Page Text
________________
479
Videhaputta, etc., become easily intelligible. In the Jaina Agamas, even Kūņika has been called Videhaputtra (119). According to Rhys Davids, King Bimbisara had two queens, one being Kosala Devi, the sister of Prasenajit, and the other, a princess from Videha. Ajātaśatru was born of the latter (120).
When King Bimbisara was placed in the smoky cell, according to the Atthakatha, Queen Kosala Devi was entrusted with the duty of taking care of him. According to the Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, the queen taking care of the ex-king in prison was Khema, and she has been said to be a princess from Kosála (121). This is apparently a mistake. For, Khema was from the country named Madra (122). Maybe, Kosala Devi has been confused with Khema. According to the Amitayurdhyāna Sutra, as also the Tibetan tradition, the name of the queen looking after the exking was Vaidehi Vasavi(123). Radha Kumud Mookerjee has identified Vaidehi Vasavi as Queen Celaņā (124). These conflicting views in the Buddhist tradition does not in any way disprove the fact that Ajatasatruwas born of a princess from Videha, and it was because of this that he was called Vaidehiputra. It is not known why Buddhaghoşa made the confusion that "Vaidehi" stood for "Pandita", and that Ajātas atru was the son of Kosala Devi, a princess from
Kosala.
Difference in Name
Between the Jaina and the Buddhist traditions, there is a lot of difference about the names of Ajātasatru. Whereas he has been called Kuņika throughout the Jaina tradition, the Buddhist texts have consistently called him Ajātas atru. The latter name, Ajātasatru, has been used even in the Upanisads (125) and the Puranas (126). The fact appears to be that 'Kunika' was the original name and 'Ajātasatru' was only an epithet added later. Sometimes, as it happens, the epithet acquires a wider currency than the name itself. For comparison, 'Vardhamana' is the original name and 'Mahavira' is only an epithet, but, for all practical purposes, the epithet 'Mahavira' has a wider currency. The writers of Indian history have used the name 'Ajātasatru'. An inscriptionin the Mathura museum has it as 'Ajātasatru Kuņika'. (Vide Journal of Bihar & Orissa Research Society,
| SR No. | 022804 |
| Book Title | Agama And Tripitaka Comparative Study |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Nagaraj Muni |
| Publisher | Today and Tomorrows Printers and Publishers |
| Publication Year | 1986 |
| Total Pages | 804 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 19 MB |