Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c4.6.3

v1.c4.6.3

In the *Sutta Nipāta*, one of the oldest books of the Sutta-piṭaka, we have the following account of Bāvari’s tour: the ascetic Bāvari lived on the banks of the Godāvarī in the country of the Assakas (the district round Paithān)² ruled by king Aḷaka. He sent his sixteen disciples to Buddha. Their route lay through Paṭiṭṭhāna, Māhissati, Ujjeni, Gonaddha, Vedisa, Kosambī, Sāketa, Sāvatthi, Setavyā, Kapilavatthu, Kusinārā, Pāvā, Bhoganagara, and Vesālī (Pāsānaketiya).³ Most of the place-names are well-known and indicate that though Buddhism did not actually spread as far as the western part of the present Central Provinces, there were adherents hailing from these far off districts. Taking all the above evidences into consideration we may conclude that Buddhism during the first century of its existence did not have its centres beyond Sāvatthi on the north, Campā on the east, and Kosambī on the west and south, but there is no doubt that the fame of this religion spread all over western and northern India from the country of the Assakas to that of the Maddas of the North, attracting converts and lay-devotees from regions beyond the limits of *Majjhima-desa*.