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Shakya
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Śākya (Sanskrit) or Sakya (Pāli) is the name (derived from Sanskrit śakya, "capable, able"[citation needed]) of an Indo-Aryan-speaking[citation needed] nation or janapada of the kṣatriya varṇa[citation needed]. The Śākyas formed independent tribes or kingdoms near the foothills of the Himālayas. The Śākya capital was Kapilavastu (Pāli: Kapilavatthu).
The most famous Śākya was the Buddha, a member of the ruling Gautama (Pāli: Gotama) clan of Lumbini, who is also known as "Śākyamuni" (Pāli: Sakyamuni, "sage of the Śākya nation").
The Śākyas are mentioned in the accounts of the birth of the Buddha (e.g. Mahāvastu, c. end of 2nd century BCE) as part of the "solar race" – i.e., descendants of the legendary king Ikṣvāku (Pāli: Okkāka):
- "There lived once upon a time a king of the Śākya, a scion of the solar race, whose name was Śuddhodana. He was pure in conduct, and beloved of the Śākya like the autumn moon. He had a wife, splendid, beautiful, and steadfast, who was called the Great Māyā, from her resemblance to Māyā the Goddess." (Buddhacarita of Aśvaghoṣa, I.1-2)
The Greeks, and many writers and scholars since, have connected them to the Scythians[citation needed], or Śaka as they were known in India from whom descended the 粟特[citation needed]. However, the Śaka were not known in India before the 2nd century BCE, centuries after the last attested existence of the Śākyas. "Śākya" may nonetheless be possibly cognate with "Scythian" as a result of their shared Indo-Iranian heritage.[citation needed]
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