(68) To Sankasha, one of the Eight Great Sacred Sites of Buddhism - the site of the legend of Buddha's descent from the heavens, "The Three Treasures of the Way".

Travels to Buddhist sites in India and Sri Lanka (68)
To Sankasha, one of the eight holy places of Buddhism - the legend of Buddha's descent from the heavens, "The Three Treasures of the Way".

After visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra, I set out the next day for Sankasha.

It is said that the distance from Agra is only a little over three hours if things go smoothly, but you never know what is in store for you in India. There is still the tension of not knowing when and where things will go wrong.

Approaching Sankasha, we drove down a country road. The plains, with their endless fields and cows, are typical of India.

There is really nothing. It is a very rural area. Buddhist sites in India are usually scattered in this kind of empty countryside. They are different from Hindu temples that are still crowded in big cities.

Well, here we are in Sankasha. It is safe to say that Sankasha appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the countryside. This is not even a town. This Buddhist site is located in a more remote part of the village.

The trail has now been developed, but it is said to have been done only recently. The road to Sankasha was once a very bad road, and the road I have just come from is a product of recent years. Therefore, even if Sankasha was the site of the Eight Great Buddhas of India, this was not a place where people would come.

Of course, even today, visitors to this area are rare. In the first place, it is too far from famous Buddhist sites such as Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Kushinagara, etc. It is difficult to include this place in your itinerary unless you have enough time to spare. Unless you have a lot of time to spare, it is difficult to include this place in your itinerary.

Now, here in Sankasha, one of the eight holy places of Buddhism, it is known as the place of the "Three Ways of the Treasury".

Incidentally, the eight holy places of Buddhism are as follows.

Birthplace of the Lumbini
Bodhgaya, the land of enlightenment
Sarnath (Kanoen), the place of the first turning of the wheel
Rajagriha (King's House Castle), the place where Buddha stayed
Saheet Maheet (Gion Seisho), the place where Buddha stayed
Vaishali, the place of the Monkey King's consecration
Kushinagara, the place of the fall of
Sankasha, the land of the Three Treasures of the Three Ways.

This three-way treasure floor and sankasha, co-authored by Takashi Hizuka and Mikihiro Taeeda.The Life of Sakyamuni as Seen in Art."The following is a commentary on the story of the Buddha's stay at Gion Shosha after he became enlightened. The following commentary is the story of Buddha's stay at Gion Shosha after his enlightenment, when he led a large cult.

In order to make people more aware of the Buddha's teachings and to instill in them a mindset that would allow them to live their lives according to the teachings without depending on the Buddha, there was an incident in which the Buddha suddenly disappeared from Gionshoshosha. During this time, the Buddha ascended to the 33rd heaven, where he preached to his reborn mother, Maya, but no one on earth knew what had happened to him, and the grief and worry of the people were beyond description. After three months, he descended to Sankarsha with Brahma and Indra on a three-step staircase (three-step staircase) made of gold in the center, silver on the right, and lapis lazuli on the left, where he was welcomed by the king and many people.

Heibonsha, Takashi Hizuka and Mikihiro Taeeda, The Life of Shakyamuni Buddha in Art, p. 88

As it is told here, the "Three-Path Treasury Staircase" refers to a staircase descending from the heavens. Buddha used this staircase to descend to the land of Sankasha.

And I would need to add something about this commentary.

First, it is important to note that Buddha's mother, Maya, had died shortly after Buddha's birth. Then, Maya had reborn in the heavenly realm. Buddha ascended to heaven to see his mother. In the commentary above, the reason is so that people can live without depending on Buddha, but in later traditions, more emphasis is placed on going to see his mother.

His own birth caused his mother to lose her life. This must have caused Buddha great anguish. The Buddha's biography tells us that he was an extraordinarily sensitive and thoughtful boy.

What others may think of as "what are you thinking about for so long?" can be a life-determining matter for sensitive people.

One can only imagine how much weight the thought that "my mother died because of my birth" must have carried for such a person.

And from there, it was only a matter of time before it led to the fundamental questions of life: "Why did my mother die and I live?" and "What is life, what is this world, where did I come from, and where am I going?

In this sense, the story of the enlightened Buddha's visit to his mother is truly moving.

Incidentally, of Buddha's eight holy places, only Sankasha is based on legend and has no historical evidence. It is different from Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, Buddhagaya, the place of enlightenment, Sarnath, the place of the wheel of the heavenly law, and Kushinagara, the place of death. It is interesting that the legendary story of Buddha's descent from the heavens is the only one included among the Eight Great Sacred Sites.

This is the King Ashoka Pillar at Sankasha. It is located right behind the white Buddhist temple mentioned earlier.

Let me explain a little about the King Ashoka Pillar here.

About 100 years after Buddha's death, King Asoka ascended the throne as king of the Maurya dynasty. The date is said to be around 268 B.C. The Maurya dynasty was a great power that ruled all of India at that time. The Maurya Dynasty was a powerful dynasty that ruled all of India at the time, and its power was immense. The king was deeply devoted to Buddhism and erected pillars all over India to commemorate the greatness of the Buddha. It is said that it was thanks to him that Buddhism spread throughout India.

And the most famous of these is the Lion Pillar found at Sarnath.

It is known as the highest sculpture in Indian history and has been adopted as the national emblem of India.

I too was overwhelmed by this lion. It is so exquisite! I could understand why this is said to be one of the best sculptures in India.

And the historical importance of King Asoka lies in the fact that the existence of these pillars proves the history of Buddha. The remains of these pillars had been almost completely buried in the ground since the fall of Buddhism in India in the early 13th century and were subsequently forgotten. However, during the British rule in the 19th century, excavations were conducted and the inscriptions on these pillars proved that they were the remains of Buddha. If it had not been for King Ashoka's pillar, we might not have known the site of the Buddha in India. So we can say that King Asoka is our great benefactor. The Pillar of King Ashoka will be mentioned many times in the following articles, so please keep it in mind.

I wrote about how Buddhism was forgotten in India in the Second Indian Expedition(16) Why have India's Buddhist sites been buried in the ground and forgotten?I would like to refer you to this article for a more detailed discussion.

Beyond the King Asoka Pillar, the hill where Buddha is said to have descended still remains. It is decorated with brightly colored Buddhist flags.

Frankly, it is such a small bulge that I hesitate to call it a hill. In the middle of it, a small path is built for climbing.

We came to the top of the hill. And at the back of it was a small white shrine.

But when you look inside, it is clearly not a statue of Buddha.

As it should be, this is a Hindu shrine.

As I mentioned earlier, Buddhism was a forgotten entity in India. And this place is no exception. It has been handed down as a place where a Hindu shrine was built, rather than as a Buddhist site.

The view from the hill where the shrine is located. You can probably tell that this is an empty countryside.

According to Genjo Sanzo, who visited here in the 7th century, this was a bustling place with many monasteries. Over time, however, it has turned into a remote countryside. It is truly a place of impermanence.

Here in Sankasha, my journey to the eight great Buddhist sites has finally begun. The fact that the first of the eight is the most minor and humble one is, on the contrary, very interesting. In a sense, it is a great discovery to know that there is a Buddhist site in such a rural area. It is a great discovery to know in what kind of place Buddhism flourished and what kind of destiny it had.

Now, let's continue our journey. Our next destination is that famous Gion Seisho (Gion Shrine), which is famous for the beginning of "The Tale of the Heike".

Next Article.

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