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assembly, than he stood up and came seven or eight steps ahead of the throne, in a blissful state; in the uttar - asanga position (27) he masked his mouth by a scarf; and chanting 'Namotthunam (28), he said (29), "To thee, O Mahāvira, who first sowed the seeds of religion in my soul, my religious preceptor, I bow down in reverence from this move place, for thou art yet staying away (in the garden)'. After this, when Mahavira had arrived at Campa, Konika also presented himself in the religious assembly of Mahāvira (30). Not only Konika had visited Mahāvira more than once, but also, after Mahavira's Nirvana, he attended a meeting arranged by Suddharma Svami, the immediate successor of Mahavira, and put serious question to him (31). In addition to these, we find a number of such conclusions in the Jain scriptures, which make it crystal clear that Konika was a staunch follower of Mahāvira and Jain religion.
While, on the other hand, as Rhys Davids writes (32), "When the king of Magadha, the famous (and infamous) Ajatsatru, made his only call upon the Buddha, he is said to have put a puzzle to the teacher to test him....., and as we have already quoted Rhys Davids (33), "he (Ajāts atru) never, so far as we know, waited again either upon Buddha or upon any member of the order to discuss ethical matters.......," Ajāts atru had little inclination towards Buddhism. What opinion, Buddha had for Ajatsatru becomes clear from his own words, he uttered (34): "O Bhiksus! the king of Magadha Ajāts atru s a friend to, an intimate of, mixed up with, whatever is evil". According to the Buddhist texts, Ajātsatru was, interalia, a parricide, and a supporter of Devadadatta, the great schismatic (35). Again it was Ajātsatru according to the Buddhist canons, who incited by Devadatta, ordered his men to deprive Buddha of his life (36).
A similar is the case of Cetaka, the king of Vais ali. He was not only a maternal uncle of Mahāvira (37), but also a staunch follower of Mahāvira (38). The Buddhist Tripitakas do not even mention the name of Cetaka, though they bear a long description of the Vajjis (39). Dr. Jacobi, himself, has observed (40) that the reason of taciturnity of the Buddhist canonical texts about Cetaka is that Buddha's rival (i.e. Mahavira) was benefited by the great
