The Doctrine of the Jainas, Described after the Old Sources c6.53

c6.53

§17. For our knowledge concerning Mahāvīra’s life and personality we have as ancient coherent sources³ the Uvahāṇasuya Āyār. I 9, then Āyār. II 15 (the Bhāvaṇā) and basing upon it Jiṇac. 1-148, finally Āv. 458ff. A number of detailed traits is rendered by Viy.⁴ The birthplace of Mahāvīra was the northern borough of Vaiśālī, the Besāṛh of our days, called Kuṇḍapura (Āyār.) or Kuṇḍagrāma (Jiṇac.), the Basukuṇḍ of to-day¹. It was here where the nobleman (khattiya) Nāya lived whose name is rendered in Pali by Ñātika and in Sanskrit texts rightly by Jñātṛ. The father belonging to this clan—and consequently also his children—were Kāśyapa acc. to the Gotra, while the mother was a Vāsiṣṭhī. Their names are Siddhattha and Tisalā with two more being added to each, the latter being but sporadically referred to and probably so as to serve merely the uniformity with the three names of the son to be mentioned presently. Tradition gave great importance to Mahāvīra's Kshatriya and not Brahman descent, and with the Śvetāmbaras at least it did so to the degree that it adopted the legend of Baladeva's embryonal transplantation from Rohiṇī into Devakī² and represented Mahāvīra as being the physical son of the Brahman couple of Usabhadatta and Devāṇandā in the Brahman borough of Kuṇḍapura. Acc. to Viy. 456a, however, Devāṇandā is acknowledged by Mahāvīra as being true mother. In Viy. 218a he refers to the role of transplanter played by Hari Negamesī³, but he does so without any relation to himself.