Kosambi

Jaina history of Kauśāmbī

As per early canonical and early and medieval non-canonical Śvetāmbara Jaina literature, four (conception, birth, initiation, and attainment of omniscience) out of Panch Kalyanaka of Padmaprabha, the 6th Tirthankara, happened at Kauśāmbī. Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara, visited Kauśāmbī five times.

Archaeological evidence

King Candrapradyota is said to have had built a grand fort in the city. Excavations at Kauśāmbī's ancient fort revealed 4-mile-long walls, 32 gates, and some massive 30–35-foot (9.1–10.7 m) high structures. More than 12 heads of Tirthankara idols and about 6 headless Tirthankara idols seated in Padmāsana were excavated from Kauśāmbī. A 2nd century BCE inscription at Pabhosā mentions "Kassyapiya Arhats," which, according to Dr. Buhler, could mean that the author of the inscription was a Jaina as Mahavira was of the Kaśyapa lineage. Dr. Ghosh also mentions about an old Śvetāmbara Jaina dharmaśālā at Pabhosā. Huen Tsang notes that several Jaina monks used to reside in the caves at Pabhosā. A union of Jaina monks is believed to have lived here under the protection of a Śrāvaka named Ashādhasena. A 2000-year old Jaina ayagapatta was also discovered during excavation at Kauśāmbī. The inscription on the discovered ayagapatta mentions King Sivamitra and Sthavira Baladasa, a Śvetāmbara Jaina ascetic.

Literary mentions

Earliest mentions of Kauśāmbī in Jaina scriptures are found in the 5th century BCE Śvētāmbara Siddhāntha. Āvaśyaka Sūtra, one of the 45 principal and ancient canonical texts of the Jainas, mentions that Mahavira visited Kauśāmbī and that it was situated at the banks of Yamuna.

Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra, a 10th century CE non-canonical text by Ācārya Hemacandrasuri, mentions that Mahavira broke his 175 days-long fast by accepting his first alms from Candanbālā in Kauśāmbī. He further adds that after attainment of omniscience, Mahavira's Samavasarana was set up at Kauśāmbī. It also mentions that Queen Mṛgāvatī's initiation as a Jaina nun happened in this city. Pariśiṣṭaparvan, an appendix to Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra, which describes the lives of illustrious Jaina ascetics, states that Ārya Suhastinsuri and Ārya Mahāgiri, the disciples of Ācārya Sthulabhadrasuri had visited and stayed in Kauśāmbī and that Emperor Samprati had built a pillar there.

Vividha Tirtha Kalpa, a 14th century CE non-canonical text by Ācārya Jinaprabhasuri, mentions that Kauśāmbī was a center for trade and spirituality and that it became the capital city of the Vatsa Kingdom after Kuru dynasty moved from Hastinapur. It is further mentioned that locals of Kauśāmbī performed special rituals and prayers on the anniversary of Mahavira's fast breaking. Śrī Sammet Śikhara Rāsa, a 16th century non-canonical text by Śrī Jaskīrti Muni, a Śvetāmbara Jaina ascetic, mentions a sangha (a procession towards a pilgrimage site) that visited Kauśāmbī. He further adds that Śrī Anāthī Muni, a popular figure in Śvetāmbara tales, also belonged to this city. The text also mentions that Dhannā-Śālibhadra Tāl, a pond named after Śālibhadra, also a popular figure in Śvetāmbara tales, exists one Kosa (1.8 miles) from Kauśāmbī. In 1500 CE, Panyās Hansasomavijaya, a Śvetāmbara Jaina ascetic, visited Kauśāmbī and noted 64 Jaina idols. In 1605 CE, Vijaysagara, and in 1608 CE, Jayavijaya Gaṇī recorded two prominent Jaina temples in the city. By 1691 CE, Panyās Saubhāgyavijaya found only one surviving Jaina temple in a dilapidated state. By the 18th century, the last two remaining temples had also fallen into ruins. In 1978, Ācārya Prabhācandrasuri initiated the first phase of restoration efforts. An idol of Padmaprabha was installed. In 2018, Ācārya Nayavardhanasuri led a second phase of temple renovation. Currently, two major Śvetāmbara Jaina temples exist in Kauśāmbī.

Buddhist history of Kaushambi

In the time of the Buddha, its king was Parantapa, and after him reigned his son Udena (Pali. Sanskrit: Udayana). Kosambī was evidently a city of great importance at the time of the Buddha for we find Ananda mentioning it as one of the places suitable for the Buddha's Parinibbāna. It was also the most important halt for traffic coming to Kosala and Magadha from the south and the west.

The city was thirty leagues by river from Benares (modern day Varanasi). (We are told that the fish which swallowed Bakkula travelled thirty leagues through the Yamunā, from Kosambī to Banares). The usual route from Rājagaha to Kosambī was up the river (this was the route taken by Ananda when he went with five hundred others to inflict the higher punishment on Channa, Vin.ii.290), though there seems to have been a land route passing through Anupiya and Kosambī to Rājagaha). In the Sutta Nipāta (vv.1010-13) the whole route is given from Mahissati to Rājagaha, passing through Kosambī, the halting-places mentioned being: Ujjeni, Gonaddha, Vedisa, Vanasavhya, Kosambī, Sāketa, Sravasthi/Sāvatthi, Setavyā, Kapilavasthu/Kapilavatthu, Kusinārā, Pāvā, Bhoganagara and Vesāli.

Near Kosambī, by the river, was Udayana/Udena's park, the Udakavana, where Ananda and Pindola Bharadvaja preached to the women of Udena's palace on two occasions. The Buddha is mentioned as having once stayed in the Simsapāvana in Kosambī. Mahā Kaccāna lived in a woodland near Kosambī after the holding of the First Buddhist Council.

Buddhist monasteries in Kosambi

Already in the Buddha's time there were four establishments of the Order in Kosambī – the Kukkutārāma, the Ghositārāma, the Pāvārika-ambavana (these being given by three of the most eminent citizens of Kosambī, named respectively, Kukkuta, Ghosita, and Pāvārika), and the Badarikārāma. The Buddha visited Kosambī on several occasions, stopping at one or other of these residences, and several discourses delivered during these visits are recorded in the books. (Thomas, op. cit., 115, n.2, doubts the authenticity of the stories connected with the Buddha's visits to Kosambī, holding that these stories are of later invention).

The Buddha spent his ninth rainy season at Kosambī, and it was on his way there on this occasion that he made a detour to Kammāssadamma and was offered in marriage Māgandiyā, daughter of the Brahmin Māgandiya. The circumstances are narrated in connection with the Māgandiya Sutta. Māgandiyā took the Buddha's refusal as an insult to herself, and, after her marriage to King Udena (of Kosambi), tried in various ways to take revenge on the Buddha, and also on Udena's wife Sāmavatī, who had been the Buddha's follower.

The schism at Kaushambi

A great schism once arose among the monks in Kosambī. Some monks charged one of their colleagues with having committed the offence of leaving water in the dipper in the bathroom (which would let mosquitoes breed in it), but he refused to acknowledge the charge and, being himself learned in the Vinaya, argued his case and pleaded that the charge be dismissed. The rules were complicated; on the one hand, the monk had broken a rule and was treated as an offender, but on the other, he should not have been so treated if he could not see that he had done wrong. The monk was eventually excommunicated, and this brought about a great dissension. When the matter was reported to the Buddha, he admonished the partisans of both sides and urged them to give up their differences, but they paid no heed, and even blows were exchanged. The people of Kosambī, becoming angry at the monks' behaviour, the quarrel grew apace. The Buddha once more counselled concord, relating to the monks the story of King Dīghiti of Kosala, but his efforts at reconciliation were of no avail, one of the monks actually asking him to leave them to settle their differences without his interference. In disgust, the Buddha left Kosambī and, journeying through Bālakalonakāragāma and the Pācīnavamsadaya, retired alone to keep retreat in the Pārileyyaka forest. In the meantime the monks of both parties repented, partly owing to the pressure exerted by their lay followers in Kosambī, and, coming to the Buddha at Sāvatthi, they asked his pardon and settled their dispute.

Other legends and references in literature

Bakkula was the son of a banker in Kosambī. In the Buddha's time there lived near the ferry at Kosambī a powerful Nāga-king, the reincarnation of a former ship's captain. The Nāga was converted by Sāgata, who thereby won great fame. Rujā was born in a banker's family in Kosambī. Citta-pandita was also born there. A king, by name Kosambaka, once ruled there.

During the time of the Vajjian heresy, when the Vajjian monks of Vesāli wished to excommunicate Yasa Kākandakaputta, he went by air to Kosambī, and from there sent messengers to the orthodox monks in the different centres (Vin.ii.298; Mhv.iv.17).

It was at Kosambī that the Buddha promulgated a rule forbidding the use of intoxicants by monks (Vin.ii.307).

Kosambī is mentioned in the Buddhist scripture Samyutta Nikāya.

Kausambi Palace architecture

The archaeological excavation conducted by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at Kausambi revealed a palace with its foundations going back to 8th century BCE until 2nd century CE and built in six phases. The last phase dated to 1st - 2nd century CE featured an extensive structure which was divided into three blocks and enclosed two galleries. There was a central hall in the central block and presumably used as an audience hall surrounded by rooms which served as a residential place for the ruler. The entire structure was constructed using bricks and stones and two layers of lime were plastered on it. The palace had a vast network of underground chambers and the superstructure and the galleries were made on the principle of true arch. The four-centered pointed arch was used to span narrow passageways and segmental arch for wider areas. The superstructure of central and eastern block was examined to have formed part of a dome that adorned the building. The entire galleries and superstructure were found collapsed under a 5-centimetre (2.0 in) thick layer of ash which indicates destruction of the palace through conflagration.

Legacy

The historical Tai-Shan state of Möng Mao, between the border of China and Myanmar, adopted the name Kosambi as its classical Buddhist name.