Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c11.83

c11.83

Fresh accretions to the tale are met with in the *Parishishṭaparvan*, the *Mahāvaṃśa Ṭīkā*, and the legend of the Burmese Buddha.¹ We have different versions of the story of the initial failure of Chāṇakya and Chandragupta in their attack on the Nanda dominions, and their ultimate success due to experience gathered on the spot. According to the Buddhist version the last of the Nandas is put to death. But in the narrative of Hemachandra he is permitted to leave his kindgom.² There is lack of agreement in regard to another important matter. The *Mahāvaṃśa Ṭīkā* definitely assigns Chāṇakya to the city of Taxila.³ On the other hand, Hemachandra seems to suggest in the *Abhidhānachintāmaṇi*⁴ "that Kauṭilya, son of Chaṇaka was a Dramila" i.e. an inhabitant of South India. But as the lexical verse indentifies him with Vātsyāyana, Mallanāga, Pakshilasvāmin as well as Viṣṇugupta, little importance attaches to its testimony. Curiously enough the *Pariśiṣṭaparvan*⁵ mentions Golla-viṣaya as the home-land of the famous minister. The identity of the place is not known.