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________________ 150 Homage to Vaisalz its origin in pre-Mauryan times and was probably one of the eight traditional Stupas built over the relics of Buddha immediately after his death. . The Chinese pilgrims, Fa-hien and Yuan Chwang, visited Vaisali in the course of their travels. The latter described the city as covering an area of 10 to 12 square miles. He wrote that, within and without and all around the town of Vaisali, the sacred monuments were so numerous that it was difficult to mention them all. Unfortunately, the area is now practically denuded of any visible remains of religious edifices. At Kolhua, two miles to the northwest of Raja-Vigala-ka-gadha, there stands the monolithic pillar (locally known as Bhimsena's Latbi) of highly polished sandstone surmounted by a bell shaped capital that supports the sedent figure of a lion on a square abacus. It is about 22 feet, above the present ground level, a considerable portion having sunk underground in the course of time. In style it resembles the edict pillars of Asoka, but digging around the shaft have failed to reveal any Asokan inscription. Nevertheless, it can be identified with one of the Asoka pillars mentioned by Yuan Chwang at the site of ancient Vaisali. The line of pillars in the Champaran and Muzaffarpur districts--at Ramapurva, Lauriya Areraj, Lauriya Nandangadh, and Kolhua-is believed to have marked the stages of a royal journey from Pasaliputra to Lumbini which Asoka undertook in the 20th year of his consecration. Nearby to the south, there is a small tank, called Ramakunda, identified by Cunningham with the ancient Markata-hrada (monkey's tank), believed to have been dug by a colony of monkeys for the use of the Buddha. To the north-west there is a ruined mound, at present only 15 feet high and with a diameter of about 65 feet at the base, which has been identified with the remains of the Asoka Stupa mentioned by Yuan Chwang. On the summit of this mound stands a modern brick temple enshrining a mediaeval image of crowned Buddha. VAISALI FROM 1st CENTURY A. D. Traditions declared that the Vaisalians invaded Magadha when Bimbisara was ruling, but that Ajatasatru, Bimbisara's son, destroyed the Vajjian confederacy and annexed North Bihar to the Magadhan Empire. According to the Mabavastu, which claims to be the first book in mixed Sanskrit of the Vinayapitaka of the Lokottaravada branch of the Mahasanghikas, the Mahasanghikas were the first batch to go away from the orthodox group of Theravadins about a century after Buddha's passing
| SR No. | 012088 |
| Book Title | Vaishali Abhinandan Granth |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Yogendra Mishra |
| Publisher | Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology and Ahimsa |
| Publication Year | 1985 |
| Total Pages | 592 |
| Language | Hindi, English |
| Classification | Smruti_Granth |
| File Size | 17 MB |