Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c9.1539

v1.c9.1539

The name Uruvelā is explained as meaning a great sandbank (mahā velā, mahanto vālikarāsi). A story is told which furnishes an alternative explanation: Before the Buddha’s appearance in the world, ten thousand ascetics lived in this locality, and they decided among themselves that if any evil thought arose in the mind of any one of them, he should carry a basket of sand to a certain spot. The sand so collected eventually formed a great bank.¹⁴ In the Divyāvadāna,¹⁵ the place is called Uruvilvā. The Mahāvastu¹⁶ mentions four villages as being in Uruvelā: Praskandaka, Balākalpa, Ujjaṅgala and Jaṅgala.