This discourse is identical with the previous except for the location, and a very slight difference in phrasing at MN 42:7.1 compared to MN 41:7.1. The Chinese parallels (SA 1042 and SA 1043 at T ii 272c-273b) are also nearly identical to each other, sharing the same location (Sāvatthī), and varying only in the names of the brahmins and their manner of approaching the Buddha.

Verañjā has not been conclusively identified, but it lay between Madhurā (AN 4.53:1.1) and Soreyya (Bu Pj 1:4.18). If modern Soron is Soreyya, it is tempting to accept Dhammika’s identification of Verañjā with Atranjikhera (NOTE TO [Bu Pj 1:4.18) just north of Etah in Uttar Pradesh. Atranjikhera is a huge mound whose excavation revealed four layers of occupation, the latest of which was the Northern Black Polished Ware culture of the Buddha’s day. It was a staging ground for horse traders from Kasmir along the northern route from Kashmir, which more or less followed the course of the Ganges.