Studies in the Bhagavati Sutra

Author(s): J C Sikdar
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

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STUDIES IN THE BHAGAWATI SŪTRA
[Ch. IX
Magadha
Magadha is also recorded in other Jaina texts', Vedic and Buddhist' works and in several epigraphic documents' as one of the great states of ancient India with its capital at Rājagsha.
It is regarded as one of the holy places of the Jainas, because it is closely associated with the lives and works of Lord Pārsvanātha and Lord Mahāvīra for several centuries after their demises.
The earliest mention of the name of Magadha is found in the Atharva Veda" where the Magadhas appear along with the Gandhāras, etc., as despised people outside the pale of the Aryan society, but in the later Vedic works they are incorporated into the Aryan fold.
As regards the location of Magadha it is to be observed that this state pushed up its frontiers to all directions in different periods. According to the views of all scholars, Magadha roughly corresponds to the modern districts of Patna and Gaya of South Bibar, to the east of Anga demarcated by the river Campā, having the Gangā on its north, the Vindya mountain to the south and the the river Sone to the west.
Malaya
Malaya is also mentioned in other Jaina texts' as one of the sixteen great states and one of the twenty-five and a half Aryan lands with its capital at Bhaddilapura which corresponds to the Kuluhā hill in the Hazaribagh district to the south of Patna and south-west of Gaya in Bihar.
Pannavaņā Sutta, 1, 37. p. 55a. • Atharva Veda, v. 22, 14. 8 Anguttara Nikāya 1II. pp. 57ff; p. 57 ff ;P. T. S. 1.213.
Bhābrā Edict of Asoka; Hathigumphā Inscriptions of Khāra
vela E. I. p. X 12f, Vide, Select Inscriptions. 6 Atharva Veda, 22-24.
Brhat Sanhita Kūrmavibhāga; Vide, C. A. G. 1. p. 6. A. G. 1. pp. 518 ff ; Ancient India, p. 166; P. H. A. Iodia, fifth ed.
p. 53; Buddhist India, p. 14 ; see C, H. I., A. I. p. 182. ? Pannavana Sutta, 1-37, p. 55a. 8 Ş. B. M. p. 381. Jalore V. S. 1988.
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