Vanavāsa untranslated

Vanavāsa. A district, probably Northern Kanara, in South India. After the Third Council, Rakkhita Thera was sent there to convert the people, and he preached the Anamataggasaṁyutta poised in mid-air. It is said that sixty thousand persons embraced the faith, thirty-seven thousand joined the Saṅgha, while fifty vihāras were established in the country. Mhv.xii.4, 30f.; Vin-a.i.63-66; Dpv.viii.6.

The Vanavāsī are mentioned in the Mahā Bhārata (6. 366) and the Harivaṁsa (5232) as a people of S. India. The Sās (p.12) also mentions a county called Vanavāsī, which, however, is the country round Prome in Lower Burma.