Q162
History of IndiaMahajanapadas, Buddhism & Jainism
Which Buddhist text provides an account of the 16 Mahajanpadas of the 6th century B.C.?
- a.Tripitaka
- b.Dipavamsa
- c.Digha Nikaya
- d.Anguttara Nikaya
Answer: (D) Anguttara Nikaya
The standard list of the sixteen Mahajanapadas comes from the Anguttara Nikaya, one of the five Nikayas of the Sutta Pitaka; the Jain Bhagavati Sutra gives a somewhat different list. The sixteen are Anga, Magadha, Kashi, Kosala, Vajji, Malla, Chedi, Vatsa, Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Surasena, Assaka, Avanti, Gandhara and Kamboja; Assaka on the Godavari was the only one south of the Vindhyas. 'Tripitaka' (A) is the name of the whole Pali canon (Vinaya, Sutta and Abhidhamma Pitakas) and is too broad an answer; the Dipavamsa (B) is a Sri Lankan chronicle; and the Digha Nikaya (C) is the collection of long discourses. The five Nikayas: Digha, Majjhima, Samyutta, Anguttara and Khuddaka.