Buddha, Buddhists and Buddhism. This is a Buddhist blog which tracks Xuanzang across north India searching for lost Buddhist stupas. We now know where the other stupas are.
The second stop of Xuan zang in volume two of his epic book "Si-Yu-Ki-Buddhist Records of the western world." is Sigyansirpur.
(b) Sigiyansirpur: In the third paragraph of page two, Xuan Zang describes the royal precincts of king Passenadi. The unique thing about this area is there are
four sites or villages with the prefix ‘Pure’. According to Huen Tsang this was
the city of Prasenajita Raja. ‘Pure’ sounds similar to the first three letters of
Prasenajit or ‘Pra.’ Huen Tsang says Prasenajit Raja built a preaching hall for
the Buddha to preach the law. This is today Sigiyansirpur village. The village
has settled on the stupa that was built over the ruins of the preaching hall
Prasenajit Raja made for the Buddha. The word ‘Sigiyan’ means to give or impart
knowledge. The modern word is Gyan. So this village is on the stupa that marks
the spot of the Buddha’s preaching hall given to him by the king. Today it is a
raised mud mound rectangle in shape with impoverished people living on it.
People don’t know what the village name means. Nearby there are other mud
mounds that look like stupas. The next stupa strengthens Sigiyansirpurs claim
of being the preaching hall King Prasenajit Raja presented to the Buddha. This
sanghramma is supposed to be next to the sanghramma built by Prasenajit Raja
for Prajapati Gautami who was the Buddhas aunt. Its natural that king Pasenadi will build the sangarammas for the Buddha and his mother next to each other. I have identified this Maha Prajapatis sangaramma as Mahsi. In addition to Mahaprajapati Gautamis sanghramma the sanghramma built
for the Buddha should be north of the Jetavan which I have identified as
Galkara. The latter is south of Sigiyansirpur and Mahsi. Sigiyansirpur is
definitely the sanghramma Prasenajit Raja built for the Buddha.
Wednesday, 17 May 2023
The first part of Xuan Zangs journey in his book Si-Yu-Ki volume two.
(a) Shi-lo-fu-shi-ti/Garethi
Gurudutta Sing: (Si-yu-ki- pages 1 to 13) Xuan Zang starts his epic journey in his book "Si Yu Ki Buddhist Records of the western world" volume two from Garethi. Alexander Cunningham identified Huen
Tsangs ‘Shi-lo-fu-shi-ti’ as the modern day Sravasti. He was totally wrong and
went off course by 90 km north east of the actual spot. He did this because of
archaeological finds in Sahet Mahet villages. British historians were in a
habit of finding swanky ancient brick archaeological structures with which they
sensationalized their find. They had little knowledge of Indian culture and the
local languages and couldn’t decipher village names as I am doing. So they
concentrated on searching for brick structures to identify lost cities in the
lost Buddhist story. On searching and studying the area around where Huen Tsang
started his tour in volume two of his book, “Si-Yu-Ki Buddhist Records of the
Western World,” his ‘Shi-lo-fu-shi-ti’ has verbal resemblance to Garethi
Gurudutta Sing. This is now a tiny nondescript village on the eastern banks of
the Ghaghra river. Wikipedia says about Sravasti, “the city was called Savatthi because the sage Savattha lived here.” The
places name today is Garethi Gurudutta Sing. Wikipedias ‘Savatthi’ certainly
has a verbal resemblance with ‘Garethi’ and the sages name ‘Savattha’ resembles
‘Gurudutta Sing.’ The latter may have been the sage. We must remember Buddhist
names were totally wiped out of India. The entire vocabulary of words disappeared.
These words or the entire vocabulary of Buddhist words came back with foreign
Buddhists with foreign mispronunciations of what they thought the original word
was. And most of the mispronounced words were further mispronounced by British
historians and archaeologists who created new words thinking they were
correcting the mispronounced ones. This resulted in a double whammy of
mispronunciations. I realized after Huen Tsang showed me the correct sites, the
correct original Indian names were also waiting to be discovered. This will be
of interest to Buddhists. Wikipedia goes on to say the place was named Savatthi
(Sravasti) because ‘Savattha’ lived here. ‘Savattha’ certainly has a verbal
resemblance with ‘Gurudutta’. The ‘vattha’ of ‘Savattha’ sounds similar to
‘dutta’ of ‘Gurudutta’. We must remember that Savattha and Savatthi aren’t
Indian words though they verbally sound Indian. Savattha and Savatthi are
definitely foreign Buddhist mispronounced words of the original ‘Garethi
Gurudutta.’ All the places Huen Tsang mentions are found near here exactly
according to the Chinamans bearings. Today villages have settled on stupas, and
by doing so, they have kept the names alive. The names just need deciphering.
Thursday, 28 April 2022
Ref: Report of
identificatipon of holy historical sites with Archaeological value connected
with Padmasambhava or Guru Rinpoche’s (Tibetan Guru) early years in villages in
Lakhisarai District before going to Tibet.
Padmasambhava’s
early years in Lakhisarai Dist in Bihar India.
Padmasambhava,
or Guru Rimpoche, as the Tibetans lovingly call him, is the subject of intense
debate on whether he was a mythical or historical figure. The latter part of
his life is well documented by Tibetans. I mean the part of his life he spent
in Tibet. What makes his life story sound mythical is the fact that till date
the places connected to his early life in India haven’t yet been discovered.
Until my brother Ajay Singh studied books pertaining to him, there was a lot of
conjecture pertaining to his life in India. Three facts are clear.
Padmasambhava was born on an Island in a lake that went by the name of
Dhanakosha. He was adopted by the king of Urgain, or Orgen, sometimes mentioned
as Oddiyana. Most of his Indian activities and miracles took place in villages
near the country of Zahor where he made the princess his first consort. A
Shaivite king tried to drown him in the Ganges, but a young Padmasambhava flew
out of the water like a mighty Garoor or vulture. He was known as Kheu Khalding
Tsal. Tibetans seem to have wondered around India wondering where these places
could be and did some wild guessing. Educated Tibetans crossed over to India in
the latter part of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century and seem
to have read Samuel Beals translation of Huen Tsangs book “Si-Yu-Ki Buddhist
Records of the western world.” In this book, ‘Oddiyana’ is the second place
Huen Tsang visits in his epic journey to India. His original pronunciation is
‘O-cha-na’ which Beal deciphered as Oddiyana. Tibetans took it for granted that
was the elusive Urgain or Orgen mentioned in the Tibetan seven line prayer.
Oddiyana was never discovered as such a name never existed. So people thought
it was somewhere in the Swat valley or in the state of Orissa in India.
Similarly they searched for Lake Dhanakosha in and around the area of Swat
valley. Wild guess work was done and Lake Rewalsar was chosen as the lake in
which the king of Zahor tried to burn Padmasambhava. They did this because the
lake fell in the district of Mandi which had a verbal resemblance to Mandarva
who was Padmasambhavas first consort and the daughter of the king of Zahor.
Zahor remained elusive, and even wild guess work failed to pinpoint any place
with a similar name. Guesswork continued and Maratika cave in Nepal was chosen
as the cave in which Padmasambhava and Mandarva practiced longevity for three
months and attained the rainbow body. In short wild guessing by Tibetans made
Padmasambhava an unbelievable character who seemed to be flying around all over
north India parallel to the Himalayan foothills. Due to all this guess work the
Tibetan world failed to identify the eight manifestations of the great Guru. Until
my brother took pains to study Tibetan texts everything was conjecture. Ajay
Singh brilliantly identified Uren village as the elusive Urgain or Orgen or the
non existent Oddiyana, Dhanauri lake as the elusive lake where Padmasambhava
was born, Sahur village as the elusive Zahor which even wild Tibetan guess work
failed to identify, and Balguddar village where the Hindu king tried to drown
Padmasambhava in the Ganges where he flew out of the river like a mighty
vulture. This is exactly what Balguddar means. Studying the area between these
villages the entire Padmasambhava and Mandarva story falls into place. We will
start with Uren village.
Saturday, 29 May 2021
Why and how Buddhism disappeared. This is my take.
This is for Buddhists across the world who are wondering how and why Buddhism was wiped out of India. I realize Buddhism is alive and kicking in India. This post mustn't be construed as anti Muslim or anti Hindu or anti Brahmin as I have written it in a historical context. This is to clear the misunderstanding of our history created by historians in the metros and that Buddhists harbor against the Hindu community. I usually see claims by Buddhists that it was the Hindus that destroyed Buddhism and caused it to disappear. They cite the example of Shashank and some Brahmins who waged war with Buddhists. My research tells me that these were Anti Buddhist skirmishes which didn't have the power to wipe out an entire religion that had a mass following. Buddhist king's were stronger where some of them virtually ruled most of india. Shashank was a Bhardwaj and an early Pala king. Later Pala king's like Gopala and other's were strong Buddhist proponents. So the question of Shashank being instrumental in wiping out Buddhism doesn't arise. Yes, Shashank did attack Buddhists and broke idols but that doesn't mean he was able to wipe out the entire religion. These were just skirmishes. Neither did India convert to Hinduism. I have visited and videographed over 200 villages covering a distance of 700 kilometres in my SUV from Bahraich to losghani near my town. All the villages in eastern UP and Bihasr are mostly populated by Bhumihar Brahmins (my cast) and have the ancient Buddhist temples and pray to the Buddha and his disciples as local village dieties with localized names according to his deeds. . None of these villages have regular Hindu temples except for shivalayas. I mean no Ram and Krishna temple. This means there was no conversion to Hinduism. IT is total religious confusion. Ram and Krishna prayer was brought to these villages approximately 500 years ago by Brahmins who migrated during the same period. This tallies with Akbar's rule. Akbar was a king who allied with Rajput kings by marrying a Rajput princess. And Ram and Krishna were Rajput warlords elevated to the status of gods. It seems Akbar did that to destroy Buddhism and by making Rajput warlords as god's, he successfully neutralized Rajput Warlords in north India attained their allegiance. The villages I visited still don't have Ram and Krishna temples and only have new hanuman temple s made on Government property by usurping the roadside. This is proof that the Hinduism of today is literally a new religion which is why it still hasn't settled down with proper temples for Ram and Krishna. Their cheap statues have simply intruded Shiva temples and only occupy a corner. But the Buddhist temples are there in the form of the village diety or Kul Devta. The unique thing is Brahmin priests (as the world knows them) aren't allowed to enter these temples and prayers are conducted by villagers themselves. This means the villages ancestors didn't allow these Brahmins to enter. This is proof of the villages living religiously confused with two opposing religions. All these villages are staunch Hindus and diehard RSS supporter's. This is the irony. Anyway, how did a few Brahmins infiltrate these villages when jihad was in full force. Buddhists were on the run. How did these Brahmins have the guts under Muslim onslaught to penetrate villages belonging to the mighty mauryas and Palas. That too, these few Brahmins penetrated these villages on a pan indian basis. There was a massive religious upheaval and couldn't be carried out without government support. And the government across north India was Muslim. This means the Brahmins allied with the Muslims to wipe out Buddhism. The Brahmins got their support. The proof lies in the villages I visited. All these villages have settled on top of Buddhist stupas. They are all staunch Hindus with no Muslims living in them. But there is a Pir Baba's mazaar. Who was the Pir Baba. Was he there to make sure the Brahmins didn't face resistance. Was he the Mughals tax collector??? Because the Brahmin colonies are close to the Mazar. This is clear proof of a Brahmin Muslim joint effort to push Rajputized Hinduism and destroy buddhistic Hinduism. Another proof of this joint effort is Muslim's are settled on the main Buddhist stupas like the spot where the Buddha was born, the Mahaparinirvana stupa, the stupa that marks the spot where the Buddha was cremated and many more important ones. By settling on the stupas the Muslims made sure Buddhist pilgrims didn't come and pray to the stupas. Muslim's burnt up all the Buddhist texts to the extent that a single word wasn't salvaged. At the same time Brahmins were sleekly busy preaching Ramayan and Mahabharat in the villages. How did the entire Buddhist texts disappear while Hindu texts were left untouched. That too in a pan indian basis when jihad was rampant. Were the Hindu texts rewritten during Akbar's rule. The venerable Tulsidas rewrote the Ramayana during Akbar's rule. Why was it necessary to rewrite Balmiki Ramayana? Was it modified according to Muslim prescription, or according to the prescription of Akbars Hindu wife or the Brahmin coterie in his court. Did the Muslims prescribe monkey worship to degenerate an entire people into praying to monkeys? I don't believe that a people with universities of high studies like Nalanda, taxila, Vikramshila and hundreds more would prescribe monkey worship. Why aren't there any ancient hanuman temples. They are all new ones on Government property. This is clearly proof of coordinated effort between Muslims and a particular sect of Brahmins. These Brahmins went silent on the Buddhist story. This resulted in the villagers losing the history and story of the diety they prayed to. The person in-charge of the Buddhist temples called bhakta, which simply means believer, started behaving foolishly like calling in ghosts and other idiotic stuff, because of a lack of texts. Parallel to the Buddhist bhakta (Huen Tsang calls Buddhists "the believers" which when translated to Hindi is bhakta) the Brahmins opened their religious texts and slickly recited the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The villagers had to chose between the crazy scriptureless senseless Buddhist bhakta and the slickly preaching Brahmins story. Five hundred year's of hammering the Ramayana and Mahabharata caused villagers to slowly become Ram and Krishna bhakts. But they held on to the Buddhist temples and the dieties names though they don't know who he was and why he was important. In each of these villages villagers first pay homage to the village diety during marriages and happy moments. After paying homage to the diety they pray to other Hindu Gods. This is full proof there was no conversion to Hinduism. People say that Adi Guru Shankaracharya converted the country to Hinduism. The historians don't realize in Adi Guru Shankaracharyas time there was no television and radio to carry his word across India. Those days travelling was dicey. So how did the Shankaracharyas word travel across the thousands of villages. It's impossible to convert an entire country from one religion to another. Islam in all'it's blood curdling jihadic fury and gaury track record failed to convert the country to Islam. That too in a position as rulers of the entire country for 700 year's. Then how could a single Shankaracharya, through a single debate, with no television or radio convert an entire country to Hinduism by rejecting the most practical religion. IMPOSSIBLE. To top it all Huen Tsang has given proof that Adi Guru Shankaracharya definitely was Buddhist. So what happened. The Buddhist religion and religious texts came back to India from foreign countries. The texts came back with totally disfigured and mispronounced Indian words. These Buddhist countries were looking for Buddhism through the eyes of their own culture. The result was foreign Buddhists failed to recognize Indian Buddhism. And because of the mispronounced Indian words India and Indians failed to identify with the Buddhist story. To an extent Akbar and the Muslims were successful. But not fully. Imagine what will happen when the villagers realise who their village diety is. And imagine what will happen when they get back the history of the diety. There will be a major upheaval and the RSS will be forced to realign itself so that Buddhism is accepted. So all that talk that Shashank and some Brahmins wiped out Buddhism is hogwash. Buddhism is alive and kicking. Only Buddhists cannot see it because (a) Most of them are meat eaters when the Buddha strictly forbade hurting and killing any living being. So these meat eating Buddhists failed to realize why a majority of Indian villages were strictly vegetarian (b) The Buddhist countries are idol worshipers when the Buddha forbade idol worship So foreign Buddhists failed to recognize Indian Buddhism in the idol-less and picture less village diety temples across the length and breath of India. And the world failed to analyze Hindu customs which cater to the Buddhist line of thought.
Sunday, 29 September 2019
The Maha Parinirvana stupa found. ). This is a report of the
Mahaparinirvana stupa and the other stupas connected to it. This report is a
continuation of three reports I had sent you pertaining to the country of Prasenajit
Raja which I identified as Garethi Gurudutta Sing, and king Sudhodanas country
which I identified with Chatura Bhiti village, and Huen Tsangs journey from
Paida, where the Buddha was born to Pakri Mariha where the Buddhas ashes stupa
was situated. From Pakri Mariha Huen Tsangs comes east to the Mahaparinirvana
stupa. I’m sending you a report of my explorations. My sole source is volume
two of Huen Tsangs book “Si-Yu-Ki Buddhist Records Of The Western World.” Huen
Tsang describes the various stupas. Contrary to what other people think, Huen
Tsangs book ‘Si-Yu-Ki Buddhist Records Of The Western World’, is a lovely
travelogue across north India. Huen Tsang gives specific directions and
distances helping the reader to pin point the stupas. The latter were big mud
mounds which resulted in villages settling on them. By doing so, these villages
kept the stupa names alive. In this report I am dealing with the first chapter
of the book from page 29 to page 31. I am also attaching the link of the youtube
video, “Buddha Exhumed: Mahaparinirvana stupas (the whole lot). This video
travels parallel to this report allowing the reader to view the places I have
reported in satellite pictures.
Huen Tsang comes
east to Koiriya Tola from Lauriya Nandangarh which has the Buddhas ashes stupa
in Pakri Mariha. He comes via the Bhaisa Loten area. Historians have misplaced
the Mahaparinirvana stupa in Kasia Bazar and renamed it Khushinagar. I will
start my report of the Mahaparinirvana stupa and the stupas around the
Mahaparinirvana area with the village of Koiriya Tola which was the country in
Huen Tsangs time.
(7) Kiu-se-na-kie-lo/Koiriya Tola: (Si-Yu-Ki page 31 to 41)
From Lauriya Nandangarh Huen Tsang goes northwest to Kiu-sie-na-kie-lo which
Samuel Beal wrongly deciphered as Khushinagar and which I have identified as
the border village of ‘Koiriya Tola’ next to Raxaul town on the northern tip of
Bihar.
(zd)
Kie-se-kie-na-lo/Koiriya Tola: From Lalparsa Dhumni Tola the Buddha and his
group travel to what the world calls Khushinagar or Kusinara. Actually
Khushinagar is a word concocted by Samuel Beal who translated Huen Tsangs book
into English. The place is Koiriya Tola which is a part of Raxaul town. It is
definitely Huen Tsangs ‘Kiu-sie-na-kie-lo’. I will quote page 31 second last
para.“After this
going north east through a great forest, along a dangerous and difficult road,
where wild oxen and herds of elephants, and robbers and hunters cause incessant
trouble to travelers. After leaving the forest we come to the kingdom of
‘Kiu-shi-na-kie-lo.” Huen Tsang tells us that the place where the Buddha
died was north east to Lauriya Nandangarh. Koiriya Tola is directly north east
to Lauriya Nandangarh. The wild jungle infested with wild and dangerous oxen
and elephant’s and robbers that Huen Tsang describes, is the Bhaisa Loten
jungle of Bettiah district. Even today it is wild and lawless. The name Bhaisa
Loten means wild oxen lolling in mud so the name tallies with Huen Tsangs
description. It is still a highly criminalized zone and highly dangerous. Today
it is part of Valmiki tiger reserve. Samuel Beal took Huen Tsangs
‘Kiu-se-na-kie-lo’ at face value and translated it as Khushinagar. Actually
‘Kiu-shie-na-kie-lo is a Chinamans attempt to pronounce Koiriya Tola. The
latter sounds verbally similar to Huen Tsangs Kiu-se-na-kie-lo’. Finding
‘Koiriya Tola’ was tough because here Huen Tsang fails to give mileage or distance
and only states the north easterly direction. And the village was hidden in
Raxaul Bazar. So it took me three whole days to study the entire area north
east of Lauriya Nandangarh and choose ‘Koiriya Tola’ as Huen Tsangs
“Kiu-se-na-kie-lo.” I did this by finding names of places connected to the
Buddha’s nirvana and realized Huen Tsangs Kiu-shie-na-kie-lo was nothing else
but Koiriya Tola. Huen Tsang says the capitol was 10 li in circuit. Ten Li’s is
approximately 2 kilomteres in circuit.
British historians took Samuel Beals mis deciphered and concocted
‘Khushinagar’ and started a wild goose search for a similar name. Its clear
Samuel Beal never visited any place of the names he created which is why none
of the holy Buddhist spots were discovered. British historians identified Kasia
Bazar as Khushinagar or Huen Tsangs ‘Kiu-shi-na-kie-lo’ simply on the basis of
a sleeping Buddha statue found in a stupa. They removed the name of Kasia
bazaar and re-christened the place Khushinagar. So Khushinagar is a concocted
word by British historians who thought that was what Huen Tsang meant. The
reader will realize Huen Tsang goes nowhere near present day Khushinagar.
Sirsiya Kala is definitely the real Khushinagar where the Buddha went for his
Maha Parinirvana. The main proof for Koiriya Tola being Huen Tsangs
Kiu-se-na-kie-lo is the temple of Baba Trilokinath. Huen Tsang states in the
northeastern angle of the city is an Ashokan stupa identifying the house of
‘Chun-to’. I realized Chun-to was none other than Trilokinath. I will quote the
first paragraph of page thirty two. Huen Tsang writes. “The brick foundation walls of the old capitol are about 10 li in
circuit. There are few inhabitants, and the avenues of the town are deserted
and waste. At the north-east angle of the city gate is a stupa which was built
by Ashoka Raja. This is the old house of Chunda (Chun-to); in the middle of
which is a well which was dug in the middle while he was making an offering.
Although it has overflowed for years and months, the water is still pure and
sweet.” Folks, Trilokinath has been definitely mispronounced as Chun-to.
This and other stupas prove that Koiriya Tola is definitely Huen Tsangs
‘Kiu-se-na-kie-lo’. Noted historian L.A. Wadell wrote in his report that the
Maha Parinirvana stupa was most probably north of Ramgarhwa. The latter is
exactly south of Koiriya Tola and Bada Pareuwa.
(ze) Harannavati
river/Sirsiya river (locally pronounced Surasiya river): North of Koiriya Tola
or the mispronounced Kusinara the Buddha tells Anand let us cross the
Hirannavati river to the north and rest in the Mallas Sala grove. Huen Tsang
calls this river ‘O-shi-to-fa-ti’. I have identified the Hirannavati or Huen
Tsangs ‘O-shi-to-fa-ti’ river as the Sirsiya river dividing the twin towns of
Raxaul and Birgunj. The river also travels down the eastern edge of these
towns. In the second paragraph of page 32 Huen Tsang writes, “To the northwest of the city 3 or 4 li,
crossing the Ajitavati (O-shi-to-fa-ti) river), on the western bank, not far,
we come to a grove of Sal trees.” I have identified Bara Pareuwa as the sal
grove of the Mallas in the vicinity of Koiriya Tola.
(zf) Bada
Pareuwa/Sirsiya river: Bada Pareuwa is to the west of Raxaul is certainly the
place where the Buddha breathed his last. In page 32 second para first line
Huen Tsang states, “To the north west of
the city three or four Li, crossing the ‘O-shi-to-fa-ti’ river (Samuel Beal
translates it as Oshitofati) river, on the western bank not far, we come to a
grove of Sal Trees.” The ‘O-shi-to-fa-ti’ river is the Sirsiya river
flowing down the eastern border of Birgunj town to Raxaul. The spelling of the
rivers name is written Sirsiya, but the locals pronounce the word as Saurasiya.
Saurasia sounds very similar to Huen Tsangs ‘O-shi-to-fa-ti’. Bada Pareuwa is certainly the place where the
Buddha breathed his last. It was the Mallas Sal grove. Bada is big and Pareuwa can be divided into
two words. They are Pare-uwa. Pare means to lie on the ground and ‘uwa’ means
northwards. Pareuwa means Lying with head to the north. When the Buddha
breathed his last, he lay with his head to the north. Buddhists have
mispronounced Bada Pareuwa as Maha Parinirvana. You can see the similarities
between the two words. Bada has been substituted with Maha. They both have the
same meaning. Parinirvana is simply a Buddhist mispronunciation of Pareuwa.
Bada Pareuwa is certainly the Maha Parinirvana stupa. Today it is a village
mostly populated by Muslims. In the third last line of page 32 second para,
Huen Tsang writes, “In this wood there
are four trees of unusual height, which indicate the place where Tathagat died.”
So we understand the Buddha died between Sal trees in Bada Pareuwa stupa. The
biggest proof of Bada Pareuwa being the Maha Parinirvana stupa is the distance
between it and Koiriya Tola which I have identified with Huen Tsangs
mispronounced ‘Kiu-se-na-kie-lo’. I will quote the second paragraph of page
thirty two. Huen Tsang writes. “To the
north-west of the city 3 or 4 Li, crossing the Ajitavati (O-shi-to-fa-ti)
river, on the western bank, not far, we come to a grove of Sala trees. The Sala
tree, is like the Huh tree, with a greenish white bark with leaves very
glistening and smooth. In this wood are four trees of an unusual height, which
indicate the place where Tathagat died.” Four li equals to one kilometer.
Bada Pareuwa is exactly one kilometer north east of Koiriya Tola. This tallies
with Huen Tsangs bearings. So this is definite proof that Bada Pareuwa is the
Buddha’s Maha Parinirvana stupa. The clinching proof that Bada Pareuwa is the
Maha Parinirvana stupa is the pronunciations of different Buddhist countries
countries. In Pali it is Parinibbana. In Burmese its Parinibbaran, in Chinese
its Boniepan. In Thai the reclining Buddha is ‘Parang phra phut ta roupe’.
Parang seems a mispronunciation of Bara. Phra seems to be a mispronunciation of
Pare of Pareuwa. And ‘Phut ta roupe’ is a mispronunciation of ‘reuwa’ of
Pareuwa which itself is a tongue twister. It’s a clear cut case that Pareuwa is
the original of all these foreign mispronounced words. The Maha of Maha
Parinirvana cannot be found in other countries other than Sri Lanka. Noted
historian L.A Wadell states the Maha Parinirvana stupa is most probably
somewhere north of Ramgarhwa. The latter is south of Bara Pareuwa so tallies
with L.A.Wadell’s statement.
(zg)Chota
Pareuwa: In the last paragraph of page 32 Huen Tsang writes, “There is here a great brick vihara in which
is a figure of the nirvana of Tathagat. He is lying with hius head to the north
as if asleep.” This is definitely Chota Pareuwa. The statue mentioned in
the quote will most probably be buried somewhere here.
(zh) (1) Vishwa
Hillock: Vishwa hillock is a fifty foot high mud stupa to the north east of Gah
Hawa Mai temple in Maisthan chowk. This stupa is definitely an Ashokan stupa.
Huen Tsang says King Ashoka constructed this stupa to mark the spot the Buddha
died. Huen Tsang writes. “By the side of
this vihara is a stupa built by Ashoka Raja: although in a ruinous state, yet
it is some two hundred feet in height.” The stupa marking the spot near
where the Buddha died is definitely the Vishwa hillock in Birgunj. It suits the
description Huen Tsang gives as it is next to the Gah Hawa Mai temple. Vishwa
hillock is a perfect example of a big Ashokan mud stupa. Unfortunately the mud
has been pilfered reducing the stupas size to about fifty feet. Locals say the
stupa was previously much higher. I have noticed where ever Ashoka makes a
stupa to mark a certain incident, it is a couple of kilometers away from the
stupa it represented.
(zh) Chhapkaiya:
In the last paragraph and last line of page 32 Huen Tsang writes, “Before it is a stone pillar to record the
nirvana of Tathagat; although there is an inscription on it, yet there is no
date as to the year or month.” This is certainly the stupa of Chapkaiya.
Chapkaiya means to have something written or engraved on something. So
Chapkaiya is definitely the name of the pillar with something written on it
which didn’t have the Buddhas date of death. The statement, “Before it is a stone pillar,” Huen Tsang
means before Vishwa hillock. Chapkaiya is between Bada Pareuwa and Vishwa
hillock as Huen Tsang seems to have approached the hillock from the direction
of Bada Pareuwa. He reaches Chapkaiya before reaching Vishwa hillock.
(f) Kaurihar:
This village strengthens my claim that ‘Bada Pareuwa’ is the Buddhists Maha
Parinirvana stupa and Koiriya Tola is Huen Tsangs ‘Kiu-se-na-kie-lo’ and not
Khushinagar. In page 33 third para Huen Tsang writes, “By the side of the vihara and not far from it, is a stupa. This denotes
the place where the Bodhisatva, when practicing a religious life, was born as a
king of a flock of pheasants. And
caused a fire to be put out. Formerly there was in this place a great and shady
forest, where beasts and birds congregated and built their nests and dwelt in
caves. Suddenly a fierce wind burst from every quarter, and a violent
conflagration spread on every side. At this time there was a pheasant, who
moved with pity and tenderness, hastened to plunge itself in a stream of pure
water, and then flying up in the air shook the drops from his feathers (on the
flames), whereupon Sakra king of Devas coming down said (to the bird). Why are
you so foolish as to tire yourself, thus fluttering your wings? A great fire is
raging, it is burning down the forest trees and the desert grass; what can such
a tiny creature as you do to put it out? The bird said, “and who are you?” He
replied, “I am Sakra king of Devas.” The
bird replied. “Now Sakra king of Devas
has great powers of religious merit; and every wish he has he can gratify; to
deliver from this calamity and avert the evil would be as easy as opening and
shutting his hand. There can be no propriety in permitting this clamity to
last. But the fire is burning fiercely on every side, there is no time for
words.” And so saying he flew away again and sprinkled the water from his
wings. Then the king of the Devas to the water in the hollow of his hand, and
pored it out on the forest and extinguished the fire; the smoke was cleared
away and the living creatures saved.”
In the above
quote Huen Tsang tells of a forest fire that goes out of control. Animals are
trapped in the fire. The bird king which is a pheasant feels sorry for them so
dives into a river, flies up and flutters its wings so that the water from the
wings sprays over the fire dousing a small bit. Sakra king of Devas sees the
pheasant doing this so makes fun of it. The latter however continues wetting
itself and spraying the fire with water from its wings. He tells Sakra that it
was his job but since he, Sakra, wasn’t doing it, he was. Sakra then douses the
fire with water. The stupa now has a village settled on it which has taken the
stupas name. So you now have a stupa cum village by the name of Kaurihar.
Kaurihar means to lose to the crow. ‘Cowa’ or ‘Koa’ in Bihari means crow and
‘har’ means to lose a competition. Put together the word Kaurihar means the
crow that beat the bush and won the verbal Duel with Sakra king of Devas. The
word Kaurihar fits perectly to Huen Tsangs story of sacra king of Devas losing
to the crow. Sakra king of Devas is a Buddhist mispronounciation of Shankar
Mahadev. Sakra seems to be a mispronounciation of Shankar and Mahadev means
King of Devas when translated to English.
(f) Dhangarwa:
This is another proof that Koiriya Tola is Huen Tsangs ‘Kiu-se-na-kie-lo’. In
page 34 second para Huen Tsang writes, “By
the side of this, not far off, is a stupa. On this spot Boddhisattva, when
practicing a religious life, being at that time a deer, saved living creatures. In very remote times this was a great
forest; a fire burst out in the wild grass that grew in it. The birds and
beasts were sorely distressed. Before them was the barrier of a swiftly flowing
river. Behind them the calamity of a raging fire which barred their escape. There
was no help for it but to plunge into the water, and there drowned, they
perished. This deer, moved by pity, placed his body across the stream, which
lashed his sides and broke his bones, whilst he strove with all his strength to
rewscue the drowning creatures. A worn out hare coming to the bank, the deer
with patience bearing his fatigue, got him safely across, but his strength now
being worn out, he was engulfed in the water and died. The Devas collected his
bones and raised this stupa.” In the story a forest fire rages and the
animals are trapped between the fire and the river which was in spate. To save
the animals the deer King lies down across the stream blocking the stream
water. Strong currents break his bones but he persists and bears the pain. The
animals use his body to cross the river. The last animal to cross is the hare.
The stupas name is Dhangarwa. As usual a village has perched itself on the
stupa and has taken the stupas name. So you now have the village of Dhangarwa.
The name fits into Huen Tsangs story. Dhangna in the local language means to
beat something up. In the above story the strong river current beat the deers
body breaking all his bones till it dies. Dhangarwa is certainly the place
where the deer kings story took place. People collected the bones and raised
this stupa.
(g) Subhadras
nirvana stupa (1) Jokhiyari Village: In the first paragraph of page 35 Huen
Tsang writes, “To the west of this place,
not far off, is a stupa. This is where Subhadra died.” This means to thje
west of Dhangarwa a person called Subhadra died. He was the last person to
become a disciple. He is the hare the Buddha saved in the Dhangarwa or deer
king story narrated earlier. He was the last to be converted. The latter
questions the Buddha on how to become an arhat in short cut as the Buddha was
going to attain Mahaparinirvana. The Buddha gives him arahathood. Subhadra is
grateful to become an Arhat but cannot bear the pain of the Buddhas death. So
the same night of the Buddhas Mahaparinirvana, Subhadra attains his Mahaparinirvana.
He is the hare, that is, the last animal to escape over the deers broken body
because he is the last disciple to attain knowledge. He is also the first
disciple to die. This is Johiyari village. I will quote the last paragraph of
page thirty six. Huen Tsang writes, “Then
Subhadra, leaving his home immediately, took full orders as a priest.Then
applying himself with all diligence, he vigorously disciplined bothe body and
mind, and so being freed from all doubt, in the middle of the night (of the
Buddhas nirvana), not long after the interview, he obtained the fruit and
became a arhat without imperfection. Being thus perfected in purity, he could
not await Buddhas death (great nirvana), but in the midst of the congregation,
entering the Samadhi of “fire limit”(agni dhatu), and after displaying his
spiritual capabilities, he first entered nirvana. He was thus the very last
convert of Tathagat, and the first to enter nirvana. This is the same as the
hare who was last saved in the story that has just been told.
From the above
paragraph we realize Subhadra attained nirvana west of Dhangarwa stupa cum
village. West of Dhangarwa is Jokhiyari. From the last quote we realize that
Subhadra commited suicide by entering the Samadhi of the fire limit. He was in
the middle of a crowd when he entered the fire. We can break up Jokhiyari into
two words. They are Jokhna and kiyari. Jokhna in the rural language means to
enter the fire. And Kiyari means the boundaries. Put together Jokhiyari means
to enter the fire limit. This tallie’s with Huen Tsangs statement, “entering the Samadhi of fire limit.”
Jokhiyari village is certainly settled on Jokhiyari stupa which marks the spot
where Subhadra attained nirvana.
@) Subhadras doubt-Bhakuwa Brahm: In the
third line of page 35 Huen Tsang writes. “Subhadra
was originally a Brahmin teacher. He was 120 years of age; being so old, he had
asquired in consequence much wisdom. Hearing that Buddha was about to die, he
came to the two Sala trees, and asked Anand, saying, “The lord is about to die;
pray let me ask him regarding some doubts I have, which still hamper me.” Anand
replied, “The Lord is about to die, pray do not trouble him.” He said, “I hear
Buddha is difficult to meet in this world, and that the true law is difficult
to hear. I have some grave doubts; there is no grounds for fear.” On being
invited Subhadra at once entered and asked Buddha.”
From the above
quote we realize that an old Brahmin called Subhadra had a doubt which he
wanted the Buddha to dispel. He requests Anand to allow him to question the
Buddha at which Anand refuses as the Buddha was dying. But the Buddha hears of
Subhadra and tells Anand to allow Subhadra to come and question him. This
interaction took place in what is now called Bhakuwa Brahm stupa cum village.
This stupa is on the banks of Surasiya river. This is certainly the spot where
the interaction between Anand and Subhadra took place. Subhadra was a roamer
which in the local language is called Bhakuwa. And Brahm means doubt. Put
together Bhakuwa Brahm means the doubt of the roamer, which refers to Subhadras
doubt. Nearby there is a stupa cum village called Tumariya Tola. This most
probably was the site where the Sanghramma incharge of Bhakuwa Brahm stupas
upkeep was. This was where pilgrims stayed.
(G) Chikni village: Huen Tsang goes on to
write, “Beside the stupa of Subhadras
nirvana is a stupa. This is the place where the Vajrapani (Ching-kin-kang) fell
fainting to the earth. The great merciful lord of the earth, having according
to the conditions of the persons concerned, finished his work of converting the
world, entered on the joy of the nirvana between the two sal trees; with his
head to the north, he there lay asleep. The mallas with their diamond maces and
divine but secret characteristics, seeing Buddha about to die were deeply
affected with pity, and cried, “ Tathagat is leaving us and entering the great
nirvana; thus are we without any refuge or protection to defend us; the
poisonous arrow has deeply penetrated our vitals, and the fire of sorrow burns
us up without remedy!” Then letting go their diamond clubs, they fell prostrate
on the earth, and so remained for a long time. Then rising again, and deeply
affected with compassion and love, they thus spoke together. “Who shall now
provide us a boat to cross over the great sea of birth and death? Who shall
light a lamp to guide us through the long night of ignorance.”
Two kilometers
north of Jokhiyari stupa cum village is Chikni stupa cum village. This matches
Huen Tsangs Chinese mispronounciation. His mispronounced ‘Ching-kin-kang’
sounds very similar to Chikni (Chi-ka-ni). Huen Tsang is describing a
particular area with a cluster of stupas close to each other. Chikni’s position
close to Jokhiyari tallies with Huen Tsangs statement, “Beside the stupa of Subhadras nirvana is a stupa,” and the fact
that the word Chikni sounds similar to Huen Tsangs mispronounced
“Ching-kin-kang” proves that Chikni stupa cum village is the spot where the
diamond mace holders fell to the ground. It must be noted that the landed
aristocracy owning most of the agricultural land in this area are Bhumihar
Brahmins of the Bharduaj gotra and the Amalya sub gotra. Amalya sounds similar
to Malla so they are the elusive “Mallas of Khushinagar.” Huen Tsang calls them
the diamond mace holders. Bharduaj means just that. ‘Bhar’ means heavy or
expensive and ‘dhauj’ means a mace or a flag. Bharduaj means heavy and
expensive mace which tallies with Huen Tsangs diamond mace holders. This is the
clinching proof that Bada Pareuwa is the place where the Buddha breathed his
last.
(zg) Raxaul/
where the Buddha’s body was detained for seven days: In the last paragraph of
page 35 Huen Tsang writes, “By the side
where the diamond mace holders fell to the ground is a stupa. This is the place
where for seven days after the Buddha had died they offered religious
offerings. When Tathagat was about to die, a brilliant light shone everywhere;
men and Devas were assembled, and together showed their sorrow as they spake
thus one to the other, “Now the great Buddha, lord of the world, is about to
die, the happiness of the world is gone, the men have no reliance.” Then
Tathagat reposing on his right side upon the lion bed, addressed the great
congregation thus, “Say not Tathagat has gone forever (perished) because he
die; the body of the law endures forever: unchangeable is this: put away all
idleness, and without delay, seek for emancipation (from the world).”
“The bhikshus sobbing and sighing with
piteous grief, Aniruddha bade the bhikshus wait. “Grieve not thus,” he said,
“least the Devas should deride.” Then all the Mallas (Mo-la), having offered
their offerings, desired to raise the golden coffin and bring it to the place
of cremation. Then Aniruddha addressed them all, and bade them stop, for the Devas
desired to offer their worship for seven days.”
In the Maha Parinirvana story it is clearly
stated that the Buddha’s dead body was carried a short distance, but stopped at
peoples request; and the body was kept for seven days for people to pay homage.
It was kept between Sal trees. This is exactly what Raxaul means. To decipher
Raxaul we can divide the word in two. They are ‘Rakh-Sal’. ‘Rakh’ means to keep
something at a particular spot. Sal which is the second half of Raxaul is
simply the Sal tree. Put together ‘Rakh-Sal’ or Raxaul simply means to keep
between Sal trees. It seems the coffin was carried east from Bada Pareuwa and
stopped at what is present day Raxaul. It was kept there for seven days. Today
Raxaul is a bustling business town on the Indian border with Nepal with Birgunj
town on the Nepal side. There is an Ashokan stupa in this town near the railway
crossing which certainly is the spot where the Buddha’s dead body was detained
for seven days. Today the top of the stupa has been annexed by a rich market
with a cluster of jewelry shops. Basically I realize Raxaul is the stupas name.
There are a couple of more stupas in the residential area of the town.
Unfortunately they are nameless as the name Raxaul has dwarfed the entire town.
To find the stupa names I will have to check land records of the town.
(2) Gah Hawa Mai temple/Maisthan Chowk: In the fourth paragraph of page 38 Huen
Tsang writes, “By the side of the place where the coffin was detained is a stupa;
this is where the queen Mahamaya wept for the Buddha.
Tathagat having departed, and his body
having been laid in the coffin, then Aniruddha ascending to the heavenly
mansions, addressed the queen Maya and said, “The suprememely holy Lord of
religion has now died!”
Maya having heard of it suppressed her sobs,
and with the body of Devas came to the two Sal trees. Seeing the sanghati robe,
and the patra and the religious staff, she embraced them as she recognized
each, and then ceased awhile to act, till once again with loud accents she
cried. “The happiness of men and Gods is done! The worlds eyes put out! All
things are desert, without a guide!”
From the above quote we realize that it was
here the Buddhas dead body sat up and preached the law to his dead mother.
Mahayana Buddhism states there was a stupa where the Buddha’s dead mother came
like the wind and cried over her son’s dead body. The Buddha’s body sat up and
preached to her. This is Gah Hawa Mai temple in Maisthan Chowk. Gah Hawa means
the wind. And Mai is the Buddha’s mother Maya. Put together Gah Hawa Mai means
the mother that came like the wind. This hints at a ghostly appearance because
in Bihar people don’t call a ghost a ghost. They call it ‘Hawa’ which simply
means ‘the wind’. It’s important to note, Theravada Buddhists don’t believe in
this story. So this stupa isn’t important for them. The temple is on a stupa.
That will be the ‘Gah Hawa Mai’ stupa. The area is called Maisthan which
literally means the area of the mother.
(zj) Prasauni:
(1) Prasauni village is definitely the spot where the Buddha’s dead body was
cremated: In page 39 third para Huen Tsang writes, “To the north of the city after crossing the river, and going 300 paces
or so, there is a stupa. This is the place where they burnt the body of
Tathagat. The earth is now of a blackish yellow from a mixture of earth and
charcoal. Whoever with true faith seeks and prays is sure to find relics of
Tathagata.” This stupa is north east of Birgunj and, has a village who took
the stupas name Prasouni, on the stupa. The Dhaurani river passes 700 feet east
of the stupa or Prasauni village just as Huen Tsang describes in his quote.
Prasauni is an Ashokan stupa and like other Ashokan stupas it is simply a low
mud mound. And like most other Ashokan stupas an entire village has settled on
it. Prasauni village accurately suits the above quote. Huen Tsang says the
burning site is, “To the north of the city.” The city is Koiriya Tola village
and Prasauni village is slightly north east of Koiriya Tola. Huen Tsang further
states the burning site was 300 paces from the river. That is approximately 700
feet. This is the exact distance of Prasauni village from the Dhaurani river.
And the name Prasauni means someone fast asleep on something. That is the
Buddha fast asleep on a funeral pyre. It is regarded as bad manners to bluntly
say someone is dead, especially for a person of the stature of the Buddha. Fast
asleep is a perfectly respectable word used to name the stupa. Prasauni village
is definitely the stupa where the Buddha’s body was burnt. ‘Pari’ of
Parinirvana is certainly a mispronunciation of Prasauni. The next stupa that
goes by the name of Khutwajabdi strengthens my claim that Prasauni is the spot
where the Buddha’s dead body was cremated.
(zk)
Khutwajabdi/Mukutabhandana: In the Maha Parinirwana story Khutwajabdi has been
mispronounced as Mukutabandhana. The two words are similar phonetically and one
is a mispronunciation of the other. Khutwajabdi village on a stupa certainly
strengthens my claim that Prasauni was the place where the Buddha’s dead body
was burnt. I will quote the last line of page 39. Huen Tsang writes, “By the side of the place of cremation is a
stupa; here Tathagat for Kasyapa’s sake revealed his feet. When Tathagat was in his golden coffin, and
the oil poured on it and the wood piled up, the fire would not enkindle, and
all the beholders were filled with fear and doubt, then Anirudh spoke, “We must
await for Kasyapa. At this time Kasyapa,
with 500 followers, from out of the forest came to Kusinagara, and asked Anand
saying, “Can I behold Tathagats body?” Anand said, swathed in a thousand
napkins, enclosed within a heavy coffin, with scented wood piled up, we are
about to burn it.”
At this time the Buddha caused his feet to come
out of the coffin, above or on the wheel sign lo! There were different colored
marks. Addressing Anand then he said, “And what are these?” Answering he said,
“When first he died the tears of men and Gods, moved by pity, falling upon his
feet left this mark.”
This is
certainly the village of Khutwajabdi next to Prasauni village. Khutwajabdi is
half a kilometer north of Prasauni. It’s on a stupa no doubt which carried the
name Khutwajabdi. We are lucky the stupas name Khutwajabdi was kept alive by
villagers. The village is called Khutwajabdi. The road passes over the stupa
and has flattened it. I chose this spot as the place where the Buddha revealed
his feet forcibly for Kasyapa because the name Khutwajabdi fits into the tale
Huen Tsang tells. According to him the body was brought here for cremation. It
was tied and covered with napkins and put on a funeral pyre. Anand tries to
light the fire but fails so he waits for the arrival of Kashyap. The latter
requests Anand to open the napkins so that he can pay obeisance to the dead
body one last time. Anand refuses as it would be tough untying the napkins and
tying them again. We must remember that the Buddha died seven days before his
cremation. That was enough time for the body to decompose which is why Anand
was hesitant to open the napkins as requested by Kasyapa. So the Buddha
forcibly takes out a feet so that Kashyap can see it and pay obeisance to it.
This is what Khutwajabdi means. Khutwa in the rural Bihari language means feet
and ‘Jabdi’ means by force. Khutwajabdi means to show ones feet by force. In
the story the Buddha showed his feet by force. Basically Prasauni and
Khutwajabdi strengthen my claim that these are the stupas mentioned by Huen
Tsang because they are just a stone’s throw away from each other.
(zy) Nautan
village- Relic dividing stupa next to Khutwajabdi: In the second last paragraph
of page 40, Huen Tsang writes, “By the
side of the place where he showed his feet is a stupa built by Ashoka Raja.
This is the place where the eight kings shared the relics. In front is built a
stone pillar on which is written an account of this event.”
When Buddha died and after his cremation,
the kings of the eight countries with their troops (four kinds of troops) sent
a right minded Brahmin (Drona) to address the Mallas of Kusinagara, and asked
saying, “The guide of men and Gods has died in this country; we have come from
far to request a share of his relics.” The Mallas said, “Tathagat has
condescended to come to this land; the guide of the world is dead! The loving
father of all that lives is gone! We ought to adore the relics of Buddha; your
journey here has been in vain, you will not gain your end.” Then the great
kings having sought humbly for them and failed, sent a second messenger saying,
“As you will not accede to our request our troops are near.” Then the Brahmin
addressing them said, “Reflect how the Lord, the great merciful, prepared
religious merit by practicing patience; through successive ages his renown will
last. Your desire now to try force is not right. Divide then the relics into
eight portions, so that all may worship them. Why resort to arms?” The Mallas
obedient to these words divided the relics into eight parts.”
West of Khutwajabdi stupa is a bigger stupa
with a village settled on it. This is a village called Nautan. Nautan can be
divided into two words. They are ‘Nau-tan’. Nau means eight (I realized this
anomaly in number in Gab Kund Jharna in the Rajgir section of my exploration
where for eight water bodies the word Naudiha was used. It clearly meant that
the present day Hindi number of ‘Nau’ represented the number eight in ancient
times) and Tan means to be rigid. We know that eight rigid kings had divided
the relics amongst themselves. Even if we treat Nau as the modern number nine,
then we can say there were eight kings and one Brahmin which makes a total of
nine people who divided the relics. The kings divided the relics at a short
distance from Prasauni and Khutwajabdi. Nautan is certainly the spot the eight
kings divided the relics.
(8) Bettiah-(Si-Yu-Ki page 42 to 43). From the relic dividing
stupa near Kiu-se-na-kie-lo or Raxaul/Birgunj, Huen Tsang goes 200 li’s south
west to Bettiah. Here he doesn’t name the place but narrates a story concerning
the Buddhas son. Since Bettiah is exactly 53 kilometers or 200 li’s as the crow
flies from Khutwajabdi where the relic dividing stupa is, I concluded this was
the place Huen Tsang had visited. I will quote page 42 first para first line of
his book Si-Yu-Ki where he writes, “To
the south west of the relic dividing stupa, going 200 li or so, we come to a
great village; here lived a Brahmin of eminent wealth and celebrity, deeply
learned in all pure literature, versed in the five vidya’s, aquainted with the
three treasures. By the side of his home he had built a priests house and had
used all his wealth to adorn it with magnificence.” The Brahmin would
entertain and respect all holy men, even Buddhist Bhikshus. Those days bhikshus
were on the run to escape the wrath of the Hindu king Shashank. It seems the
bhikshus took refuge in the jungles around Bettiah. One day the Brahmin saw an
extremely old Bhikshu with long eye lashes so he took him into his guest house.
In the morning he gave the Bhikshu some rice milk or kheer. The Bhikshu took a
mouthful, sighed, and returned the rice milk to his begging bowl. The Brahmin
then asked if the kheer wasn’t good enough. The old Bhikshu replied that he
would explain when he finished his food. But when he finished, he got up to
go.The Brahmin stopped him and reminded him that he had promised to chat after
he ate. The old Bhikshu replied that the present circumstance made it irksome
to tell his story. His story would sound doubtful. But he would tell the
Brahmin since the latter insisted. The truth was he hadn’t tasted such good
food for the last few hundred years. But the food wasn’t as good as the water
of old days. He then goes on to say he lived with the Buddha in Venuvan in
Ho-li-shi-ki-li-hi (wrongly translated as Rajgir by Samuel Beal). He washed the
Buddhas clothes and cooked his food. The Brahmin was surprised as it was a few
hundred years since the Buddha had died. He asked the old Bhikshu if he meant
he had seen the Buddha. The old Bhikshu replied (page 43), “have you never heard of Rahul, Buddhas own son? I am he! Because I
desired to protect the law I have not yet entered nirvana.” The reader will
realize it was because of this story I accepted Bettiah town as the Brahmins
village Huen Tsang wrote about. Bettiah sounds similar to Bettwa which means
son. The entire Brahmins story is about the last sighting of Rahul who was the
Buddhas son. Huen Tsang goes on to further tell us that the old man (Rahul)
suddenly disappeared so the Brahmin swept and washed the spot and installed a
statue in likeness of the old man. I will quote the second last para second
line of page 43 of the report. He writes, “Then
the Brahmin swept and watered the chamber he had used, and placed there a
figure of him, which he revered as though he was present.” The last statement
“WHICH HE REVERED AS THOUGH HE WAS PRESENT.” This statement was pivotal in
helping me find the Brahmins abode in Bettiah as the phrase directly means
servant which in Hindi is ‘Das’. It is now a Ram Temple called ‘Santawan Das
Mutt’. I went and told the priest that it was ‘Santaan Das mutt’ and not
‘Santawan Das Mutt’. Within a span of 2300 years it was natural there was a
slight change in name which I corrected. “Santaan”
means son and ‘Das’ means servant. The name of the temple itself suits Huen
Tsangs last phrase, “which he revered as
though he was present.” That is the work of a ‘Das’ or a servant.
This is all that Huen Tsang describes in
the Mahaparinirvana area around the Mahaparinirvana stupa which I identified as
Bada Pareuwa. But there are more stupas connected to the Buddhas Mahaparinirvana
which Huen Tsang seems to omit. Amongst them are Koiriya Tola’s (note: not
Khushinagar) Buddha relic stupas and Subhadra’s relic stupa.
(g) Bakurahiya
Village: Bhakurahiya is definitely the
relic stupa of Subhadra who was the Buddhas last disciple to be ordained an
arhat by the Buddha himself. As stated earlier he attained nirvana by fire in
Jokhiyari. He went down in Buddhist folklore and Buddhist history as the last
disciple to be converted by Buddha and the first to attain nirvana. He
definitely deserved and attained the stature of having his relics enshrined in
a stupa. This is Bhakurahiya stupa which now has a village settled on it
keeping the name alive. Subhadra was a roamer and Baukhna means to roam. His
nickname was Bhakuwa because he was a roamer. Bakurahiya can be divided into
two parts. They are Baku-rahiya. Baku means roamer and rahiya means ‘he stays
here’. Put together Bakurahiya means the roamer stays here. This hints at his
relics staying/enshrined in Bakurahiya stupa. All relic stupas were places of
homage and worship. They certainly had a sanghramma nearby for the monks
incharge of the stupa to reside in and for pilgrims to stay. A stones throw
from Bakurahiya stupa cum village is Harpur. This is definitely the sanghramma
connected to Bakurahiya stupa.
(G) Sirsiya Mal
(small): There are two Sirsiya Mal villages. One is small and the other is big.
For some reason Huen Tsang omits mentioning Koiriya Tolas (the real
Khushinagar) Buddha relic stupa made to enshrine the share of this countries
Buddha relics. Both Subhadra (Bhakuwa) and the Buddha attained nirvana the same
night. So it was natural the Buddhas relic stupa and Subhadras relic stupa were
in the same area close to each other. One kilometer to the west of Bakurahiya
is Sirsiya Mal village on a stupa. Mal means relics and Sir of Sirsiya means
the head. Put together it means relics of the head. It seems when the relics
were divided the Mallas of the area took the head portion of the Buddhas
relics. After all they had acceded to the Brahmins advice to divide the relics.
They must have exerted their influence as the giver to get the head portion of
the relics. Sirsiya Mal should have the head relic enshrined in it. This is the
Mallas original Buddha relic stupa so is one of the the ten Buddha relic
stupas.
(G) Sirsiya Mal
(big)/ Buddha Relic stupa: We all know that King Ashoka opened the original
Buddha relic stupas and confiscated the relic leaving only a chink. And near
the old stupa he made a bigger and better one. This stupa was more majestic
than the old one. There is a second Sirsiya Mal village south of the small
Sirsiya Mal. I have explained the meaning of Sirsiya Mal. The big Sirsiya Mal
is definitely Ashokas Buddha relic stupa in which he enshrined a chink of the
relics. And the fact it is next to Bakurahiya and Harpur village means this
area had both the Mallas and Ashokas Buddha relic stupa including the
Bakurahiya relic stupa. So it was a total of three relic stupas in an area of
three kilometers in radius.
(h) Harpur
village: Sanghramma incharge of the upkeep of Bakurahiya relic stupa and the
Buddha’s relic stupa. The reason I chose Harpur as the sanghramma is because of
its close proximity to the three relic stupas. There is a pattern to the names
given to places. I have noticed the word Harpur or Harraiya or another similar
word is used near a stupa where a self inflicted nirvana occurred. Har means to
lose. Basically those who attained self inflicted nirvana lost the desire to
live so quietly passed away. There are two more villages with the name Sirsiya.
They are Sirsiya Kalan and Sirsiya Khurd. These were also sanghrammas connected
to the Buddhas relic stupas.
(h) ‘Noneya Dih’
village near Raxaul: Huen Tsang doesn’t mention where the eight kings put up.
They must have stayed somewhere. This wasn’t important for Huen Tsang. The
number eight in ancient times was pronounced as ‘Naw’. I realized this in Huen
Tsangs description of ‘Gab Kund Jharna’ lake near Sohari and Jethian villages
in Rajgir. Huen Tsang says the water in the lake has eight pure bodies. On the
banks of the lake is a village on a stupa called Nawdiha. Today ‘Naw’ in Hindi
means the number nine and ‘diha’ means body. But Huen Tsang describes eight
water bodies. I concluded in ancient times ‘Naw’ was the number 8. Due to this
I dissected the village name ‘No-nea-dih’ in three parts. They are
‘Naw-nyay-dih’. ‘Naw’ means the number eight , and ‘nyay’ means justice or the
giver of justice which is usually a king, and ‘dih’ means residence. Put
together Noneadih means residence of eight kings. Noneadih is certainly the
place where the eight kings resided. The next stupa cum village will strengthen
my claim that Noneadih is the place where the 8 kings who came to receive the
Buddhas relics resided.
(i) Nakardei
village on a stupa: In page 41 Huen Tsang tells how eight kings of eight
countries come to take their share of relics. They send a Brahmin by the name
of Drone to put forward their claim. The Mallas, whom I have identified with
the Amarya sub gotra (sometimes pronounced as Amalya. They are certainly the
Mallas Huen Tsang describes) of the Bharduaj Bhumihar Brahmins residing in
Mahdeva and Sahdeva villages who own the land around this area, refused to part
with the relics. I will quote the fifth line of page 41 of ‘Si-Yu-Ki’. Huen
Tsang writes, “Tathagat has condescended
to come to this land; the guide of the world is dead: The loving father of all
that lives is gone: we ought to adore the relics of Buddha; your journey here
has been in vain, you will not gain your end.” From this quote we realize
the Mallas refused to part with the relics. This is exactly what the village
name ‘Nakardei’ means. I will divide the name in two as ‘Na-kardei’. ‘Na’
simply means ‘no’ and ‘kardei’ simply is the Bihari word ‘kar-delkey’ which
means to say or do something. Put together ‘Nakardei’ clearly means to say no
to something requested. Nakardei is on a big stupa and the village strengthens
my claim that the eight kings resided in ‘Noneya Dih’.
(j) Murli Chowk
Birgunj: In the Maha Parinirvana story the people decide to take the coffin and
dead body of the Buddha towards the south to Raxaul or the mispronounced
Kusinara to cremate it there. But the coffin is too heavy to lift. When the
people fail to lift it they decide to take it northwards. The coffin allows
itself to be lifted. The coffin bearers accompanied by a crowd march
northwards, and once outside the city gates, they turn east to the spot where
they cremated it. Where they turned east is today called Murli Chowk. The road on
which ‘Ga Hawa Mai’ temple is situated is today the Tribhuvan highway which
goes through the middle of Birgunj town. North of ‘Gah Hawa Mai’ temple is a
cross road named ‘Murli Chowk’. Murli means ‘turn here’. A road branches east
from ‘Murli Chowk’ and travels north east straight to ‘Khutwajabdi’ and
Prasauni where Huen Tsang claims the dead body was prepared for cremation and
later cremated. This is exactly as it is described in the Maha Parinrvana
story. The coffin is taken north, and once out of the city gates, it turns east
to the cremation place. Huen Tsang states that the cremation spot is 5
kilometers north east to ‘Gah Hawa Mai’ temple where the Buddha died. Basically
Huen Tsang and the Maha Parinirvana narrative agree with each other. Murli Chowk
is actually a direction to pilgrims following on the Buddha’s trail, to turn
here and go east to Khutwajabdi and Prasauni. It’s proof that in ancient times
pilgrims would flow in causing the concerned people to name a crossroad with
the simple meaning ‘turn’.
I have finished describing the miscellaneous stupas which Huen Tsang
seems to have omitted. Now in this section I will point out some stupas which
are important to prove that Bada Pareuwa is the Mahaparinirvana stupa where the
Buddha breathed his last and Parsauni is the Parinirvana stupa where his body
was cremated. This extract from the Mahaparinirvana story is the route the
Buddha took to Bada Pareuwa.
(u) Parsa
village/Pava: From Dhumnagar, mispronounced as Bhognagara, in Motihari town,
the Buddha goes to the country of Pava which I have identified with Parsa
village. There he stays in Cunda the blacksmiths Mango grove. According to Huen
Tsang the Mallas were the rulers who lived in Pava/Parsa. I have identified the
Mallas with the Mall’s which are a sub cast of the Kashyapa gotra of Bhumihar
Brahmins who live in this village. I have identified the mango grove as (i) the
bazaar of ‘Sugauli’ and (2) Sagauli which is the name of the railway station
that has a slightly different name from ’Sugauli’. This area is definitely
Cundas mango grove because it is here that the Buddha eats pig meat and his
disciples eat spinach locally known as Saag which is why the railway stations
name is Sagauli.
(v) Malla’s of Pava (Parsa village): I will
quote Wikipedia, “Malla was one of the
solasa (16) Mahajanapads of ancient India mentioned in the Anguttara Nikaya. It
was named after the ruling clan of the same name. The Mahabharata mentions the
territory as the Mallarashtra (Malla state). The Malla Mahajanapada was situated
north of Magadh. It was a small Mahajanapada. The Mahajanapada was divided into
two main parts and the river Kakutta (present day Kuku) was probably the
dividing line. The capitol of these two parts were Kusavati (modern Kasia near
Gorakhpur) and Pava, modern Fazlinagar twelve miles from Kasia.”The reader will realize that
historians are doing guess work as till date they still haven’t discovered
where the real Malla country is and who the Mallas were. Parsa village is
inhabited with the Bhumihar Brahmin community of the ‘Kashyapa gotra’. For
those who don’t understand Brahmanism and Gotra, the Brahmins are divided into
various sub casts called Gotras, one of which is ‘Kashyap’. The Kashyaps are
again divided into various sub casts of which one is ‘Mall’. The Bhumihar
Brahmins who live in Parsa village belong to the Kashyapa Mall sub cast. So you
have your ‘Mallas of Pava’ which is a direct mispronunciation of “Mall Bhumihar
Brahmins of Parsa village’. Wikipedia states the Malla janapada was situated north
of Magadh. This is Wikipedia’s only accurate description in the Parinirvana
story because Parsa, Sugauli and Raxaul (mispronounced as Kusavati), which I
and Huen Tsang claim is the country of the Mallas, are bang north of Rajgir and
Gaya which was once central Magadh just as Wikipedia says and just as Buddhist
scriptures suggest. Historians claim the name Pava disappeared and was replaced
by Fazlinagar in the state of UP and Kusavati disappeared and was replaced by
‘Kasia’ which is a colony of Khushinagar. Khushinagar itself is a British
historian concocted word and not the original name. This is pure guess work as
Fazlinagar is a Muslim name. Fazlinagar and Kasia bazaar in Khushinagar are
situated in the extreme northwest of Gaya and Rajgir which is the central part
of Magadh. This is directly opposite to what Buddhist scriptures say. Buddhist
scriptures state clearly the Malla country was north of Magadh. The report on
the Parinirvana in Wikipedia states a report by LA Wadell in the section
“Location of Gautam Buddha’s death and Parinirvana” which I will quote. “It has been suggested by Wadell that the
site of the death and Parinirvana of Gautam Buddha was in the region of
Rampurva. “I believe that Kusinagara, where the Buddha died, may be ultimately
found to the north of Bettiah, and in the line of the Ashoka pillars which lead
hither from Patna (Pataliputra) in Bihar. It still awaits proper archaeological
excavation.” Khutwajabdi, which is north east of Birgunj town where the
Buddha died is exactly 56 kilometers as the crow flies north east of Bettiah
town. This tallies with Wadells statement. From this quote the reader will
realize that amongst the British colonial historians, Wadell was honest and
accurate and most everywhere he agrees with Huen Tsangs bearings. We can finally conclude that Parsa village is
the country of Pava. It is the Malla country divided by the Burhi Gandak river,
which in this area is called ‘Sikrauna. This is mispronounced in Buddhist scriptures
as the Kukkuta river.
(w) Cundas house/
‘Parsa Tola Arazi Chakwa’: In the vicinity of Parsa village is a satellite
village of the former by the name of ‘Parsa Tola Arazi Chakw’. ‘Parsa Tola’
means a colony or part of Parsa village. ‘Arazi’ means plot owned by someone,
in this case plot owned by Chakw. Put together ‘Parsa Tola Arazi Chakw clearly
means “a colony of Parsa village owned by Chakw.” The reader will realize Chakw
is the Buddhist scriptures mispronounced ‘Cunda’, the man who fed the Buddha
with pig meat. So the area near ‘Parsa Tola Arazi Chakw’ is clearly the mango
grove of Cunda/Chakw where the Buddha ate his last meal. This is clearly
Sugauli and Sagauli. ‘Parsa Tola Arazi Chakw’ is clearly Cundas house.
(1) Sugauli:
Sugauli can be easily divided into two separate words. They are ‘Su’ and
‘gauli’. ‘Suga’ is certainly a short form of ‘sugar’ pronounced as soogar which
means pig. In the Maha Parinirvana story it is clearly stated that the Buddha
ordered meat of a pig to be fed to him that had died naturally. The last four
latter’s of Sugauli, namely ‘gauli’ can be easily deciphered as ‘Khauli’ which
means to eat. Put together Sugauli is easily deciphered as ‘Soogar Khauli’
which means to eat pig meat. After eating the meal the Buddha forbids Cunda
from feeding it to the disciples and orders Cunda to bury the left over’s. The
reader may not know why the Buddha gave the order to bury the leftover meat. In
India the guru is extremely revered and it is regarded as a pleasure and
blessing to eat the left over’s of a guru’s meal. The Buddha had ordered meat
of a dead pig knowing full well it would most probably be rotten and poisonous.
The Buddha had prepared himself to die. He made sure his disciples didn’t eat
the meat.
(2) Sagauli: The
Sugauli railway station goes by the name of Sagauli. Sagauli can be broken up
into ‘Sag’, pronounced as ‘Saag’, and ‘gauli’. Saag is a common spinach the
locals of Bihar eat and relish. It is simply leaves fried in a minimum of oil
and grounded on the fire till it is cooked. A bit of salt is added. “Gauli’ is
clearly deciphered as ‘khauli’ which in the local language means to eat. Put
together Sagauli is easily deciphered as ‘Saag Khauli’ which means to eat Saag
or spinach. In the Maha Parinirvana story the Buddha and his disciples sit down
to eat. It doesn’t state where they sat to eat other than Cundas house. Ground
reality is that there is a distance of 600 meters between Sagauli (railway
station) and Sugauli bazaar. In Bihar it is a strict rule that vegetarians
don’t eat food in the same place or in the vicinity of non vegetarian food. It
is a sort of holy law which I trace to the Buddhism left in us. So when the
Buddha ate pig meat it was impossible for his disciples to be seated next to
him while they also ate. IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE AND UNTHINKABLE. So the distance of
600 meters between the two places where the Buddha and the disciples ate fits
in with the local custom of a sworn vegetarian avoiding a non vegetarian. If
the disciples were present next to the Buddha on the same spot where he ate the
rotten meat, it would be regarded as though they had also eaten it. For
Buddhists and today for rural north Indians this is taboo. We can end the pig
and spinach eating episode with the fact that there is a 600 meters distance
between the two fits in with the local behavioral pattern of vegetarians. Today
the railway station is called Sagauli so I have concluded the Britishers who
constructed the station did so because the stupa there provided them with high
ground and saved money on mud filling. So basically the stupa marking the spot
where the disciples ate spinach will have been submerged by the railway tracks
and station platform.
(x)
Patkhaulia/Ubbhataka: According to Wikipedia’s definition and proof of Pava or
Parsa as the country of the Malla’s, it should have a preaching hall which the
Buddha inaugurated. I will quote the Pava section of Wikipedia. “According to
the Sangitti Sutta, at the time the Buddha was staying at Pava, the Mallas had
just completed their new Mote hall, Ubbhataka, and, at their invitation, the
Buddha consecrated it by first occupying it and then preaching in it. After the
Buddha had finished speaking, Sariputta recited the Sangiti Sutta to the
assembled monks.” From this quote we realize that the country of Pava or Parsa
must have a preaching hall which the Buddha inaugurated. Buddhist scriptures
mention the name of the preaching hall is ‘Ubbhataka’ which again is a foreign
Buddhist mispronunciation of the Indian name. Five hundred meters south west of
‘Parsa Tola Arazi Chakw’, which is Cunda or Chakw’s house, is a hamlet on a mud
mound called ‘Patkhaulia’ which sounds similar to the mispronounced Buddhist
word ‘Ubbhataka’. Patkhualia, in the local language, simply means to open the
doors of a temple so that people can pay homage to it. It also means to
inaugurate a temple. ‘Pat’ is the door of the sanctum sanctorum of a temple
which is opened and closed at fixed times of the day. ‘Khaulia’ means to open
or to inaugurate. So ‘Patkhaulia’ means to inaugurate a holy spot which is
exactly what the Buddha did. So Patkhaulia or the mispronounced Ubbhataka is
another spot which the Indian historians never found because they identified
Pava with the wrong place. Pathkhaulia definitely strengthens my claim that
Parsa village and the area surrounding it including Patkhaulia, Sugauli,
Sagauli, and ‘Parsa Tola Arazi Chakw’ is the country of the Mallas of Pava.
(y) Nimuee
Belaith: Nimuee most probably is the ancient rendering of the rural word
‘nimuha’ which means speechless or mouth less. It also means speechless with a
dry mouth. Belaith is most probably the ancient rendering of the rural word
‘Bilatna’ which literally means to squirm with pain. Put together ‘Nimuee
Belaith’ clearly means “a speechless man with a parched mouth squirming in
pain”. The name of this place clearly describes the condition and predicament
of the Buddha according to the Maha Parinirvana story in Theravada
sources. After a severe bout of
diarrhea, from Cundas mango grove, the Buddha continues moving northwestwards
on his way to his nirvana. But he is badly affected by diarrhea and decides to
rest under a tree on the side of the road. This is in Nimuee village slightly
two kilometers north west of Sugauli and Sagauli. According to the Maha
Parinirvana story the Buddha was tired and extremely thirsty. He was desperate
to drink water so he asks Anand to fetch water from a nearby shallow rivulet.
Anand goes to the rivulet and realizes 500 bullock carts have just crossed it
muddying the water. Anand comes back and informs the Buddha about the muddy
water. But the Buddha is desperate to drink so he forces Anand to go back.
Anand comes back saying it is still muddy and undrinkable. He advices the
Buddha that the Kukkuta river (Kukkuta is once again mispronounced. It is the
Burhi Gandak river locally known as Sikrana river. Kukkuta seems to be a
mispronunciation of ‘Sikrana’) is close by. The river was just three quarters
of a kilometer away from Nimuee Belaith where the Buddha was begging Anand for
water. Nimuee is situated on the banks of that muddy rivulet which flows for
three quarters of a kilometer into the Burhi Gandak river known locally as the
Sikrana river.
(z) Kohra
rivulet: The Kohra rivulet is the thin river next to Nimuee Belaith hamlet. It
is near the road where the Buddha rested and begged Anand for water next to
Nimuee village. Kohra in the local rural language means misty or muddy. The
name of the river clearly states it was named Kohra after the incident when the
Buddha was squirming in pain and was desperate to drink water even after 500
carts had crossed the rivulet and muddied it. The name of the river is
according to the Maha Parinirvana story and clearly states that incident took
place on the banks of this river. The rivulet flows for three quarters of a
kilometer and empties into the Burhi Gandak river which in this area is called
the Sikrana river and which Buddhist scriptures mispronounce as Kukkuta river.
Kohra river is another proof of Parsa being the Malla country of Pava.
(za) Burhi
Gandak river/Sikrana river/ Kukkuta river: The Kohra rivulet flows into the
Burhi Gandak river which Buddhist scriptures call the Kukkuta river. Kukkuta is
actually a foreign Buddhist mispronunciation of Sikrana. It is interesting to
note that this river is known as Narayani in Nepal, Burhi Gandak in India, and
Sikrana in this particular stretch of the river. Sikrana means to grow thin to
such an extent as to look grotesque. The Buddha forded the river after drinking
water from it and bathing in it. We must remember his condition in Nimuee
Belaith. The place was named to express the extremely painful condition of the
Buddha. Sikrana or Sikurna in the local rural language means to shrivel down to
such an extent as to look grotesque. Basically the reader will realize that
this was the condition of the Buddha when he forded this river. He had become
thin and frail. This is why the river in this area is called Sikrana.
(zb)
Gudra/Cundaka: When the Buddha crosses the Sikrana river he rests in Cundakas
mango grove. On the opposite side of the river from Nimuhee Belaith is the
village of Gudra. The position of this village half a kilometer from the river
states the Buddha must have come here. Like the rest of the mispronounced
Buddhists words Cundaka is also mispronounced. It sounds similar to Gudra and
certainly is a mispronunciation of that word. The gist of the Buddha’s stay at
Cundaka’s mango grove is ‘he asks Cundaka
to fold his robe in four’. There are two possible meanings of ‘Gudra’.
Gundri is a Bihari word for a robe made out of patches from different pieces of
cloth. This is usually used by the poor who can’t afford whole cloth. They
scavenge patches and stitch them together. The Buddha was a bhikshu so most
probably his robe was a ‘Gundri’. The fact that the Buddha asked Cundaka to
fold his robe in four and lay it down in the mango grove could mean the village
was named ‘Gudra’ after the robe. “Gudra’ could be an ancient rendition of the
present day word Gundri. (b) The second meaning of Gudra is it is simply a
mispronunciation of Cundaka. The area is still a mango grove. Gudra village is
inhabited by poor people of the Jadav cast. What is special about this village
is the temples in this village, which are ancient, are too big and expensive
for the people of this village, or their ancestors, to afford to make. They
were certainly made by rich people long time ago. The people pray to a local
deity by the name of ‘Goraiya Baba’. I have noticed this in several other
places where the Buddha visited and which was populated by the Jadav community.
They are the Goraiya sub cast of Jadavs who pray to statues of a pair of feet.
Basically I came to the conclusion the feet belong to the Buddha. Huen Tsang
says about these people that, “they follow the Sammatiya school of Buddhism.”
In the rural local language feet are called ‘Gor’ so it seems that this sub
clan of Yadavs pray to the Buddha’s Gor. I came across the same thing in
Mathokhar Duh which Huen Tsang mispronounced as Kapotika which he calls the
pigeon monastery. I have happily come to the conclusion Cundaka is a foreign
mis-pronunciation of Gudra who belonged to the Jadav community, and who prayed
to the Buddha’s feet. I mean the Buddha’s ‘Gor’. He was a Goraiya Jadav.
Moreover, at a certain period of the year Goraiya Yadavs angrily sacrifice a pig.
The date they sacrifice a pig is most probably the date the Buddha ate pig
meat.
(zc) Lal Parsa
Dhumni Tola/Pukkusa: In the Maha Parinirvana story, before crossing the Kukkuta
River the Buddha sits at the base (root) of a tree when ‘Pukusa’ the son of a Malla
comes and sits near him. He tells the Buddha about Alara Kalama and his ability
to meditate even when 500 bullock carts passed by him so close that the dust
from their wheels fell on Alara Kalama. The Buddha then tells Pukkusa about his
own concentration during meditation. Once he was meditating when a storm struck
with thunder and lightning. The lightning struck so close that two people and
some oxen died. But the Buddha was deep in meditation and didn’t notice it.
Pukkusa is overwhelmed by this story and decides to replace Alara Kalama with
the Buddha as the perfect guru. He then presents the Buddha and Anand with
golden robes and goes on his way. When Anand drapes it on the Buddha, the
latter’s body is so radiant, that the golden robe looks dull. I realize the
name ‘Lal Parsa Dhumni Tola’ fits this story well. Pukkusa is certainly a
mispronunciation of Parsa. Lal means son. Pukkusa is the son of the Mallas. He
is mentioned in that manner. This is exactly what Lal means. It means son. Even
today parents lovingly call their son Lal. Lal Parsa definitely means Parsa the
son of the Mallas. Dhumni of ‘Lal Parsa Dhumni Tola’ seems to be the ancient
rendering of ‘Dhoom’ which means faded or dull. We must remember that when the
Buddha wore the golden robe it looked faded on his bright body. The word
‘Dhumni’ is referring to, the golden robe looking faded, episode in the Maha
Parinrvana story. ‘Lal Parsa Dhumni Tola’ is certainly the spot where Pukkusa
the Mallas son discoursed with the Buddha and became the latter’s follower. It
was in Dhumni Tola that Pukkusa gave the golden robe to the Buddha and Anand
and when the Buddha wore it looked pale like Dhoom or mist. There is a hitch.
According to the Theravada Maha Parinirvana sources this interaction takes place
before the Buddha crosses the Kukkuta/Sikrana River. I mean three quarters of a
kilometer to the south of the Kukkuta/Sikrana river. ‘Lal Parsa Dhumni Tola’
village is on the other side of the river which is to the north of it. It means
the Buddha crossed the river and stayed in Cundas grove after which he carried
on his journey. He soon got and rested under a tree. It was here that the
‘Pukkusa son of the Malla’ story took place. Basically ground reality says the
sequence of events in the Maha Parinirvana sutta is flawed. According to the
Maha Parinrvana sutta the Buddha is sitting under a tree when ‘Pukusa son of
the Malla’ sees him and sits near him discoursing with him. After Pukusa
leaves, the Buddha goes to the Kukkuta, I mean the Sikrana River, and crosses
it to rest in Cundakas mango grove. Ground reality is between ‘Nimuee Belaith’
where an exhausted and parched Buddha pestered Anand for water, and the
Kukkuta/Sikrana river there is no village or place with which could carry
‘Pukusa the Malla’s sons’ name. The reader will notice each and every incident
has a village dedicated to it. ‘Lal Parsa’ village means ‘the son Parsa’ is on
the other side of the river. We must remember the story is 2400 years old and
has been coming down the ages from mouth to mouth so changes in the narration
could have taken place.
(zd)
Kie-se-kie-na-lo/Koiriya Tola: From Lalparsa Dhumni Tola the Buddha and his
group travel to what the world calls Khushinagar or Kusinara. Actually
Khushinagar is a word concocted by Samuel Beal who translated Huen Tsangs book
into English. The place is Koiriya Tola which is a part of Raxaul town. It is
definitely Huen Tsangs ‘Kiu-sie-na-kie-lo’. I will quote page 31 second last
para.“After this going north east through a great forest, along a dangerous
and difficult road, where wild oxen and herds of elephants, and robbers and
hunters cause incessant trouble to travelers. After leaving the forest we come
to the kingdom of ‘Kiu-shi-na-kie-lo.” Huen Tsang tells us that the place
where the Buddha died was north east to Lauriya Nandangarh. Koiriya Tola is
directly north east to Lauriya Nandangarh. The wild jungle infested with wild
and dangerous oxen and elephant’s and robbers that Huen Tsang describes, is the
Bhaisa Loten jungle of Bettiah district. Even today it is wild and lawless. The
name Bhaisa Loten means wild oxen lolling in mud so the name tallies with Huen
Tsangs description. It is still a highly criminalized zone and highly
dangerous. Today it is part of Valmiki tiger reserve. Samuel Beal took Huen
Tsangs ‘Kiu-se-na-kie-lo’ at face value and translated it as Khushinagar.
Actually ‘Kiu-shie-na-kie-lo is a Chinamans attempt to pronounce Koiriya Tola.
The latter sounds verbally similar to Huen Tsangs Kiu-se-na-kie-lo’. Finding
‘Koiriya Tola’ was tough because here Huen Tsang fails to give mileage or
distance and only states the north easterly direction. And the village was
hidden in Raxaul Bazar. So it took me three whole days to study the entire area
north east of Lauriya Nandangarh and choose ‘Koiriya Tola’ as Huen Tsangs
“Kiu-se-na-kie-lo.” I did this by finding names of places connected to the
Buddha’s nirvana and realized Huen Tsangs Kiu-shie-na-kie-lo was nothing else
but Koiriya Tola. Huen Tsang says the capitol was 10 li in circuit. Ten Li’s is
approximately 2 kilomteres in circuit.
British historians took Samuel Beals mis deciphered and concocted
‘Khushinagar’ and started a wild goose search for a similar name. Its clear
Samuel Beal never visited any place of the names he created which is why none
of the holy Buddhist spots were discovered. British historians identified Kasia
Bazar as Khushinagar or Huen Tsangs ‘Kiu-shi-na-kie-lo’ simply on the basis of
a sleeping Buddha statue found in a stupa. They removed the name of Kasia
bazaar and re-christened the place Khushinagar. So Khushinagar is a concocted
word by British historians who thought that was what Huen Tsang meant. The
reader will realize Huen Tsang goes nowhere near present day Khushinagar.
Sirsiya Kala is definitely the real Khushinagar where the Buddha went for his
Maha Parinirvana. The main proof for Koiriya Tola being Huen Tsangs
Kiu-se-na-kie-lo is the temple of Baba Trilokinath. Huen Tsang states in the
northeastern angle of the city is an Ashokan stupa identifying the house of
‘Chun-to’. I realized Chun-to was none other than Trilokinath. I will quote the
first paragraph of page thirty two. Huen Tsang writes. “The brick foundation walls of the old capitol are about 10 li in
circuit. There are few inhabitants, and the avenues of the town are deserted
and waste. At the north-east angle of the city gate is a stupa which was built
by Ashoka Raja. This is the old house of Chunda (Chun-to); in the middle of
which is a well which was dug in the middle while he was making an offering. Although
it has overflowed for years and months, the water is still pure and sweet.”
Folks, Trilokinath has been definitely mispronounced as Chun-to. This and other
stupas prove that Koiriya Tola is definitely Huen Tsangs ‘Kiu-se-na-kie-lo’.
(ze) Harannavati
river/Sirsiya river (locally pronounced Surasiya river): In Sirsiya Kala or the
mispronounced Kusinara the Buddha tells Anand let us cross the Hirannavati
river to the north and rest in the Mallas Sala grove. Huen Tsang calls this
river ‘O-shi-to-fa-ti’. I have identified the Hirannavati or Huen Tsangs
‘O-shi-to-fa-ti’ river as the Sirsiya river dividing the twin towns of Raxaul
and Birgunj. The river also travels down the eastern edge of these towns. I
have identified Raxaul as the sal grove of the Mallas in the vicinity of
Sirsiya Kala. There is a huge stupa in the middle of the town which has a
bustling market on it. The Buddha and his group cross this river and reach the
Mallas Sal grove. I have identified the Mallas. They are a sub cast of the Bhumihar
Brahmin cast of the Bharduaj Gotra. Their sub Gotra is Amarya sometimes
pronounced as Amalya. They are definitely the Mallas as Amalya sounds similar
to Malla.
(zf) Bada
Pareuwa/Sirsiya river: Bada Pareuwa to the west of Raxaul is certainly the
place where the Buddha breathed his last. In page 32 second para first line
Huen Tsang states, “To the north west of
the city three or four Li, crossing the ‘O-shi-to-fa-ti’ river (Samuel Beal
translates it as Oshitofati) river, on the western bank not far, we come to a
grove of Sal Trees.” The ‘O-shi-to-fa-ti’ river is the Sirsiya river
flowing down the eastern border of Birgunj town to Raxaul. The spelling of the
rivers name is written Sirsiya, but the locals pronounce the word as Saurasiya.
Saurasia sounds very similar to Huen Tsangs ‘O-shi-to-fa-ti’. Bada Pareuwa is certainly the place where the
Buddha breathed his last. It was the Mallas Sal grove. Bada is big and Pareuwa can be divided into
two words. They are Pare-uwa. Pare means to lie on the ground and ‘uwa’ means
northwards. Together Bada Pareuwa means Lying with head to the north. When the
Buddha breathed his last, he lay with his head to the north. Buddhists have
mispronounced Bada Pareuwa as Maha Parinirvana. You can see the similarities
between the two words. Bada has been substituted with Maha. They both have the
same meaning. Parinirvana is simply a Buddhist mispronunciation of Pareuwa.
Bada Pareuwa is certainly the Maha Parinirvana stupa. Today it is a village
mostly populated by Muslims. In the third last line of page 32 second para,
Huen Tsang writes, “In this wood there
are four trees of unusual height, which indicate the place where Tathagat died.”
So we understand the Buddha died between Sal trees in Bada Pareuwa stupa. The
biggest proof of Bada Pareuwa being the Maha Parinirvana stupa is the distance
between it and Koiriya Tola which I have identified with Huen Tsangs
mispronounced ‘Kiu-se-na-kie-lo’. I will quote the second paragraph of page
thirty two. Huen Tsang writes. “To the
north-west of the city 3 or 4 Li, crossing the Ajitavati (O-shi-to-fa-ti)
river, on the western bank, not far, we come to a grove of Sala trees. The Sala
tree, is like the Huh tree, with a greenish white bark with leaves very
glistening and smooth. In this wood are four trees of an unusual height, which
indicate the place where Tathagat died.” Four li equals to one kilometer.
Bada Pareuwa is exactly one kilometer north east of Koiriya Tola. This tallies
with Huen Tsangs bearings. So this is definite proof that Bada Pareuwa is the
Buddha’s Maha Parinirvana stupa. The clinching proof that Bada Pareuwa is the
Maha Parinirvana stupa is the pronunciations of different Buddhist countries
countries In Pali it is Parinibbana. In Burmese its Parinibbaran, in Chinese
its Boniepan. In Thai the reclining Buddha is ‘Parang phra phut ta roupe.
Parang seems a mispronunciation of Parang. Phra seems to be a mispronunciation
of Pare of Pareuwa. And ‘Phut ta roupe’ is a mispronunciation of ‘reuwa’ of
Pareuwa which itself is a tongue twister. It’s a clear cut case that Pareuwa is
the original of all these foreign mispronounced words.
Thanking you.
Please view the video of which I have supplied the link. And please get back to
me with your views.