Tribes in Ancient India c61.s2.3

c61.s2.3

Vaiśālī claims the founder of Jainism as its citizen. 'The Sūtrakṛtāṅga,⁴ a Jaina canonical work, says of Mahāvīra, the last Tīrthaṅkara of the Jains: 'Thus spoke the Arahat Jñātṛputra, the reverend, famous native of Vaiśālī, who possessed the highest knowledge and the highest faith.'⁵ Mahāvīra is spoken of as Vesālie or Vaiśālika, i.e. a native of Vaiśālī.⁶ Moreover, Abhayadeva in his commentary on the Bhagavatī (2, I, 12, 2) explains Vaiśālika by Mahāvīra and speaks of Viśālā as Mahāvīrajananī or 'the mother of Mahāvīra'.⁷ Besides, from a comparison of the Buddhist and Jaina scriptures, it appears that Kuṇḍagrāma, the birthplace of Mahāvīra, was a suburb of Vaiśālī.¹ As we have already seen, Mahāvīra’s mother Triśalā was a sister of Ceṭaka, one of the rājās of Vaiśālī. The Jaina *Kalpasūtra* speaks of the connection of Mahāvīra with the Videha country and its capital Vaiśālī.² During his later ascetic life Mahāvīra did not neglect the city of his birth, and we are told that out of the 42 rainy seasons of this period of his life, he passed no less than 12 at Vaiśālī.³