Ajatasatru (Sanskrit अजातशत्रु; ruled c. 491 BC – c. 461 BC) was a king of the Magadha empire in north India. He was the son of King Bimbisara, the Great Monarch of Magadha. He was contemporary to Mahavira and Buddha. He took over the kingdom of Magadha from his father forcefully by imprisoning him. He fought a terrible war against the Vajjis/Lichhvis and conquered the once considered invincible democratic Vaishali Republic.
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Ajatasatru is also known as Kunika. The ancient inscription in Mathura Museum refers to him as Vaidehi putra Ajatasatru Kunika. The story of Ajatasatru is found in Buddhists Tripitakas and Jain Agamas. The account of Ajatashatru's birth is more or less similar in both the traditions. According to Jaina tradition, Ajatasatru was born to king Bimbisara and Queen Chelna; Buddhist tradition records Ajatasatru being born to King Bimbisara and queen Kosala Devi. It is worthwhile to note that both the queens were called "Vaidehi" in both the traditions. Thus Ajatasatru being called Vaidehi putra in the inscription does not clarify the mother's name.
According to "Nirayavalika Sutta" of Jaina Aagams, during her pregnancy Queen Chelna had the strong desire to eat fried flesh of her husband's (King Bimbisara) heart and drink liquor. Meanwhile the very intelligent Prince Abhayakumara (son of King Bimbisara and Queen Nanda) fried a wild fruit that seemed like heart and gave it to the queen. The queen ate it and latter felt ashamed for having such a demonic desire and she feared that the child might grow up and prove fatal for the family, thus after few months when the child was born, the queen had him thrown out of the palace. When the child was lying near the garbage dump, a cock bit his little finger. King Bimbisara learning about the child being thrown out, ran outside and picked up the child and put its bleeding little finger in his mouth and sucked it till it stopped bleeding and continued it for days till it was healed. As the little finger of the child was sore, he was nicknamed Kunika i.e., Sore Finger. But latter he was Named Ashokachandra.[1]
In the Buddhists text Digha Nikaya Atthakatha, the above story is almost similar except that Queen Kosaladevi desired to drink blood from King Bimbisara's arm and the king obliged her and, later when the child was thrown near the garbage dump, due to an infection he got a boil on his little finger and the king sucked it and once while sucking it the boil got burst inside the king's mouth, but due to the affection for his child he did not spit the pus out, rather swallowed it.
The Young prince Ashokchandra was 7"feet tall, handsome, strong, long curly hair which touched his chest, very intelligent and learned in all 64 arts. At the age of 20 he was married to Princess Padmavati. Once King Bimbisara decided to give gifts to his children (those born of Queen Chelna) thus he gave a 18 fold Divine Necklace to Hallakumara and one Sechanaka (watering) White elephant (pachyderm) to Vihallakumara,which costed more than half of Magadha. But as the king wanted to surprise Ashokchandra by giving him the entire kingdom, he did not give anything to him on that day. But Ashokchandra failing to understand his father, thought that the king would even give the entire kingdom to Halla and Vihallakumaras thus he imprisoned his father in the prison of Rajgriha and enthroned himself as king of Magadha. The fear of Queen Chelna became true and thus she cursed him that for rest of his life and in history he will be known as Ajatasatru i.e.-one who is an enemy of his own clan from even before his birth.
According to Buddhist tradition, the aspiration of Ajatasatru was aflame at the provocation given by Devadatta. Devadatta was looking for ways and means of taking revenge on the Buddha, and seeing in the prince a very desirable weapon, he exerted all his strength to win him to his side. Ajatasatru was greatly impressed by Devadatta's powers of iddhi and became his devoted follower. He built for him a monastery at Gayāsīsa and waited upon him morning and evening carrying food for him, sometimes as much as five hundred cartloads in five hundred cooking pans.Devadatta incited him to seize the throne, killing his father if necessary. When Bimbisara learnt of the prince's intentions he abdicated the throne. But Devadatta was not satisfied till Bimbisāra, who was one of the Buddha's foremost supporters, was killed. Ajatasatru thus on Devadatta's words put Bimbisara behind the bars.
According to the Jaina tradition. Once Ajatasatru was eating his meal with his new born son in his lap, his son suddenly urinated, of which some of the drops fell in his plate but due to his affection for his child he did not change the plate but wiped the drops with his own patta(cloth on the shoulder) and continued to eat in the same plate. After eating a morsel he asked his mother Chelna who was sitting in the same dining room, whether she has ever seen any father loving and caring as much as he is, to which his mother narrated the story of affection of King Bimbisara for him. This touched Ajatasatru's heart and his affection for his father aroused. At once he picked up his axe and hurried to the prison to free his father by breaking all the iron chains by himself. But when Bimbisara saw him coming with axe in his hand he thought
"so,he is coming to kill me.Its better that I end my life with my own hands."
At once he removed The Talaputa poison from his ring closed his eyes and chanted "Kevli pannato Dhammam saranam pavajyami"(i seek refuge in the dharma taught by the kevlins or omniscient) and swallowed the poison and ended his life.
Ajatasatru repented a lot but was of no use... Ajatasatru then shifted his Palace to Champa and made it his capital as the previous palace reminded him of his atrocious mistake.
According to Buddhist tradition, Ajatasatru allowed none but only Kosala devi to meet Bimbisara in the smokey cell. Ajatasatru wanted to starve him to death as Devdatta had said "father cannot be killed by a weapon". Thus Kosala devi used to take small food packets to the cell, being caught by guards she started to take food hidden behind her hair, being caught again she started slipping in food by hiding it in her golden slippers again being caught she coated 4 layers of honey on her body which was licked by the king, being caught once again Ajatasatru prohibited Kosala devi to meet the king. When Ajatasatru saw that that even after that the king was not dying he ordered a barber to pierce the kings legs with knife pour salt, hot oil and fire made from khairawood. When this was done the king died.
Thus according to the Jaina tradition the king committed suicide while as per Buddhist tradition he was brutally murdered.
According to Jaina Tradition, Once Queen Padmavati, principal consort of Ajatasatru was sitting in her balcony in the evening when she saw Halla and Vihallakumaras with their wives sitting on Sechanaka elephant and one of the wives wearing the 18 fold divine necklace. Immediately she heard one of the maid servants speaking from the garden below "Its Halla and Vihalla kumaras and not the king who enjoy the real pleasures of the kingdom" and she thought "whats the use of the kingdom if I do not have both the jewels in my possession?"
So, she shared this thoughts with Ajatasatru the same night and became excessively insistent in her demand. Ajatasatru at last agreed and sent a request to both his brothers to give the elephant and the necklace to him, to which both his brothers denied saying that these gifts were given by their dear father so why should they part from them? Ajatasatru sent the request thrice but got the same reply all the three times, this annoyed him a lot and sent his men to arrest them. Meanwhile Halla and vihallakumaras availed a chance and escaped to their maternal grandfather Chetaka who was the king of the Great kingdom of Vaisali republic(Vajjis/Lichhvis). Ajatasatru sent notice thrice to Chetaka to surrender them but was denied by Chetaka.
This was enough for Ajatasatru, he called his half brothers, Kalakumaras (10 kalakumaras, those born to King Bimbisara and 10 Kali Queens Kali, Sukali, Mahakali,etc..) to merge their army with his. As it was well known to Ajatasatru that Vaisali republic has always been invincible in past and he alone would not be able to capture it. Each Kalkumara brought 3000 horses, 3000 elephants, 3000 chariots and 30000 infantrymen each. on the other hand Chetaka invited his own allies 9 Mallas, 9 Lichhvis and 18 kings of Kasi-Kosala to fight his grand son Ajatasatru. All these kings came with 3000 horses, 3000 elephants, 3000 chariots and 30000 infantrymen each. Thus all together there were 57000 elephants,57000 chariots,57000 horses, and 5,70,000 infantry men.
The war began,king Chetaka was a devout follower of Lord Mahavira and had a vow of not to shoot more than one arrow per day in a war. It was known to all that Chetakas aim was perfect and his arrows were infallible. His first arrow killed one Kalakumara, commander of Ajatasatru. On consecutive nine days the rest of the nine Kalkumaras were killed by Chetaka. Deeply sorrowed by the death of their son's the Kali queens got initiated as nuns in holy order of Lord Mahavira.
As Ajatasatru was moving towards defeat he practiced penances for three days and offered prayers to Sakrendra and Charmendra (Indra of different havens)who then helped him in the war, they protected him from the infallible arrow of Chetaka. The war became very severe and by the divine influence of the Indras even the pebbles, straws, leaves hurled by Ajatasatru's men fell like rocks on the army of Chetaka. This war was thus named "Mahasilakantaka", more than lac died in this war. Next Indras granted Divine huge chariot with swinging mace or blades on each sides to Ajatasatru which was driven by Charmendra himself. The chariot moved freely in the battlefield chrushing lacs of soldiers. This war was named "Ratha-musala". In this war Chetaka was Defeated. But Chetaka and others immediately took shelter inside city walls of vaisali and closed the Main gate.The walls around Vaisali were so strong that Ajatasatru was unable to break through it. Many days passed by Ajatasatru became furious and again prayed to Indra, But this time Indra refused to help him but told him that "exactly 10th day from the day Sramana Kulvalaka will be attracted to a prostitute you will conquer Vaisali".
Ajatasatru inquired about the Monk Kulvalaka and sent for the prostitute Magadhika disguised as a devout follower. The fallen women attracted the monk towards herself and finally monk gave up his monkhood and became ready to enter Vaisali disguised as Astrologer,and so happened with great difficulty, he did enter Vaisali and learned that the city was saved by a Chaitya (altar) dedicated to Munisuvrata. Kulvalaka then started telling people that this altar is the reason why the city is suffering through a bad period. The people uprooted the altar from its very foundation. Kulvalaka gave a signal and Ajatasatru retreated as per prior arrangements and this was the last attack. Vaisali was conquered by Ajatasatru.
Halla and Vihallakumaras ran away and got initiated as monks in the holy order of Lord Mahavira. Chetaka Courted Sallekahna(fast unto death). Ajatasatru not only conquered Vaisali but also Kasi-Kosala.
According to Buddhist Tradition, There was a diamond mine near a village on the river Ganges. There was an agreement between Ajatasatru and the Lichhavis/vajjis that they would have an equal share of the diamonds. But on the account of sheer lethargy, Ajatasatru failed to collect his own share, and the whole lot of diamonds was carried away by Lichhvis, this happened many times, and at last Ajatasatru got annoyed and thought:
"its is almost impossible to fight against the whole confederacy of Vaisali. I must uproot these powerful Vajjis and exterminate them". He sent his chief minister Vassakara to Lord Buddha to ask him the purpose of Vaisali being invincible, to which Lord Buddha Gave seven reasons which included Vajjis being punctual to the meetings, their disciplined behavior, their respect for elders, women, they do not marry their daughters forcefully, they give spiritual protection to the Arhats, and the main reason was the Chaityas (altar) inside the town.
Thus with the help of his chief minister Vassakara, Ajatasatru managed to bring Split among the Vajjis and also broke the chaityas inside. Ajatasatru used a scythed chariot with swinging mace and blades on both the sides and attacked the town and conquered it.
After conquering Vaisali, Kasi and kosala(Kaushala) Ajatasatru conquered 36 republican states surrounding his kingdom and firmly established the predominance of Magadha. Ajatasatru was Monarch of a huge kingdom which covered almost the modern India's Bihar, Chandigarh, Haryana, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, One fourth of north Madhya Pradesh, tip of Chattisgarh, bit of Jarkhand, west Bengal and Nepal.
Ajatasatru with the help of his two ministers Sunidh and Vassakara Built a fort near the banks of River Ganges to strengthen the defense of Magadha and named it Patli Grama(village) Later it got developed into a city, which soon became popular as Patliputra. Which is now known as Patna, the capital of Bihar.
According to Mahaparinirvana sutta, when Patliputra was being erected, by chance the Buddha came there and praised the city of Patliputra, and pointed three things which may prove fatal to the city i.e. Fire, water and mutual split among the people.
As per Jaina tradition, according to "Nirayāvaliyā Suttā" Ajatasatru was born to King Bimbisara and Queen Chelna who was the daughter of Chetaka the king of Vaisali, who was brother of Queen Triśalá, mother of Mahavira. Ajatasatru had eight wives but Padmavati, Dharini and Subhadra were his principal consort, he also had a son named Udayabhadda or Udayabhadra.
As per Buddhist tradition, according to "Dīgha nikāya" Ajatasatru was born to King Bimbisara and Queen Kosala Devi who was the daughter of Maha-Kosala, the king of Kosala and sister of Prasenjit who latter succeeded on the throne. Ajatsatru had 500 wives but the principal consort was Vajira. The story so goes, the City of Kasi was given to Bimbisara as dowry by Maha-kosala. After the murder of Bimbisara, Prasenjit took the city back.This resulted in war between Ajatasatru and Prasenjit in which prasenjit was defeated first but was successful later. As Ajatasatru happened to be his nephew his life was spared and in peace treaty Prasenjit married his daughter "Vajira" with him. Ajatasatru latter had a son named Udayabhadda or Udayabhadra.
The account of Ajatasatru's death recorded by historians is circa-461 BC. The account of his death differs widely between Jain and Buddhist traditions.
According to Jaina text "Āvaśȳaka Chūrnī" Ajatasatru once went to meet Lord Mahavira
Ajatasatru asked- "Bhante! Where do Chakravartins (world-Monarchs) go after their death?"
Mahavira Replied- "Chakravartin if dying while in office goes to seventh hell called Mahā-Tamahprabhā and if dying as a monk attains Nirvana."
Ajatasatru- "So will I Attain Nirvana or go to seventh hell?"
Mahavira- "Neither of them, you will go to the Sixth hell"
Ajatasatru- "Bhante, then am I not a Chakravartin?"
Mahavira- "No, you are not."
This made Ajatasatru anxious to become a world-Monarch, He created 12 artificial jewels and set out for the conquest of the six regions of the world. But when he reached the Timisra Caves he was stopped by a guardian Deva called Krutamāl who said
"Only a Chakravartin can pass through this cave, there can be not more than 12 Chakravartin in half cycle of a Kalchakra, and already there have been 12."
On this Ajatasatru said arrogantly "Then count me as the thirteenth and let me go or else my mace is strong enough to reach you to Yama"
The Deva became engraged at Ajatsatru's arrogance and by his power he reduced him to ashes right on the spot. Ajatasatru was reborn in the sixth hell called Tamahprabhā"
According to Buddhists tradition, Ajatasatru was brutally mudured by his own son Udayabhadra who was greedy of his kingdom. Ajatasatru was reborn in the hell called "Lohakumbhiya".
Even if the account of Ajatasatru's death differ in both the traditions, both believe that After passing through many births Ajatasatru will be born as a wise prince, latter become a monk and attain Nirvana.
Ajatasatru enjoys a respectable position in both Jaina and Buddhist traditions. Both claim him as a close follower, and both come forward with evidence in support of this claim. According to Buddhist tradition, The Samaññaphala Sutta deals with his first meeting with the Buddha. According to the same text, during this meeting, Ajatasatru took protection of the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. This Sutta records his devotion towards the Dhamma, He erected Vast Stupa on the bones and ashes of the Buddha after the funeral, and also Ajatasatru being present in the first Buddhist council at Sattapanni (Saptparni) caves Rajgriha.
On the other hand Uvavai/Aupapātika sutta which is the first Upānga(see Jain Agamas) of the jainas throws light on the relation between Mahavira and Ajatasatru. It accounts that Ajatasatru held Mahavira in highest esteem. The same text also states that Ajatasatru had an officer to report about the daily routine of Mahavira to him. He was paid lavishly. The officer had a vast network and supporting field staff through whom he collected all the information about Mahavira and reported to the king. The uvavai Sutta has detailed and illuminating discussion on Mahavira's arrival at the city of Champa, the honour shown to him by Ajatasatru, the Sermon Given by Mahavira in Ardhamagadhi language, etc..
If the Samaññaphala Sutta and Uvavai Sutta are placed side by side, then the Uvavai Sutta will appear to be more profound in depth and penetration. The only line in the Samaññaphala Sutta that would give support to Ajatasatru's having become a Buddhist is: "From this day Bhagavān please accept me as thy follower, I seek your protection with folded hands."
In contrast the Uvavai has more detailed account of information: The officer in charge of Mahavira's routine, Ajatasatru coming down the throne expressing his feelings and obeisance with utterance of the word Namothhanam, his meeting with Mahavira and his concluding words "What to speak of the excelling thee, none other Sramana or Brahmana could have given such a brilliant exposition of the Dhamma as thou hast done." also Ajatasatru being present in the first council under the guidance of "Sudharma swami" the successor of Mahavira to the spiritual throne.
Indologist Vincent Arthur Smith has written "Both traditions have claimed him as one of themselves. The Jaina claim appears to be well founded. Whereas Ajatasatru met Buddha only once, he had several meetings with Mahavira. Buddha spent only 5 monsoon camps in Rajgriha and none in Champa, Ajatasatru's capital, while Mahavira spent 14 monsoon camps in Rajgriha and 3 in Champa. "[2]
According to another Indologist Radha Kumud Mookerjee, "So long as both Mahavira and Buddha were alive, Ajatasatru was a follower of Mahavira. Other evidences that suggests that he could not have been a Buddhist, viz.,His intimacy with Devadatta, Who happened to be enemy of the Buddha.".[3]
Aacharya Sri Nagrajji D.Litt. in Comparative studies of Jainism and Buddhism says "For the victory from Vajjis, Ajatasatru sent his minister Vassakara to the Buddha. This was a conspiracy to know the secrets of Vajjis from the Buddha. If he would be a true follower of the Buddha, how would he have played such a mean trick with him?" He further says "It is written in Atthakathas that Ajatasatru butchered 500 Nirgrantha Monks after murder of Moggallana, This seems to be no more than a fiction, as had it been true, the Jaina's wouldn't have held Ajatasatru with great respect."[4]
Finally Thomas William Rhys Davids a pāli and Buddhist scholar has written, " There is not a single proof in the Tripitakas stating that Ajatasatru ever became follower of the Buddha. So far as I have been able to understand, after he met Buddha once, he never again met the Buddha or any other monk of the Buddhist order, neither did he discuss about the religion with any of them; and nor did he make any financial donation to the Buddhist order in life-time of the Buddha"
He further says "Of course, this is much known that he sent a request of share of the bones and ashes of the Buddha; but his justification for this request was that " I am a kshatriya and so was the Buddha" and then he erected an altar on the bones. Latter it is recorded that immediately after the Buddha's death, The Buddhist Council met, Ajatasatru had erected a huge conference hall near the entrance of Saptparni cave where the Buddhist Pitikas were compiled. But the older Buddhist texts are silent on this. Therefore, it is very much likely that even without courting the religion of Buddha, he had a great regard for this religion. In doing so, Ajatasatru was only following the great tradition of Kingship of India, according to which it was the sacred duty of a ruler to extend protection to all religions. But as far as the religion which Ajatasatru followed is concerned, it has to be Jaina by all evidence."[5]
Thus by all the above evidence and comments of the Historians it is clear that Ajatasatru was a devout follower of Jaina religion preached by Mahavira.
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bimbisara |
Ajatasatru 493 BCE – 461 BCE |
Succeeded by Udayabhadra |