Bimbisara, King
Bimbisara (ruled 544-491 B.C.E.) was a king of the Magadha empire and belonged to Haryanaka dynasty, which ruled until approximatly 326 B.C.E. when Alexander the Great invaded India. He ruled an area of what is now Bihar and Bengal with his capital at modern day Rajgir. In Buddhist sources, he is recorded as having been a close friend of King King Suddhodana, father of Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha. He and his son became patrons of Buddhism. He is also said to have been a friend of Mahavira, or Jina, the great teacher of the Jain tradition. Bimbasara was 15 when he became king and 52 when he was murdered. He expanded his territory but also enjoyed peaceful relations with most if not all of his peers. He is legendary for the justness of his rule and for his spirit of generosity.
Career
Bimbisara's annexation of territories in Bengali are said to have laid the foundation of the later Mauryan empire under Chandragupta Maurya . He acquired Anga and placed it under the viceroyalty of his son Ajatashatru, with its capital at Champa. He is reputed to have been a just and generous ruler. He appears in some reliefs at Borobudur, Java dated 8th century CE, which also depict the Buddha and other contemporaries [1].
Bimbisara and the Buddha
There are many accounts of Bimbisara in the Buddhist Jatakas, since he was a contemporary of Gautama Buddha.Before Siddhartha attained enlightenment but while he was practicing asscetism, he is said to have arrived at the gates of Bimbisara's city, Rajagaha, where he went begging food from door to door. No one called him 'prince' but as soon as King Bimisara saw him, he recognized him as Suddhodana's son, a prince. Assuming that the prince must have quarrelled with his father, the king invited him to stay and to accept halve of his kingdom. Siddhartha replied that it was because he loved his wife, his som, his parents , king Bimbisara and everyone else that he had to continue his search for the way to stop old age, suffering and death. He promised that when he has achieved this he would return and teach the king. After his Enlightenment, the Buddha did return, this time with a large number of disciples. Hearing of this, Bimbisara went out of the city to greet the now famous teacher. Some of the subjects of the king were undertain which of the visiting monks was actually the Buddha, mistaking one of his disciples for him. That disciple immediately pointed to the real Buddha, who started to teach. King Bimbisara, so the story goes, attained then and there the first stage of awakening and became the Buddha's first royal patron[2]. He fed the Buddha and the disciples and presented them with his own pleasure garden or park, Veluvana where they could stay as long as they liked. This was the location of the first Convocation, or Buddhist Council, convened after the Buddha's death. The Pali or Buddhist canon was determined at this Council. Bimbasara's second wife, Khema, became one of the Buddha's leading female disciples. Jains say that because of Bimbisara's friendship with Mahavira, he will himself be a Tirthankara (a fully realized being) in the next cycle of existence. [3].
Marriage alliances
Bimbisara used marriage alliances to strengthen his position. His first wife was the sister of Prasenajit, king of Kosala. His bride brought him Kashi, which was then a mere village, as dowry. This marriage also ended the hostility between Magadha and Kosala and gave him a free hand in dealing with the other states. Bimbisara's second wife, Chellana, was a Lachchhavi princess from Vaishali. His third wife was a daughter of the chief of the Madra clan of Punjab. Bimbisara is said to have enjoyed friendly relations with all his contemporary peers.
Death
Tradition tells us that Bimbisara was imprisoned by his son Ajatashatru (d 661B.C.E.) who is said to have starved him to death. Some sources say that Bimbisara had already abdicated in favor of his son but that Ajatashatru jailed him anyway, leaving instructions that he be given no food [4]. This is reported to have taken place around 492 B.C.E. Bimbisara's murder resulted in a war between the king of Kosala, on behalf of his grieving daughter, and Ajatashatru. Eventually, a peace treaty ended the war. The treaty was sealed by another marriage between the two dynasties, this time between the King of Kosala's daughter and Ajatashatru.
Reference
- Siff, Jason King Bimbasara's Chronicler, Sri Lanka: Sarvodaya Vishva Lekha ISBN 9555992231 a novel set during Bimbisara's reign and that of his son.
Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:
The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:
Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.
