Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c15.s2.14

c15.s2.14

It is not an easy task to reconcile the divergent versions of the different authorities. The reality of the existence of Kunāla is established by the combined testimony of the Purāṇic and Buddhist works (which represent him as the father of Saṁpadī) as well as the evidence of Hemchandra and Jinaprabhasuri, the well-known Jaina writers. The names Dharma-vivardhana occurring in the *Divyāvadāna* and the *Records* of Fa Hien and Suyaśas found in the *Vishṇu* and the *Bhāgavata Purāṇas* were probably *birudas* or epithets of this prince. Tradition is not unanimous regarding the accession of Kunāla to the imperial throne. He is reputed to have been blind. His position was, therefore, probably like that of Dhṛitarāshṭra of the Great Epic and, though nominally regarded as the sovereign, he was physically unfit to carry on the work of government which was presumably entrusted to his favourite son Samprati, who is described by Jaina and Buddhist writers as the immediate successor of Aśoka.