The whole of them are dedicated to the attainment of one object, "the advancement of dharma, or of the Law of Buddha." His native Chinese afforded no better character than {.} or Law, by which our author could express concisely his idea of the Buddhistic system, as "a law of life," a directory or system of Rules, by which men could attain to the consummation of their being.
(2) Sakra is a common name for the Brahmanic Indra, adopted by Buddhism into the circle of its own great adherents;--it has been said, "because of his popularity." He is generally styled, as here, T'een Ti, "God or Ruler of Devas." He is now the representative of the secular power, the valiant protector of the Buddhist body, but is looked upon as inferior to Sakyamuni, and every Buddhist saint.

He appears several times in Fa-Hsien's narrative.

E.H., pp.

108 and 46.
(3) The Chinese character is {.}, "formerly," and is often, as in the first sentence of the narrative, simply equivalent to that adverb.

At other times it means, as here, "in a former age," some pre-existent state in the time of a former birth.