King Bimbisar and Ajaatshatru

7/29/2019 King Bimbisar and Ajaatshatru

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the Eve of Lord Mahavira t 2500th Nirvana Anniversary

KING BIMBISARA

AND

KING AJATASATRU

IN THE AGE OF

rtAHAVlRA & BUDDHA

B y

M U M N A G R A J

D Lilt

Foreword B y Prof Of RAMESH CtUNORA, PANOEY MA Ph 0

ProfeuoriDd HeadDepartment of Pbilowpby

llotvenlty o f Delhi

Translated By

M UN I MAHENDRA KUMARDrileeyaB Sc. (B o b/ )

Publishers

J AINA VISHVA BHARATILADNUN (Rijiutbio)


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Pu btifiitd by ~

'S C. R atnp umJ>iTectOf

Agama&.

Sahitya PfakSihanJA1NA VISHVA BHARAT1LADVUN (Ramihan)

First Edition

1974

Price Rs 7 00

Printed by

fJamyin A Som"


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< IV )

Th e p resent work is a p a rt o f h is wide researches

I t pertatns to the two great kings o f M agad ha in thetim e o f M ahavlra and B uddhaBimbisara andAjataSatru N ot much is known abo ut the roleo f these ancient king* o f Ind ia m the Held ofhistory The au thor has w aded thro ug h the vastlore of Prakrit and Pali literature and criticallystud ied the facts available there H is treatmento f the subject is completely free from bias and

prejudices The conclusions he has drawn aboutth e creed o f these kings seem to be quite const tentWith historical evidence and logical as well

1 congratulate the au tho r for his commendableefforts in pu tting before the scholars o f historyand culture his valuable research findings m theform o f a systerf atic and impressive monographI also hope th a t his future researches m this fieldwill furnish us w ith so far unknow n facts o f histoncal and cultural value

T he November WM (R C P a N D E \A )

Professor and Head

D epartment of PhilosophyUniversity of Delhi

1


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CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Srcnika BJmbisara

The First ContactsIn the T ripitakasCommencement o r Uposatha in the B uddhistOrder

Soldiers forbidden to be InitiatedMiracle in the PrisonConversion o f King PukkusatiNext life o f Bimbis3raContact with MahjvlraInitiation o f Princes into th Monastic

OrderProphecyR o jal M onk P rasanoachandraFollower ofM ah av ira or B uddhaControversy ab ou t the Nam esBhimbhisara etc

Bimbis&raSrenikaFather s nameQueensPrinces

Chapter II Ajatsatrn Knrtika

Buddhist accountJain descriptionMessage o f M ah av lras ArrivalArrival o f M ahavlta a t C ham paSermons o f M ahJviraFollower o f lauu sm o r Buddhism 1

M othe r 3 Longings during Pregnancy

19

10

!011

12

1314

171820

233030

3232343416

383940414344

50


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S r e m k a s A ffe ctio n f o r h a S o n

F a th e r s Im p ris o n m e n t

P a t n c i d eR e p e n t a n c e

C o m m e n t s

H is M o th e r D if fe re nc e in N om e nc l a tu r e sM a h i U k a i r t a k a Batt'e and Victory over

Vaj}is

T h e J am v ersio n , . * D e s tru c tio n o f th e R a m p a r t o f V atSJlI

T h e B u d d h i s t V e rs io nD issens ion am on g the V ajjis

C o m m e n t s

D e a th o f K u o ik a


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The monk There is a town called Kausambiwhere lived my father whose nam e was PrabhGtadhanas'iothaya (meaning very wealthy) who wastrue to bis name We were a hap py family Oncein my earlv youth I was caugh t w ith a veryse\ere p u n m my eyes and i severe burning feverall over my body The pain was dreadful and unbearable The best o f physicians cam e to my help butthey could n ot rid me o f my pains M y father wouldhave spent all he possessed for my sake but hecould no t rid me o f my pains hence I s a y th a t Iam without protection My loving and faithfulwife moistened my breast with her tea rs no t livingmy side even for a moment bu t she could not ridme of mv pains hence ! say th a t I am without

protection

And the M ahanirgranthathe great asceticurther explained to the king O king thus finding

m jsuir entirely without protection I sought refugein religion I took an oath th a t if I for once shall

get rid o f these pains I shall become a houselessmonk The next morning my pam s had vanishedand hnce I took leave of my relations an d b ecim ea houseless monk

The above dialogue is found with more details inthe twentieth chapter called Wahani%anthi)&of theVtiaraJh) ay ana Suira It may be interesting tono te that Monk An5th! also explained to the kingabout another kind ol want o f protection Herefctred to those monks who a f a r being initiateddid no t adhere to the code o f asceticism ImpcachtngStrongly the lax itj o f ch ara-te r o f such persons themonk said But there is still another w ant o f

r elect c n O k in g he ar lhei t fcre O k irg attentively


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custom) who like fire devours everything w fllgoto hell from here after having sinned 1

Thus condem ning the so-called lax m onks, in the

end An3th! Muni clearly admonishes the king o fM agadha thus A wise m an who hears th is iliscourse an instruction full o f p recious wisdom andwho deserts e\e rv pa th o f the wicked shouldwalk on the toad o f the great N irgra nth is *

King S renka was extremely pleased by hearing

A nlthl s sermon W ith folded hands cxpre singhis gratitude to AnSthi Muni the king said Vouh3 \e varily explained to me w hat it is to be withoutprotection ^ o u have made the best use o f hum anbirth you have made a true gain O great sage it ist>nly you who (in true sense can be said to) h a \e a

protector and relations for you have entered Chepath o f the best Jinas You are th e protector o f allunprotected beings O ascetic 1 ask you to forgiveme O highly fortunate (monk) 1 I seek to be disciplined by you T hat by asking you 1 have disturbedyour meditation an d tha t 1 invited you to enjoy

pleasures all you must forgive me *1 V Ues am knaza dim n lOfam na mumcfioi ktmchi anesan]

Jam

A rgtvra sa iabhakk! i bhmltta to ethuo gaehehkatpa am Ibid V 47

1 Sochcla a inehaii sub!os iom Imam ant saianam nonnguno avtyam

om^jb ld l' nasarvnm m-^myathanarae H " -"

3 Tttlho lf l stm o raya Inamadahu ka\am)ahAn hattamjahabh i am t llhu me u-adamshamT }}f am svlad}) am Ihu tnanusiajammani labha svld ?

ne males!

n tanaha }a sabovlka a ya ja-n the ihla fogg*


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T he concluding \ers reads W hen the lion o f kings h ad thus w ith the greatest d-votion praisedthe lion o f houseless m onks he (the king) toge ther

w ith his wives servants and relations becam e astau nch believer m tlv* religion (o f n irgranthas)with a pure mind 1

There are striking similarities between the Jamaccount o f K ing Sreijika s m eeting with A nathiM uni a nd the Buddhist episode o f Bim bisaras

meeting with BuddhaIn bo th the episodes the king o f M agadh3 (a) is

'.cry much impressed by the elegance a nd cquanimity o f th e young ascetu. (b) offers him the facilitics o f c im a l pleasures an d (c) ob tains refusalthe reof The sequence o f bo th the scenes forces

one to dou bt w hether one o f the traditions hadcopied the o the r M aodikucbchhi garden hasbeen referred to i s M addakuchhi tn the Buddhisttrad ition * Except the above episode we do n otfind a reference to AnJtht Mum anjwhere elseeither in the Jain o r the Buddhist literature W hether

he was a d i^ip L ofM ah av lra o r initia ted in theorder o f P jriva is also not alluded lo anyw here

Tam 1 1 naho anakanoni iatT(^>hir\ana samjasaKfiam mi tc mahohhnza' I(bch)amion saslitmPuchchiuna rraf tjWihcm Jhanatiggh) kjo koo\ m.i mlo r sff^aflyano sabamP&YO dhamiruuturattoilmaleru chf)asa

/M m * e S

2. 0 ?1 Mshaparicilhbana(N 1


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N o r there 15 any mention of his ever meetingM ahavira Probably these reasons have led Df

Radhakum ud Mukherji Ihe historian to concludeth a t the person referred to as A m th i in thisepisode was none other than M ah S vIn on the basiso f epithet Anagara Siho ({ton o f ihe monks) Hetherefore infers tha t this meettng o f Srem ka wasw ith M ahavira h im self1 W hile such an inter

pretation would no doubt increase the historicalimportan e o f the meeting we have no confirmatoryevidence to support it On the con trary mentionof the Town kausarbi Irabhuta Dhana SanchayaM erchant (as A ruthi s father) pa in the eye etcdefinitely po int to an entirely different person

The significant difference in the Jam and theBuddhist versions of the Bimbis3ra s first co ntac t istha t while in the Buddhist text Srenika (Bimbislra)m rely invites Buddha to visit Rajagfha on hisattaining enlightenment m the Jain scripture hewith his family accepts N irg rantha religion as a

result of his contact with Anithi

N irgrantha Anathi s description o f the other typeo f Unprotectedness appears to be hitting o u t at

pseudo moaks to divert the km = &faith from themIt is difficult to conclude from th is descr ip t ionwhether any particular sect was the targe t o f hiscriticisms n o r is it clear whether Sregika was thefollower of th a t sect Whereas his reference ischiefly to easy going N irgranthas i t is difficult tosay which Nirgranthas had become so much lax If

is to the easy going monks initiated

I Civ li tuion p Igj (Bharllva Vidya Bhawan


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m the tra d itio n o f P&isva then it is obvious f i s tthe time o f this episode m ust be after M ahavira S

omniscience and before his visit to RsjagtESbecause th a t was the period when the lax m o r t s ^the Patsva-order held the sway

lo the T rip itaVas

W c find se\eral clear proofs o fK ioghaving accepted the Buddhist faith The c r g m ,reference is found in the Vtnay Pitaka. - v b rs ~ sstated B ud dh a visited R ajagjha afterthousands of Jdjdas1 such as U rtzv ej H r r - a a .etc King Dimbis3ra came to k a o v r ?5r.. i svisited B uddha accompanied w ith n p c r- jr- ~zy*.thou sm d Brahm ans and househe^is- -cc-s^r r

M jgadh a B uddha was sojourniEg i;*!-^.th it time He preached to th c c .serm on el ven hu ndred lhow3 t - -* ~M ig-tdhu including B imbisira ~

there uneo rrupted v o o f trutli '* '_*rir>=-sproduced must cease to be wtu* c ie s u r '- s i r f ts-

sond accepted the B uddhist ^ xstau nch Buddhist Bimbisara c-c__-s',rr _ r njr* to invite Buddha for dianeT L ^ * s* L -da> I h d \e fulfilled all the *entertained since long I **' 5^ - , s r

crowned a s a ( co ro n a t ed ) !^ ^ t s * s z i z ~ - S ~

1 e Buddha v ,sit my ca jn . ^presence (,4) May I listen j*>^ j-w M av 1 accept him as p ^ r -^ r - w these five asp irations hs>- v_^js ' r-Z*

t i n itas v. ere asctltcs *w -asH e -s s - j.fj_2 Itnay r faAav-t,


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I invite you and all jo u r m onks to be my guests fortomorrow The next day B uddha and his monksaccepted the hospitality o f the king who ser\ed

them with his own hands an d dedicated Veluvanagirdens for the use o f B uddha and his m o n k s1

This episode is corrobora ted by the KutttdantoSuita of the Digha hikaya There the Brahmma

K utadanta savs to bis advisers an d colleaguebrahmins Why should 1 not go to visit SramanaGautma Even Sremka Bimbisara the king o fMagadha together with his wives son* an d mintstershas dedicated h ish fe to the cause o f Buddhism 1In the Sonadonda Sutta Brahmin Sonadanda givesutterance to the stme words on a fitting occasion *Commencement of Uposatha in the Buddhist Order

Depiction o f a number o f episodes describing Bimbisara s relations with B uddha andthe Buddhist order after accepting Buddhist faitharc available M ention is found in the Malta |'Qgga of the \ may Pitaka about the personalvisits of Bimbisara to Buddha on a fewoccasions During one of such visits B imbisJraproposed Oh Lord ' disciples o f o ther faiths congregate and hold religious discourses on the eighthfourteenth and fifteenth days o f the lunar fortnightWhy should we not do the same ? B u d d h a gave

his assent to the proposal and thus commenced thecustom o fupoy* o I 5 pp l i t 12 (NaUnda tdillon)bid 1-4 p 103


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m onastic o rder This was necessary because man>soldiers w hen dispatched for fighting in th e front

lines soug ht in itiation as monV.9 through fe a r o fd ea th B uddha gave his assent to this also 1

Once Srenika Bimbisara called the representativeso f eighty tho usand villages w hich were ruled by himH e tau gh t them political social and econom ic^adm umttatKK i A t las t he said W hatever I have

taug h t is all m undan e For relgious knowledgeyou should seek refuge in B uddha T he rea fter theyall went to Grdhraktya Mountain and becamefollowers o f Buddha

SreniVn Bimbisara appointed his toyal physicianJivak a K aum ara Bhftya for the medical C3re o fBuddha an d his m onastical orde r D escription o fhis having bu ilt m onasteries is also available*

According to the Petavatlhu Atfhakatha SrejiikaBimbisara observed Uposalha every m onth on theeighth fourteenth an d fifteenth days o f the fort

nightM iracle in the Prison

According to the Amita)tirdh\ana Sutra of t heM ahay^na School during the evening o f his lifewhen Sren ika BimbisSra was in prison M audgatyS

yana a chief disciple o f B uddha by his m iraculouspowers used to appear in the prison and preachedhim religious maxims In fact BitnbtsSra desiredso and accordingly it happened Vaidehl the wife

1 I mava Pttaka Makatctgvo Mahakhandhaka2 Vfnaja Pttaka Mahcnaggo Chammakhandhaka p 199

3 Ibid Challfiatrga Khuddakayathukhart lhaka o 458 2^4 I erst


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some m erchants o f Tak$aSila cam e to B imbisara scourt They praised their K m g Pukkusati They

depicted him to be o f the sam e age and as virtuousas Bimbisara A friendly alliance was thus established between the two kings throu gh exchange o fmess ges M erchants o f both the countries wereexempted from custom du ties m utually PukkusStipresented five costly multicoloured shawls to

Bimbisvra In re tu rn B imbisara presented agolden plaque inscribed w ith eulogies o f B uddhaEventually Pukkusa ti cam e to R ajag jha travellingon foot to visit Bud dh a and became a Buddhist

monk

Next Life of Bimbisara

The description o f life after dea th o f Bimbisarais found in the Ja axasabha Sutta of the Digha

N ika)a a s und er A nanda asked Buddha O Lord 'Since you have described the life after dea th o fev e ra lo fy o u t disciples o f various nationality it

would be fit if you will also des nb e the same o fSregika Bimbisara who was also a religious a ndpious km*, and also your disciple

In response to Ananda s request B uddha wentinto m editation and c o n c e n tra te his consciousnessto know in which s tate o f life Bimbisara was expen

encing happiness o r mis ry

A celestial iaksa reveiled himself and said -OLord ' I am Janav asabha and repeated it thricend asserted I am Bimbisara myself ThenBuddhn knew and declared to A nanda tha t

Bimbisara h ad been b om as a Yoksa and ua j'fc1 fn iea _Janjvasabha


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a n d intorm me immediately ab ou t his arrival T hepersonnels carried o u t his orders

One day L ord M ah ivira arrived m R ijagfhaan d people assembled Proprietors o f rest housesetc cam e to Src m ka and said O king ' To seewhom you arc so very anxious an d whose namegUdens your heart so m uch he, the PreceptorT irthankara Omm>cicnt (.all perceiving an d all

knowing) L ord M ahavira has arrived in Rajagfhaan d stays a t GunaSIla gardens

Sre^ika was very happy and content to hear this

news Getting up from his throne, an d walking afew paccs m th e direction o f G unasila gardens hebowed to Lord M ahavira After having rewarded

the messengers he called the heads o f his armytransp ort depa rtm ents etc and ordered th-m tokeep ready the fourfold retinue and the chariotused for religious purpot,s

Having do ns this he came to Queen C helana and

saiu D a r 1 Visiting the Om niscient Preccptor is agreat blessing Let us therefore go and visit Lord

M ahavira bow to him revere him welcomc him

and pay ou r respects to him Lord M ahavira isblessed consecrated god o f gods and omniscientLet us go and worship him W orshipping him

would be blessings for us for happiness and welfarein this life the next and all the subsequent cjcles o flife and in achieving em ancipation H earing thisChelana becime glad and happy

ChelanS com pleted her ablution p u t onclothes an ttora jm en ts and rode the chariot

side o f - * \ l n due course the* *


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GunaSila gardens Facing Lord M nhlvJra Chsfeija

venerated him w ith folded hands inqu ired abou t hiswell being and bringing 3renka m fron t o f him

busied her>elfin tbe w orship o f M ahivtra

MaVilvira preached Congregvtion dispersed

Observing the divine affluence of Stemkn som e o f the

monks wondered Blessed is S rem ka BhambhasSrato h a 'e Chelana a his queen and M agadha i s his

kingdom I t ou r lusterites are fruitful then we

should enjoy as their fruits such delightful pleasures Similarly observing tbe divine splendour ofthe queen some of the nuns too ha 1 the des ire to

have similar pleasures

Mahavlra by his power of knowledge knewabout these de ires o f monks and nuns H e a t once

ordered the monks to assemble and explained them

the evii consequences o f such desires The m onksand nuns repented for having such desires

This reference is a source o f inform ation aboutdeep reverance tha t Sremka Bharobhasara h id

towards M ahlvira as well as it points to the fac tthat

tins should be tbe first meeting of Srenika withMahavira Here it is ChetanS who leads Srcnikato Mahavira and after introducing him sits for theaudience While Chelana was a follower of N irfcrdntha tradition bv bm h Srem ka on the otherhand was in the beginning a follower o f ano ther

th I t was by her efforts tha t Srem ka became aower of Jainism fhe fact that Chelaija led and


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introduced Sremka to M ahdvira sup ports o u t deduction th a t it was Sremka s first visit to the latter

T h a t m onks and nuns desired specific rew ards fortheir laste n t ie s after observing Sremka s a n d

C he laru s g ran de ur also endorses this fact

In the Anuttarora\aldasa dgama ano ther episodeis described thus K ing Srenlka after having paid

his venerations to Lord M ahivTra a t the end otsermon asked O L o r d ' Who am ongst the fourteen tho usand monks such as IndrabhHti is the forem os t in observing austerities and thus purifying h tsself? The Lord replied Sremka 'T h e m on knaraedDhan>a is the foremost o bserve r o f austerities and

purifier o r th e self King Srem ka was very happyto hear this He went to M onk D haoya and complmented him O beloved o f gods 1 Blessed you areLucky you are The n he cim c back to LordM aM vtra paid his venerations to him a n d returnedto his pa lac e1

In the thirteenth chapter oft\a)adhammakahao also a description o f Sremka s visit to MahSvIrawith full reticue is given

Initiation of Princes into the Monastic O rder

On thu occassion o f the initiation o f Pn nceMcghakumara Srenlka pronounced a euology on

the N irgran tha religion thus N irgrantha religionis tm e p iram oun t perfect leading to salvationlogical an d unique To become a m onk in such areligion is extremely difficult * Srem ka s another

1 Ch n f p m i


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prince Nandisena was also ordained m th e order o fM ahavira l

W e also Bad a referenve th a t once Srem ka anno

unced m a meeting of his royal family knights andministers IF anyone wishes to ge t initiate d by

Lord M ah ivira I will not prevent him Inspired

bv thi announcement tw enty th ree o f hi? princessuch as Ja\l M iia li e tt got initiated by Mahavira *Also th irt en o f his queens including NandS

N andam ati etc entered into M ahavira s order of

nuns *

ProphecyOnce King Srenika was itting near L ord M ahavira

in the Sama\asarana (the god m ade place fo r the

sermons of the Tirftian^arn) A t th a t time a manwhose body was in advanced stage o f taprosy

came there bowed and sa t d o w n D e ar the IcingJust then Lord M ahSvira sneezed and the lepersaid Die W hen ^retjika sneezed the leper said

Live Prince Abhayakum&ra also sneezed Theleper said Live or die Butcher kfilasaurtkasneezed and the leper said Do not U \c nor die

The king hearing these absurd words o f the leperasked his soldiers to seize h im But when the soldiersmade an attem pt to captu re him he flew up in theair and became invisible

Caught by surprise the king asked Lord M ahaviraabout the wonderful ept ode M ahavira S3td 'The

1 Trisattuataka pur necharu am book X canto VI Afa/uJiirac/iar iam by Gunachandra p 334

Aiutiaroimoiadasiuga pan} c'irs 110 pari IT thrs J 13


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Up r was no t a hum an being H e was a data (god)in disguise an d w hatever he u ttered was n o t a t all

absu rd H e aske d m e to d ie for 1 shall at tainem ancipation after d eath He told you to live be

cau sc after death y ou will be bo rn in hell He satdto A bhay akum ara Live or die because he isdevoted to righteous life while he lives a nd w 11take birth as a god in the A nuttaravim ana (thehighest category o f the gods) after the de ath W hen

he asked Butcher K alasaunka n o t to live no r todie the significance was tha t th e butche r wasdevoted to evil while living an d would go to the

seventh hell (the w orst o f all hells) after dea th

K ing Srem ka after hearing from M ah ivlra tha the himself would have to go to he ll in the n ex t life

was astounded H e bowed to M ahavira a n d askedHow shall I the follower o f >ou Lord M ahav ira !

have an existence in h e ll? Is it the result o f mydevotion to thee 7

M ahivtra said to the king N o u is n o t so In

past on account o f deep interest in h unting you

had already acquired the sin (K arm a) responsiblefor b irth in hell The resu lt o f following mypath will be th a t just after the end o f your infernal

life >ou will be born again as a hu m an being andjust as I am the la s t (tw enty fourth) T lrthaftkara(Lord) o f the pres nt lineage o f twenty fourT luh an ka ras you will become the first nam ed

padm anSbha "Tlrthankara o f the fu ture lineage oftwenty four TIrtha&karas H earing this great pro

phecy King Sremka became extremely happy

5 "Hit d eu ce d on ot PatimaTiaWii Ttt

given a Sutra 9^/693


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S re m k a a t o n ce a sk e d M a b S tl r a Is th e re a n '

m ean s b y wh i ch I c an e s cap e h e ll T

M ahdvtra replied If you m ake K apill. I*16Br3hm3m g i\e alms checrfully with de\o tion tos3dhus if you make Butcher K Jlasa unka g lVCup slaughtering even for a day the n you would be

saved from rebirth in hell not o therw ise O Kng I

King Sremka a t once persuaded K ap ili as wettas K aUsaunka bu t both o f th e m refused to do asSremka said When K apil i was forced to givealm s

she 3aid I am not giving ilm s it is th e km c whois giving alms F or preventing th e butcher fromkilling the animals the l in g m ade to keep him w a

dry well and kept him prisoner a day and nightbut the butcher m ade five hundred buffaloes out o fclay and killed them 1 In fact both the means suggested by M ahSvira were impossible happenings andhence the hell was also unavoidable for SregikaMahavTra had only suggested them to enlighten

SremkaRoyal Monk Prasannachandra

The Jain literature is replete with accounts o f

th e dialogues be tw een M ahSvIra a n d King SretjikaOne o f these interesting allusion is in the context o f

royal monk PrasannachandraPrasannachandra was the king o f Potan3puraW ^en MahSvira went to Potanapura k ing P ras annachandra enlightened by his sermons joined themonks order Once Mahavlra accom panied by

S-lfiT sa,',ka Puru,a >o Ilran book X canl IX vv


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If Prasannachan dra dies just now he wouldattain the highest category o f devas (gods) called

SarvSrthasiddha King Srem ka was yet moreconfounded by this doub le explana tion ResolvingSremka s ambiguity M ahavira said Y ou need notget bewildered It is tbe m en tal a ttitude whichcounts W hen you were asking the first question P rasannachandra s m ind was engaged in the

fight against his ministers etc D ue to high tntensity o f anger he would have certainly gone to theseventh hell if he no uld have died then But Jtthe time of your second question state o f his mindhad totally changed H e bad recovered himselffrom the sinful thinking and again established

himself in spiritual m editation by th a t tim e Nosooner had M ahavira completed his sentence thanthe g o d s drums w ere h eard proclaim ing th a t the

royal sage Prasnnachandra had achieved omniscience Sremka rejoiced a t glory o f the Jam o rd e r1

According to the Chaupannamahapurusa chariyani

Indra once praised Srem ka saying There is noneequal to Sremka in religious devotion and faithOne o f the gods got enraged a t this and decided totest Sremka A t the end o f his test when he foundtha t Sremka wa indeed a staunch devotee o f theNirgrantba religion he felt happy Pleased with

his devotion the god gave Sremka a gift o f a necklace o f eighteen strands which atta ined the histoncal importance later being the bon e o f contention

1 T aslhalakapurusaeho iiram book X canto IX w21 50 cf English translation by Helen M Johnson volVI pp 230-32


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o f the two wars vtz R ntham usala and M ahasiU

kantaka 1

According to the D igam bara trad ition o f theJam s M ahavira delivered his first sermon on M tY ipulachala near R ajagrha on the first da y o f the

da rk fortnight ofSravana Srenika king of M agadh awas presen t w ith his family and full retinuein the congregession H e w as the leader o f themale laity while Queen Chelan a was the leade r o fthe female laity *

Follower of M alum ra or Buddha

When v e consider the above proofs provided bythe Jam s undoubtedly Sremka emerges as a staunchfollower o f M ahavira O n the o the r hand if proofs

given b> bo th th e Jam s an d the Buddhists are considered simultaneously an d imp artially neither o fthem outw ei0hs the other A lthough it is difficultto adjudge any p articular side to be stronger in

proving Srem ka as its follower it can undoubtedlybe said th at a chronological exam ination ofth


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25

would be ra th e r difficult to distinguish decisivelybetw een th e real and im aginary proofs w hatever

they may be A fter all it is on ly o ur speculation onthe basis o f which we class some to be imaginaryU nder the circumstances it would be impossible toreach a positive decision by distinguishing betweenreality and imagination

The only criterion th a t can solve this problem

decisively is the chronological considera tion o fM ahavira B uddba and Bim bisira On the basis o fthe com parative study o f the Agamas and theTnpttakos it is found th a t M abavira was bo m in599 B C renounced the world in 569 B C achievedomniscience m 557 B C and attaine d the \ir \ana in

521 B C while B uddha was bom in 582 B Crenounced the world in 554 B C. achieved enltghtenm ent in 547 B C and attained the N inana m502 B C AKo the dates o f accession an d death ofBimbisara are found to be 582 B C and 544 B Crespectively1 It therefore follows th a t the period

of contemporaneity o f Bimbisar* with omniscientM ab ivira is thirteen years, while th a t o f Bimbisaraw ith enlightened Buddha is jus thre e years Andduring these three years too M ahavira was living

Mabavira sojourned at Rajagjha during bis firstmonsoon a fter omniscience A t the comm encement

o f this sojourn * Sremka acceptcd samyakal\a 1 eformal expres ion o f faith in Nirgrantha religionwhile A bbavakum ara etc acceptedsraxakatia i efaith in N irgranth a religion together w ith the lay-

1 For dn ailed account of the chronological facts see theaathor The Contemporaneity and Chronology o f btahetffrcT**'

and Buddha "2 TJrth 'a part II p JI


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25

One more p roo f o f Sremka s staunchness in theN irgrantha religion ts th a t the num ber o f initiationso f his queens and princes in the Buddhist o rd e r isqu ite negligible com pared to th a t o f the Ja in

order

We also find evidence o fS rfflika being a Jainhereditarily His fa ther is said to have faith{Samyakua) in the religion o f PSrsva and to haveaccepted the lay d iscip les vows1 (a n u v ra tas )According to D r Kash i P rasad Jayasawal the notedhistorian the ancestors o f Srcntka had migratedto M agadha from K&3I I t is also believed thatit was the same dynasty o f KJsI m which Tlrathankara ParSva was born 8 O n the basis o f this belief

it may be concluded that the Jain religion wasSremka s family faith According to the Jamna rrative although Sremka was a Jain by firmlyfaith he h ad relinquished it tem porarily during his

called on Buddha (Cf Rhys Davids Bu U hnt India p 88)during a rainy seasoi passed in the Rajagtba Howeverthe Atlhakatha o f the An^ulatra Nikaya lells us 'halBuddha passed only the second third fourth se 'cntecnt iand twentieth rainy season after ihe enlightenment atRajagrha Of the forty s i\ rainy seasons the remainingtwenty live were spent at Sravasti and the lasl a t \a isa tiThen how is it possible tha t Ajatasalru s accession tookpl3ce only seven or eight years before Buddha s \ i a a

and tha t he met BudJha only seven or eight years beforehis Ai tana

1 Snmatpa svnjinadJilsa sasanambhojastitp lahSarmagda sana pun alma JOfajn iy aiadlarobl n atT isastkat kapu utacbar i am book X canto \ I v 8

- Quoted by D r J P Jala fn hisBhartna Itl/iasa E ka D is tip 62 (Bh&rtiyi Jnanapiiha Banaras 1957 )

Ih tl p 62


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29

exile in his prmcehood It m ight be th a t du ringth a t period he might have followed the lax Sram anas

who w ere referred to m the course o f discussionwith S ratrana AnathI It is qu ite n atura l thatSrcm ka whose fa the r and forefathers were Jainshould have b een also Jam by brilh

It is undou btedly true th a t during the last threeyears o f his life Stenika was m con tact w ith Buddhaand his orde r Th is rela tion however does notseems to be more profound tha n a m ere courteousand sympathetic one

The above statement is corrobora ted by the facttha t R ljagfha was the ch ief centre o f activities of

Mah3vira and his order M ahavira him self passedfourteen w iny seasons there a nd also often vtsiledit during the o the r months o f the year Also peopleo f R ajasfha were followers o f PHrJva the proceedingTlrtharikara even belore the adven t o f M ahaviraIt therefore cann ot be doub ted tha t Sregika s

discipleship was one o f the ch ief factors in m akingR apgfha the m ain centre o f activities o f M ahivIraand the N iigfan tfu (J3tn) order

It was no t Pajagfha bu t Srfvast! which was thecentre o f activities o f Buddha an d the Buddhistorder There only were situated the Je tav an j o f

Anflthapiijd3ka and the P ur\5ram a o f M ng ^rm itaThere too was the k ing prasenajit one o f the foremost followers o f Buddha I t svas there tha tBuddha sojourned twenty six "rainy seasons whileonly five a t RSjagfha On th e o th e r han d MshSvtrapass-d only one rainy season a t c v

rem arkable that just as M ahivlrsSreniku M ^ - v p e a T t ra thanka ra "


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ted for Prasenjit to bccom e a B uddha 1 On thewhole it appears th a t remka was the followerM ahavira and Prasenjit was th e follower afBuddha

Famous historian D r \ A Sm ith ctprcsseilsame opinion l ie writes Me (S rem ki) app*ars

to h ive been a Jam a in religion an d sometimescoupled by Jama tradition with Ashoka s grandsonSam prsti a notnble patron o f the creed ofM a h l\lr a * D r Sm ith furthe r concludes Beingrelated through his mother to the reigning kings of\ ideha M agadha and A nga he (M ahSvIra) was in

a position to ga in official patronage for his teachingand is recorded to have been in persona l touch withboth BimbisSra and AjJtaSatru who seem to havefollowed his doctrine *

CONTROVERSY ABOUT T H L NAMES

Bhlmbhtsara etc

In the Jam canons the names such asBham bhaslra BhimbhasSra an d B himbhisira ha>c

been frequently used for BimbisSra * The wordBham bhaslra is mostly used in the Uter

10

AnOgatavamsa blcllona y c f Pall prope \ a >M ^p 174

The OxfordHistory ofIndia p 45Ibid pp 51 _() Seine bhambha&are

NayoJhamniakahao book I chanter X tl l P 1*95)(Sural IVJt)

() Seme bhamhhasare Senlo bhimbhiiarc

- V aval Srnra117 p a l


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Sanskrit an d P rak rit w o rk s1 The wordsBhambha Dhmbha andBhtmbhi are all synonymsused in the sense o f ke ttled ru m (Bhen)

The episode which brought ab ou t this nam e hasbeen described in several works as follows Oncewhen th e princes palace caught fire all th e princesfled taking with them various precious thingswhich eac h considered roost valuable Srem kahowever considering th e kettle drum as the sign o f

MCtory o f kings took it with him T hat is how heacquired an alias Bham bhSslra *

Vijayendra Su n the famous Jam auth or conside rs DhambtusSra as the only true form and hastried 4 to prove all others to be in o r re c t But thisdoes not ap pea r to b e proper In fact all these

versions a re found m the originalAgamas in severalplaces Even if we accept V ijayendra S u ri s coatention tha t words Bhhrbha etc are no t synonymouswith Bhambha the fact remains tha t they have beenap pen ded to Sremka Thus they being propernouns convey the meaning conferred to them The

question o f canontc.il p rop er nouns to be incorrectdocs no t ans* a t ail Vija>endra S un corroborateshis conten tion by quoting Tltanatga Commentary

Bhambha t i l dh akkasa saro )a s \a sa Bhambha

J AbhJhana Cklntamvtl U dio n U1 v 376 UpaJeshamalawith comment*!* p 3J4 Rshl ManJalPrakatan p 143Sri Bbdroitxk ora BKihnball Comm entary pa rt I p 22Avaihyaks Chum l vol II p l$S

Pldjv-^aJJa \takanna


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would have no occasion to write th a t it is difficultto know w ha t these eighteen Srepies a te 'Some

Buddhist Commentators (such as Buddhaghoja andD ham m apala) exp lain Seniya as m eaning possesed

o f a large arm y (Sena) o r belonging to Seniyagotra *

.Father s Name

As pe r the Sw cUm ber tradit ion o f the JainsSrenika s fa th e rs name was Prasenjit* TheUttarapurana* o f the Digam bara tradition on theoth er hand gives his father s nam e as KQqika whichis obviously incorrect D igam bara A cluryaHari$ena in his w orkBrhatkaihakosa(stoty 55) mentions Sregika s father s nam e as UpaSrenika* It isalso m entiooed tha t U pa iren ika ban ished Srenika

from his kindom and appointed Srenika s step

bro ther C hilati as his successor ChilSti however

failed to adm inister state affairs properly Hencethe ministers de throned him an d made Srenika theking Chiliiti then renounced the world and became a Jam ascetic * Sn m ad Bhaga\at Purana calls

Srenika as V idh is\ra an d his fath er as K$etrajiiaElsewhere his fa ther s names a re given as BhattiyaM ahapadma Hem ajit K jetroja k setpro ja etc *Qoetns

The Jain works give nam es o f tw e n ty five queens

1 Corpo ale Life m Ancient Ind a vol II p 18

2 Dictionary o fPah Prope Names vol II PP3 T sastualakapiruxacharitram bk X can toV I verse i4 74/4185 Tatorasrrmlca raja , 6 & r K s m ta Pr aa d J a n Some Jatna Kings o m llJ fo a

12 (Jam M itra Mandal Delhi 1941)>2/1

C Raichnudhu y Pol it col History o f Ancient I M i \


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N a m e s o f th ir te e n q u e en s N a n d i r t s . z s i u s

q u e e n s K i l l S u k a ll e tc . a r e f ou nd j s th e A s l ^ >

dadasao T h ey w e re a ll in it ia te d b y M a i iv i z l i r

S r e m k a s d e m is e W e h a v e s een C f ce L s i b c 5

m e n tio n e d a s t h e p r i n c ip a l q u e e n us th D s x s & t *-Kkhandha T h e r e a p p e a t s i n J i m fesJC f ari*

n a m e o f a q u e en A patagandha w hsch is c o t r s 3

k n o w n T h e t t a i a d h a m m a k a f w * grv ci

c r ip t io n o f Q u e e n D h S n iji o f S re g ik a.

A c c o rd in g to t h e V lnay P u ak a K ia j S m r j i s t

h a d five h u n d r e d w iv es * A p h y s tc ia n l m t > T .Bhftya cured Bim bislra o f fistula v * -wasanointing pleased the king o2 rr* f t r r ornam ents of the five hundredIt cannot be ascertained whether *** i s z z r ' r t l wom en w ere Sreijika s queeiu. Ti* SHuaCLsf

t r ad i t ion men t ions kosa lader i s s s re ' * .* r Prasenjit as Birab2ra s c h rf q s -t a , SjC ve irareceived as dow ry a Village f-tss e - 1 ^karsapana as revenue* Queen K fesS t i s p y n iof M ad ra country She was pnssJ w v .f scir-tyU ltim ately She was enlightened a_% h ,

Buddha * Pad*n2vatl a c o a n e u a n z i i o believed to be S rem k a! w * * s t s i m ldhyaiu Surra a reference is f o r jas a queen o f BimbisSra Tjl, a2f, ^

1 W ith Bhas>a p a t t l p 17

2 Ch 1 aph 8 (p I**)

3 Mahatogga 8 1 IS4 iaiaka 2-403 Dictionary 0f f . __ 3tP .86 ' A W # 4,(

5 Therlgatha Aithakatha 133-10

6 Therlgatha 31 327 Sacred Books o fIke East ? ^


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Buddhist versions abou t the queens o f Bimbisiraare disparate I t seems th a t Bimbisara had m aay

wives an d the tradition with which these queenswere mainly connected has referred to them in itsworks It is also possible th a t some o f tbe queensmight have been referred to m bo th the traditionsunder different namesPrinces

Prince K unika (A j^tasatru) was heir apparen t toSremka The Buddhist tradition refers to someo f the princes Abhayakum ara is m entioned asthe son of a courtesan queen P ad m avatl1 Anotherson o f Bimbisara born to C ourtesan A m bapali "a *Vicnal Kondann a who la te r became a BuddhistmoDk * Sllavu is also m entioned a s Bimbisara ison His brother A jataSatru wished to k ill him

but failed owing to Sdava s destiny L ater onSilava became a monk and also an arhat* Anotherson o f B imbjsjra was Jayasena 1

In the Jain trad ition an elaborate description o fmany princes beside Kom ka is to be found The

Antittaro\a\ai}a* gives an account o f the followingten princes (I) Jah (2) Mayali (3) Uvayah (4)Puriroscna (5) V^nsena (6) D jbad ae ta (7) LatJhadan ta (8) Veballa (9) Vehayasa and (10) Abbayaku m ira Out o f these the first seven were the sonso f Queen D hann l Vehalla and VehSvasa o f Queen

1 Thengalha 31 32

2 Theragalha Atthakatha (A3 Theragcaha 608-619

4 \tajjhim a Nikaya Airhakatlia 2/93*.

' Nmorom * dharinl sua v tl alia ttfiasa cheUonoeAbhavassa nanatam ray agile no?are sen yero ya nanda devi

Anuiircna al)tt >0ga I


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Cbelan3 a nd A bhayakumara o f Queen N an d a Thesame c anon in the context o f an other event m entionsthe following th irteen princes (1) D ihasena (2)Mahasena (3) LaUhadanta (4) Gudhadanta (5)

Sud dhadan ta (6) H alla (7) D um a (8) D um asena (9)M abadum asena (10) STha (11) Sihasena (12) M ah asihascpa a nd (13) Puijnasena In the N irayavaliya thefollowing ten p rinces are mentioned to be the sonso f Queen k a il Q ueen Sukal] and other queens(1) X aiakum jlra (2) Suk&lakumara (3) M ahakala

ktim ara (4) Kanhakum Sra (5) SukajjbakumSra ( 3)Mahakanhakumara (7) VirakanhakumSra (8)Ram akanhakum ara (9) Senakaijhakum ara (10)MabasenakanhakumSra The two princesMeghakum ara and Nandijena* are renowned in the Jamtraditions

T he Ja m canons do no t merely mention thenames of these princes b u t also furnish their de tailed life sketches in p rop er context O u t o f theseprinces kalakum ara


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39

came to know o f B uddha from his state physician

Jivaka K aum ara Bhflya and im m ediately h e visited

B uddha w ith his five hund red queens tid ing o n five

hu ndred elephants It is difficult to say wheoA jJtaia tru ha d his first m teiview w ith M ahSvira

Available records o f his interviews w ith M ahav iraindicate only o ld acqua intance and deep devotion

Ja la DescriptionThe first Upanga U\a)ai throws light prim arily

on the relations o f k u n ik a with M ahavira Here isalso given a fine description o f his cap ital Cham panagan an d the adm inistration o f his kingdom

Elucidating the devotion of K ilnika towardsM ah3vira it states th3 t he had appointed an infor

n a tio n officer (Pro rttl Vaduka) who received a high

salary His du ty was to keep him abreast o fM ahavira s everyday activities U nder him he hadseveral workers who were also highly paid Through

th-m the inform ation officer used to receive

everyday news o f M ahavira an dc on \e> ed the same

to kfim ka The description o f the advent o f M ahavira to

ChampSnacari and kunika s devotion towards himm the {/varol Sutra is very vivid and inspiringH ad it been the subject o f the review o f the researchscholars like Samanmphata Sutta it would have

been equally significant The fact is tha t th e rescarch mnde on the Agamas is not so copious as th3 ton the Trlpitakas I f this res arch were undertaken

t Tatsanam kontassa ranno e k k t varite v(ubJca\e -tittle%a ma0 P w i t iw e b h a w a o tadJeuisiam potltlim nfreertla sso am pu Isatsa bahareanne punsa Anna hhottl bhaita

taoSa*auio taMevatiam patltttm


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the direction o f M ahavira He drew m his left footSimilarly he moved his fight foot down to theground H e bow ed dow n to the ground thrice and

then rising a little folded bis ba n d s in reverenceTouching his forehead w ith the palm o f his handhe greeted M ahavira w ith namoU hunam (eulogv)and said M y warmest respects to Sram ana LordM ahavira who is the pioneer a T lrlhankaraan d desirous o f a ttain ing salvation, is ray religious

teacher and preceptor From here 1 w orship LordM ahiivira who takes notice o f me from the re 1

Having thu s worshipped an d pa id homage toLord Mahavira Kuntka re ascended the throneHe awarded 108 000 silver coins to th e information

officer and ordered Inform m e again when LordM ahavira graces C ham pa with his visit and arrivesat tbe Pu m a B had ra Chaitya

A rm a l o f M ahavira a t Cbampa

R adiated by a thousand tays th e sun rose in the

sk> In the delightful atm osphere o f the morningLord M ahavira arrived a t Chatnpa and stayed inthe PQrpa B hadra Chaitya Assuming an appropriate position he took to inspiring his soul withself re strain t and austere living All round andthroughou t the Champ2nagan there was a uoiver

sa l talk Sramana Lord M ahavira has come over

l Xamomhanam somanassa bbagarao Mofmlras,a ad,garassa tiihangarrtusa Ja*o samixnlukanuus mama dhammayariyaua dhammnadesagassa vcmdaml nam bhagvantamtaithagayam lha pasialmeimt se) bhagtnam taUhagaeJho-gayam likatru nnJal namamsal f

Uvauai Wupupatika) Sidra Sutra 1J


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here and is staying a t PQrna B had ra C haitya Eventh e hearing o f his nam e and clan is highly benefictal W hat to speak o f getting his holy glimpse

Beloved o f the gods ! le t us all go and pay ou rrespectful homage to Lord M abavira I t will behighly fruitful and bring happiness to us in thisworld and hereafter

Thereafter people ba thed ad orned themselveswith beautiful dresses an d ornam ents and preciousgarlands o f pearls Some rode on horse backssome on elephants and some seated in pa lanquinsand a considerable num ber on foot set o u t for visiting Lord Mahavira

The information officer gave this pleasant news

to ktinika The king rewarded him w ith a gift o f12 50 000 silver co in s1 kfln ika son o f Bimbisaracalled for the chief officer o f the arm y and ordered

Decorate the H astiratna elephant Arrange to getthe arm> consisting o f four divisions (horses elephants chariots an d infantry) ready Keep chariots

ready for the chief queen Subhadra, an d otherqueens etc to ride m Cleanse City Cham pa insideand outside Decorate the streets m d highwaysPrepare platforms for the spectators at differentsites I shall go to worship and rever LordMahuvlra

l There s no word Silver" m the original text but IradiI onally it i? beii ved th at a universal monarch S 'ft >stwelve and a half crore golden coins a Vjsudeva s oft* e ! e and a half lac golden coins and a regional k ingsof twelve and a half he silver coins Cf U orai Sara (Hindi translation) p 133 (Sailana Mndhya Pradesh

1963)


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43

All preparations were m ade in accordance withthe king s ord ers The king rode on the H astira^na

Queen Subha dra and o the r queens g o t intochariots Thus the king with his g rea t glory o f thearm y proceeded to visit Lord M ahSvira 1 Afterdtivm g through the cen tral p a rt o f C ham pa Citythe king reached the vicinity o f Pu rn a B hadraC haitya The king from a distance saw Lord

MahSvira s insignia o f T lrlhanka ra and left theH asU ratna H e then cas t aside all the five signs o froya lty and cam e before Lord M ahavlra Havingacquired th e five essentials he pa id his homage andthen sat down worshipping the Lord w ith m ental\ocal unil physical reverence

Sermon? o f Mabavira

The Lord delivered sermons to the audience mA rdha M Sgadhi dialect There exists universenon universe soul m atter bondage salvationvirtue vicc attraction prevention and efTacement

a rg c r van ity deceit greed etc There also existdesisting from violence falsehood stealing, coition

ctc All affirmations rest m existence while allnegations are with no nexistence Good ac ts resultm good white evil ones re jult in bad Soul confronts with virtue and vice Soul passes through th*

c>cle o f birth an d death There a re two kinds o freligion one for the saints and the o ther for thebouse holders The former consists o f renouncingthe worldly attachm ents and abstaining from violence falsehood etc while the la tte r prescribes thetwelve vows viz five Amnratas three Guna\ratef~

--------------- /I Consult ifcr tAaval Sttfro foj de atUd dwctipti

kumka s 8t*fJr3T N Crtv msrrtn


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44

and four Slksarratas 1 The assembly dispersedafter attending the sermon T he king a!o got upand paying his homage thu s said Lord jo u r

N irgrantha preachings (i e tenets o f the Jam religion)are profound em phatic comprehensive andmatchless W hile preaching religion you bavepreached calm ness while explaining calmness

}ou have explained prudence an d so alsonon indulgence while discoursing ab out non indul

gencv you have preached for non com mitting sinfuldeeds There is no oth er Brahman3 o r Sramanawho can preach religion so well w hat to speak ofanything more than thts * Submitting so the king

returned to wherefrom he cam e*Follower of Jain ism o r Buddhism ?

O n comparative study o f the SammnaphateSutta and the ch ap ter o f the Uvcnai Sutra the latterone is found to be more proved an d impressive Idthe Samannaphala Sutta the only evidence ofAjataSatru being a follower o f B uddha is the statement tha t O God tik e m e in thy shelter as thy

fold handed worshipper from to day In thechapter o f the Uia\at th appotntm ent of informstion officer king s getting off from th e throne hissaluting with Nammolhunam (the Jam tradition ofpaying reference) and meeting with devotion areQuite secure proofs of his being a follower of Lord

Mah2vlra The king s assertion tha t there is no1 Ford tails consult Uvasaza lasao (Ed N A Gore Pooni

1953)

2 Natlhl nam annt ke i sanane to nuhan ra )e rriiamIhammont ma Ikhittae Ktnvinga puna etto u taratoram

Uva\al Sutra Sutra M

Cased cm the Uimoi Surra


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'4 5

B r a h a m a n a o r S r a ra a n a w h o c o u ld p r e a c h suc h

r eh g jo n a s y o u d id fu lly c o n fir m s a n d u n e q m v o

ca lly e s tab lishe s h i s f a i th in th e N i rg ra o ihareligion

I t a p p e a r s t h a t A ja ta S a tru s su b m i ss io n to B u d d h a

w a s j i u t a f o rm a l th i n g B u t n e v e r d o e s it se em

like ly th a t in f ac t h e eve r becam e a fo llow er o f

B u d d h a k i n g A j- i ta sa ttu h a d o n ly o n ce m e t

B uddh a ,1 w he rea s h e h a d o f t en \ i s i l ed M ah3v?ra *

N o t o n ly th is th e k in g h a d ev en a tte n d e d tb e relig i

o u s d isc o u rse s o f S u d h a r m a S w a m i t h e s uc ce sso r

o f M a h av ira 8

D r S m ith w r ite s B o th t h e B u d d h i s ts a n d th e

J a m a s c la im e d h im a s o n e o f th e m s elv es T h e J a m ac la im a p p e a r s t o b e w e ll f o u n d e d * A c c o rd i n g t o

D r R a d h a R u m u d M u k he rjee A ja t a ia t ru w a s a

fo llow er o f M a h i v i ta in th e d a y s o f B u d d h a a n d

M a h a v ir a * H e f u r th e r s ta te s t h a t A s u s u a l t h e

Ja m s giv e b o th A ji ta ^ a t r u a n d U d S i b h ad d a a g oo d

c h a r a c t e r p r e s u m a b ly f o r t h e ir f a it h i n J a in i sm th er e a s o n w h y t h e i r c h a r a c t e r i s b l a c k e n e d b y t h e

B u d d h i s t *

T h e r e a r e m a n y m o r e r e a so n s f o r A j3 t a a tr u n o t

be ing a fo llow er o f B u d d h a su c h a s h is in tim ac y

1 RhysDovids BuIdhtst India p 882. Thananga Commentary 4-3

3 Parlsista Pana canto H w 15 54

4 V A Smith Oxford ifstory of India Second editionOxford 1923 p 51

5 Hindu C m h at,on pp 190-1 (Bhartiya Vidya Bbsf3Sf

Bombay 1964)6 Ibl


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Buddha > death known to A jataSatru by showinghim the pictorial biography o f B uddha from b irth to

N in a n a 1 These events a ttr ibu te to AjStaSatru sdevotion for Buddha But Since these narrationshave been taken from th e later works they cannot

be taken as authentic ones

D evadatta s disciple U paka the son ofM indikaafter having discussions with B ud dha cam e to

A jatasatru and condemned Buddha But AjataSitrugot enraged and asked him to *,et aw ay * The

A tthaka lha m ikes further addition th a t A jatasatrugot U paka turned out by his servants w ith neckg r ip s This also is no t a p roof o f AjataSatru beinga follower o f Buddha A wise m an deprecates those

who speak low and unm annerly o f others H adAjatasatru been a devotee o f Bnddh3 U paka wouldn o t have dared to go to him and defile B uddha Itwas only because he took A jatasa tru to be hismaster Devadatta s well wisher th a t he da red todo so

There are certain references available m th elater works which poin t to A jitaSatru s antagonismsto Buddhism According to the AyadanoSatakaKing Bimbisara bu ilt a stupa on Buddhasnails and hairs during Buddha s life timeLadies of the harem used to worship this stupa

with inccnces flowers etc A jatasatru p u t aban on thi worship immediately after his accessionto the throne W hen Srlmatl a lady o f the haremstift worshipped the stupa she was awarded d eathpenalty * According to Theragatha Atthakatha

1 Enevdopa dla o f Buddhism p 320

2 Angullara Nikavo 4-8 188Ency lopaedaofB uddh sm p 319Avada ashataXa 54


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AjStaSatru even tried to get murdered his joungerbrother Sllava who la ter on became a Buddhist

monk 1

Thes** anecdotes do not support the cont-ntroEth a t A jatafatru was a follower o f Buddhism buton the contrary they tend to pro \e that h . w as ai>antagonist o f Buddhism N e\ertheless they do notcarry n u ch significance

Well known scholar o f Buddhism D r T W RhvsDavids c!earl> expre ses his views th a t A ttb *close o f the discourse the K ing is stated to h -r eopenly taken the B uddha as his guide in future andto have given expression to the remorse, he f*lt a tthe m urder o f his fa ther But it is also disti&cthstated tha t he was not converted There :s to evidence tha t he really after the moment wfc*n hi,hea rt was touched continued to follow the Buddha steaching He never so far as we kno* waitedagain either upon the Buddha o r cpo-* any

member o f his o rder to discuss ethical n teand we he ar o f no m aterial support given b y i l a ^the order during the B uddha s life tim

We are told however tha t after the Buddha sdeath he asked (on the ground that he h r j theBuddha was k?a tn y a ) for a portion o f the rc lc sthat he obtained them an d built a stupe ol bunalmound over them A nd though th oldest du thon t y s a v s n o t h ing a b o u t it younge r w orks s ta t e t h a ton the convocation o f the First Council a t Raiaerha,shonly a l le r ih e t e e ,t s

vided and p repared th a t ha ll at ih entrance to the1 Theragalha Atthakaiha gat ha 609.]}


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Sa ttap an m cave where th e rehearsal o f the doctnnetoo k place H e m ay well have thu s showed favo trto the Buddhists w ithout at all belonging to their

p a rtv He would only in so doing be followingth e usu al hab it so characteristic o f Indian monarch*o f p atronage towards all schools 1

M other 3 Longings during Pregnancy

T he description o f K un ika s birth and his revolta g a in st his father is almost identical in both thetraditions W e find th is description in the laincanon Nirayaraha andDigha Nikaya Atthakatha o fthe Buddhists Both the trad itions nam e his fatherSrenika (BimbisSra) His m other s nam e was

ChellagS according to the Jain tradition andKosaladev! according to the Buddhists The Jamsstate tha t his m other on the day o f conception sawa lion m a dream bu t the Buddhists do no t m entionanything abou t it According to the Jain traditionthe m other longed during pregnancy to ea t the fried

and baked meat o f King Srenika s hea rt musclesand drink wine According to the Budiihists shelonged only to drink the blood from the king s armsBoth the traditions state th a t the king fulfilledthese longings According to the Ja in traditionAbhaya Kumlra slyly so maneuvered that the

king s hea rt muscle was taken out and given toher b u t in ftc t jt was r o t even touched TheBuddhists sta te tha t the king s arm bloodwas extracted by a doctor and the m other slonging fulfilled The queen late r felt aggrieved o f


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this incident an d even attem pted to destroy tb sembryo in th e wom b According to the BudiiiJAS,

this she attempted to do as the astrologers had pred icted the would be child to be a murderer o r fcafa ther The Jams s ta te that th is she a t t e m p to u t o f her own thinking as to w hat could be t x p v ? - ed o f one who even while in th e womb d* m cd_dhis father s hea rt.

Srenlka s Affection for bis Son

According to the Jain tradition, Ch l'a'jS. t i t

queen mother threw away the child on a sla a t x safte r its bir th There a cock bit his little a*r 71-*finger bled N o sooner did the king come to k a ?

about this he out o f affection, felt aggreved i~ fthen quickly came to the spo t Picking cp th* c i5d he brought him to the queen and cu r'd l ie eg fcrsucking the blood from the wound Tfc*tradition gives the following account of it

the child was born the king s minister a p s r ti ts f .

mg th a t she might kill it took sway ti


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thro ne m ade connivance w itn his brothers Puttinghis father into p rison he him self occupied thethrone According to the B ud dh ist tradition it was

D evada tta who instigated A jataSatru for acquiringthe throne and so he imprisoned his father m thehot house

PaJncide

According to Jain trad ition K uijika on a cere

monial day w ent to his mother Chellana for saluting her feet The m other d id n o t accept hissalutations On being asked ab out th e reason forher refusal to accept his salutations the motherna rra ted the episod regard ing Srenika s filialaffection fo r his son and rebuked him for h is foul

deeds It sw ajed K un tka s h ea rt w ith love for hisfather H aving lam ented for his misdeed he atonce took up a chisel and set o u t to cu t the chainsto free hi* fa ther On seeing him come Srenikaanticipating o f his imm inent m urder preferred tocomm it suicide He instantly took a deadly poison

Talaputa an d ended his life

T he Buddhist tradition na rrates th a t none elsewas allowed entry into the hot house whereBjmbisSra was imprisoned except Kosafadew ihem other queen Ajutaatru wanted to starve the king

to death at the instance o f D evad atta whoforbade the killing o f fathe r with we iponsKosaladevJ un der the pretext o f seeing the kingused to carry meals concealed under her laps andgave it to the king knowing o f this AjataSatruordered his setvont E o r o l e t i r y irctfccr o with

covered laps rri *-* --


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in he r h e ad d re ss W hen tins too was fo b idd a ,

she e a rn e d th e mea ls concealed in her go 'd er f


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A ccording to (he* Buddh ist trad ition a s o b wasborn to A jataSatru 'on th e day o f DimbisSra s deathMessengers delivered a written message abou t hav

mg a son in bis {.hands T he king felt overjojedw ith affection and filial Jove Even his bones andm arrow s were seized jo f happiness The joy heexperienced at the b irth o f his son m ade h im realisesom ething o f affection his own father m ust havefelt for him Immediately be o rdered his servants

to set free h is fa ther Messengers also hand ed overto him the death news [o f Bimbis2ra On readingth e news o f his father s death he screamed and ranto his m other and asked Did my father love me ?Th e m other na rrated the episode o f sucking thefinger Then he became all the^m ore grief torn

and repentedfo r his deeds

Comments

Although the details i,in the episodes o f dreamlongings finger wound imprisonm ent etc i nthena rratives o f two traditions vary there exists muchsimilarity from the basics po in t o f view The differencein the episodical versions i not unnatural Everym ajor incident even at the time o f its happenmnggets currency in diverse forms and versions Them ore so when there is a lapse o f time The Jamcannon N ir)a\aha is believed to have been compiled

before the beginning o f V ikram era (56 B C )l whileA tth a k a th a s are regarded to have been w niirn m the 5th century o f Vikram era* It may well be a

1 Pt Da'sukha Malavama Asarra I g a la Jama Do sanaSanjnati Ojana Pitha Agra 1966 P 29

2 flhfksu Dha-fnara lsb ita M h erjo Buddhoghosr Mah todhSafchs Sainatha Varanasi 1956 p 7 ^


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causeoftbisdifference In all the traditions episodicmatters getting transm itted by verbal versions are

compiled in written forms only afte r a time gap o f

centuries The Buddhist narration about the king smurder empathically exposes the cruelty o fAjatasatru while the Jams presen t it in a qu itemoderate way The Buddhist version of cuttingthe feet pu tting salt an d roasting them app ears tobe much inhuman while according to the Jam s

Sreijila suffered only imprisonment with no tortu reslike starving etc Even death is stated to be th eoutcome of suicide On the contrary A jataSatraisaccused of p a rtia d e as per the Buddhist traditionAll these facts tend to prove tha t A jatasatru was afollower o f Jainism

His Mother

Both traditions give different names for K um ka smother According to the Ja takas Kosaladevi w asthe daughter o f Mah&kosala the king of Kosala

le sister o f Prasenajit the k ing o f K osa la1 On theoccasion o f her marriage a village from the KasIstate was given as a dowry After Bimbisara sm urder Prasenajit took back th a t village Therewas a war and afte r one reverse Prasena jit wasvictorious Taking AjataSatru as his sisters s son he

spared him alive concluded a treaty married hisdaughter \ a j ir a to him an d gave the same villagein dowry *

In Samyinia Nikaya Ajatasatru has been m e n 'tioned as a son o f Prasenajit s sister and also as

1 la!aka edited by Fausboil voL 10 p 1212 Jalaka Atthakatha do 249 23)


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yedt-lupjira 1 These nam es do not reconcile with

each other Here Buddhago$a has taken the meaningo f \cdehi and Pandita and ro t s th" princess ofVideha Kingdom The fact ts tha t Chcllana(mentioned m the Jain trad ition) be ing 1 daughterof Chetak.i the chief ol Vat^ali Republic wasVedelu Prasenajit s sister K osala dw i could be a

step-mother o f Ajatasatru According to theTibetan tradition9 and the Amitayurjhyana Sutrathe njm e o f Ajatasatru s m other was ledehtlasou and also as she was a princess o f the VidehaState 5 The use of the word V ideha w ith thisinterpretation is found in abundance elsewhere too

Lord Mahavira has been ca llul Vidtha Vulchacttnnchdehajachche* Since Lord M ahavira was born inVideha he was called \e d e h l his m other too was

born m Videha kingdom so she was \ tdehadattatamata and be og the noblest among the Vcdehishe has been calledI idchajatya7

The great poet Bhusa in his d r^m a Suapna\as\adatti has called king U da jan a as V jdehaputra8because his mother was a princess o f Videha

1 Samxut a N k a )a 3p\A

1 ledeliputtoti \edth ttpanlta ihh achanan era i pandtilthl>aputtou altho

-Sam \ittaN ,ko> a Atthakatha vol I p 1203 Rockhil! L f t o f Buldha p 6 '4 S B E vol XUX P 1665 Rockhitl Life 0f Buddha p 636 Katpa Sut a 110

7 SB vol XXII p 2


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kingdom According to the Ja m traditionChdla\>i (mother o f k u m k a) 4adMfgV>&lt m other

o f Udayana were r ta l sisters being the daughterso f King C hejaka o f \a iJa iI* Lo rd M ahuNirasmother T m aia was the sister o f k n g C h eta k a8There the epithets such as Videhadinna o r ^ idthaputra are most n a tura l and intelligible Even m the J imuanons KQgik3 has been called as Mdchaputra J

According to M r Rhys Davids k in g B imbisara h adtwo queens one kosaladev i sister o f k in g Prasenajitthe second one Y ideha P rinctss and A jUasatru

was the son o f this Videha P rinccss1

According to the Atthakailw while king

Bimbisara was in prison m th - hot house QueenKosaladeVi waited upon him In Encyclopaedia o fBuddhism the nam e o f the waiting queen is stated-s khem a and she is said to be the ro>al princesso f kosa la kingdom 8 But this obviously appea rs to

be in erro r khcrnS tru ly belonged to M adraDe>a * It seems th a t m place o f ko sa l-d ev l thename of k h e n n has been m entioned erroneouslyIn the Tibetan trad ition and the AmitayurdhyanaSutra the n am e o f the waiting qu een has beenmentioned as Vaid h i \ a s \ I who was the daughter

o f \a iv iH s C om m ander S in h a T D r R a d luk um ud M ukherjee w rites th a t Vaidehi Vasvl can

t A vas)akoU u nlpart I t p 164- IM p-vul p V4

3 Bkag*cui S tira Saulca ? U d d k a 9 p 5 64 BuJJhut M ia p 3

5 Entxchpa d iao fB i Jihism p 316

6 Thrrlgaria Atthakatha 139-437 Rotlihill ur*ri> tn


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be identified with C hd lana 1 From these diversitiesin the Buddhist tradition noth ing more is inferred

tha n that AjataSatru was the son o f princess ofVideha and so he was called V edehipu tra I t isnot understandable why A charya Buddhagho$a had

been nourishing the wrong impression m interpretmg the word Vedehi as Pandita and AjatSatru asthe ton o f kosaladevi the princess o f Kosdla

Difference in Nomenclatures

There i$ a difference regard ing the name andtitle m both the traditions The Ja ins have allthrough nacied in k um ka while the Buddhistshave called him A jataJatru Even in the

Upantshadas* and Puranas* the nam e o f A jataiatruhas been used Thus the fic tuai position is tha tKflmka is the real nam e and A jltaS atru is anepjtheti naipe Som e time the title o r th e epitheticname enjoys more popularity than the real nameSuch as Vardhamana was the original nam e and

Mahavira an epithet bu t in practice M ah lvlrahas been more popular In the general history o fIndia only the nam e o f Aj.ita$atru is c u rre n t Thename o f A jataSatru K um ki is found engraved onan edict a t the M athura s museum * In fret thisappears to be his full name The \vord AjataSatrU

kuijika should be used in the modern literary%vorks as this would be more expressive andcorrect

/ / ndu Ci dual on (part II) p 1812 Dialagu s o f Buddha vol II p 783 fura a chapter 99 sloka 319 Matsyo Purana

chjft4r271 sloka 9* Journal o f Bihar and Ortosa Restarch Society vol V partIV pp 550-51


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differ from each othe r regarding the cause pa tternand results o f the battle b u t bo th agree abo ut thevictory o f M agadha over the VaishaU RepublicBoth M ahavira and B uddha were present at thetim e o f this ba ttle Both have answered questionsconcerning this w ar The description o f this battlein both the traditions is most fascinating andexpressive o f the contem po rary politics The Jamversion is prominently available m the BhagnatiSutra Nirymaliya Sutra and A\asyctka Churnl whilethe Buddhist description is available in the Maha

parlnnsana Sutia of the Digha N ikoya and itsAtthakathaThe Jam \ ersvoa

After his father s death K um ka transferred hiscap ital to Charapa.aaga.cl and sent for all his tenbrothers K atikuim ra etc H e then divided tbekingdom army wealth etc into eleven parts andgave them their portion k u m k a had tw o realbrothers (sons o f Chellaiji) named H alla and

V ihaH a1 K ing Srem ka during his life time gavethem his two special things the Sechanaka elephanta nd &god given eighteen s tringed necklace *

1 Thc~versmn however is d screpant m different books Theblrunalta text narrates the Who! episode in context of\iha lla only whereas the Ni vavaha Commentary theTiliagiatt Comm nta y and the Bha ateshrora Baht bah

Commentary mention bo th Halla anil Vihallain thiscontext The Anuttaro a aiya Text stlies Vihalla aod\eb ayasa as tbc sons of Queen ChelUm and Halla as tDeson of Queen D hatim whetta^ \t e vOmrnenunes on theA navaha as w II asBhag\cn mention Hal a a ril \iha llaas the sons o f Queen ChelUtw The whole topic is asubject of teswuxh

2 It is said ihat the Secfunaka elephant a rd the god given

necklace were equal in value to Shrenika s whole kingflora cfAtas)a^a Churnl p 167

60


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Riding on his elephant S echanaka \ i h a lla

kum Sra alongwith his harem p a ity used to go every

day to the banks o f the G anges for w ater sports H is

enjoyments and lust gave rise to i talk in th e townthat Vihalla K um ara an d r o t KGnika was reallyenjoying the grandeu r o f the kingdom T hese talksreached Kum ka s queen Pad raavati She thoug htW hat is this royal dignity to me if 1 do n o t have the

Sechanaka elephant and the divine necklace 1 Sheexpressed h e r feelings to K um ka W ith h er repea ted

e treaties K um ka was com pelled to liCmand theel pha nt and the necklace from his bro thers Hec lied Haifa and V ihalla and said H a n d o v e r thenecklace an d th e elephant to me The) replied

Our fa ther has given these things cxc'usivcly to usHow can we give them up 7 KQQtka got enragedat his reply H alla an d Vihalla on getting anopportunity ea rn ed the necklace eleph ant and theharem to their m aterna l grand father C hetaka in\a i i J h kf lm ka came to know about this He sent

bis emissary to King Che{aka and asked him toreturn the necklace and the elephant alongwithHalla and V ihalla to Cham panagarl Chetakasaid The necklace and the elephant belong toH alla and Vihalla They have sought my asylum and1 would not return them I f my grand son kOtjika

the son o f King Srcijika and Chellana would giveha lf o f his kingdom to H alla and Vihalla I canmanage to get him the necklace and th e elephantKflmka again sent his am bassador an d sasd Hallain d V ihalla have taken away tK necklace an d theelepha nt without my permission Both these tjuags

belong to o u r S tate M agadha C hetaka re ia rne tfj,the ambassador with n negative repfv


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am bassador rep or ted all the details to Ktiflikawho go t enraged O u t o f excitem ent his lipsstarted quivering eyes reddened and foreheadwrinkled In anger he o rdered the am bassador to

go for the third time an d said I give you a w rittenletter In this is written Return the elephan t andthe necklace o r get ready to fight Proceed toC he tak a s assembly an d kick his th rone Deliver thisletter into his hand s w ith the edge o f a spearheadThe emissary complied C he jaka got ang ry with

the contents of the letter an d the etiquette o f theemissary In agony he said to the am bassador Iam prepared far w ar L e t Kupika come soon Iw ait for him Chejaka s aides caught hold o f theambassador by the neck and tu rn him out from theassembly Kfiijika heard all this from the acnbassa

dor He summ oned his ten brothers KalikOmaraetc and said to them Go to your states an d comeback here p repared with your armies I shall fightw ith K ing C hejaka A ll the princes w ent to theirstates an d came back accompanied by the ir ownthree thousand o f each elephants horses chariots and

three crores o f foot soldiers Kuijika too providedhis elephants, horses chariots three thousan d eachan d three crores of infantry men Thus, KOmkawith a great force o f thirty three tho usand eacho f elephants horses an d chariots and thirty threecrores o f foot soldiers came to VaiSall

King Che(aka too summoned his eighteen confederate Republican kings of Ka$t and Kosala nine

King Bimbisar and Ajaatshatru

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