Historical Geography of Ancient India c5.s5.26

c5.s5.26

According to the *Mahābhārata* Aṅga may be supposed to have comprised the districts of Bhagalpur and Monghyr, and extended northwards up to the river Kosī. At one time the kingdom of Aṅga included Magadha and probably extended up to the sea. The *Mahābhārata*, however, further tells us that Aṅga was so called after its king Aṅga,¹³ who seems to be identical with Aṅga Vairocanī mentioned in the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* (VIII. 4, 22). According to the *Rāmāyaṇa* Aṅga or body of Kāmadeva (love god) was consumed here and the country was therefore called Aṅga. Āpaṇa is mentioned as a township in Aṅguttarāpa, a tract which lay north of the river Mahī, evidently a part of Aṅga on the other side of that river (*Paramatthajotikā*, II, 437; Malalasekera, *Dict. of Pali Proper Names*, p. 22). The way from Bhaddiya to Āpaṇa lay through Aṅguttarāpa (*Vinaya*, I, 243ff.; *Dhammapada Commy.*, III, 363).