Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c5.s2.t4.4

c5.s2.t4.4

We have seen from the Nikāyas that early Buddhism was confined to the central belt of India from Aṅga to Avanti, claiming also a few adherents from the distant countries of the north and the south.² The account of the distribution of relics as given in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta in its Pāli and Tibetan versions³ gives a fairly correct idea of the spread of Buddhism towards the beginning of the first period. The people who shared the relics were the Licchavis of Vesālī, Sākyas of Kapilavatthu, Bulis of Allakappa, Koliyas of Rāmagāma, Brāhmaṇas of Veṭhadīpa, Mallas of Pāvā and Kusinārā, Moriyas of Pipphalivana, and the people of Magadha. The places mentioned are all in eastern India. The only place mentioned outside the eastern territory is Gandhārapura where a tooth of Buddha is said to have been enshrined.⁴ This is, as the commentator points out, a later addition; in any case, the people of Gandhārapura did not share in the relics. A further hint about the spread of Buddhism in the first period is furnished by the boundaries of the Majjhima-janapada as given in the Mahāvagga of the Vinaya.⁵ The boundaries are as follows: Kajaṅgala nigama in the east, next to the Mahāsālā forest, the river Sallavatī on the south-east, Setakaṇṇika nigama on the south, Thūna brāhmaṇagāma on the west and Usīra pabbata on the north. According to this account, Avantidakkhiṇāpatha is a paccantima-janapada (border country) and so also the country in the east beyond Kajaṅgala, which is identified with Bhagalpur.² The Divyāvadāna³ preserves this tradition replacing only the eastern boundary Kajaṅgala by Puṇḍravardhana. If Puṇḍravardhana be identified with a place in North Bengal, the Divyāvadāna shows a slight extension of the eastern boundary. The only other name in this account that deserves attention is the Usiradhaja of the Mahāvagga and Usīragiri of the Divyāvadāna. We know of an Usira mountain situated near Mathurā,⁴ and Tāranātha also tells us that Upagupta, the famous monk of Mathurā and preceptor, according to the Sarvāstivāda tradition, of Aśoka, lived there for three years before going to Kashmir after leaving Vārāṇasī.⁵ So it is apparent that Mathurā, a stronghold of the Sarvāstivādins, was included in the Majjhima-janapada.