Agama And Tripitaka Comparative Study

SR No.: 022804
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Nagaraj Muni
Publisher: Today and Tomorrows Printers and Publishers
Publication Year: 1986
Total Pages: 804
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 19 MB

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Dhys Davids, who is an authority on Buddhism, has written,
"At the end of the conversation, Ajātasatru frankly accepted the Buddha to be his guide and expressed deep regret for murdering his father. But it has been stated without any doubt that his religion could not have been changed. There is not a single proof that even after this shocking event, he had become a follower of the Buddha's teachings. So far as I have been able to understand, after this meeting, he did not even meet either the Buddha or any other monk of the Buddhist order, nor did he discuss about religion with any one of them; and it does not occur to my mind that he ever made any financial donation to the Buddhist order in the life-time of the Buddha,
"Of course, this much is known that he sent a request for a share of the bones of the Buddha; but his justification for this request was that "I am a Ksatriya, and the Buddha was a Ksatriya". And then he erected an altar on the bones. Second, in later texts, it is recorded that when, immediately after the death of the Buddha, the Buddhist Council met, Ajātas atru had erected a conference hall at the entrance of the Saptaparņi cave where the Buddhist Pitakas were compiled. But the older Buddhist texts are silent on this. Therefore, it is very much likely that even without courting the religion of the Buddha, he had a great regard for this religion. In doing so, Ajatas'atru was only following the great tradition of kingship in India according to which it was the sacred duty of a ruler to extend protection to all religions". (translated from Hindi)(104).
Desire during Pregnancy and Birth of Kūņika
The account of the birth of Künika and of his revolt against his father is more or less similar in the two traditions. On this, the Jaina source book is Nirayāvalikä, and the Buddhist source book is the Digha Nikaya Atthakathā. According to both the sources, the name of his father was Sreņika (Bimbisāra). .