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OCTOBER, 1971
Kasyapa, etc. King Bimbisara came to know of this. He visited the Buddha with his twelve hundred-thousand Brahmanas and householders. The Buddha was sojourning at Latthivana at that time. He preached to the audience. On hearing the sermon eleven hundredthousand citizens of Magadha including Bimbisara acquired uncorrupted 'vision of truth' while the rest accepted the Buddhist faith. Having become a staunch believer, Bimbisara considered it his duty to invite the Buddha for dinner. He said: "Lord! To-day I have fulfilled all the five aspirations which I entertained for long. I desired: (a) may I be crowned king; (b) may an Arhat visit my capital; (c) may I seek his presence; (d) may I listen to his preachings; and (e) may I accept him as my preceptor. To-day these five aspirations of mine have been fulfilled. So I invite you and all your monks to be my guest to-morrow." The Buddha accepted the invitation and went to the palace the next day with his monks. The king served them with his own hand and dedicated Venuvana for the use of the Buddha and his followers.
This is corroborated by the Kuṭadanta Sutta of the Dighanikaya9 where the Brahmin Kutadanta says to his advisers and colleagues : "Why should I not go to visit Sramana Gautama? Even Srenika, king of Magadha, together with his wives, sons and ministers has dedicated his life to the cause of Buddhism." In the Sonadanda Sutta1o the Brahmin Sonadanda gives utterance to some such words.
There are numerous references in the Buddhist literature regarding Bimbisara's personal visit to the Buddha and his relation with the Buddhist order. Thus we find again in Mahāvagga of Vinaya Piṭaka that during one such visits he said to the Buddha : "O Lord! Disciples of other faiths congregate and hold religious discussions on the eighth, fourteenth and fifteenth days of the lunar fortnight. Why should we not do the same?" The Buddha agreed and the custom of uposatha was introduced in the Buddhist order. We have it on the authority of the Petavattha Aṭṭhakatha11 that king Bimbisara himself observed uposatha every month on the eighth, fourteenth and fifteenth days of the lunar fortnight.
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On another occasion, Bimbisara entreated the Buddha not to initiate members of the armed forces as monks. This became neces
Dighanikaya, 1-5, pp. 111-12 (Nalanda Edition).
10 Ibid, 1-4, pp. 108.
11
Verse 209.
9
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