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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
PART B The sculpture definitely proves that gandhakuṭi and Kasambakuṭi were not rooms or apartments, but one-storied buildings of moderate size. The gandhakuṭi seems to have been the larger structure. It has an oblong roof with two pinnacles, while the roof of the Kosambakuṭi is round and bears but one pinnacle. In all other respects the two buildings are much alike. The open arched gate affords the view of a seat decorated with florid designs. Neither of the kuṭis seems to be mentioned in the earlier Buddhist literature. It is only in the later texts that the terms turn up. In the Nidānakathā it is said that Anāthapiṇḍīka had it erected in the midst of the Jetavana. In the commentary on Sn. 456 agiho applied to the Buddha is explained as meaning ‘without longing’ (ageho), since ‘houseless’ would not suit, the Buddha having various dwelling-houses in the Jetavana such as the Mahā. gandhakuṭi, the Karerimaṇḍalamāḷa, the Kosambakuṭi, the Chandanamāḷa etc. The gandhakuṭi at the Jetavana is mentioned also in J. II, 416 in the story of the wicked pabhājikā Sundarī who tells the people that she goes to the Buddha: ahaṁ hi tena ekagandhakuṭiyaṁ vasām, ‘for I live with him in the same gandhakuṭi’. In Divy. 46, 5 ff. it is stated that the earth quaked when the Buddha entered the gandhakuṭi at the Jetavana. Gandhakuṭi, however, is not the special name of the building at the Jetavana, but a generic term for the private residence of a Buddha in a vihāra. The gandhakuṭi in the Jivīkambavana at Rājagaha is mentioned in J. I, 117, 14; 119, 8. 10. 22. The Buddhas of the past ages had their gandhakaṭis just as Śākyamuni. In the Dh.A. IV, 203 ff. there is a story of a householder building a magnificent gandhakuṭi for the Buddha Vipassi. The gandhakuṭi of the Buddha Kāśyapa in the Ṛishipatana at Benares is mentioned in Avś. II, 40. In Divy. 333, 4 f. a gandhakaṭi is assigned to each of the last seven Buddhas. In the Mvp. 279,1 gandhakuṭī is the first in a list of monastic buildings. From such terms as surabhigandhavāsitaṁ gandhakuṭiṁ (J. I, 119 10), surabhigandhakuṭi (J. I, 119, 22; 330, 27) it appears that it owed its name to the scene of perfumes which filled it[1].
Kosambakuṭi, on the other hand, seems to be a proper name. Barua-Sinha’s derivation
of Kosamba from Kausumbha is linguistically impossible and unsuited as to meaning, kusumbha, safflower, as far as I know, having never been used as a perfume. Kosambakuṭi can represent
only Sk. Kauśāmbakuṭi, and the cottage probably owed its name to the fact that it was built
by some natives from Kauśāmbī. In two Mathurā inscriptions (Museum Nos. 121 and 2740) in
is stated that some persons set up a Bodhisattva image in their own chaityakuṭi. Similarly the Kosambakuṭi would seem to be the kuṭi of the Kosambas. As pointed out ny Barua-Sinha.
Buddhaghosa says SA. (Vol. I, p. 308) that the Kosambakuṭikā was on the border of the
Jetavana (Jetavanassa pachchante). This statement is in conflict with the passage quoted
above from the commentary of the Sn., and seems to be contradicted also by epigraphical
evidence. The inscription No. 918 in my List. dated in the reign of Kanishka, records that
the monk Bala set up a Bodhisattva, an umbrella and a post at Śrāvastī on the walk of the
Holy one at the Kosambakuṭi (Śāvastiye bhagavato chaṁkame Kosaṁbakuṭiye). It is true, the
Jetavana is not mentioned in the inscription, but as the chaṁkamaof the Buddha may
reasonably be assumed to have been within its confines[2], the same site may be inferred for
[1]The term seems to have the meaning ‘sanctuary; in some inscriptions, e.g. in the Kaṇheri
Buddhist cave inscription No. 6 (List No. 989); Bühler (ASWI., V, p. 77) states that by the term mahāsgandhakuṭi, to be found in the text. “as the position of the inscription shows, the great Chaitya is
meant”. Similarly the expression śailagandhakuṭī for a sanctuary is used in the Sārnāth inscription of
Mahipāla, saṁvat 1083, IA. Vol. XIV (1885), p. 140. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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