History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c11.s5.8

c11.s5.8

The reference to Paṇiyabhūmī in the text of the *Bhagavatī Sūtra* has given some trouble to the medieval commentator Abhayadeva, and to both Hoernle and Barua. Abhayadeva was in doubt whether the word in the text⁴ should be taken as in the ablative or the locative.⁵ Hoernle⁶ found difficulty in accepting the ablative, which would involve an unusual construction, but recognized that the locative interpretation implied an unresolved anomaly, since the *Kalpa Sūtra* states that Mahāvīra spent only one rainy season in Paṇiyabhūmī.¹ Barua,² ignoring the clear statement of the *Bhagavatī* that Paṇiyabhūmī was near Kollāga, which was a settlement near Nālandā,³ located it in Vajrabhūmi, on the strength of Vinayavijaya’s commentary to the relevant passage of the *Kalpa Sūtra*.⁴ The *Ācārāṅga Sūtra* states that Mahāvīra did in fact visit Vajjabhūmī, which the commentator Śīlāṅka describes as a district of Lāḍha, or Western Bengal.⁵