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ŚIŚUNĀGA
219 Anguttara Nikāya which alludes to Muņda, 1 King of Pāțaliputra. The Divyāvadāna, too, mentions Munda but omits the names of Anuruddha and Nāga-Dāsaka. The Anguttara Nikāya by mentioning Pāķaliputra as the capital of Munda indirectly confirms the tradition regarding the transfer of the Magadhan metropolis from Rājagļiha to Kusumapura or Pāšaliputra before his reign.
The Ceylonese aver that all the kings from Ajātaśatru to Nāga-Dāsaka were parricides. The citizens drove out the family in anger and raised an amātya (official) to the throne.
Susunāga or Siśunāga, the new king: seems to have been acting as the Magadban Viceroy at Benares. The employment of amātyas as provincial governors or district officers need not cause surprise. The custom continued as late as the time of Gautamīputra Śātakarņi and Rudradāman I. The Purāṇas tell us that "placing his son at Benares he will repair to (the stronghold of) Girivraja”. He had a second royal residence at Vaiśāli which ultimately became his capital.4 "That monarch (Śiśunāga), not unmindful of his mother's origin, 5 re-established the city of Vesāli (Vaiśāli) and fixed in it the royal residence. From that
1 Ang. III. 57. "The venerable Nārada dwelt near Pāțaliputta in the Cock's Park. Now at that time Bhaddā, the dear and beloved queen of king Munda died." The king's grief was intense. The queen's body was placed in an oil vessel made of iron. A treasurer, Piyaka, is also mentioned. (Gradual Sayings, III. 48).
2 The violent death of Kūņika (Ajātasatru) is known to Jain tradition (Jacobi, Parisishțaparvan, 2nd ed. p. xiii).
3 The question of the relative merits of Purāņic and Ceylonese accounts of this king and his place in early Magadhan lists of kings have been discussed in Part. I. p. supra, 115 ff.
4 SBE, XI, p. xvi. If the Dvātrimsat puttalikā is to be believed Vesāli - (Vaiśāli) continued to be a secondary capital till the time of the Nandas.
5 Sisunāga, according to the Mahāvansaţika (Turnour's Mahāvamsa, xxxvii), was the son of a Lichchhavi rājā of Vaiśāli. He was conceived by a nagara-sobhini and brought up by an officer of state.
