History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c16.s1.8

c16.s1.8

The inference rests on very slight evidence. The great city of Sayaduvāra, with its hundred gates, suggests Pāṭaliputra; the inference that the author had Pāṭaliputra in mind is slightly strengthened by the alternative reading of the text, as used by Hoernle,² which locates the city in the land of the Puṇḍas, and beneath the Vaitāḍhya mountain.³ The latter is a mountain of Jaina legendary geography which defies location, but which may represent the Himālayas. Puṇḍra, or Northern Bengal, was not far distant from Magadha and probably formed part of the Nanda dominions. The power and splendour of the Nanda are attested by various sources,⁴ and in this respect also he resembles the Mahāpaüma of the *Bhagavatī*. The *Purāṇas* suggest that he was by no means orthodox.⁵ Although the titles Devasena and Vimalavāhana are not elsewhere attributed to him he is referred to in the *Mahābodhi-vaṃsa* as Ugrasena.⁶ Two kings named Devasena are mentioned in the legends of the *Kathā-sarit-sāgara*. Of these the first rules at Śrāvastī, and has nothing in common with Mahāpaüma of the *Bhagavatī*,⁷ but the second has some points of similarity.⁸ He rules in Puṇḍravardhana, thus agreeing with the Mahāpaüma of Hoernle's text of the *Bhagavatī Sūtra*. He compels brāhmaṇas and kṣattriyas