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Foreword
One special characteristic of Uvavaiya Suttam is this that it gives a detailed description of a historical king, his capital and his profound devotion towards Bhagavan Mahāvīra. In Uvavaiya and in other Jaina Agamas he is known as Kūņika and in the pages of Indian history as Ajātaśatru. Historians primarily know him as a follower of the Buddha and they regard him as such. But the fact is this that he and his devotion to Mahavira has got such a wide coverage in Jaina Agamas which is not available in any other literature for any other personality. Even so that he had established a separate department to report to him about the daily routine of Mahāvīra. The head of that department was known as 'Pravṛtti-Vaduka'. But then why his name is Kūņika in Jaina Agamas and in history Ajātaśatru? The answer is simple. Because he was called Ajātaśatru in Buddhist Tripitakas. Now the question arises why the historians accepted that name ? The answer is again simple. The Buddhists made their source literature available in English and in other European languages. That is why the historians knew Kūņika as Ajataśatru and presented him as a follower of the Buddha though that was far from the fact. From this we, the Jainas, should take a lesson that due to our inactivity and lack of foresight the Jaina culture and history could not reach to the outer world.
YI
This can also be said of Śrenika, a great devotee of Bhagavan Mahāvīra. In Buddhist Tripitakas he was called Bimbisāra and was depicted as a great follower of the Buddha Accordingly the historians of India and the world know him as Bimbisara ard consequently the ordinary readers know him
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