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'''Letter XXIV'''

<center>'''Letter XXIV'''</center>

Near such monuments as the pillar of Asoka, old pipalas (Ficus religiosa), the direct descendants of Bodhidruma ("the tree of knowledge"), a favourite tree of the founder of Buddhism, according to legends, can usually be found. There was once such a tree near the pillar, but it is no longer there: it was cut off by the English, without any strong reason, as usual. But in the cave they show Akshaya Baht ("undying Bunyan"). Xuanzang saw it in the early seventh century; but in those days the tree was already taken from the Buddhists, and the catacombs, after a century of silence, again resounded with the cries of the Shaivites and again became the scene of bloody rites of the Destroyer God. In the days of the Buddhist pilgrims the Bunyan was a huge tree with far-flung green branches and stood at the entrance to the main cave of the underground temple. And now only an old blackened stump with a few dry branches survive, it stands in the fourth underground chamber. The Brahmans assured us that the tree was transplanted here by Lord Shiva himself: breaking off the top half of the trunk, he divided it into two parts – one was allegedly planted in Gaya and the other in Juggernaut.

Near such monuments as the pillar of Asoka, old pipalas (Ficus religiosa), the direct descendants of Bodhidruma ("the tree of knowledge"), a favourite tree of the founder of Buddhism, according to legends, can usually be found. There was once such a tree near the pillar, but it is no longer there: it was cut off by the English, without any strong reason, as usual. But in the cave they show Akshaya Baht ("undying Bunyan"). Xuanzang saw it in the early seventh century; but in those days the tree was already taken from the Buddhists, and the catacombs, after a century of silence, again resounded with the cries of the Shaivites and again became the scene of bloody rites of the Destroyer God. In the days of the Buddhist pilgrims the Bunyan was a huge tree with far-flung green branches and stood at the entrance to the main cave of the underground temple. And now only an old blackened stump with a few dry branches survive, it stands in the fourth underground chamber. The Brahmans assured us that the tree was transplanted here by Lord Shiva himself: breaking off the top half of the trunk, he divided it into two parts – one was allegedly planted in Gaya and the other in Juggernaut.