The capital of Sūrasena, situated on the Yamunā. Its king, 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 with distinct disfavour. However, Mahā-Kaccāna evidently liked it, for he stayed there in the Gundāvana, and was visited there by the king of the city, Avantiputta (M.ii.83), and the brahmin Kandarāyana (A.i.67). One of the most important suttas on caste, the Madhura Sutta, was taught 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 and around Madhurā, those who accepted his teachings, for the Aṅguttaranikāya (A.ii.57) mentions that once when he was journeying from Madhurā to Verañjā and stopped under a tree by the wayside, a large number of householders, both men and women, came and worshipped him. Later, about 300 B.C., Madhurā became a Jain centre (CHI.i.167), but when Fa Hsien (Giles, p.20) and Hiouen Thsang visited it, Buddhism was flourishing there, and there were many saṅghārāmas and stūpas. Beal.i.179 ff; for a prophecy (attributed to the Buddha) regarding the future greatness of Madhurā, see Dvy.348 ff.

From Saṅkassa to Madhurā was a distance of four leagues (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.118 f), a woman of Uttara Madhurā is mentioned as having been born in Tāvatiṃsa as a result of having given alms to the Buddha.

The Ghaṭa Jātaka (J.iv.79 ff) speaks of Mahāsāgara as the king of Uttara Madhurā, and relates what is evidently the story of Kamsa’s attempt to tyrannise over Madhurā by overpowering the Yādavas and his consequent death at the hands of Krsna, a story which is found both in the Epics and in the Purānas. This Jātaka confirms the Brahmanical tradition as to the association of Vasudeva’s family with Madhurā (PHAL, p.89).

There is a story (Cv.xcii.23 ff ) of a king called Mahāsena of Pāṭaliputta, who was very generous in feeding the monks, and once thought of giving alms by cultivating a piece of land himself. He, therefore, went to Uttara Madhurā in disguise, worked as a labourer, and held an almsgiving with the gains so obtained.

Madhurā is generally identified with Maholi, five miles to the Southeast of the present town of Mathurā or Muttra. It is the Modura of Ptolemy and the Methoras of Pliny (CAGI. 427 f).

The Milindapañha (p.331) refers to Madhurā as one of the chief cities of India. In the past, Sādhina and twenty-two of his descendants, the last of whom was Dhammagutta, reigned in Madhurā (Dpv.iii.21).