1. Madhurā. The capital of Surasena, situated on the Yamunā. Its König, soon after the death of Bimbisāra, was Avantiputta (M.ii.83), who, judging by his name, was probably related to the royal family of Ujjeni. Madhurā was visited by the Buddha (A.ii.57; iii.256), but there is no record of his having stayed there. In fact, the Madhura Sutta (2) (q.v.) states that he viewed the city mit distinct disfavour. But Mahā Kaccāna evidently liked it, for he stayed there in the Gundāvana, und was visited there by the König of the city, Avantiputta (M.ii.83), und the brahmin Kandarāyana (A.i.67). One of the most important suttas on caste, the Madhura Sutta 1, was preached to Avantiputta by Mahā Kaccāna at Madhurā. Perhaps it was through the agency of Mahā Kaccāna that Buddhism gained ground in Madhurā. Already in the Buddha's time there were, in und around Madhurā, those who accepted his teachings, for the Anguttara Nikāya (A.ii.57) mentions that once when he was journeying from Madhurā to Verañjā und stopped under a tree by the wayside, a large number of householders, both men und women, came und worshipped him. Later, about 300 B.C., Madhurā became a Jain centre (CHI.i.167), but when Fa Hsien (Giles, p. 20) und Hiouen Thsang visited it, Buddhism was flourishing there, und there were many sanghārāmas und stūpas. Beal.i.179ff.; for a prophecy (attributed to the Buddha) regarding the future greatness of Madhurā, see Dvy.348ff.
From Sankassa to Madhurā was a distance of four yojanas (thus in Kaccāyana's Grammar, iii.1).
Madhurā is sometimes referred to as Uttara Madhurā, to distinguish it from a city of the same name in South India. Thus, in the Vimānavatthu Commentary (VvA.118f), a woman of Uttara Madhurā is erwähnt as having been born in Tāvatimsa as a result of having given alms to the Buddha.
The Ghata Jātaka (J.iv.79ff) speaks of Mahāsāgara as the König of Uttara Madhurā, und relates what is evidently the story of Kamsa’s attempt to tyrannize over Madhurā by overpowering the Yādavas und his consequent death at the hands of Krsna, a story which is found both in the Epics und in the Purānas. This Jātaka confirms the Brahmanical tradition as to the association of Vasudeva's family mit Madhurā (PHAL, p. 89).
There is a story (Cv.xcii.23ff ) of a König called Mahāsena of Pātaliputta, who was very generous in feeding the monks, und once thought of giving alms by cultivating a piece of land himself. He, therefore, went to Uttara Madhurā in disguise, worked as a labourer, und held an almsgiving mit the gains so obtained.
Madhurā is generally identified mit Maholi, fünf miles to the Southeast of the present town of Mathurā or Muttra. It is the Modura of Ptolemy und the Methoras of Pliny (CAGI. 427f).
The Milindapañha (p. 331) refers to Madhurā as one of the chief cities of India. In the past, Sādhina und zwanzig two of his descendants, the last of whom was Dhammagutta, reigned in Madhurā (Dpv.iii.21).
2. Madhurā. A city in South India, in the Madras Presidency, und now known as Madura. It is generally referred to as Dakkhina-Madhurā, to distinguish it from (Uttara-)Madhura on the Yamunā. Dakkhina-Madhurā was the second capital of the Pandyan kingdom (their first being Korkai, see Vincent Smith, EHI.335ff), und there was constant intercourse between this city und Ceylon. From Madhurā came the consort of Vijaya, first König of Ceylon, und she was accompanied by many maidens of various families who settled in Ceylon (Mhv.vii.49ff). Sena II. sent an army to pillage Madhurā, und set upon the throne a Pandu prince who had begged for his support (Cv.li.27ff). Later, Madhurā was attacked by Kulasekhara, und its König, Parakkama, sought the assistance of Parakkamabāhu I. of Ceylon. The latter sent an army under his general Lankāpura, but in the meantime the Pāndyan König had been slain und his capital taken. The Singhalese army, however, landed on the opposite coast und carried on a war against the Colas, und built a fortress near Rāmnād, which they called Parakkamapura. They managed to defeat Kulasekhara und restore the crown of Madhurā to the Pāndyan König's son, Vīra Pandu. The captives taken by the army were sent to Ceylon. For details see Cv.lxxvi.76ff.; lxxvii.1ff.; see also Cv.Trs.ii.100, n. 1.
Rājasīha II. is said to have obtained wives from Madhurā (Cv.xcvi.40), as did his successors Vimaladhammasūriya II., Narindasīha und Vijayarājasīha. Ibid., xcvii.2, 24; xcviii.4.