Historical Geography of Ancient India c10.56

c10.56

Mahākaccāyana was born at Ujjayinī in the family of the chaplain (*purohita*) of king Caṇḍa Pajjota. He learnt the three Vedas and after his father’s death he succeeded him to the chaplainship. He went to the Buddha who taught him the Norm with such effect that, at the end of the lesson, he with his attendants was established in arhantship with thorough grasp of letter and meaning. It was through his effort that he succeeded in establishing Pajjota in the faith.¹ Mahākaccāyana himself being a native of Avanti worked with zeal for the diffusion of the new faith amongst his countrymen. The great success of his missionary activity in his native province is somewhat explained by the fact of his initial success in converting the ruler of the country, Caṇḍa Pajjota. He, while dwelling at Avanti, so successfully explained in detail the meaning of a stanza mainly dealing with Kaṣiṇas (objects of meditation) to an upāsikā (lay female devotee) named Kālī that she was very much satisfied with his explanation. He also explained to a householder of Avanti named Haliddikāni a stanza dealing with the question of vedanā (sensation), rūpa (form), saññā (perception), viññāṇa (consciousness), dhātu (element) and saṃkhāra (confections), and the householder was very much satisfied. The same devout and inquisitive householder again approached him for the elucidation of some of the knotty points of the Buddhist doctrine and he made them clear to him (Sam., IV, pp. 115-116). Mahākaccāyana used to be present whenever any sermon was delivered by the Buddha on Dhamma. Therefore the monks used to keep a seat for him.² It is, therefore, clear that the followers of Buddhism in the western province of Avanti must have been very numerous and influential at the same time, showing that under the energetic ministration of the Thera Mahākaccāyana the new doctrine of peace and emancipation had spread far and wide over the province.