Bettiah, the town where Rahul, the Buddhas son, was last seen: After the Buddhas death people opposing the Buddhas religion became violent on them. So some ran away to the forests of north Bihar. Amongst them was Rahul, Lord Buddhas son. He was last seen in Bettiah which seems to be the ancient rendering of Bettwah, which means son. Below is the report I gave to the Archaeological survey of India pertaing this north Bihar town.

(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.

Here is the link of the youtube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9Y4nBXpkgg