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212
Lord Mahavira and His Times
restored. Pradyota gave his daughter Vasavadatta in marriage to Udayana.
Pradyota engaged in hostilities with Pushkarasarin of Taxila but he was unsuccessful in his war.1 Pradyota seems to have established close relations with the Śūrasenas of Mathura. The king at this time was known as Avantiputra, a name signifying the existence of some relationship between Pradyota and the ruler of Śūrasenas. The Lalitavistara2 gives the personal name of the king of Mathura as Subāhu.
Pradyota is said to have ruled for twenty-three years. That he was cruel is evident from the sobriquet Chanda and from the fact that he hardly ever followed a good policy. His younger brother, Kumārasena, was killed when he tried to put a stop to the practice of selling human flesh in the Mahakāla temple.3
GANDHĀRA
Gandhara comprised the region of the modern districts of Peshawar and Rawalpindi. Its capital was Takshaśilā. It was an ancient seat of learning where people from different provinces came for learning. It was also a great centre of trade and its distance from Banaras was 2,000 leagues.4
The Purānas represent the Gandhara princes as descendants of Druhyu.5 Jaina writers inform us that one of the early kings, Nagnajit, who is reported to have been a contemporary of Nimi, king of Videha, and other rulers, adopted the faith of the Jainas. As Pārśva (777 B.C.) was probably the first historical Jain, Nagnajit, if he really became a convert to his doctrines, must be placed between 777 B.C. and 544 B.C., the date of Pushkarasarin, the Gandharian contemporary of
6
Bimbisāra. •
In the time of Lord Mahavira, the throne of Gandhara was occupied by Pushkarasarin. He is said to have sent an
1. RBI, p. 15.
2, Ed. by RAJENDRA LAL MITRA, p. 24.
3. PRADHAN: Chronology of Ancient India. pp. 72, 335, 4. Ja, No. 408; Telepatta Ja, No. 26; Susima Ja, No. 163. 5. Matsya, 45.6; l'oyu, 99. 9.
6. SBE, XLV; 87.
