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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
AJITASENA-VYAKARANAM Language), and he preferred the first, as the name is well-known in the Buddhist history. Profs. Lévi and Chavannes, in the absence of any other known name, accepted his suggestion (14., 1916, p. 27-28). The present ms. throws some light on this doubtful restoration. The two Chinese words may be restored as Jayasena or Ajitasena, though strictly for Ajita we should expect in Chinese the two additional letters preceding sheng, viz., wu-neng E HE Ajitasena may not be an historical person, but the fact that his name is associated with Nandimitra may be taken as a valid reason for restoring Sheng-chün as Ajitasena.
Sihapura or Simbadvipa, capital of Ajitasena Now let us cxamine the restoration of the name of the capital of Jayasena or Ajitasena where Nandimitra lived. In Chinese it is called Chih-shih-tzu and is located in Magadha. It is a pity that the ms. does not give the Sanskrit name of the capital. Mr. Watters rightly suggested (though in the fn., see JRAS., 1898, p. 332) that it should be restored as Simhadvipa, but as no town of importance is known by this name, he hesitatingly followed Nanjio's suggestion that it meant Simhaladvipa, i.e. Ceylon, but he was inclined to look for a place of this name within Magadha and he traced also one in Mülasarvāstivāda Vinaya (Bhaisajyavastu, Tok. XVII, 4, 2gb, col. 17), where Buddha once stopped on his way from Srāvasti to Rājagrha. Profs. Lévi and Chavannes preferred Simhala (Ceylon)' and adduced reasons for the same, without seriously minding the anomaly presented by the time, place and name of the king. The present ms. proves clearly that one should take Watters' suggestion, viz., that Chih-shih-tzu referred to a place, known as Simhadvipa or by some such name in Magadha situated between
1 "L' indication geographique est plus precise; le royaume de Tche-che-tseu est certainment Ceylon"-JA., 1916, p. 27.
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