Lord Mahavira and His Times

SR No.: 011080
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Kailashchandra Jain
Publisher: Motilal Banarasidas
Publication Year: 1974
Total Pages: 427
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 20 MB

Page 219

Political Conditions and Institutions
King Asvasena of Banaras. Kāśī was conquered by Kosala some time before Mahāvīra. Kāśī and Kosala were known for their eighteen confederate kings (Gaṇarājā), who fought against Kuniya on the side of Cheṭaka. Several Jātakas bear witness to the superiority of its capital Banaras over the other cities. It was also a commercial centre of repute.
KOSALA
199
Kosala was one of the most important kingdoms in Northern India during the life-time of Lord Mahāvīra. It exactly corresponds to modern Oudh. It was probably bounded by the Sadānīra (Gandak) river on the east, Pañchala on the west, the Sarpikā or Syandikā (Sai) river on the south, and the Nepal hills on the north. Kosala contained three great cities, namely Ayodhya, Saketa, and Savatthi or Śrāvasti, besides a number of minor towns like Setavya and Ukkaṭṭhā.
The only kings or princes in the Puranic list, who are known from the Vedic and early Buddhist texts to have reigned in Kosala or over some outlying part of it, are Hiranyanabha, Prasenajit, and Śuddhodana. Though the Puranic chroniclers make Hiraṇyanābha an ancestor of Prasenajit, they are not sure of his position in the dynastic list.1
Prasenajit of Kosala, a contemporary of Mahavira, figures as one of the most important rulers of the time. Under him, Kosala became a powerful kingdom. First of all, he annexed Kast to his kingdom. That he soon extended his supremacy over the Sakyas of Kapilavastu, probably also over the Kālāmas of Kesaputta, and other neighbouring states, is clear from the evidence of the Aggañña Suttanta and the introductory portion of the Bhaddasāla Jātaka.3 His relations with Śrenika (Bimbisāra) of Magadha were cordial. He married Śreņika's sister and gave him the dowry of a village in Kast with a revenue of 100,000. But after the death of Śrenika, he carried on a protracted struggle with Kūņika (Ajātaśatru). The Jaina texts present Ajātaśatru as the conqueror of the
1. AIHT, 173.
2. Digha, III (P.T.S.), $3; Dia, III. 80.
3. Ja, No, IV, 145.