Tribes in Ancient India c61.s2.32

c61.s2.32

To impress the Licchavis with an idea of his power and wealth, the king of Magadha had the road from Rājagṛha to the Ganges, which formed the boundary between the two dominions, levelled, cleaned, decorated, and sprinkled with flowers; while the smoke of rich incense perfumed its whole length. He himself followed the Buddha, with his whole court and numerous retinue. The Licchavis, both the Abhyantara-Vaiśālakas, those living within the walls of the city, and the Bāhira-Vaiśālakas, the people living in the suburbs and surroundings, came in all their splendour and magnificence, in dazzling garments of all colours. Even the Buddha was impressed by their appearance, and compared them to the Tāvatimsa gods. The Licchavis decorated the road from the Ganges to Vaiśālī with a magnificence that far outdid the preparations made by the Magadhan king, and they provided for the comfort of the Buddha and the congregation of monks on a still more lavish scale. As soon as the Buddha crossed over to the northern side of the river and stepped on Licchavi soil, all malign influences that had hung over the country vanished, and the sick and the suffering were restored to health. The Buddha did not wish to live in the city or its suburbs, but he accepted the invitation¹ of Bhagavātī Gośṛṅgī to live in the Mahāvana, the great forest extending from the city far away to the north.