Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s7.465

c9.s7.465

king of Kaliṅga. Jaina writers tell us that those princes adopted the faith of the Jainas.¹ As Pārsva (777 B.C.?) was probably the first historical Jina, Nagnajit, if he really became a convert to his doctrines, should have to be placed between. 777 B.C. and cir. 544 B.C., the date of Pukkusāti, the Gandhārian contemporary of Bimbisāra. The conversion to Jainism, however, does not accord with the story related in the *Jātaka* about his own elevation and that of his confrères to the status of Pachcheka Buddhas, or with the interest which the king or his son Svarjit² evinced in Brāhmaṇic ritual. It is, however, to be noted that the views of the family in such matters were not treated with respect. The rival claims of different sects need not be taken too seriously. The only fact that emerges is that tradition knew the family to be interested in religious matters and holding views that did not strictly conform to traditional Brāhmaṇism.