Historical Geography of Ancient India c5.s5.104

c5.s5.104

The capital cities of Kośala were Śrāvastī and Sāketa. According to the Epics and some Buddhist works Ayodhyā seems to have been the earliest capital, and Sāketa the next. In the Buddha's time Ayodhyā became an unimportant town (Buddhist India, p. 34), but Sāketa and Śrāvastī were two of the six great cities of India (Cf. Mahāparinibbāna Suttanta). Some think that Sāketa and Ayodhyā were identical but Rhys Davids points out that both the cities existed in the Buddha's time. Besides Sāketa and Śrāvastī there were other minor towns like Setavya and Ukkaṭṭha in Kośala proper. It was at Śrāvastī that the Buddha permitted the womenfolk to enter the Buddhist Saṃgha (Majjhima, III, 270ff.). The great banker named Anāthapiṇḍika and Visākhā-Migārāmātā, the most liberal-hearted lady, were inhabitants of Śrāvastī. Anāthapiṇḍika made a gift of his Jetavana grove to the Lord. The Master is said to have once taken up his residence there (Mahāvastu, III, 101).