Geography of Early Buddhism c9.10

c9.10

Nāsika is mentioned in the Barhut inscriptions (p. 16). It is Nasika or Naisika of the Purāṇas Nāsika. and Janasthāna of the Rāmāyaṇa. According to the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, it was situated on the Narmada. Janasthāna, as it appears from the Ramayanic description, was within the reach of Panchavaṭī on the Godāvarī. Janasthāna came to be known as Nāsika from the circumstance that here Surpanakhā's nose was cut off by Lakshmaṇa. Nāsika is modern Nasik which is about 75 miles to the north-west of Bombay. During the reign of the Sātavāhana kings of Andhra, Nāsika was a stronghold of the Bhadrayaniya School of Buddhists (Luder's list, Nos. 1122-1149).