________________
326
AN EARLY HISTORY OF ORISSA
hill fortress in the Brabar hills and threatened the city of Rājagriha? (modern Rajgir in the Gaya district in Bihar Pradesh). The passage may also suggest that Khāravela killed a king named Goradhagiri and plundered his capital.' The news of these exploits of Khāravela caused so much terror in the heart of a Yavana king Dimata, that he fled to Mathurā.
1. Kusāgārapura was the original capital of Magadba 'which was called Rājagriha or the Royal Residence. It was also named Girivraja or 'the Hill Surrounded', which agrees well with Huien Tsang's desscription of it as a town surrounded by mountains. Girivraja is the name given in both the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahabharata to the old capital of Jarāsandha, king of Magadha, who was one of the principal allies of the Kurus in the great Mahābhārata war.
Rājagriha has been mentioned in the Jaina literature at many places. It is mentioned as the capital of Magadha and is included among the ten capitals of Theņārga. It was situated to the east of Saketa. Lord Mabāvīra allowed the Jaina monks to move upto Rayagiha (Brihat. kalpa Satra, 1, 50). It is described as the birth-place of the twentieth Jaina Tirthankara ( Avaśyaka Niryukti, 383, 325). It was visited by Lord Pārsvanātha, the twenty-third Jaina Tirthankara (Nayadhammakahā, II, 10, p. 230 7 Niryāvaliyão; 4), and Lord Mahāvīra, the twenty-fourth and the last Jaina Tirthaikara, passad fourteen rainy seasons here (Kalpasūtra, 5, 123 ; Bhagawati, 7, 4, 5, 9:2, 5; Āvasyaka Niryukti, 473, 492, 518). It was frequented by Ajja Suhamma (Anutterovavaiyo Dasão, I, p. 58) and Gośāla (Bhagwati, 15), and various disciples of Lord Mahā. vīra lived in this city. Guņaśila, Mandi-kuchchha and Moggarapāņi are mentioned as some of the important shrines in the city, Rāyagiba was noted for its springs.
The city of Rājagriha was called Girivraja because it was surrounded by five bills-- Pandava, Gijjhakůța, Vebhāra, Isigili and Vepulla (Com. mentary on Sutta Nipāta, II, p. 38?). In the Mahābhārata (II, 21, 2) they are named as Vaibāra, Vārāha, Vrishabha, Rishigiri and Chaityaka.
2. D. C. Sircar, AIU, 1951, p. 213, fn,
3. This Dimita or Dimata cappot be identified with Demetrius, the Indo-Bactrian ruler in the Eastern Punjab, having his capital at Sakala, the modern Sialkot. He must be a later ruler of the House of Euthydemos.
For fuller discussion, refer Chapter XI, Sec. I, pp. 274 f.
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
