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TILAKAMANJARI OF DHANAPALA
whole of the Kośala Mahajanapada, since there is no ground to contend that any other ruler in any part of it shared the monarchy with him.
208
In the days of Rama, no doubt the great kingdom of Kośala was divided into many small principalities. Not only that the new conquests, which were made for the sons of Lakṣmaṇa,' were established under new ruler-ships under Angada and Candraketu with Angadīya and Candracakra respectively as their capitals but even the paternal kingdom was also parcelled out by Rāma between Kusa and Lava. Kuśa ruled from Kuśāvati, modern Kasaya in the Deoria district of Uttara Pradesh, for sometimes, but returned (Raghuvamsa Canto XVI) soon to the hereditary capital Ayodhya, which he had forsaken. Lava ruled from Śrāvastī. Despite this double monarchy, however, Lava seems to have accepted the suzerainty of the central Kośalan authority of Ayodhya in which the decendants and the princes of Angadiyā and Candracakara perhaps followed his lead. The Kośala Janapada remained intact as a geographical unit and double monarchy was later on ended by Diväkara, a king of Śrāvastī line, who conquered Ayodhya. Even with the emergence of the Sakyan gana of Kapilavastu, its geographical entity or political supremacy was not violated. The Sakyas accepted themselves to belong to Kośala itself. In the Buddhist days, however, Śrāvasti had supplanted Ayodhya as the capital of the kingdom and the latter had lost its political status.
In conclusion it can be said that Kośala Mahajanapada situated as it was in the north-east region of India, was geographically speaking, one single unit forever and not divided by the river Sarayu into Northern and Southern parts at any time. The myth of its being divided into two is the result of an incorrect and confused reading of the relevant texts. it came to be known as Uttara Kosala quite later in order to distinguish it from the Dakṣina Kosala, which stood on the southern side of the Vindhyas and is now known as Mahā Kośala. This distinction of North and South Kośala is unknown to both Vedic and Buddhist literature.
In Light of these views of Dr. V. S. Pathak, the Kośala referred to by Dhanapala on page 186 (Vol. III) along with Kalinga, Vanga, Anga and Kulūta, whose princesses came to bid homage to Vicitravīrya, the Lord of Vaijayanti, who on his own part was a subsidiary vassal and ally of Meghavahana, must be identified with the Maha Kośala lying on the southern side of the Vindhyas where a different line of kings descendants of the brothers of Rama might have been ruling and Madanalekha may be their daughter. Apart from this Dhanapala has baptised Kośala as Uttara Kosala
1. VR. VII Canto 102. p. 704 verses 1-7
