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SRENIKA-BIMBISARA
(In the light of the Jaina Agamas and Buddhist Tripitakas)
MUNI NAGRAJ
Srenika-Bimbisara was the king of Magadha in the age of Mahavira and the Buddha. He was the sixth king in the line of Sisunagas.1 Rajagrha was his capital where he ruled from 582 B.C. to 544 B.C.? As regards his creed, we have it on the authority of Buddhist sources that he was a follower of the Buddha but the Jainas have claimed him as a convert to the Nirgrantha Order. It is essential, therefore, to make an effort to present the relevant evidence on the controversy and come to a definite conclusion.
The Buddhists hold that Bimbisara's first visit to the Buddha took place immediately after his renunciation and much before his enlightenment. According to the Pali literature, the Buddha, after having renounced the world, came to Rajagrha. When he entered the city, thousands of men and women were attracted by his beautiful gait. Describing the incident, the poet Asvaghosa writes : "Wherever the eyes fell—his eye-brows, forehead, face, eyes, chest, hands or feet-these got fixed there instantaneously."3 King Bimbisara also saw the Buddha from his palace. Like his people he was also attracted to him and wanted to talk to him. They met on Mount Pandu (Ratnagiri) near Rajagrha.
Bimbisara offered the Buddha his kingdom and invited him to enjoy the luxuries of the palace. The Buddha declined and preached the disastrous results of indulgence in carnal pleasures. He said: “I have accepted asceticism not for royal pleasures but to achieve enlightenment."
1 For details, the author's Contemporaneity and Chronology of Mahavira and
Buddha, Today and Tomorrow Book Agency, New Delhi, 1970, pp. 97-98. 3 Ibid., p. 106. 3 Buddha Carita by Asvaghosa, canto x, verse 8.
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