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proofs in support of his being a Jina. A more convincing proof is that his father, Satanika, his mother, Mṛgāvati, his aunt Jayanti, were all the followers of the Jaina path.
One reason why he was not very respectful of the Buddha is the influence exerted by Queen Magandika on him. She was angry with the Buddha from a very young age. Her father was looking for a handsome groom for his daughter who was well-known for her beauty. He made a request to the Buddha to accept the hand of his daughter. The Buddha who was hurt by this request said,
"She whose body is full of urine and stool you call beautiful. I do not care even to touch her with my legs "(222).
Later, Magandika was settled in marriage with Udayana, but she remained ever hateful of the Buddha. Udayana was very much under her influence. Naturally, he could not be a follower of the Buddha.
The Buddhist account of his becoming a "follower who came under protection" would give the impression that in course of time his distance from the Buddhist order was obliterated and his hatred of it was wiped out.
The Buddha outlived Mahavira by 25 years. It is, therefore, just likely that Udayana was influenced by the growing strength of the Buddhist church and was converted to this religion by Pindola Bharadvaja. We have a description of his son, Bodhirajkumara (223), only in the Pitaka literature, just as we have a description of his father only in the Jaina Agamas. This will give a strong support to his being a Jaina in his early life, though at a later period, he might or might not have been converted to Buddhism.
As a follower of the Buddha
Prasenajit
Prasenajit, who was the king of Kosala, was a contemporary of Mahavira and the Buddha, and was also a historical person. In the prime of his life, he a follower of the Vedic religion. He performed a number of sacri
| SR No. | 022804 |
| Book Title | Agama And Tripitaka Comparative Study |
| 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 |