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Kajaṅgala

A township that formed the eastern boundary of the Majjhimadesa. Beyond it was Mahāsālā (Vin.i.197; DA.i.173; MA.i.316, etc; AA.i.55, etc; J.i.49; Mbv.12). In the Buddha’s time it was a prosperous place where provisions could easily be obtained (dabbasambhārasulabhā) (J.iv.310). Once when the Buddha was staying in the Veḷuvana at Kajaṅgala, the lay followers there heard a discourse from the Buddha and went to the nun Kajaṅgalā to have it explained in detail (A.v.54 f). On another occasion the Buddha stayed in the Mukheluvana and was visited there by Uttara, the disciple of Pārāsariya. Their conversation is recorded in the Indriyabhāvānā Sutta (M.iii.298 ff). In the Milindapañha (p.10), Kajaṅgala is described as a brahmin village and is given as the place of Nāgasena’s birth. In the Kapota Jātaka mention is made of Kajaṅgala, and the scholiast (J.iii.226‑7) explains that it may be the same as Bārāṇasī. According to the scholiast of the Bhisa Jātaka (J.iv.311), the tree-spirit mentioned in that story was the chief resident monk in an old monastery in Kajaṅgala, which monastery he repaired with difficulty during the time of Kassapa Buddha.

Kajaṅgala is identified with the Kie-chu-hoh-khi-lo of Hiouen Thsang, which he describes as a district about two thousand li in circumference. (Beal, Bud. Records, ii.193, and n; see also Cunningham, A.G.I.723). It may also be identical with the town Pundavardhana mentioned in the Divyāvadāna (p.21 f). The Avadānaśataka (ii.41) calls it Kacaṅgalā.