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KÄSI
75
Sattubhasta Jātala 1 as reigning in Benares. This prince cannot be the Janaka of the Upanishads, for we learn from those works that, in the time of the famous Janaka, Ajātasatru was on the throne of Kāsi.
Very little is known regarding the ancestors of Ajātasatru. His name does not occur in the Purāṇic lists of Kāsi sovereigns, nor does the name of Dhritarāshtra, king of Kāsi, who was defeated by Satānika Sātrājita with the result that the Kāśis down to the time of the Satapatha Brāhmaṇa gave up the kindling of the sacred fire. A clue to the lineage of Dhệitarāshtra is afforded by the Mahāgovinda-Suttanta 3 which represents "Dhataraţtha," King of Kāsi, as a Bharata prince. The Purānas represent the Kāsi family as a branch of the house of Purūravas, the traditional ancestor of the Bharatas. Of the kings mentioned in the chronicles the names of two only (Diovdāsa and his son or descendant Daivadāsi Pratardana) can be traced in the Vedic literature. But the later Vedic texts connect them with the Naimishiyas and not with Kāsi.
The Jūtakas often refer to the failure of heirs at Benares (aputtalan rājakulam), or the deposition of princes in favour of more competent rulers taken from other families. It is clear that tradition does not regard the Kāsi monarchs as belonging to one and the same dynasty. Some of the kings hailed from Magadha. 5 Several others were probably of Videhan origin. Many of the princes belonging to these groups had the cognomen, 'Brahmadatta'. That Brahmadatta was not the name of one individual
1 No. 402. 2 Vayu, 92.21-74, ; Vishnu, IV. 8. 2-9. 3 Rhys Davids, Dialogues of the Buddha, -Part II, p, 270. 4 Kaush. Br. xxvi. 5. 5 Cf. Jatakas 378, 401, 529.
