Jain Journal 1984 07

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 20

JULY, 1984
etc., and some Indian scholars such as K. P. Jain, Y. Mishra etc. for Vaisali as Bhagavan Mahavira's birth place come to the ground because there is no hill in its vicinity. Further, they do not locate the Brahmana Kundagrama, Ksatriya Kundagrama, Mauraka, Kumara, Kollaga, Atithyagrama, Jambhiyagrama, Suvarnakhala, Lohagalla etc. near Vaisali. They identified Vasukund as Ksatriya Kundagrama and Kolhua with Kollaga which seems wrong. The distance between Pavapuri and Vaisali is greater in comparison to its distance between Pavapuri and Lachhwad. From Lachhwad one can reach Pavapuri in one day on horse back. The aforesaid scholars do not take pain in locating villages Mahana, Kundghat, Kumar, Konnaga, Asthawan, Jamui, Lohara, Maura etc. near Lachhwad which stands for Brahmana Kundagrama, Ksatriya Kundagrama, Kumara, Kollaga, Atithyagrama, Jambhiyagrama, Lohagalla, Mauraka respectively. These places have been situated inside a radius of only twenty miles from the present Lachhwad Kothi. Near Janmasthan, one can locate an old ruined castle which is attributed to king Siddhartha, the father of Bhagavan Mahavira. It lies in the laps of a number of hills. Kundalapura, another site of Bhagavan Mahavira's birth place is also away from the hills which is situated about six miles north of Rajagrha. Hence we find the geological and geographical evidences in favour of Lachhwad as Bhagavan Mahavira's birth place.
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The historical facts are also against Vaisali in this respect. King Cetaka of Vaisali had seven daughters-Prabhavati, Padmavati, Mrgavati, Siva, Jyestha, Sujyestha and Cellana and one sister Trisala. Trisala was married to king Siddhartha of Ksatriya Kundagrama, Prabhavati with king Udrayan of Vatsa, Padmavati with king Dadhivahana of Campa, Mrgavati with Satanika of Kausambi, Siva with king Canda Pradyota of Ujjain, Jyestha with prince Nandivardhana of Ksatriya Kundagrama and Cellana with Srenika Bimbisara of Rajagrha. Sujyestha remained unmarried and became a nun. Cetaka was a powerful monarch and was compared to king Ajatasatru of Magadha who were also related to each other. Hence we find that Bhagavan Mahavira had an advantage to propagate his doctrines in the northern India with the help of his maternal cousins. These big royal relationships also indicate that Ksatriya Kundagrama was an important kingdom and its situation could not be placed inside the dominion of king Cetaka of Vaisali. Further, king Ajatasatru caused a serious military attack upon Vaisali and demolished it with the help of ploughs. It indicates that the kingdom of Vaisali was annexed by the king of Magadha. This incident certainly occured during the life time of Bhagavan Mahavira. Survival of king Nandivardhana, the eldest brother of Bhagavan Mahavira at Ksatriya Kundagrama forces us to accept