Geography of Early Buddhism c7.s1.11

c7.s1.11

The epic and pauranic story of Kamsa’s attempt to make himself a tyrant at Mathurā by overpowering the Yādavas, and his consequent death at the hands of Krishna is not only referred to by Patañjali but also by the Ghata Jātaka (No. 454). The Ghata Jātaka also confirms the brahmanical tradition about the association of Krishna Vāsudeva’s family with Mathurā (PHAI., p. 89). ‘The Buddhist texts refer to Avantiputta, King of the Sūrasenas, in the time of Mahākaccāna who was the first among the chief disciples of Śākyamuni through whose agency Buddhism gained ground in the Mathura region’ (Ibid., p. 90).