hill along one of its sides and that the other side had fallen off. Robbers were hurled down from the top of the mountain on this side, and they would fall to the ground, torn to pieces. *(" Tassa hi ekena passena manussa abhiruhanti, ekan passan chhinnatatan, pabbatamattake thita, tena passena chōre patenti te khandakhandan hutvā bhumiyam patanti.") Yuan Chwang says:-"There is a brick vihara on the borders of a steep precipice at the western end of the mountain. It is high and wide and beautifully constructed. The door opens to the east. Here Tathāgata often stopped in old days and preached the law. There is now a figure of him preaching the law, of the same size as life." There can be little doubt that this precipice was the Chōra-papāta mentioned in the † passage of Mahāparinibbānasutta quoted above. There are still remains of the vihara on the top of the precipice and our exploring party verified the description given by the Chinese traveller. The place commands a fine view of the hills and the valley below. It is a pity the life-size image was removed from the site by a former explorer. Kalasila. The black rock' by the side of Isigili mountain is one of the places mentioned in Buddha's conversation with Ananda, which has been quoted above. It was also the place where Mahamoggallana, one of the two chief disciples of Buddha (Agga-savaka-yuga), used to live and where he is said to have attained martyrdom.‡ The naked ascetics, who lived near Rajagriha, were extremely jealous of Buddha and his monks, and made a determined attempt to reduce his influence, it is said, by killing Mahāmoggallāna with the help of hired ruffians. They came in large numbers, surrounded Kalasīlā, and after several unsuccessful attempts, ultimately succeeded in catching him. They beat him severely and left him for dead. Moggallāna died soon after, after bidding a touching farewell to his Master. The following passage occurs in the commentary on Commentary on Dhammapada, Volume 11, page 221 (Pāli Text Society). + Mahāparinibbanasutta, page 86 (Burmese Edition). Commentary on Dhammapada, Volume III, page 66 (Pāli Text Society). Dhammapadal: "Mahāmoggallana thero nama Kalasīlāyam vasati tattha gantva maretha, etc., tesan kahāpane adamsu. " This means : "Mahamoggallana thero lived at Kālasīlā, go there and kill him, so saying (they) gave them Karshāpaņas". Where was Kalasīlā? Isigili mountain is supposed to be the same as the modern Sonagiri. The Sanskrit equivalent of Isigili is Rishigiri, and this name occurs among the names of the mountains of Girivraja mentioned in the Rāmāyaṇa, Vaihāra being Vebhāra, Vipula Vepullo; Ratnagiri, Pāṇḍava; Grijjhakuto, Chattagiri ; the remaining mountain, viz., Sonagiri must be Rishigiri. Kālasila literally means black rock. There is an old road leading to the Balganga opening where the scenery is charming and which is just the place one would choose for rest and silent meditation. There is a small picturesque fall which sends down its waters over stone shelves down to a deep cistern round which the natural rock arranges itself into tiers of steps. It is very likely that Kalasila was near this place, as not far from it can still be seen a mound marking perhaps a place where once a stupa stood. There is also a site to the east of Rishigiri where a sloping way leads up to a flat space on the hillside just outside the south wall of the city. It is said there was a large tree near Kalasīlā, viz., Kālasīlātabi, under which Buddha and his followers practised meditation. Sappa-Sondika-Pabbhara in Sitavana :-The "Cold Forest" lay to the north of Rājagaha and is now almost wholly occupied by the ruins of new Rajagaha. As there is no hill or mountain in this area, the Pabbhāra (Prāgbhāra slope or top of a mountain) must mean the slope of mount Vipula. It is related of one of the disciples of Buddha that he hurt his feet badly by continuous walking while practising penance in Sitavana, so that the place looked like a slaughter-house for cattle (gavāghatanam). I think the story of blood-mark on a piece of stone near Devadatta's cave, marking the site where a Bhikhu tried to commit suicide, is only a faint echo of the older account found in the Suttas. Both as regards distance and situation as mentioned in the Chinese accounts the place now known as Makdum Shah's Dargā, with its cave and stone terrace for open-air exercise, on which a dark red stain is still pointed out, corresponds with Sappa-Soundika Pabbhāra. Jivakambavanam:-It was a beautiful moon-lit night. Ajàtasattu was sitting on the terrace of his palace surrounded by ministers and courtiers. But the patricide king had no peace of mind. He was anxious to see a holy man who could minister unto his troubled spirit. The courtiers suggested the names of some of the most famous hermits who lived in the immediate neighbourhood of Rajgaha. Jivaka, the great court physician, mentioned the name of Tathāgata, who was then living in the Vihāra, which Jivaka had built for him in his mango grove. Ajātasattu accepted his suggestion and asked him to get elephants ready to carry him and his female guards to Jivaka's mango grove. The Samaññaphalasutta says: ور * « Atho kho Raja Magadho Ajātasattu Vedehiputto panchasu hatthiniyasatesu pachchekā itthio aropetvā ukkāsu dhāriyamānāsu Rājagahato niyyāsi mahachchā rājānubhavena. Yena Jivakassa komara-bhachchassa ambavanam tena pāyāsi. This means :"Then A jātasattu, son of the lady of Videha, king of Magadha, made each woman, holding a torch in her hand, mount one of the 500 female elephants, and went out of Rajagaha with great pomp befitting a king. He proceeded towards the place where Jivaka's mango grove was.' In the Atthakitla it is mentioned that the mango grove of Jivaka was between the walls of Rajagaha and Gijjhakuto, and also that Ajātasattu went out by the East Gate and entered into the shade of the mountain. The moon was obscured by the crest of the hill, and there was darkness on account of the shadow of the mountain and of the trees. "Jivakassa ambavanam pākārassa cha Gijjhakūṭassa cha antara hoti. So pachinakdvārena nikkhamitvā pabbatachchāyāya pābisi. Tattha pabbatakūtena chando chhadito. Pabbatachchhāyāya cha rukkhachchhayaya cha andhakāram ahositi." The darkness was so great and the place was so lonely that Ajàtasattu was filled with fear lest * Page 80, Burmese Edition. there be some plot against his life. Jivaka reassured him and pointed out to him the lights which were burning in Buddha's audience hall (maṇḍalamāle). The party got down from the elephants when they found that the ground was impracticable for them, and went on foot to the Vihara where Buddha was sitting in the midst of his Bhikkhus. The description given above puts it beyond doubt that Jivakabavana was on the way to Gijjhakūta from the eastern gate of the City and outside its walls. In Yuan Chwang's account, the following description occurs: "Again to the north-east of the great ditch, in a corner of the mountain city is a stupa; this is the place where the great physician, Jivaka, built a preaching hall for Buddha. By the side of it is the old home of Jivaka, still visible". As the Samaññaphala Sutta tells us that Ajātasattu had to go out of the city in order to see Buddha, who was staying in the mango grove of Jivaka, it is clear that the Ambavana was not in a corner of the mountain city', if by Mountain city' is meant the space enclosed within the walls of Rājagaha, a good part of which still exists. The Samaññaphala Sutta is contained in the Digha-nikāya and is of great antiquity, and its evidential value is very much. greater than the accounts of the Chinese travellers, the earliest of whom came to India about a thousand years after the death of Buddha. The Chinese travellers had to depend chiefly upon local traditions, which had become overgrown with legend, and led them into inaccuracies, such as in the account which they have given of the first Council. By a curious mistake, Ambavana has been, in one of the Chinese accounts, transformed intoJAmbapālivana. Ambapāli belonged to Vaisāli, whereas the mango grove of Jivaka was at Rājagaha. In the Aṭṭhakatha of Samaññaphala Sutta the mango grove is placed on the way to Gijjhakūta between the walls of the city and the mountain. Perhaps the garden of Jivaka was situated northeast of the ditch, and of the East Gate, and at the point where the outer bund meets the Ratnagiri (Pāṇḍavā) hill. There is further evidence in the commentary on the Dham mapada which shows that the Ambavana was situated not very far from the Gijjhakūta mountain and outside the walls of the city. "Ekasmin pana samaye Devadatto Ajātasattunā saddhin ekato hutvā Gijjhakūṭam abhiruhitvā padutthachittä Satthāran badhissāmi ti silan pabijjhi. Tan dve pabbatakūtani patichchhinsu. Tato bhijjitvā gatā papatikā Bhagavato pādan abhihanitvā lohitan uppādesi, bhusā vedanā pabattinsu. Bikkhu Sattharan Maddakuchchhin nayinsu. Sattha tato pi Jivakambavanam gantukamo tattha man nethā ti āhā. Bhikkhu Bhagavantan ādāya Jivakambavanam agamansu. Jivaka tan pavattin sutvā Satthusantikam gantvā vana-patikammāththāya tikhīņan bhesajjam datvā vaņam bandhitvā Sattharan etad avoca 'Bhante mayā antonagare ekassa manussassa bhesajjam katan, tassa santikam gantvā āgamissāmi. Idan bhesajjam yāva mamāgamā baddhaniyamena eva tiṭṭhatu' ti. So gantva tassa purisassa kattabbakichchan katvā dvārapidahanavelāya āgachchhanto dvaran na sampāpuni". It may be thus rendered into English: "Once upon a time Devadatta, in collusion with Ajàtasattu mounted the Gijjhakūta hill, and with the wicked intention of killing the Master, rolled down a boulder. It was stopped by two mountain peaks and broke into pieces. One of the broken pieces struck the Lord's foot and made it bleed. It produced very great pain. The Bhikkhus had him carried to Maddakuchchhi. The Master, desiring to go from that place also, to Jivakambavanam, said, Take me to that place'. The Bhikkhus taking up the Master brought him to Jivakambavana. On hearing this Jivaka went to the Master, and with a view to cure the wound, applied a powerful medicine to it and having bandaged it, said to the Master, Reverend Sir, I have under my treatment a man in the city. I shall come back again after visiting him. Meanwhile let this medicine remain in the bandage until my return'. He went, and after doing what was necessary for the man, could not reach the city gate at the time when it was to be closed." From the extract given above it is clear that Jivakambavana was outside the city and somewhere between T |