Historical Geography of Ancient India c8.206

c8.206

Gayāsīsa.—Gayāsīsa which is the principal hill of Gayā (*Vinaya Piṭaka*, I, 34ff.; II, 199; Law, *A Study of the Mahāvastu*, p. 81) is the modern Brahmayoni and identical with what is called Gayāśira in the *Mahābhārata* (III, 95, 9) and Gayaśīra in the *Purāṇas* (vide Barua, *Gayā and Buddha-Gayā*, I, p. 68). Gayāśira or Gayāśīrṣa is the rugged hill to the south of Gayā town which rises some 400 feet above this town (B. M. Barua, *Gayā and Buddha-Gayā*, I, 11). The *Agni Purāṇa* (Ch. 219, V. 64) mentions it as a place of pilgrimage. The *Yoginītantra* (2. 1. 112-113) refers to Gayāśira. The Wai-Kuo-Shih has wrongly applied the name of Dharmāraṇya hermitage to this hill. On the Gayāsīsa Devadatta lived with five hundred monks after making a dissension in the Buddhist Church (*Jātaka*, I, 142; *Vinaya Piṭaka*, II, 199; *Jātaka*, II, 196). While he was on this hill, he proclaimed that what the Buddha preached was not the right doctrine and that his was the right one (*Jātaka*, I, 425). Here he also tried to imitate the Buddha in his deeds but he was unsuccessful (*Jātaka*, I, 490ff.; *Jātaka*, II, 38). The fire sermon was delivered here by the Master and after listening to it one thousand Jaṭilas attained saintship (*Jātaka*, IV, 180; *Saṃyutta*, IV, 19; *Vinaya Piṭaka*, I, 34-35). Here the Master also gave a discourse on the intuitive knowledge before the monks (*Aṅguttara*, IV, 302ff.). A monastery was built by prince Ajātaśatru on this hill for Devadatta and his followers who were daily provided with food by him (*Jātaka*, I, 185ff., 508). The early Buddhist commentators account for the origin of its name by the striking resemblance of its shape with that of the head of an elephant (*Sāratthappakāsinī*, Sinhalese ed., 4).