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UDAYIN
217
omits this name altogether from the list of the Bimbisārids. There was thus no unanimity even among Buddhists about the lineage and position of the king.
Udāyin : Before his accession to the throne Udāyin or Udāyi-bhadda, the son of Ajātasatru, seems to have acted as his father's Viceroy at Champā.1 The Pariśishtaparvan informs us that he founded a new capital on the banks of the Ganges which came to be known as Pataliputra. This part of the Jaina tradition is confirmed by the testimony of the Gārgi Samhitās and the Vāyu Purāņa according to which Udāyin built the city of Kusumapura (Pāţaliputra) in the fourth year of his reign. The choice of the place was probably due to its position in the centre of the realm which now included North Bihār. Moreover, its situation at the confluence of two large rivers, the Ganges and the Son and close to other streams, was important from the commercial as well as the strategic point of view. In this connection it is interesting to note that the Kautilīya Arthaśāstra recommends a site at the confluence of rivers for the capital of a kingdom.
The Pariśishtaparvan - refers to the king of Avanti as the enemy of Udāyin. This does not seem to be improbable in view of the fact that his father had to fortify his capital in expectation of an attack about to be made by Pradyota, ruler of that country. The fall of Anga and Vaiśāli and the discomfiture of Kosala had left Avanti the only important rival of Magadha. This last kirgdom had absorbed all the monarchies and republics of Eastern India. On the other hand, if the Kathā-sarit-sāgara and the Āvaśyaka kathānakas5 are to be believed, the kingdom
1 Jacobi, Pariśishțaparvan, p. 42. 2 V1.34 ; 175-180. 3 Kern, Brihat Samhitā, 36. 4 Pp. 45-46. Text VI, 191. Abhūdasahanonityam Avantiśo' py-Udāyinah 5 See Supra sec. III. p. 204. O. P. 90-28.
