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and in the Uttarapurāņa in Sanskrit) of Guņabhadra (75, 3) we find like this: सिन्ध्वाख्य-विषये भू-भृद् वैशाली - नगरेऽभवत्, चेटकाख्योऽति-विख्यातो विनीतः परमार्हतः। It is natural that Sindhu-visaya and Sindhv-ākhya-visaya in both the texts is understood to refer to the country of Sindha; but it is equally clear that in the present-day Sindha there is neither mentioned a town named Vaiśāli nor can this be reconciled with the historical evidence and events noted above. Scholars have no doubt now about the location of Vaisāli.
This point was duly considered by me, and I have reached the conclusion that the reading Sindhv-ākhya-visaye in the Uttara-purāna is the result of copyist's lapse. Really the reading should be sindhv-ādhya-vişaye, which means a territory abounding in rivers. This description is perfectly significant for the area of Tirhut. This area is mentioned in the Sarkaradigvijaya, and there it is called Udaka-deśa. Even the name Tira-bhukti has this very significance that the entire area is nearly covered by rivers and their extensive banks. A reference to Tīra-bhukti is noted above; and therein this area is described as nadi-pañcadas-āntare, i.e., the area divided between by fifteen rivers. Even today one hears about many of these rivers and their floods plunging under waters the entire area now and then. Thus from the above two references what is intended is not any other Sindhu-desa but only the territory of Tīra-bhukti or Udaka-desa which is full of rivers.
In this connection, there remains still another question to be considered. Since long, Kundalapura, near Nalanda (Distt. Patna) in Bihar, is looked upon as the birth-place of Mahāvīra. There is a big temple; and it is considered to be a tīrtha, a sacred place of pilgrimage, being the birth-place of Mahāvīra. With this belief thousands of pilgrims visit this place every year. Likewise Svetāmbaras consider Kșatriya-kunda, near Lacchū-vāļa (Distt. Monghyr) as the birth-place of Mahāvīra.
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