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TARANATHA'S MAGADHA KINGS.
DECEMBER, 1875.]
sha, the powerful king Sri Harsha, who was born in the kingdom of Maru, and who made himself chief of all the western provinces, appeared in the west. In the east, Vigamachandra and his son Kâmachandra, the descendants of Vrikshachandra reigned; they were somewhat devoted to Buddhism, particularly honouring the Nigrantha. The latter king, as we see, submitted to Nâgesa, king of the Odivisas, who was the son of Jam ruta, and who reigned seven years. Ni gakesa is said to have been this king's minister. Sri Harsha abolished the teaching of the Mlech has by massacring them at Multan (but a weaver of Khorâsân spread it anew), and laid the foundations of great Buddhist temples in the kingdoms of Maru, Malava, Mevara, Pituva, and Chidavara (which probably had yielded to him). Sri Harsha was succeeded by his son Sila, who reigned about a hundred years. Although we again see the race of Chandras appearing in the cast in the person of Sinha chandra, it was very feeble, and submitted to the authority of king Harsha or Siñha and of his son Barsa, who were descended from the family of Lichhchavi. (At this time.Chandragomin also lived: chap. xxiv.) The contemporary of Sîla in the west was the very powerful Vyakula, king of Ma-m ha (Mecca?), who raised himself by force over Sila, and reigned thirty-six years.
Barsa was succeeded by his son, the fifth Sinha, who governed the countries which stretch north to Thibet, south to Trilinga, west to Banaras, and eastas far as the sea. At this time Balachandra, son of Siñhachandra, was expelled by this king from Bengal, and was ruling at Tirahuti." The younger brother of Sinha, the fifth Prasanna governed a small district in Magadha. In the south, in the neighbourhood of Mount Vindhya, Kusu ma is spoken of as being king at this time, and under Dharmakirti is mentioned Kusumajaya, son of Kusuma. All these kings are represented as worshippers of Buddha (chap. XXV.).
After the death of Vy â kula, his younger brother, king Vyakula dhruva, who governed a great part of the west (and was conse
The index gives Tirabhukti--ED.
365
quently in the place of Sri Harsha and Sila), reigned for twenty years. He was succeeded by his son Vishnurâja, who, after having destroyed five hundred Rishis in Balanagara, a town in the kingdom of Hali, was swallowed up in an abyss along with his castle. At this time the greater part of the east and of Magadha was governed by Prâditya, son of king Prasanna, and after him by his son Mahasyana. To the north, in the town of Haridvara, dwelt king Sâ kamahabala, the ally of king Prâditya, to whom all the provinces from Kaśmîr yielded submission. Vimalachandra, son of Balachandra, granted his protection to A marasinha, and reigned over Bengal, Kamarupa, and Tirakuti* (chap. xxvi.)
It was probably at this time that the terrible enemies of the Buddhists, Ś a ǹkaracharya and his disciple Bhattacharya, appeared, the former in Bengal, the latter in Orissa. A short time after, the Buddhists were persecuted in the south by Kumâralila and Kanâ daruru. Here mention is made of the Buddhist king Saliva hana. Though the Buddhists relate that in the end Dharmakirti triumphed in the discussions with Ku mâralila, Šankarâcharya, and Bhattacharya, Târânâtha says (chap. xxvii.) that in Bengal the priests trembled at being vanquished in discussion by the Tirthikas, and he himself acknowledges that at this time the sun of Buddhism began to be obscured. As Dharmakirti is supposed to have been the contemporary of the Thibetan king Srong-tzan-Ga-mbo,† we may infer from this that all we have been relating passed in the 7th century.
Chap. xxvii. After the death of Vishnuraja, king Bhartrihari, who was descended from the family of the ancient kings of Malavâ, appeared. His sister had been married to Vimalachandra, and of her was born Govichandra, who ascended the throne after his father. After Govichandra, Lalitachandra is supposed to have been the last king of the Chandra dynasty. According to the Buddhist stories he became a magician. Though the royal family of the Chandras was still powerful, there was no longer any member of it a king; in Odivisa, in Bengal, and in
† Born, according to the Vaidarya Karpo, in a. D. 627: see Cosmas, Thibetan Grammar, p. 181.-ED,
