The Sanskrit term Kuśinagarī can be transliterated into English as Kusinagari or Kushinagari, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

In Buddhism

Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)

Source: Wisdom Library: Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra

Kuśinagarī (कुशिनगरी) is the name of an ancient city according to the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra (Pali, Mahāparinibbāna-sutta), as mentioned in the 2nd century Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra chapter 36.—Notes: Meeting the Buddha between Kuśinagarī and Pāpā, a minister of the Mallas called Putkasa spoke to him about his teacher Ārāḍa Kālāma and his extraordinary power of concentration: one day when he was deep in meditation, Ārāḍa did not hear the noise of a caravan of five hundred wagons that passed by close to him. The Buddha affirmed that he too possessed a similar power of absorption and gave him as proof an incident that had occurred in the village of Ādumā (in Pāli, Ātumā).

context information

Mahayana (महायान, mahāyāna) is a major branch of Buddhism focusing on the path of a Bodhisattva (spiritual aspirants/ enlightened beings). Extant literature is vast and primarely composed in the Sanskrit language. There are many sūtras of which some of the earliest are the various Prajñāpāramitā sūtras.

India history and geography

Source: archive.org: Buddhist records of the Western World

Kuśinagarī (कुशिनगरी) or Kuśinagara is the name of an ancient city mentioned by Xuanzang (or, Hiuen Tsiang) in his “records of the Western world”.—The capital of this country is in ruins, and its towns and villages waste and desolate... To the north-west of the city 3 or 4 li, crossing the Ajitavatī (O-shi-to-fa-ti) river, on the western bank, not far, we come to a grove of śāla trees... There is (here) a great brick vihāra, in which is a figure of the Nirvāṇa of Tathāgata... By the side of the vihāra, and not far from it, is a stūpa. This denotes the place where Bodhisattva, when practising a religious life, was born as the king of a flock of pheasants (kapiñjala), and caused a fire to be put out... By the side of this, not far off, is a stūpa. On this spot Bodhisattva, when practising a religious life, being at that time a deer, saved (or, rescued) living creatures.

Note: Kuśinagarī is another name for Kuśinagara (also Kuśanagara, Kuśigrāmaka or Kuśinārā), which has been identified with the present village of Kasia, 35 miles to the east of Gorakhpur.

context information

The history of India traces the identification of countries, villages, towns and other regions of India, as well as mythology, zoology, royal dynasties, rulers, tribes, local festivities and traditions and regional languages. Ancient India enjoyed religious freedom and encourages the path of Dharma, a concept common to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Edgerton Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary

Kuśinagarī (कुशिनगरी).—(also Kuśanagaram, Mahāvyutpatti 4125; Kuśī-nagarī, Karmavibhaṅga (and Karmavibhaṅgopadeśa) 36.11), = Pali Kusinārā, name of a town of the Mallas, where the Buddha entered nirvāṇa: Divyāvadāna 394.6; Avadāna-śataka i.227.5; ii.197.5; MPS 30.4 and 32.4 (which together guarantee the form).

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Kuśīnagarī (कुशीनगरी).—q.v.

Kuśīnagarī can also be spelled as Kuśinagarī (कुशिनगरी).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Kuśinagarī (कुशिनगरी):—[=kuśi-nagarī] [from kuśi-nagara > kuśi > kuśa] f. idem, [ib.]

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Partial matches: Kushi, Nagari, Nakari, Kuci.

Full-text: Kushanagara, Kaushinagara, Kushavati, Kushthagramaka, Yamakasala, Papa, Alara Kalama, Arada Kalama, Putkasa, Aduma, Kushinagara.

Relevant text

Search found 2 books and stories containing Kushinagari, Kuśinagarī, Kushi-nagari, Kuśi-nagarī, Kusinagari, Kusi-nagari, Kuśīnagarī; (plurals include: Kushinagaris, Kuśinagarīs, nagaris, nagarīs, Kusinagaris, Kuśīnagarīs). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra (by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön)

The Miracle of Ādumā < [Part 2 - The Eight Recollections according to the Abhidharma]

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Buddhist records of the Western world (Xuanzang) (by Samuel Beal)

Chapter 4 - Country of Kiu-shi-na-kie-lo (Kushinagara) < [Book VI - Four Countries]

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