Mahâ-Parinibbâna-Suttanta: The Book of the Great Decease

[1. From here down to the end of section 44 is found also, nearly word for word, in the beginning of the Mahâ-Sudassana Sutta, translated below; compare also Mahâ-Sudassana Gâtaka, No. 95. 2 Kudda-nagarake ti patirûpake sambâdhe khuddakanagare: Uggangala-nagarake ti visama-nagarake. (S.V. fol. thau.) Kudda, if this explanation be right, seems to be merely an old and unusual form for kshudra, and the Burmese correction into khudda to be unnecessary: but I venture to think it is more likely to be = kudya, and to mean a wall built of mud and sticks, or what is called in India, of wattel and daub. When Buddhaghosa explains uggangala as 'lawless,' he is expressing his view that a town in the jungle is likely to be a heathen, pagan sort of place. 3 With reference to Childers's note in his Dictionary on mahâsâlâ, with which every one must entirely agree, Buddhaghosa's {footnote p. 100} explanation of the word will be interesting as a proof (if proof be needed) that the Ceylon scholars are not always trustworthy. He says, Khattiya-mahâsâlâ ti khattiya-mahâsârâ sârapattâ mahâ-khattiyâ. Eso nayo sabbattha.] p. 100 42. 'Say not so, Ânanda! Say not so, Ânanda, that this is but a small wattel and daub town, a town in the midst of the jungle, a branch township. Long ago, Ânanda, there was a king, by name Mahâ-Sudassana, a king of kings, a righteous man who ruled in righteousness, Lord of the four quarters of the earth, conqueror, the protector of his people, possessor of the seven royal treasures. This Kusinârâ, Ânanda, was the royal city of king Mahâ-Sudassana, under the name of Kusâvatî, and on the east and on the west it was twelve leagues in length, and on the north and on the south it was seven leagues in breadth.