Difference between revisions of "Kapilavatthu"
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− | A city near the [[Himalaya]], capital of the [[Sākiyans]] (q.v.). It was founded by the sons of [[Okkāka]], on the site of the [[hermitage]] of the sage [[Kapila]] - see [[Kapila]] (3) (J.i.15, 49, 50, 54, 64, etc.; see also Divy 548, and [[Buddhacarita]] I.v.2). Near the city was the [[Lumbinī]]vana (q.v.) where [[ | + | |
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+ | [[Kapilavatthu]] was the main town of the Sakyān {{Wiki|clan}} and the place where [[Siddhattha]] [[Gotama]] spent most of his [[Life]] prior to renouncing the [[World]] to become a wandering [[Ascetic]]. Years later, The [[Buddha]] said he had three {{Wiki|palaces}} there – one for the summer, one for the [[rainy | ||
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+ | season]], and one for the winter, each with a pool of [[water]] lilies and [[lotuses]] of different colours (A.III,38). The town was described as [[being]] ‘rich, [[prosperous]], full of [[people]], crowded and thickly populated’ (S.V,369). Later legend says [[Kapilavatthu]] was a magnificent city, whereas it was more likely to have been a small town built around the ruler’s manor house. After the [[disappearance]] of [[Buddhism]] in [[India]], [[Kapilavatthu]] was | ||
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+ | overgrown by jungle and only identified with {{Wiki|certainty}} in 1973. {{Wiki|Archaeological}} excavations revealed a [[stūpa]] first built shortly after The [[Buddha]]’s passing away and remains from later times. | ||
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+ | One often reads that {{Wiki|Prince}} [[Siddhattha]] was ‘born and brought up in the foothills of the [[Himalayas]]’ but this is not correct. The [[scriptures]] say the city was ‘flanked by the [[Himalayas]],’ not in their foothills (Sn.422). The terrain around [[Kapilavatthu]] and nearby [[Lumbinī]] where [[Siddhattha]] was born, is completely flat. The [[Himalayan]] foothills only begin about another 20 kilometres further [[north]]. | ||
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+ | A city near the [[Himalaya]], capital of the [[Sākiyans]] (q.v.). It was founded by the sons of [[Okkāka]], on the site of the [[hermitage]] of the [[Wikipedia:Sage (sophos|sage]] [[Kapila]] - see [[Kapila]] (3) (J.i.15, 49, 50, 54, 64, etc.; see also Divy 548, and [[Buddhacarita]] I.v.2). Near the city was the [[Lumbinī]][[vana]] (q.v.) where The [[Buddha]] was born, and which became one of the four places of [[Pilgrimage]] for the [[Buddhists]]. Close to [[Kapilavatthu]] flowed the [[river]] [[Rohinī]], which formed the boundary between the {{Wiki|kingdoms}} of the [[Sākyans]] and the [[Koliyans]] (DhA.iii.254). In the sixth century B.C. [[Kapilavatthu]] was the centre of a {{Wiki|republic}}, at the head of which was [[Suddhodana]]. The administration and judicial business of the city and all other matters of importance were discussed and decided in the [[Santhāgārasālā]] (D.i.91; J. iv.145). It was here that [[Vidūdabha]] was received by the [[Sākyans]] (J.iv.146f). The walls of the city were eighteen {{Wiki|cubits}} high (J.i.63; according to Mtu.ii.75 it had seven walls). From [[Kapilavatthu]] to the [[river]] [[Anomā]], along the road taken by [[Gotama]], when he left his home, was a distance of thirty [[yojanas]] (J.i.64). The city was sixty leagues from [[Rājagaha]], and The [[Buddha]] took two months covering this distance when he visited his ancestral home, in the first year after his [[Enlightenment]]. On this journey The [[Buddha]] was accompanied by twenty thousand [[Monks]], and [[Kāludāyī]] went on ahead as harbinger. The [[Buddha]] and his company lived in the [[Nigrodhārāma]] near the city and, in the midst of his kinsmen, as he did at the foot of the [[Gandamba]], The [[Buddha]] performed the [[Yamakapātihāriya]] to convince them of his [[powers]]. (J.i.87ff; this journey to [[Kapilavatthu]] was one of the scenes depicted in the [[relic-chamber]] of the Mahā-Thūpa, Mhv.xxx.81). | ||
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[[File:Kapilavastu.jpg|thumb|250px|]] | [[File:Kapilavastu.jpg|thumb|250px|]] | ||
− | On this occasion he preached the Vessantara [[Jātaka]]. The next day [[ | + | On this occasion he {{Wiki|preached}} the [[Vessantara]] [[Jātaka]]. The next day The [[Buddha]] went begging in the city to the great [[horror]] of his father, who, on [[being]] explained that such was the {{Wiki|custom}} of all [[Buddhas]], became a [[Sotāpanna]] and invited The [[Buddha]] and his [[Monks]] to the palace. After the meal The [[Buddha]] {{Wiki|preached}} to the women of the palace who, with the exception of [[Rāhulamātā]], had all come to hear him. At the |
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+ | end of the {{Wiki|sermon}}, [[Suddhodana]] became a [[sakadāgāmī]] and Mahā-Pajāpatī a [[Sotāpanna]]. The [[Buddha]] visited [[Rāhulamātā]] in her dwelling and {{Wiki|preached}} to her the Candakinnara [[Jātaka]]. The next day [[Nanda]] was [[ordained]], and seven days later [[Rāhula]] (also Vin.i.82). As a result of the latter's [[ordination]], a {{Wiki|rule}} was passed by The [[Buddha]], at [[Suddhodana]]'s request, that no one should be [[ordained]] without the sanction of his [[parents]], if they were alive. On the eighth day was {{Wiki|preached}} the Mahādhammapāla [[Jātaka]], and the [[king]] became an [[anāgāmī]]. The [[Buddha]] returned soon after to [[Rājagaha]], stopping on the way at Anupiyā, where the conversions of [[Ananda]], [[Devadatta]], [[Bhagu]], [[Anuruddha]], and [[Kimbila]] took place. | ||
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+ | During the visit to [[Kapilavatthu]], eighty thousand [[Sākyans]] from eighty thousand families had joined the [[Buddhist Order]] (Vin.ii.180; DhA.i.112; iv.124, etc.). According to the [[Buddhavamsa]] Commentary (BuA.4; Bu. p.5f), it was during this visit that, at the request of [[Sāriputta]], The [[Buddha]] {{Wiki|preached}} the [[Buddhavamsa]]. It is not possible to ascertain how many visits in all were paid by The [[Buddha]] to his native city, but it may be | ||
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+ | [[gathered]] from various references that he went there several times; two visits, in addition to the first already mentioned, were considered particularly memorable. On one of these he arrived in [[Kapilavatthu]] to prevent the [[Sākyans]] and the [[Koliyans]], both his kinsmen, from fighting each other over the question of their sharing the [[water]] of the [[Rohinī]]; he appeared before them as they were preparing to slay each other, and convinced them of the | ||
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+ | futility of their [[wrath]]. On this occasion were {{Wiki|preached}} the following [[Jātakas]]: the [[Phandana]], the Daddabha, the [[Latukika]], the [[Rukkhadhamma]], and the [[Vattaka]] - also the Attadanda [[Sutta]]. [[Delighted]] by the intervention of The [[Buddha]], the two tribes each gave him two hundred and fifty youths to enter his [[Order]] and, with these, he went on his [[alms]] rounds alternately to [[Kapilavatthu]] and to the capital of the [[Koliyans]] (J.v.412ff; the Sammodamāna [[Jātaka]] also seems to have been {{Wiki|preached}} in reference to this quarrel, J. i.208). On this occasion he seems to have resided, not at the [[Nigrodhārāma]], but in the [[Mahāvana]]. | ||
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[[File:Mahaprajapati-ers.jpg|thumb|250px|]] | [[File:Mahaprajapati-ers.jpg|thumb|250px|]] | ||
− | The second visit of note was that paid by [[ | + | The second visit of note was that paid by The [[Buddha]] when [[Vidūdabha]] (q.v), chagrined by the insult of the [[Sākyans]], invaded [[Kapilavatthu]] in [[order]] to take his revenge. Three times [[Vidūdabha]] came with his forces, and three times he found The [[Buddha]] seated on the outskirts of |
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+ | [[Kapilavatthu]], under a [[tree]] which gave him scarcely any shade; near by was a shady [[banyan-tree]], in Vidūdabha's [[realm]]; on [[being]] invited by [[Vidūdabha]] to partake of its shade, The [[Buddha]] replied, "Let be, O [[king]]; the shade of my kindred keeps me cool." [[Thus]] three times [[Vidūdabha]] had to retire, his {{Wiki|purpose}} unaccomplished; but [[the fourth]] [[time]] The [[Buddha]], [[seeing]] the [[Fate]] of the [[Sākyans]], did not interfere (J.iv.152). | ||
− | [[ | + | The [[Buddha]] certainly paid other visits besides these to [[Kapilavatthu]]. On one such visit he {{Wiki|preached}} the [[Kanha]] [[Jātaka]] (J.iv.6ff). Various [[Sākyans]] went to see him both at the [[Nigrodhārāma]] and at the [[Mahāvana]], among them [[being]] [[Mahā]][[Nāma]] (S.v.369f; A.iii.284f; iv.220f; v.320f), [[Nandiya]] (S.v.403f; 397f; A.v.334f), [[Vappa]] (A.ii.196; M.i.91), and perhaps Sārakāni (S.v.372). |
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− | The [[Books]] record a visit paid by the [[Brahmā]] Sahampati to [[ | + | During one visit The [[Buddha]] was entrusted with the [[Consecration]] of a new mote-hall, built by the [[Sākyans]]; he {{Wiki|preached}} far into the night in the new building, and, when weary, asked [[Moggallāna]] to carry on while he slept. We are told that the [[Sākyans]] decorated the town with lights for a [[yojana]] round, and stopped all noise while The [[Buddha]] was in the mote-hall (MA.ii.575). On this occasion was {{Wiki|preached}} the [[Sekha]] [[Sutta]] (M.i.353ff). |
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+ | The [[Books]] record a visit paid by the [[Brahmā]] [[Sahampati]] to The [[Buddha]] in the [[Mahāvana]] at [[Kapilavatthu]]. (This appears, from the context, to have been quite close to the [[Nigrodhārāma]].) | ||
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+ | The [[Buddha]], worried by the noisy {{Wiki|behavior}} of some [[Monks]] who had recently been admitted into the [[Order]], was wondering how he could impress on them the [[nature]] of their calling. [[Sahampati]] visited him and, [[being]] thus encouraged, The [[Buddha]] returned to [[Nigrodhārāma]] and there performed a [[miracle]] before the [[Monks]]; [[seeing]] them impressed, he talked to them on the {{Wiki|holy}} [[Life]] (S.iii.91f; Ud.25). | ||
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+ | A curious incident is related in [[connection]] with a visit paid by The [[Buddha]] to [[Kapilavatthu]], when he went there after his rounds among the [[Kosalans]]. [[Mahā]][[Nāma]] was asked to find a place of lodging for the night; he searched all through the town without [[success]], and at length The [[Buddha]] was compelled to spend the night in the [[hermitage]] of Bharandu, the Kālāman (A.i.276f). On another occasion we hear of The [[Buddha]] convalescing at [[Kapilavatthu]] after an {{Wiki|illness}} (A.i.219). | ||
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[[File:Mahaprajapatid020.jpg|thumb|250px|]] | [[File:Mahaprajapatid020.jpg|thumb|250px|]] | ||
− | Not all the [[Sākyans]] of [[Kapilavatthu]] believed in their kinsman's great [[powers]], even after [[ | + | Not all the [[Sākyans]] of [[Kapilavatthu]] believed in their kinsman's great [[powers]], even after The [[Buddha]]'s performance of various [[miracles]]. We find, for instance, Dandapānī meeting The [[Buddha]] in the [[Mahāvana]] and, leaning on his [[staff]], questioning him as to his {{Wiki|tenets}} and his {{Wiki|gospel}}. We are told that in answer to The [[Buddha]]'s explanations, Dandapānī shook his head, waggled his {{Wiki|tongue}}, and went away, still leaning on his [[staff]], his {{Wiki|brow}} puckered into three wrinkles (M.i.108f.; this was the occasion for the preaching of the [[Madhupindika]] [[Sutta]]). |
− | Others were more convinced and patronised the [[Order]] - e.g., Kāla-Khemaka and Ghatāya, who built cells for [[Monks]] in the Nigrodhārāma (M.iii.109. As a result of noticing these cells, [[ | + | Others were more convinced and patronised the [[Order]] - e.g., Kāla-Khemaka and Ghatāya, who built {{Wiki|cells}} for [[Monks]] in the [[Nigrodhārāma]] (M.iii.109. As a result of noticing these {{Wiki|cells}}, The [[Buddha]] {{Wiki|preached}} the Mahasuññāta [[Sutta]]). |
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− | + | It is said that The [[Buddha]] [[ordained]] ten thousand householders of [[Kapilavatthu]] with the "ehi-[[Bhikkhu]]-pabbajā." (Sp.i.241) | |
− | The Dakkhinā-[[Vibhanga]] [[Sutta]] was preached as the result of a visit to [[ | + | [[Mahā]][[Nāma]] (q.v.) was The [[Buddha]]'s most frequent visitor; to him was {{Wiki|preached}} the Cūladukkhakkhandha [[Sutta]] (M.i.91f). |
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+ | The Dakkhinā-[[Vibhanga]] [[Sutta]] was {{Wiki|preached}} as the result of a visit to The [[Buddha]] by Mahā-Pajāpatī-Gotamī. Apart from those already mentioned, another [[Sākyan]] lady lived in [[Kapilavatthu]], [[Kāligodhā]] by [[name]], and she was the only kinsman, with the exception of The [[Buddha]]'s father and wife, to be specially visited by The [[Buddha]] (S.v.396). | ||
The inhabitants of [[Kapilavatthu]] are called Kapilavatthavā (E.g., S. iv.182). | The inhabitants of [[Kapilavatthu]] are called Kapilavatthavā (E.g., S. iv.182). | ||
− | From [[Kapilavatthu]] lay a [[ | + | From [[Kapilavatthu]] lay a direct road to [[Vesālī]] (Vin.ii.253), and through [[Kapilavatthu]] passed the road taken by Bāvarī's [[disciples]] from [[Alaka]] to [[Sāvatthi]] (Sn.p.194). |
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+ | From the [[Mahāvana]], outside [[Kapilavatthu]], the {{Wiki|forest}} extended up to the [[Himalaya]], and on the other side of the city it reached as far as the sea (MA.i.449, UdA.184; Sp.ii.393). | ||
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+ | It is significant that, in [[spite]] of the accounts given of the greatness of [[Kapilavatthu]], it was not mentioned by [[Ananda]] among the great cities, in one of which, in his opinion, The [[Buddha]] could more fittingly have [[died]] than in [[Kusinārā]] (D.ii.146). After The [[Buddha]]'s [[Death]], a portion of the [[relics]] was claimed by the [[Sākyans]] of [[Kapilavatthu]], and a [[shrine]] to hold them was erected in the city (D.ii.167; Bu.xxviii.2). Here was deposited the rug (paccattharana) used by The [[Buddha]] (Bu.xxviii.8). | ||
− | + | In the northern [[Books]] the city was called [[Kapilavastu]], [[Kapilapura]], and Kapilāvhayapura (E.g. Lal. p.243, 28; The [[Buddha]]-[[carita]], I.v.2 calls it Kapilasyavastu). According to the [[Dulva]] ([[Rockhill]], p.11), the city was on the banks of the Bhagīrathī. | |
− | + | The identification of [[Kapilavatthu]] is not yet beyond the [[realm]] of conjecture. [[Hiouen Thsang]] (Beal. ii.,p.13f) visited the city and found it like a wilderness. The [[Asoka]] {{Wiki|inscriptions}} of the [[Lumbinī]] pillar and the Niglīva pillar are helpful in determining the site. Some identify the | |
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− | + | {{Wiki|modern}} village of Piprāwā - famous for the vases found there - with [[Kapilavatthu]] (E.g., Fleet, CAGI.711f). Others, [[including]] {{Wiki|Rhys Davids}}, say there were two cities, one {{Wiki|ancient}} and the other {{Wiki|modern}}, founded after Vidūdabha's conquest, and the {{Wiki|ancient}} one they call Tilaura Kot. But the {{Wiki|theory}} of two [[Kapilavatthu]] is rejected by some [[scholars]]. ERE. | |
Discovery of [[Kapilavatthu]], K.M.Srivastava,1986. | Discovery of [[Kapilavatthu]], K.M.Srivastava,1986. | ||
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{{R}} | {{R}} | ||
[http://www.buddhisma2z.com/content.php?id=208 www.buddhisma2z.com] | [http://www.buddhisma2z.com/content.php?id=208 www.buddhisma2z.com] |
Latest revision as of 09:42, 23 November 2020
Kapilavatthu was the main town of the Sakyān clan and the place where Siddhattha Gotama spent most of his Life prior to renouncing the World to become a wandering Ascetic. Years later, The Buddha said he had three palaces there – one for the summer, one for the [[rainy
season]], and one for the winter, each with a pool of water lilies and lotuses of different colours (A.III,38). The town was described as being ‘rich, prosperous, full of people, crowded and thickly populated’ (S.V,369). Later legend says Kapilavatthu was a magnificent city, whereas it was more likely to have been a small town built around the ruler’s manor house. After the disappearance of Buddhism in India, Kapilavatthu was
overgrown by jungle and only identified with certainty in 1973. Archaeological excavations revealed a stūpa first built shortly after The Buddha’s passing away and remains from later times.
One often reads that Prince Siddhattha was ‘born and brought up in the foothills of the Himalayas’ but this is not correct. The scriptures say the city was ‘flanked by the Himalayas,’ not in their foothills (Sn.422). The terrain around Kapilavatthu and nearby Lumbinī where Siddhattha was born, is completely flat. The Himalayan foothills only begin about another 20 kilometres further north.
A city near the Himalaya, capital of the Sākiyans (q.v.). It was founded by the sons of Okkāka, on the site of the hermitage of the sage Kapila - see Kapila (3) (J.i.15, 49, 50, 54, 64, etc.; see also Divy 548, and Buddhacarita I.v.2). Near the city was the Lumbinīvana (q.v.) where The Buddha was born, and which became one of the four places of Pilgrimage for the Buddhists. Close to Kapilavatthu flowed the river Rohinī, which formed the boundary between the kingdoms of the Sākyans and the Koliyans (DhA.iii.254). In the sixth century B.C. Kapilavatthu was the centre of a republic, at the head of which was Suddhodana. The administration and judicial business of the city and all other matters of importance were discussed and decided in the Santhāgārasālā (D.i.91; J. iv.145). It was here that Vidūdabha was received by the Sākyans (J.iv.146f). The walls of the city were eighteen cubits high (J.i.63; according to Mtu.ii.75 it had seven walls). From Kapilavatthu to the river Anomā, along the road taken by Gotama, when he left his home, was a distance of thirty yojanas (J.i.64). The city was sixty leagues from Rājagaha, and The Buddha took two months covering this distance when he visited his ancestral home, in the first year after his Enlightenment. On this journey The Buddha was accompanied by twenty thousand Monks, and Kāludāyī went on ahead as harbinger. The Buddha and his company lived in the Nigrodhārāma near the city and, in the midst of his kinsmen, as he did at the foot of the Gandamba, The Buddha performed the Yamakapātihāriya to convince them of his powers. (J.i.87ff; this journey to Kapilavatthu was one of the scenes depicted in the relic-chamber of the Mahā-Thūpa, Mhv.xxx.81).
On this occasion he preached the Vessantara Jātaka. The next day The Buddha went begging in the city to the great horror of his father, who, on being explained that such was the custom of all Buddhas, became a Sotāpanna and invited The Buddha and his Monks to the palace. After the meal The Buddha preached to the women of the palace who, with the exception of Rāhulamātā, had all come to hear him. At the
end of the sermon, Suddhodana became a sakadāgāmī and Mahā-Pajāpatī a Sotāpanna. The Buddha visited Rāhulamātā in her dwelling and preached to her the Candakinnara Jātaka. The next day Nanda was ordained, and seven days later Rāhula (also Vin.i.82). As a result of the latter's ordination, a rule was passed by The Buddha, at Suddhodana's request, that no one should be ordained without the sanction of his parents, if they were alive. On the eighth day was preached the Mahādhammapāla Jātaka, and the king became an anāgāmī. The Buddha returned soon after to Rājagaha, stopping on the way at Anupiyā, where the conversions of Ananda, Devadatta, Bhagu, Anuruddha, and Kimbila took place.
During the visit to Kapilavatthu, eighty thousand Sākyans from eighty thousand families had joined the Buddhist Order (Vin.ii.180; DhA.i.112; iv.124, etc.). According to the Buddhavamsa Commentary (BuA.4; Bu. p.5f), it was during this visit that, at the request of Sāriputta, The Buddha preached the Buddhavamsa. It is not possible to ascertain how many visits in all were paid by The Buddha to his native city, but it may be
gathered from various references that he went there several times; two visits, in addition to the first already mentioned, were considered particularly memorable. On one of these he arrived in Kapilavatthu to prevent the Sākyans and the Koliyans, both his kinsmen, from fighting each other over the question of their sharing the water of the Rohinī; he appeared before them as they were preparing to slay each other, and convinced them of the
futility of their wrath. On this occasion were preached the following Jātakas: the Phandana, the Daddabha, the Latukika, the Rukkhadhamma, and the Vattaka - also the Attadanda Sutta. Delighted by the intervention of The Buddha, the two tribes each gave him two hundred and fifty youths to enter his Order and, with these, he went on his alms rounds alternately to Kapilavatthu and to the capital of the Koliyans (J.v.412ff; the Sammodamāna Jātaka also seems to have been preached in reference to this quarrel, J. i.208). On this occasion he seems to have resided, not at the Nigrodhārāma, but in the Mahāvana.
The second visit of note was that paid by The Buddha when Vidūdabha (q.v), chagrined by the insult of the Sākyans, invaded Kapilavatthu in order to take his revenge. Three times Vidūdabha came with his forces, and three times he found The Buddha seated on the outskirts of
Kapilavatthu, under a tree which gave him scarcely any shade; near by was a shady banyan-tree, in Vidūdabha's realm; on being invited by Vidūdabha to partake of its shade, The Buddha replied, "Let be, O king; the shade of my kindred keeps me cool." Thus three times Vidūdabha had to retire, his purpose unaccomplished; but the fourth time The Buddha, seeing the Fate of the Sākyans, did not interfere (J.iv.152).
The Buddha certainly paid other visits besides these to Kapilavatthu. On one such visit he preached the Kanha Jātaka (J.iv.6ff). Various Sākyans went to see him both at the Nigrodhārāma and at the Mahāvana, among them being MahāNāma (S.v.369f; A.iii.284f; iv.220f; v.320f), Nandiya (S.v.403f; 397f; A.v.334f), Vappa (A.ii.196; M.i.91), and perhaps Sārakāni (S.v.372).
During one visit The Buddha was entrusted with the Consecration of a new mote-hall, built by the Sākyans; he preached far into the night in the new building, and, when weary, asked Moggallāna to carry on while he slept. We are told that the Sākyans decorated the town with lights for a yojana round, and stopped all noise while The Buddha was in the mote-hall (MA.ii.575). On this occasion was preached the Sekha Sutta (M.i.353ff).
The Books record a visit paid by the Brahmā Sahampati to The Buddha in the Mahāvana at Kapilavatthu. (This appears, from the context, to have been quite close to the Nigrodhārāma.)
The Buddha, worried by the noisy behavior of some Monks who had recently been admitted into the Order, was wondering how he could impress on them the nature of their calling. Sahampati visited him and, being thus encouraged, The Buddha returned to Nigrodhārāma and there performed a miracle before the Monks; seeing them impressed, he talked to them on the holy Life (S.iii.91f; Ud.25).
A curious incident is related in connection with a visit paid by The Buddha to Kapilavatthu, when he went there after his rounds among the Kosalans. MahāNāma was asked to find a place of lodging for the night; he searched all through the town without success, and at length The Buddha was compelled to spend the night in the hermitage of Bharandu, the Kālāman (A.i.276f). On another occasion we hear of The Buddha convalescing at Kapilavatthu after an illness (A.i.219).
Not all the Sākyans of Kapilavatthu believed in their kinsman's great powers, even after The Buddha's performance of various miracles. We find, for instance, Dandapānī meeting The Buddha in the Mahāvana and, leaning on his staff, questioning him as to his tenets and his gospel. We are told that in answer to The Buddha's explanations, Dandapānī shook his head, waggled his tongue, and went away, still leaning on his staff, his brow puckered into three wrinkles (M.i.108f.; this was the occasion for the preaching of the Madhupindika Sutta).
Others were more convinced and patronised the Order - e.g., Kāla-Khemaka and Ghatāya, who built cells for Monks in the Nigrodhārāma (M.iii.109. As a result of noticing these cells, The Buddha preached the Mahasuññāta Sutta).
It is said that The Buddha ordained ten thousand householders of Kapilavatthu with the "ehi-Bhikkhu-pabbajā." (Sp.i.241)
MahāNāma (q.v.) was The Buddha's most frequent visitor; to him was preached the Cūladukkhakkhandha Sutta (M.i.91f).
The Dakkhinā-Vibhanga Sutta was preached as the result of a visit to The Buddha by Mahā-Pajāpatī-Gotamī. Apart from those already mentioned, another Sākyan lady lived in Kapilavatthu, Kāligodhā by name, and she was the only kinsman, with the exception of The Buddha's father and wife, to be specially visited by The Buddha (S.v.396).
The inhabitants of Kapilavatthu are called Kapilavatthavā (E.g., S. iv.182).
From Kapilavatthu lay a direct road to Vesālī (Vin.ii.253), and through Kapilavatthu passed the road taken by Bāvarī's disciples from Alaka to Sāvatthi (Sn.p.194).
From the Mahāvana, outside Kapilavatthu, the forest extended up to the Himalaya, and on the other side of the city it reached as far as the sea (MA.i.449, UdA.184; Sp.ii.393).
It is significant that, in spite of the accounts given of the greatness of Kapilavatthu, it was not mentioned by Ananda among the great cities, in one of which, in his opinion, The Buddha could more fittingly have died than in Kusinārā (D.ii.146). After The Buddha's Death, a portion of the relics was claimed by the Sākyans of Kapilavatthu, and a shrine to hold them was erected in the city (D.ii.167; Bu.xxviii.2). Here was deposited the rug (paccattharana) used by The Buddha (Bu.xxviii.8).
In the northern Books the city was called Kapilavastu, Kapilapura, and Kapilāvhayapura (E.g. Lal. p.243, 28; The Buddha-carita, I.v.2 calls it Kapilasyavastu). According to the Dulva (Rockhill, p.11), the city was on the banks of the Bhagīrathī.
The identification of Kapilavatthu is not yet beyond the realm of conjecture. Hiouen Thsang (Beal. ii.,p.13f) visited the city and found it like a wilderness. The Asoka inscriptions of the Lumbinī pillar and the Niglīva pillar are helpful in determining the site. Some identify the
modern village of Piprāwā - famous for the vases found there - with Kapilavatthu (E.g., Fleet, CAGI.711f). Others, including Rhys Davids, say there were two cities, one ancient and the other modern, founded after Vidūdabha's conquest, and the ancient one they call Tilaura Kot. But the theory of two Kapilavatthu is rejected by some scholars. ERE.
Discovery of Kapilavatthu, K.M.Srivastava,1986.