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THE MAGADHAS
203 father by starving him, in spite of the efforts of Queen Kośaladevi to provide her husband with sustenance.
On the day that Bimbisāra died, a son was born to Ajātaśatru. The reports conveying the news of the death of his father and the birth of his child were received by his ministers simultaneously. They first handed to Ajātaśatru the letter conveying the news of the birth of his son. Forthwith the king's mind was filled with filial affection, and all the virtues of his father rose up before his mind's eye, and he at once ordered Bimbisāra's release. But it was too late. The ministers handed him the other letter, and on learning of his father's death, he wept, went to his mother, and asked her whether his father had any affection for him. Kośaladevī told him a story illustrating his father's love for him. Hearing this, Ajātaśatru wept hot tears.
The Vinaya (II, 490) gives a short account of an attempt made by Ajātaśatru to kill his father with a sword, and in the concluding portion of the Sāmaññaphala Sutta, there is an allusion to the actual murder which he afterwards committed.2 The details may or may not be true, but the fact that Bimbisāra was put to death by Ajātaśatru appears to have been a historical truth, the tradition is so strong and persistent with regard to this matter. According to the Ceylonese Chroniclers, this event took place 8 years before the death of Buddha, when Bimbisāra had been on the throne for 52 years. According to other accounts, Bimbisāra reigned for 28 or 38 years, and Ajātaśatru for 25 years.
After Bimbisāra's death, Queen Kośaladevī died of grief. Ajātasatru then began to enjoy the revenues of the Kāśi village, the dowry of his mother. But Pasenadi of Kośala determined that no parricide should possess a village which had been presented to his sister, and he accordingly waged war upon his nephew. Pasenadi was defeated in three campaigns, but in another battle he avenged his defeat, and took possession of Kāśi. However, he treated Ajātaśatru generously, giving him his daughter Vajirā in marriage, and even bestowing the disputed village on her as a wedding gift. Thus Kāśī once again came under the sway of Ajātaśatru, and the two kingdoms of Magadha and Kośala were once more closely united by matrimonial alliance.
Ajātaśatru afterwards succeeded not only in permanently annexing Kāśī, but also in absorbing the land of the Licchavis. At i Sumangalavilāsinī, Pt. I, pp. 138-9.
2 Digha Nikaya, I, p. 86. 3 Dipavamsa, III, 50-60; Mahāvamsa, II, 28-31. 4 Pargiter, Purāna Text of the Dynasties of the Kali Age, pp. 67–9.
5 Samyutta Nikāya, I, 82-5. See Kāśi and Kośala chapters, and cf. Vaddhakisūkara, Kummāsapinda, Taccha-sükara and Bhaddasāla Jätakas.
