Sŏk Mālānanda 釋摩羅難陀[282] was from Serindia.[283] He was capable of communicating with the supernatural, and there was no fathoming the precise degree of his religious development. He traveled to all places, not confining himself to one corner. According to the old records, he originally came to China from India or Gandhāra. After that, he took the talented as his disciples and by smoke of incense to attest the presence of the spirit, he attracted companions.[284] He faced dangers undaunted and endured whatever hardships came his way. As long as there were opportune conditions he sought them out, regardless of the distance.
He came to this country from Chin in the ninth month of the ninth year after the enthronement of the fourteenth king[285] of Paekche, Ch‘imnyu 枕流王 (384).[286] The king went to greet him on the outskirts of the capital, invited him and his entourage to the palace, deferred to him and worshiped him, and listened respectfully to his sermon. With the court’s favor encouraging them, the people were transformed. Buddhism thereafter spread widely, and both king and subject esteemed it. The speed of its propagation was as rapid as the transmission of royal orders by stages and couriers.[287] In the second year (385), in the spring, a monastery was erected on Mount Han 漢山[288] and ten monks were ordained in Mālānanda’s honor. Buddhism flourished in Paekche as it had done in Koguryŏ. Counting back to the year of Kāśyapa Mātanga’s arrival in the Later Han, it had been more than 280 years.
The Kiro ki 耆老記[289] states that the ancestor of Koguryŏ, Chumong 朱蒙,[290] married a girl of Koguryŏ and had two sons, P‘iryu 避流 and Ŭnjo 恩祖.[291] The two shared a common interest, went southward, and established a country in Hansan, the present Kwangju 廣州. The country was called Paekche[292] because at that time a hundred families came across the river. Later, the two set up their own states, separately, around Kongju 公州[293] in Puyŏ County 扶餘郡.
In the sea to the southeast of Three Han is the land of Wae 倭 (that is, Japan). [1019c] To the northeast of Wae is the Country of the Hairy Man 毛人國[294] To the northeast of the latter is the Country of the Tattooed Body 文身國,[295] two thousand leagues east of which lies Great Han, while twenty thousand leagues east of the latter lies Fu-sang 扶桑.[296] Five Indian monks arrived there [that is, in Japan] during the Sung and only then did Buddhism begin to prosper. These countries were all in the sea. From time to time monks from Wae traveled across the sea, but [whether from] the rest is unknown.
The so-called Three Han were Mahan 馬韓, Pyŏnhan 弁韓, and Chinhan 辰韓.[297] The Pao-tsang ching 寳藏經[298] records that in the northeast there is the country of Chindan 震旦, also called China 支郡 (Cina). Its name means “full of thoughts,”[299] for the people of the country used to ponder over things. This, then, was the country of Great T‘ang. But the Three Han were in the northeast of Jambudvīpa and were not islands. They came into being 600 years after Buddha had entered nirvāna. In the middle rises Mount Sŏngju 聖住山, called * Śrīmudrā 室利母恒梨.[300] High and steep, on its summit, Mount Moon 月岳,[301] is a palace of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara.[302] It is difficult to write about the sacred place in detail. I’aekche was another name for Mahan.
The Sung kao-seng chuan says that [Mālā] nanda had attained samādhi[303] and that he did not get wet in water or burned by fire. He could transform stones into gold, and his manifestations were endless. This occurred during the era chien-chung 建中[304] The two dates are far apart; this might not be the same monk.
The eulogy says; The masses, generally ignorant and rebellious by nature, disobey some royal decrees or court orders. But once they hear about miracles or see wonders, they reform their personalities, shift to the good, cultivate the genuine, and face towards the inside [of their characters], because they are following what is opportune.[305] It is indeed true that good words can evoke a response from more than a thousand leagues away.[306] The way to grasp opportunities, however, lies in seizing an appropriate moment. Therefore, the monk’s efforts were half [those] of the ancients; his achievements, however, were twice theirs.[307]