjacent stream with a high piezometric energy level. SITUATION: FAXIAN (648 edited by LAIDLEY 1848 reproduced 2000: 92-93) places the cave at a distance of »about half a yeou yan« (circa 3.5 km to 7.2 km) south of Nagarahara and adds that »there is a stone building backed by a mountain and facing south-west.« FAXIAN (edited by LEGGE 1886: 47): »South of the city, half a yojana, there is a rock-cavern, in a great hill fronting the south-west; and here it was that Buddha left his shadow.« XUANZANG (648 edited by BEAL 1884-1885 edited 1981, 2: 93-95) says »About 20 li [5.5 or 11 or 15 km] to the south-west of the city we come to a small stone ridge, where there is a sangharama [monastic settlement]… now deserted and silent … a stupa 200 feet or so in height … To the south-west of this sangharama a deep torrent rushes from a high point of the hill and scatters its waters in leaping cascades. The mountain sides are like walls; [the cave lies] on the eastern side of one …« HWUI LI (edited by BEAL 1911 edited 1973: 57-63): »The cave lies to the eastward of a stony water-course.« SIMPSON (1881: 199) opts to look for this cave in the ravines of the Siah Koh range. FOUCHER (1940, personal correspondence with Joseph Hackin, in: CASPANI 1945: 50) searched a certain "Siah Sang ravine" = any ravine in the Siah Koh (the –>Passani Khol? of MASSON in WILSON 1841: 67-68) south of "Chaharbagh" (note 7) and noted »… no sign of a cave. However, it is a known fact that conglomerate cliffs are liable to collapse and disintegrate especially when, at Siah Sang, they rest on a foundation of clay.« GROUSSET (1927, 1932) is said by CASPANI (1945: 50) to merely quote FOUCHER (which?). CASPANI (1945: 49-52, location maps on plate V, photographs on plate VI) found no cave but a suitable site fitting to the description of XUANZANG (629): In a glen above the Ziarat (sanctuary and pilgrimage site) of "Said Ilas 'Aliah" (note 8), which is the Ziarat of "Hazrat Ilias" or "Khwaja Ilias" of MASSON (in WILSON 1841: 67). GROUSSET (1986: 103-105) reports FOUCHER (1925) places the cave near the village »Tschaharabagh« (note 7) and gives a location according to Hsun Tsang (XUANZANG 648): »Sie liegt östlich eines Baches, der zwischen zwei Bergen fließt. In die Steinwand, in die sie gehauen [sic!] ist, ist eine Art Tür eingelassen, die sich zur untergehenden Sonne hin öffnet« (Situated east of a creek flowing between two mountains. A kind of door, facing towards the setting sun, is mounted in the rock face, from which it is cut). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1: XUANZANG (629, the »Hiouen Thsian« in BEAL 1884-1885 edited 1981, 2: 93-95) records »a great cavern, deep and profound« and says the »gate (or entrance) leading to it is narrow; the cavern is dark; the precipitous rock causes the water to find its way in various rivulets into this cavern« (note 9). HWUI LI (in BEAL 1911 edited 1973: 57-63) notes that »the door [cave entrance?] through the wall (of the cave) faces the west. Looking into the cave all is wrapped in gloom and no object visible.« Xuanzang found the cave to be very dark. Leaving his guides outside he entered alone (without carrying a source of light?) and met a wall some 50 m in. After a long interval of time and frequently repeated mental acrobatics, he suffered from acute sensual deprivation which resulted in pathological cerebral dysfunction interpreted as visions. CAVE DESCRIPTION 2: CASPANI (1945: 50-51) tracked down »tiny caverns« (Caves in the –>Passani Khol) and said they »cannot be the Cave of the Shadow. This must have collapsed and the debris has been carried away by the stream; the little grottoes might have been cavities in the back wall of the old cave. The eastern bank has now a concave shape and it is possible that in the days of Hiuen- Tsiang the cave covered this concavity. This bank still bears traces of collapse.« Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 01/02/2016

NOTE 1: FAXIAN (Fa Hian, Fa Hien, Fahian, Fa Hsien) circa 415 for 399-414 AD translated by M. Remusat with notes by Klaproth and J.W. Landresse 1836): Foe Koue Ki: The pilgrimage of Fa Hian.- FA HIAN (translated by W. Laidley from the translation by Remusat 1848 / 2000): Foe Koue Ki: The pilgrimage of Fa Hian.- FA HIEN (edited by James Legge 1886): Travels of Fa-hien.- NOTE 2: According to CASPANI (1945: 49) in BEAL (1906). NOTE 3: XUANZANG (Hiuen Tsiang 629 AD in BEAL 1883-1884 edited 1981): Si-Yu-Ki: Buddhist records of the western world: translated from the Chinese of Hiuen Tsiang.- HIOUEN THSANG (629 edited by Stanislas Julien 1853): Histoire de la vie de Hiouen Thsang et de ses voyages dans l'Inde depuis l'an 629 jusqu'en 645.- HSUEN TSANG (629 edited by René Grousset 1929 edited 1957, 1977): Sur les traces du Bouddha.- HWUI LI & TEN TSUNG (edited by Samuel Beal 1911, 2nd edition, reprinted 1973): The life of Hiuen Tsiang.- NOTE 4: Nagarahara (Nagahara, Nangarahar, Nangrahar, Ningrahar) is the ruined capital in the Jalalabad plain (town: 34°26'N: 70°28'E: 595 m asl, PI-42-07) on the river Kabul (Kabul rud) in the modern province of Nangarhar, west of Kabul. SIMPSON (1881: 183-207) located the ruined city close to the small village of Naghrak (N34°26': E070°22'30”, PI-42-07) in the angle formed by the junction of the "Surkhar" (sic! for: Surkh Rod, Sorkhab) and Kabul rivers, and on their right banks. "M." (Messieur) Alfred FOUCHER (1925) refers to the zone of ruins as the Begram of Jalalabad (indicated as »Begrami« on the AIMS toposheet PI-42-07, May 2002), just north of Naghrak. NOTE 5: This Buddha is said to have brainwashed the "dragon" Naga Gopala. Leaving the converted beast behind, the enlighted one consoled it by leaving his shadow (–>Buddha's Shadow and Naga Gopala). This feat looks less strange, when considering that Saint George, the Christian counterpart, left his dragon dying in a pool of blood simply for the sake of supression. Lust, however, survived anyhow. NOTE 6: FAXIAN (Fa Hian, Fa Hien, Fahian, Fa Hsien) circa 415 published 2000: 92-93): »It was here that Foe [Buddha] left his shadow. When you contemplate it at the distance of ten paces, it is as if you can saw the veritable person of Foe himself, of the colour of gold, with all its characteristic beauties, and resplendent with light. The nearer you approach, the fainter the shadow becomes …« XUANZANG (in BEAL 1884-1885 edited 1981, 2: 93-95): »In old days there was a shadow of Buddha to be seen here, bright as the true form, with all its [32]characteristic marks [in BEAL 1981: 1 note 5, 145 note 76].« NOTE 7: Chaharbagh (indicated on the map accompanying SIMPSON 1881) is not shown on the AIMS sheet PI42-07 (May 2002) but should lie near N34°23': E070°23'. The US militant's website gnpswww.nima.mil/geonames (accessed 28.05.2004) positions a »Chaharbagh-e Safa« at N34°25'39”: E070°22'51” (WGS84). Spelled »Chahar Bag« (MASSON in: WILSON 1841: 101), »Chaharbag« (SIMPSON 1881:194, 200; FOUCHER 1925; GROUSSET 1929, 1932; CASPANI 1945: 50), but also »Chehar Bag« (WILSON 1841 map), and »Tschaharabagh« in the German translation of GROUSSET (1986: 103-105). NOTE 8: »Near the Ziarat is a watercourse which is normally dry. If you follow this up you will find yourself in a deep ravine cut through a ridge of conglomerate formation which begins in the Siah Koh and terminates in an undulation of the plain. Even from afar the sides of this ravine appear like walls on either side of the stream where it pours down from the hills on the 'dasht' (desert like plain) below, over two consecutive drops several metres high. This side (i.e. downstream) of the drops, some mounds and remains of stupas and dwellings are to be seen on the banks. The stream has carved a way for itself in the rocky side of the hill, forming those waterfalls and flowing in a narrow bed between steep hills down towards the plains. At the foot of these hills is to be found the ridge of conglomerate formation mentioned above. The waterfalls have as a background a high vertical wall of dark rocks. The stream runs along the foot of this wall before entering the first drop. […details] This then is the spot. But those tiny caverns [Caves in the –>Passani Khol] cannot be the Cave of the Shadow« (CASPANI 1945: 50-51). NOTE 9: CASPANI 1945: 50) reads »the stream, having gathered momentum from the fall, penetrated into it and divided into several rivulets.« A more likely scenario, quite common in conglomerate caves, would be percolating water (from above the fall) that emerge at the ceiling and cave walls. Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 01/02/2016