A class of devas, living in the highest of the five Suddhāvasā (Pure Abodes). DN.iii.237

In the Mahāpadāna Sutta DN.ii.52f. the Buddha mentions that he visited their abode and conversed with beings …

A well-known paribbājaka who lived in the Paribbājakārāma on the banks of the River Sappinī near Rājagaha. He is mentioned as staying with the well-known paribbājakas, Varadhara and Sakuludāyi. …

First cousin of the Buddha and one of his most eminent disciples. He was the son of the Sākyan Amitodana and brother of Mahānāma. When members of other Sākyan families had joined the Order of their di …

The country of Assaka is one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas mentioned in the Aṅguttara Nikāya.AN.i.213 AN.iv.252 AN.iv.256 AN.iv.260 It does not, however; occur in the list of twelve countries given in …

One of the four great monarchies in the time of the Buddha, the other three being Māgadha, Kosala and Vaṃsa (or Vatsa). Avanti is also mentioned among the sixteen Great Nations. AN.i.213 AN.iv.252 AN. …

One of the 16 Great Nations (Mahājanapadā), mentioned in the Pitakas. The countries mentioned are Aṅga, Māgadha, Kāsī, Kosala, Vajji, Mallā, Ceti, Vaṃsa, Kuru, Pañcāla, Macchā, Sūrasena, Assaka, Avant …

BārānasīBenares

The capital of Kāsi-janapada. It was one of the four places of pilgrimage for the Buddhists - the others being Kapilavatthu, Buddhagayā and Kusināra - because it was at, the Migadā …

A World ruler. The world itself means “Turner of the Wheel,” the Wheel (Cakka) being the well known Indian symbol of empire. More than one thousand sons are his; his dominions extend throughout the …

CetiyaCetiCetīCedi

One of the sixteen Great Nations, AN.i.213 probably identical with Cedi of the older documents. The people of Ceti settled near the Yamunā, to the east, in the neighbourhood of and …

…was a friend of Poṭṭhapāda, and when he had returned for the sixth time to a householder’s life, Poṭṭhapāda brought him to the…

In the old Pāḷi literature the name Dakkhiṇāpatha would seem to indicate only a remote settlement or colony on the banks of the upper Godāvarī. Thus, we are told that Bāvarī had his hermitage in Dakkh …

Gandhāra¹

A Pacceka Buddha mentioned in a nominal list. MN.iii.69

Gandhāra²

One of the sixteen Great Nations.AN.i.213 AN.iv.252 One of the teeth of the Buddha was deposited in …

An epithet meaning the most beautiful woman in the land. It was used for the former wife of Nanda, the memory of whose beauty tormented him while he was a monk. Ud.iii.2

KambojaKambojjaKambujaKambujjaKambojaka

One of the sixteen Great Nations which, with Gandhāra, belonged, not to the Majjhimadesa but, evidently, to the Uttarāpatha. AN.i.213 AN.iv.252 AN.iv.256 AN.iv …

A building in the Jetavana where the Mahāpadāna Sutta was taught. DN.ii.1ff.

Jetavana3building

Kosala¹

A country inhabited by the Kosalans, to the north-west of Māgadha and next to Kāsī. It is mentioned second in the list of sixteen Great Nations.AN.i.213 AN.iv.252 In the Buddha’s …

Kumārakassapa

He was foremost among those who had the gift of varied and versatile discourse. AN.i.24 Once when Kumāra Kassapa was meditating in Andhavana a deva appeared before him, and asked him fi …

A country, one of the sixteen Great Nations.DN.ii.200 AN.i.213 During the Buddha’s time the chieftain of Kuru was called Koravya, and his discussion with the Elder Raṭṭhapāla, who was himself the scio …

KuṇḍalaKulakuṇḍalaKuḷakuṇḍalaKulaKuḷa

The verse attributed to Kundala in the Theragāthā Thag.19 occurs twice in the Dhammapada

Kāliṅga¹

An inhabitant of Ñātika. While staying in Ñātika, at the Giñjakāvasatha, the Buddha tells Ānanda that Kālinga was reborn after death in the Suddhavāsā, and that there he would att …

KāsiKāsikaKāsigāmaKāsinigama

One of the sixteen Great Nations, AN.i.213 its capital being Bārāṇasī.

At the time of the Buddha, it had been absorbed into the kingdom of Kosala, and Pasenadi was king …

LumbineyyaLumbinī

A park situated between Kapilavatthu and Devadaha. It was there that the Buddha was born. In the Sutta Nipāta Snp.683 it is stated that the Buddha was born in a village of the Sākya …

A country, with its people, included in the traditional list of the sixteen Great Nations AN.i.213 AN.iv.252 AN.iv.256 AN.iv.260

The Macchā country lay to the south or south west of Indraprastha and …

The books mention the sixteen Mahājanapadas or Great Nations, which existed in the time of the Buddha. AN.i.213 AN.iv.252 AN.iv.256 AN.iv.260 They are Kāsī, Kosala, Aṅga, Māgadha, Vajji, Mallā, Cetiya …

The name of a people and their country.

The country is included in the sixteen Great Nations of the Buddha’s time. The kingdom, at that time, was divided into two parts, having their respective capit …

…in Kosambī, regarding the paṭiccasamuppāda.

One of the four chief kingdoms of India at the time of the Buddha, the others being Kosala, the kingdom of the Vaṃsas and Avanti. Māgadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas and had its capital at …

The boundaries of the Majjhimadesa are given, and the Paccantajanapadā lies beyond these boundaries. They are: in the east, Kajaṅgala and Mahāsālā; in the south east, the river Salalavatī; in the sout …

PañcālaPañcālajanapadaPañcālaraṭṭhaPañcālā

One of the sixteen Great Nations. AN.i.213 AN.iv.252

Pañcāla was to the east of the Kuru country, the country to the north and west of Delhi, from the foot …

…Sutta. Poṭṭhapāda, accepting the Buddha’s views, was jeered at by his companions for doing so. Two or three days later he again…

A young monk whom the Buddha met at the house of Bhaggava, the potter, in Rājagaha. Pukkusāti was already occupying the guest room of the house, and the Buddha asked to be allowed to share it, to whic …

Overmastered by corrupt habits of mind and character, for twenty five years he was unable to develop concentration. This so distressed him that he was about to commit suicide, when, inward vision sudd …

…truth of the paṭiccasamuppāda as his very own. “Then you are an arahant,” says Savittha, and Musila remains silent. In the other…

One of the sixteen Great Nations. It is mentioned with Maccha, and was located in the south of the Kuru country. Its capital was Mathurā. It is famous in the Epics and the Purānas because of its conne …

UpavattaUpavattana

The sāla-grove of the Mallas of Kusināra, on the further side of the Hiraññavatī. This was the last resting-place of the Buddha on his last tour, and here he passed away, lying …

Upāli ¹

One of the most eminent of the Buddha’s immediate disciples. He belonged to a barber’s family in Kapilavatthu and entered the service of the Sākiyan princes. When Anuruddha and his …

The name of a country and of its people. It was one of the sixteen Great Nations. The inhabitants appear to have consisted of several confederate clans of whom the Licchavī and the Videhā were the chi …

The Vaṃsas and their country. It lay to the south of Kosala, and its capital was Kosambī on the Yamunā. Udena, son of Parantapa, was its king in the time of the Buddha.

Avanti lay to the south of th …

A Buddha of the past, whose story is told in the Mahāpadāna Sutta. He was born in the Khema park in Bandhumatī, his father being Bandhumā and his mother Bandhumatī. He belonged to the Koṇḍañña gotta. …