Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.476

c6.476

*Kuśinārā.*—Kuśinārā was one of the cities of the Mallas (Dīgha, II, 165). That it was not a city of the first rank like Rājagṛha, Vaiśālī or Śrāvastī in the Buddha's time, is clear from Ānanda's utterance to the Buddha: ‘Let not the Exalted One die in this little town, in the midst of the jungle, in this branch township’. This city was known to the Chinese as Kiu-shi-na-K'ie-lo. It contained a few inhabitants and the avenues of the place were deserted and waste. At the north-east angle of the city-gate there was a stūpa built by Aśoka. The villages were desolate.