Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c12.s3.15

c12.s3.15

The sources are certainly confused on this point. Only a few pages later, the Sanskrit, Tibetan and Chinese versions are confirmed by the Pāli version itself, which makes a contradictory statement to the effect that beyond the river Hiraññavatī stretched the territory of the Kosinārikā-Mallas. In the significant words of the Buddha to Ānanda, he says, "Come Ānanda, to the other bank of the river Hiraññavatī, to the Sāla grove of the Mallas in the Kusinārā garden; there shall we rest."¹ The corresponding Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese versions in this context only state that they had reached Kuśinagari,² though they mention the crossing of the Hiraṇyavatī river earlier. This affects our conclusion little. If we accept the earlier statement of the Pāli texts and Rhys Davids interpretation of it, we are left without the name of the dirty river. But Waldschmidt's text shows that the muddy river was the Kukustā and that which the Buddha crossed to reach the Sāla grove of the Mallas of Kusinārā was the Hiraṇyavatī, agreeing in this with the Buddha's words in the Pāli version.