Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c12.s3.37

c12.s3.37

In the **Vatsa** kingdom which, probably at this time, extended along the southern frontier of Kosala, king Śatānīka Parantapa was succeeded by his son Udayana who rivals Śrī Rāmachandra, Nala and the Pāṇḍavas in being the hero of many romantic legends.² The commentary on the Dhammapada gives the story of the way in which Vāsuladattā or Vāsavadattā, the daughter of Pradyota, king of Avanti, became his queen. It also mentions two other consorts of the Vatsa king, *viz.*, Māgandiyā,¹ daughter of a Kuru Brāhmaṇa, and Sāmāvatī, the adopted child of the treasurer Ghosaka. The *Milindapañho* refers to a peasant woman named Gopāla-mātā who also became his wife.² The *Svapna-Vāsavadatta* attributed to Bhāsa, and some other works, mention another queen named Padmāvatī who is represented as sister to king Darśaka of Magadha. The *Priyadarśikā* speaks of Udayana's marriage with Āraṇyakā, the daughter of Dṛḍhavarman, king of Aṅga. The *Ratnāvalī* tells the story of the love of the king of Vasta and of Sāgarikā, an attendant of his chief queen Vāsavadattā. Stories about Udayana were widely current in Avanti in the time of Kālidāsa as we learn from the *Meghadūta*: "*prāpy-Āvantīm Udayana-kathā-kovida grāmavṛiddhān*." The *Jātakas* throw some side-light on the character of this king. In the preface to the *Mātaṅga Jātaka* it is related that in a fit of drunken rage he had Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja tortured by having a nest of ants tied to him. The *Kathā-sarit-sāgara* of Somadeva, a writer of the eleventh century A.D., contains a long account of Udayana's *Digvijaya*.³ The *Priyadarśikā* of Śrī Harsha⁴ speaks of the king's victory over the lord of Kaliṅga, and the restoration of his father-in-law Dṛḍhavarman to the throne of Aṅga. It is difficult to disentangle the kernal of historical truth from the husk of popular fables. It seems that Udayana was a great king who really made some conquests, and contracted matrimonial alliances with the royal houses of Avanti, Aṅga and Magadha. But his career was meteoric. He left no worthy successor. Bodhi, his son by the chief queen, preferred a quiet life amidst the sylvan surroundings of Suṁsumāragiri to the troubles of imperial adventure. The kingdom, harassed by various wars, was at last overcome by its ambitious neighbour on the south-west, *viz.*, Avanti, and was governed by a prince of the royal line of Ujjain.¹