329 
1872.] F. S. Grows e—The Tirthas of Vrindd-vana and GoJcula. 
Let into the outer wall of the Nand Bhavan is a small figure of Bud- 
dha ; and it is said that whenever foundations are sunk within the precincts 
of the fort, many fragments of sculpture — of Buddhist character, it may be 
presumed — have been brought to light : but hitherto they have always been 
buried again, or broken up as building materials. Doubtless, Maha- 
ban was the - site of some of those Buddhist monasteries, which the Chinese 
pilgrim 1 a Hian distinctly states existed hi his time on both sides of the 
river. And further, whatever may he the exact Indian word concealed un- 
der the form Klisoboras, or Clisobora, given by Arrian and Pliny as the name 
of the town between which and Mathura the Jamuna flowed — Amnia Jomanes 
in Gancjem per Palibothros decurrit inter oppida Methora et Clisobora, 
Pliny, Hist. Nat. vi, 22 — it may be concluded with certainty that Maha-ban 
is the site intended. Its other literary names are Brihad-vana, Brihad-aran- 
ya, Gokula, and Nanda-grama ; and no one of these, it is true, in the slight- 
est resembles the word Clisobora, which would seem rather to be a corrup- 
tion of some compound in which ‘ Krishna’ was the first element, possibly 
some epithet or descriptive title taken by the foreign traveller for the ordi- 
nary proper name. General Cunningham in his ‘ Ancient Geography’ identi- 
fies Clisobora (read in one MS., as Cyrisoborka) with Brinda-ban, assuming 
that Kalikavartta, or ‘ Kalika’s Whirlpool,’ was an earlier name of the town, 
in allusion to Krishna’s combat with the serpent Kalika. Butin the first place, 
the Jamuna does not flow between Mathura and Brinda-ban, seeing that both 
are on the same bank ; secondly, the ordinary name of the great serpent is 
not Kalika, but Kaliya ; and thirdly, it does not appear upon what autho- 
rity it is so boldly stated that “ the earlier name of the place was Kalika- 
vartta. Upon this latter point, a reference has been made to the great 
Brinda-ban Pandit, Swfimi Rangaehari, who if any one might be expected 
to speak with positive knowledge, and his reply was that in the course of 
all his reading, he had never met with Brinda-ban under any other name 
than that which it now bears. In order to establish the identification of 
Clisobora with Maha-ban, it was necessary to notice General Cunningham’s 
counter theory and to condemn it as unsound ; ordinarily the accuracy of 
his research and the soundness of his judgment are entitled to the highest 
respect. 
The glories of Maha-ban are told in a special (interpolated) section of 
the Brahmanda Purina, called the Brihad-vana Mahatmya. In this its 
tirtlias, or holy places, are reckoned to be twenty -one in number as follows • 
JEka-vinsati-tirthena yuktam bhurigunan vitam. 
YamaUdrjuna punyatam, JVanda-kupam tathaiva elm, 
Chinta-harana Prdhmdndam, kundam Sarasvatam tatlia, 
Sarasvati Slid tatra, Vishnu-kunda-scmanvitam, 
Kama-kiipam, Krishna -kundam, Gopa-kupam tathaiva cha 
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