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Tribes in Ancient India c31: Chapter XXVII. The Kāśīs

Tribes in Ancient India c31

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Chapter XXVII. The Kāśīs

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Kāśī was the ancient name of the kingdom of which the chief city was Bārāṇasī, the modern Benares, which is situated 80 miles below Allahabad on the north bank of the Ganges, at the junction between that river and the river Baraṇā.¹ From the joint name of the two streams which bound the city to the north and the south,—the Baraṇā and the Asi,—the Brāhmaṇas derive Vārāṇasī or Bārāṇasī.² The Baraṇā or Varaṇā is a considerable rivulet which rises to the north of Allahabad and has a course of about 100 miles; while the Asi is a mere brook. The former is probably identical with the river Varaṇāvatī, the water of which is said in the *Atharvaveda* (IV, 7, 1) to have had the property of removing poison. We agree with Macdonell and Keith that, though Kāśī is a late word, it is quite possible that the town is older, as the river Varaṇāvatī may be connected with the later Bārāṇasī.³

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¹ Rhys Davids, *Buddhist India*, p. 34.

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² Cunningham, *Ancient Geography of India* (S. N. Majumdar), p. 500.

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³ *Vedic Index*, Vol. I, p. 154.

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According to the Jātakas, Bārāṇasī had other names in previous ages, i.e. in previous incarnations of the Buddha: e.g. Surundhana,⁴ Sudassana,⁵ Brahmavaḍḍhana,⁶ Pupphavatī,⁷ Rammanagara⁸ and Molinī.⁹ In the Chinese versions of Buddhist works, the terms Kāśī and Vārāṇasī are generally given in transcription, but the former term is sometimes translated by Ti-miao, meaning ‘reed-sprouts’. Ti-miao may have been intended to translate Kāśī, as supposedly connected with Kāśī,¹⁰ a certain kind of grass. Bārāṇasī is also called Kāśīnagara and Kāśīpura (e.g. *Jātaka*, V, 54; VI, 165; *Dhammapada Comm.*, I, 87).

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⁴ *Jātaka* (Fausböll), IV, p. 104.

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⁵ *Ibid.*, IV, p. 119; V, p. 177.

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⁶ *Ibid.*, IV, p. 119; V, p. 312.

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⁷ *Ibid.*, VI, p. 131.

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⁸ *Ibid.*, IV, pp. 119, 26, etc.

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⁹ *Ibid.*, IV, p. 15.

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¹⁰ Watters, *On Yuan Chwang*, Vol. II, pp. 58-9.

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The city proper, as Rhys Davids says, included the land between the Baraṇā and the Asi. ‘Its extent including the suburbs, is often stated to have been, at the time when it was the capital of an independent kingdom (that is some time before the rise of Buddhism) 12 leagues or about 85 miles.’¹¹ In the Jātakas we find the extent of the city mentioned as 12 yojanas.¹ Nowadays, Benares extends four miles along the bank of the river, which here descends to the water with a steep brink. Down this brink are built flights of steps known as ghats, at the foot of which pilgrims bathe and dead bodies are burnt.²

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¹¹ *Buddhist India*, p. 34.

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¹ Jātaka, VI, p. 160; IV, p. 377; Majjhima Nikāya Comm., II, p. 608; B. C. Law, India as described in early texts of Buddhism and Jainism, pp. 41 foll.

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² Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, p. 14.

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Although the capital of Kāśī (Pāli, Kāśī) is generally given as Bārāṇasī, it is said that when Aśoka was king of Kāśī, his capital was in Potali³; and another king, Udaya Bhadda, had his seat of government in Surundha.⁴ It is possible that these cities did not form part of the regular kingdom of Kāśī, but became annexed to it during the reigns of some of the more powerful kings.⁵

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³ Jātaka, II, p. 155.

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⁴ Ibid., IV, pp. 104ff.

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⁵ Malalasekera, Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names, Vol. I, article on ‘Kāśī’.

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The little kingdom of Kāśī, whose extent is given in the Jātaka (V, 41; III, 304, 391) as three hundred leagues, was bordered by Kośala on the north, Magadha on the east, and Vatsa on the west.⁶ It was a wealthy and prosperous country, having ‘an abundance of the seven gems’,⁷ and the Bhojājānīya Jātaka (J., I, 178) tells us that ‘all the kings around coveted the kingdom of Benares’. It often served as a bone of contention between its three powerful neighbours, as we shall see.

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⁶ Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, p. 316.

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⁷ Aṅguttara Nikāya, Vol. I, p. 213; Vol. IV, pp. 252, 256, 260; see also Dīgha Nikāya, II, p. 75.

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Kāśī is mentioned several times in Vedic literature and in the Epics. The Śāṅkhāyana Śrauta Sūtra⁸ mentions Kāśya, the king of Kāśī, and Jala, son of Jātukarṇī, who became the king’s chaplain. Kāśya was a warrior, as the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad (III, 8, 2) informs us. From the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (XIII, 5, 4, 19) we learn that Śatānīka, son of Satrājita, took the horse of King Kāśya and performed the Govinata Yajña. Afterwards, the king too performed this sacrifice. The Bṛhadāraṇyaka and Kauśītakī Upaniṣads speak of Ajātaśatru, another king of Kāśī⁹; while the Baudhāyana Śrauta Sūtra¹⁰ tells us that Āyu, son of Purūravas, renounced the world and wandered in the countries of Kāśī, Kuru and Pañcāla.

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⁸ XVI, 29, 5.

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⁹ Bṛh. Up., II, 1, 1; Kauś. Up., IV, 1.

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¹⁰ XVIII, 44.

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Purūravas is mentioned in the Rāmāyaṇa¹¹ as king of Kāśī. Mitradeva said to the nymph Urvaśī: ‘Go to Purūravas, king of Kāśī. He will be your husband’. In the same kāṇḍa (59, 19), Puru, son of Yayāti, is represented as residing in Pratiṣṭhāna and ruling over the kingdom of Kāśī. We are told in the Ādikāṇḍa (13th sarga) that Vaśiṣṭha asked Sumantra to invite many pious kings, including the king of Benares, together with one thousand Brahmins, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas and Śūdras. In the Kiṣkindhyākāṇḍa (40th sarga) we read that Sugrīva sent the monkey king Vinata to Kāśī, among other countries, in quest of Sītā.

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¹¹ Uttarakāṇḍa, 56th sarga, śl. 25.

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Kāśī figures even more prominently in the Mahābhārata. Haryaśva, king of Benares, was killed by the relations of king Vītahavya in a battle fought on the land between the Ganges and the Jumna. His son Sudeva was then installed on the throne of Kāśī. Sudeva ruled righteously, but he also was defeated by the Vītahavyas, and his son Divodāsa became king. Divodāsa built the city of Benares which became populated by people of the four castes. The city lay between the north bank of the Ganges and the south bank of the river Gomatī. Big markets were opened, and the city seemed likely to prosper, but the Vītahavyas again attacked, and a great war ensued, lasting for a thousand days. Divodāsa was defeated, and fled to a forest, taking shelter in the hermitage of the sage Bharadvāja, eldest son of Bṛhaspati. This sage assured the king that he would perform a sacrifice so that Divodāsa might be blessed with a son who would kill thousands of the Vītahavyas. This son was duly born, and was named Pratardana. He studied the Vedas and archery, and was sent in due course to conquer the Vītahavyas. A fierce fight ensued, in which the Vītahavyas were defeated.¹ Another passage of the Mahābhārata tells us that Divodāsa, the son of Bhīmasena, king of Kāśī, had a son named Pratardana by Mādhavī, daughter of Yayāti.² When Pratardana came to the throne of Kāśī, he established his capital in Benares and acquired great fame by offering his own son in charity to a Brahmin.³

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¹ Anuśāsanaparvan, Chap. 30, pp. 1899-1900.

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² Udyogaparvan, Chap. 117, p. 746.

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³ Anuśāsanaparvan, Chap. 137, pp. 1995-6.

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We have yet another version of Divodāsa’s life story in the Purāṇas and the Harivaṃśa. Saunihotra, a certain king of Kāśī, had a son named Dhanvantarī who studied the Āyurveda with Bharadvāja,⁴ and later became king of Kāśī. He is celebrated as the author of the Āyurveda and killer of all diseases.⁵ Divodāsa was the great-grandson of this Dhanvantarī. It is said that in his time, Benares, owing to a curse, was deserted, and infested by a Rākṣasa named Kṣemaka. Divodāsa left Benares and founded his kingdom on the banks of the river Gomatī.⁶ Once Bhadraśreṇya, son of Mahiṣmān¹ and king of the Yadu dynasty, acquired Benares. His sons were defeated by King Divodāsa who recovered the city, sparing the life of Bhadraśreṇya’s youngest son, Durdama. Later, however, this Durdama again took Benares which was then recovered by Pratardana, son of Divodāsa. Elsewhere² we read that Ālarka Saunati (grandson of Pratardana) re-established the city of Benares, after killing the Rākṣasa Kṣemaka.

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⁴ Harivaṃśa, Chap. 31.

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⁵ Vāyupurāṇa, Chap. 92.

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⁶ Harivaṃśa, Chaps. 31-2; cf. Brahmapurāṇa, Chap. 13, śl. 75. Genealogical tables of the family of Divodāsa are given in the Hariv., Chaps. 31-2, Brahmapurāṇa, Chap. 13, and Vāyupurāṇa, Chap. 92.

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¹ *Padmapurāṇa*, Sṛṣṭi, Chap. 12.

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² *Vāyupurāṇa*, Chap. 92.

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We return to the *Mahābhārata* references to Kāśī. A certain king of Kāśī gave his daughter Sārvasenī in marriage to Bharata, son of Duṣmanta (Duṣyanta), king of the Kuru dynasty, and Śakuntalā, daughter of Viśvāmitra.³ Kāśya, another king of Kāśī, had three daughters, Ambā, Ambikā and Ambālikā, who were won by Bhīṣma for his brother Vicitravīrya in a Svayaṃvara.⁴ Suvāhu, a king of Kāśī, was conquered by Bhīṣma.⁵ On the occasion of the marriage ceremony of Abhimanyu, the king of Kāśī and others were invited by Yudhiṣṭhira to a city named Upaplavya near Virāṭa.⁶ The king of Kāśī was an ally of Yudhiṣṭhira, and helped the Pāṇḍavas in the Kurukṣetra war.⁷ In battle he rode horses decorated with gold and garlands⁸; Śaivya and he guarded the centre of the Pāṇḍava army with 30,000 chariots.⁹ The king of Kāśī is mentioned as the best archer.¹⁰ Kāśī, Karūṣa and Cedi armies were under the leadership of Dhṛṣṭaketu.¹¹

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³ *Ādiparvan*, Chap. 95, p. 105.

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⁴ *Udyogaparvan*, Chaps. 172-94, pp. 791-806.

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⁵ *Sabhāparvan*, Chap. 30, pp. 241-2.

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⁶ *Virāṭaparvan*, Chap. 72, śl. 16.

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⁷ *Udyogaparvan*, Chap. 72, p. 714.

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⁸ *Droṇaparvan*, Chap. 22, śl. 38.

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⁹ *Bhīṣmaparvan*, Chap. 50, p. 924.

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¹⁰ *Ibid.*, Chap. 25, p. 834.

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¹¹ *Udyogaparvan*, Chap. 198, p. 807.

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The Purāṇas contain several stories about kings of Kāśī. We have mentioned the account of Divodāsa. Another king mentioned in the *Vāyupurāṇa*¹² is Kāśa who was the son of Dharmavṛddha of the Nahuṣa family. The sons of Kāśa were Kāśara, Rāṣṭra and Dīrghatapas, and Dīrghatapas’ son was the learned Dharma. According to the *Harivaṃśa* (Chap. 29), the sons of Kāśa, a king of the Anenāḥ dynasty, were known as Kāśīs. Dīrghatamas (= Dīrghatapas?) was the eldest son.

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¹² Chap. 92.

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Benares, the capital of Kāśī, figures in the story of Kṛṣṇa’s quarrel with Puṇḍva. King Puṇḍva, aided by the king of Benares, fought with Kṛṣṇa Vāsudeva who defeated and killed Puṇḍva, and burnt the city of Benares.¹³

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¹³ *Viṣṇupurāṇa*, 5th Aṃśa, Chap. 34.

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According to the Jainas, Pārśvanātha was born in Benares about 817 B.C. His father Aśvasena was the king of Benares, and he himself attained perfect knowledge (kevala-jñāna) seated under a certain tree near the city.¹

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¹ S. Stevenson, *Heart of Jainism*, pp. 48-9.

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Kāśī also figures in the stories of Mahāvīra and his disciples.² For example, there lived in Benares a householder named Culanipiyā who was prosperous and had no equal. His wife was called Samā. At a certain time Mahāvīra came and a congregation went out from Benares to hear him preach. Culanipiyā lived in conformity with the teaching which he received from Mahāvīra.³ Among other disciples of Mahāvīra who were connected with Benares were Sūrādeva, a prosperous householder,⁴ Āryarakṣita ⁵ and Jayaghoṣa.⁶ We are told also that the king of Kāśī named Nandana, the seventh Baladeva, son of King Agniśikha, abandoned all pleasures and hewed down his karma like a forest, as it were.⁷

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² B. C. Law, *Mahāvīra: His Life and Teachings*, sec. I.

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³ *Uvāsagadasāo*, Vol. II, pp. 90-8. (B.I.S.)

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⁴ *Ibid.*, p. 100.

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⁵ *Heart of Jainism*, p. 78.

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⁶ *Jaina Sūtras*, S.B.E., II, pp. 136-7. See also *ibid.*, p. 50, for the story of the Jaina monk Bala, and Bhadrā, daughter of King Kauśalika.

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⁷ *Sūtrakṛtāṅga*, *Jaina Sūtras*, II, p. 87.

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On the night in which Mahāvīra died, the king of Kāśī instituted an illumination, it being a day of fasting (Poṣadha); for he said, ‘When the light of intelligence is gone, let us make an illumination of material matter’.⁸

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⁸ *Jaina Sūtras*, I, p. 266.

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There is a reference in Kauṭilya’s *Arthaśāstra* to the poisoning of a king of Kāśī by his own queen.

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Although, as we have seen, Kāśī and Benares feature fairly prominently in Hindu and Jain sources, it is the Buddhist books, and particularly the Jātakas, which give us fuller information on the subject. In the Purāṇas, Kāśī is mentioned as a janapada or country. In the Pāli canon,⁹ however, it is referred to as one of the sixteen ‘Mahājanapadas,’ and its capital, Bārāṇasī, was one of the four places of pilgrimage for the Buddhists, and was included in the list of great cities suggested by Ānanda as suitable places for the *parinibbāna* of the Buddha.¹⁰

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⁹ *Aṅguttara Nikāya*, I, pp. 213, etc.

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¹⁰ *Dīgha Nikāya*, II, 146.

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Although Kāśī was no longer an independent kingdom in the Buddha’s day, the memory of its independence seems to have been still fresh, for it is frequently mentioned as such in the Jātakas and elsewhere. To begin with, it is said that Kāśī was once ruled by the Bhāratas one of whom, Dhataraṭṭha, was its king in the time of Reṇu.¹¹ The traditional name of the king of Kāśī was evidently Brahmadatta, and references to kings of that name abound in the Jātakas.

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¹¹ *Ibid.*, II, 135f. Here (*Mahāgovinda Sutta*) the foundation of Bārāṇasī is attributed to Mahāgovinda, its first king being Dhataraṭṭha.

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Brahmadatta was probably the dynastic name of the kings of Benares; for instance, in the *Gaṅgamāla Jātaka* (J., III, 452) Udaya, king of Benares, is addressed as Brahmadatta. Elsewhere in the *Jātaka* (III, pp. 406ff.), we read that a certain prince Brahmadatta became king of Benares. He married the exquisitely beautiful daughter of the king of Kośala, and made her his chief queen. He held a parasol festival, and the whole city was decorated so splendidly as to seem like a city of the gods. The king went around the city in procession, and then mounted his throne on the dais in the palace. The throne was surmounted by a white parasol. Brahmadatta looked down on all the persons who stood in attendance, ‘on one side the ministers, on another the Brahmins and householders resplendent in the beauty of varied apparel, on another the townspeople with various gifts in their hands, on another troupes of dancing girls to the number of sixteen thousand, like a gathering of the nymphs of heaven in full apparel’, and reflected that all his splendour was due to ‘an alms-gift of four portions of gruel given to four paccekabuddhas’.

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One King Brahmadatta told the inhabitants of Kāśī that there would be a famine lasting for twelve years, and that only those inhabitants might remain who had provision for that period. Many people died at Benares on account of this famine. One very wealthy person, however, gave alms to a paccekabuddha who granted three boons in return. The almsgiver himself prayed that his granary should always be filled with paddy; his wife prayed that one pot of rice cooked by her would be sufficient for hundreds of thousands of people; and their son prayed that his treasure-house should always be full of wealth.¹

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¹ *Divyāvadāna*, 132ff.

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There seem to have been frequent wars between the two kingdoms of Kāśī and Kośala, first one side being victorious, and then the other. We are told,² for instance, that a certain Brahmadatta was a wealthy king of Benares. He was rich in treasure, revenue, troops and vehicles. The king of Kośala at that time, named Dīghīti, was not so wealthy as he was. Brahmadatta waged against Dīghīti, defeated him, and took possession of his treasuries and storehouses. The king of Kośala and his consort escaped, went to Benares, and lived there in disguise in a potter’s house. The queen bore a son, Dīghāyu (or Dīghāvu), who was sent away for safety. The king of Kāśī some time afterwards learnt that the king and queen of Kośala were dwelling in his kingdom, and they were captured, and were being led to the place of execution when Dīghāyu, who was on a visit to the city, saw them. Dīghīti gave out his dying advice to his son: ‘Look not too far nor too near.’ Understanding this advice, Dīghāyu entered the service of the king of Kāśī. One day the king ascended a chariot driven by Dīghāyu. Travelling at high speed, he left the royal retinue far behind. The king became tired, stopped the chariot, and fell asleep. Dīghāyu thought of killing him, but remembering his father’s advice he desisted. When Brahmadatta awoke, however, Dīghāyu revealed his identity, and promised the king his life. His father’s kingdom was restored to him, and he married Brahmadatta’s daughter.

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² *Vinaya*, I, 343ff.; *Dhammapada Comm.*, I, 56ff.; *Jātaka*, III, 211ff., 487.

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On another occasion, the king of Benares attacked the kingdom of Kośala and took its king prisoner. He set up royal officials as governors in the conquered country, and himself having collected all their available treasure, returned with his spoils to Benares. The king of Kośala had a son named Chatta who fled when his father was taken prisoner, and went to Taxila to complete his education. On his way back from Taxila, Chatta came to a wood where dwelt five hundred ascetics. Chatta joined them, and eventually became their leader. He came to Benares with the ascetics, and spent a night in the king’s garden. The next morning the ascetics, in their quest for alms, came to the door of the palace. The king was charmed with their deportment, and particularly with Chatta, who answered all his questions to his satisfaction; and he asked the ascetics to stay in his garden. Chatta knew a spell whereby he could bring to light buried treasure. He repeated this spell, and discovered that the treasure which had belonged to his father was buried in that very garden. He then told the ascetics that he was the son of the king of Kośala, and they agreed to help him. Chatta removed the treasure which was taken to Śrāvastī by the ascetics. He then had all the king’s officers seized, recovered his kingdom, made the city invincible against invasion, and took up his residence there.¹

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¹ Jātaka, III, pp. 115ff.

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In the *Mahāśīlava Jātaka* we read that the kingdom of Benares was once seized by the king of Kośala who buried the king of Kāśī (Mahāśīlava) and his soldiers alive, up to the neck. The king of Kāśī managed to get out of the pit, and to rescue his soldiers; and by the magic power of two yakṣas who happened to be there disputing over a corpse, he secured his sword of state, and went to the usurper’s bedside at dead of night and frightened him. On being told the story of the king of Kāśī’s escape, the usurper praised him, begged his pardon, and on the morrow gave back his kingdom, and himself with his troops and elephants returned to his own country.²

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² Ibid., I, pp. 262 *et seq.*; see also I, 409; *Udāna Comm.*, 123.

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In the *Asātarūpa Jātaka*, we read that the kingdom of Benares was once seized by the king of Kośala who marched with a great force against Benares, killed the king, and carried off his queen. But the king’s son escaped, and later collected a mighty force and came to Benares. He pitched his camp close to the city, and sent a message to the king of Kośala, demanding that he should surrender the kingdom or else give battle. The king informed him that he would give battle. But the young prince’s mother sent word to her son advising him not to fight, but to blockade the city on every side, so that the citizens would be worn out for want of food and water. The prince acted on this advice, and the citizens were famished and on the seventh day they beheaded their king and brought his head to the prince. Thus the prince succeeded in regaining his paternal kingdom.¹ On another occasion the kingdom of Benares was seized by a king of Sāvatthī (Śrāvastī) named Vaṅka, but was soon restored.²

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¹ *Jātaka*, I, p. 409.

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² *Ibid.*, III, pp. 168-9.

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There seems to have been friendly intercourse between the chieftains of Benares and the kings of Magadha, as instanced by the fact that King Bimbisāra sent his own physician Jīvaka to attend the son of the Treasurer of Benares, when the young man had twisted his internal organs through practising acrobatics.³

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³ *Vinaya Texts*, Pt. II, pp. 184-5 (*Mahāvagga*, VIII, 1).

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The *Cambridge History of India* (p. 316) informs us that at different periods Kāśī came under the sway of the three successive suzerain powers of N. India—the Purus of Vatsa, the Ikṣvākus of Kośala and the kings of Magadha; but it seems to have enjoyed independent power between the decline of Vatsa and the rise of Kośala, when King Brahmadatta conquered Kośala, possibly about a century and a half before the Buddha’s time.

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As we have seen, in the early days, Kāśī and Kośala are represented as two independent countries whose kings fought with each other.⁴ Kāśī and Kośala are frequently mentioned together in literature (e.g. *Aṅguttara Nikāya*, V, 59). In the Buddha’s time, Kośala was already the paramount power in India. We have seen how several successful invasions of Kāśī had been carried out by the kings of Kośala. Kāśī’s absorption into Kośala was an accomplished fact before the accession of Pasenadi, for Pasenadi’s father Mahā-kośala gave his daughter a village of Kāśī (Kāsigāma) as ‘bath money’, on the occasion of her marriage with King Bimbisāra of Magadha.⁵

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⁴ D. R. Bhandarkar, *Car. Lec.*, 1918, p. 55.

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⁵ *Jātaka*, IV, 342; II, 403.

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After Bimbisāra’s death, Pasenadi withdrew the gift from Ajātaśatru, and this led to a war between Kośala and Magadha. Pasenadi was defeated in three campaigns, but in another battle he avenged his defeat, and took possession of Kāsī. However, Pasenadi treated Ajātaśatru generously, giving him his daughter in marriage, and even bestowing the disputed village on her as a wedding gift.¹ In the Dīgha Nikāya we read that Pasenadi, king of Kāsī, used to collect taxes from the inhabitants of these two countries. He used to share the income with his subordinates.² The Mahāvagga,³ however, mentions a Kāsika-rājā (king of Kāsī) who sent a robe to Jīvaka. Buddhaghoṣa says⁴ that this was a brother of Pasenadi and son of the same father. He was probably a sub-king of Pasenadi.⁵ Later, when Ajātaśatru succeeded in establishing his sway over Kośala, Kāsī too was included in his dominions (see Chapter on Kośala).

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¹ Saṃyutta Nikāya, I, pp. 82-5.

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² I, pp. 228-9.

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³ Vin., I, 281.

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⁴ Vinaya Texts, II, 195, n. 2.

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⁵ Malalasekera, Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names, s.v. Kāsī.

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The Sumaṅgalavilāsinī,⁶ referring to the more ancient period of Kāsī, mentions a certain Rāma, king of Kāsī, who had an attack of leprosy, in consequence of which he became distasteful to the members of his harem, and the dancing girls. Being much distressed, he left his kingdom in charge of his eldest son, went to a forest, and was soon cured of the disease by living on leaves and fruits. His body now appeared like gold. He dwelt in a tree-hole, and later married the daughter of King Okkāka (Skt. Ikṣvāku). Thirty-two sons were born to him; and these sons afterwards built the city named Kola, and became known as Koliyas. There were intermarriages between the Koliyas and the Śākyas (other descendants of Okkāka) down to the time of the Buddha Gautama.

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⁶ Sumaṅgalavilāsinī, Pt. I, pp. 260-2; vide also chapter on Koliyas.

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The names of several other kings of Benares are mentioned in the Jātakas, among them being those of Aṅga, Uggasena, Udaya, Dhanañjaya, Vissasena, Kalābu (Jātaka, III, 39), and Saṃyama. The Suttanipāta Commentary on the Khaggavisāṇa Sutta contains the names of several kings of Benares who renounced the world and became paccekabuddhas. The Ceylon Chronicles⁷ mention the names of others who reigned in Benares, e.g. Duppasaha and sixty of his descendants; Aśoka, son of Samaṅkara, and 84,000 of his descendants; also sixteen kings, ancestors of Okkāka. Sometimes the king is referred to merely as Kāsī-rājā. In the Jātaka (III, p. 28) we are told that a king of Benares used to learn Vedic hymns from his family priest (purohita).

c31.99

⁷ Mahāvaṃsa Ṭīkā, 127, 129, 130.

c31.100

The king of Benares at the time of the Buddha Kassapa is said to have been Kikī. When Kassapa Buddha arrived in Benares, the king, having listened to his sermons, entertained the Buddha and his monks at the palace.¹ One of Kikī’s daughters was Uracchadā, who attained arahatship at the age of sixteen. He had seven other daughters, and a son Pathavindhara, who succeeded him (*Divyāvadāna*; 22, Sujāta). During the life of the Buddha Kassapa, Kikī waited on him with many kinds of gifts,² and at his death built one of the four gates outside the Buddha’s cetiya. This gate was a league in width.³ In the Sanskrit books he is called Kṛkī,⁴ and is mentioned as owning a palace called Kokanada.

c31.101

¹ Majjhima Nikāya, II, pp. 49ff.

c31.102

² Suttanipāta Comm., I, 281, 283.

c31.103

³ Ibid., 194.

c31.104

⁴ E.g. Mahāvastu (ed. Senart), I, 325; Divyāvadāna, 22f.; Avadāna Śataka, I, 338, etc.

c31.105

From the Jātakas we learn that Benares was ruled with justice and equity. The ministers of the king were just; no false suit was brought to court, and sometimes true cases were so scanty that ministers had to remain idle for lack of litigants. The king of Benares was always on the alert to know his own faults. Once a certain king of Benares went outside the city to find out whether there was anyone who might know anything against him. The king of Kośala was out on a similar mission, and the two kings met at a place where the road was too narrow for two carriages to pass. Each of the drivers spoke of the virtues of his king, and finally the king of Kośala and his driver gave place to the king of Benares.⁵

c31.106

⁵ Jātaka, II, pp. 1-5.

c31.107

There was a belief current amongst the people of Benares that when kings rule with justice and equity, when they reign peacefully, all things retain their respective nature and character; but that when kings rule with injustice and inequity, when their reign becomes one of terror and tyranny, all things lose their respective nature. Oil, honey, molasses and the like, and even the wild fruits lose their sweetness and flavour.⁶

c31.108

⁶ Ibid., III, pp. 110-11.

c31.109

In spite of good government, the country was not entirely free from crime. For instance, a physician named Cakkhupāla in anger gave one of his women patients, who had tried to cheat him out of his promised reward for curing her, a drug which made her blind.⁷ There were also instances of highway robbery and house-breaking. In the Satapatta Jātaka (Jātaka, II, pp. 387-8) we read that the Bodhisattva in a former life gathered 500 robbers together and became their chief, living by highway robbery and house-breaking.

c31.110

⁷ Dhammapada Comm., Vol. I, p. 20.

c31.111

Kāśī was evidently a great centre of trade and industry, and a most populous and prosperous country. Frequent mention is made of caravans leaving Kāśī to travel for trade. One highway went through Kāśī to Rājagṛha,¹ and another to Śrāvastī²; and there was also direct trade between Kāśī and Takṣaśilā.³ We read of a trader of Benares who went with 500 carts to a frontier country and bought sandal wood⁴; and of another trader who was going to Śrāvastī with five hundred carts full of red cloth, but could not cross the river as it was in flood, and had to stay on the near side to sell his goods.⁵ The merchants of Benares used to go about hawking goods, which were carried by donkeys.⁶ Horse dealers from northern districts used to bring horses to Benares for sale.⁷ Sindh horses were available in Benares, and were used as the royal horses of ceremony.⁸ In Benares, too, there were skilled elephant trainers,⁹ and corn merchants.¹⁰

c31.112

¹ Vinaya, I, 212.

c31.113

² Ibid., II.

c31.114

³ Dhammapada Comm., III, 445.

c31.115

⁴ Suttanipāta Comm., Vol. II, pp. 523ff.

c31.116

⁵ Dhammapada Comm., Vol. III, p. 429.

c31.117

⁶ Jātaka, II, p. 109; Dhammapada Comm., Vol. I, p. 123.

c31.118

⁷ Jātaka, II, p. 287.

c31.119

⁸ Ibid., II, 338.

c31.120

⁹ Ibid., II, p. 221.

c31.121

¹⁰ Ibid., III, p. 198.

c31.122

In Benares fine cloths widely known as Kāśī cloths were manufactured, and Kāśī robes were most highly esteemed as gifts, each robe being valued at one hundred thousand.¹¹ Mention is also made of the perfumes of Kāśī [Kāśī-vilepana—Jātaka, I, 355; and Kāśī-candana—Aṅguttara Nikāya, III, 391; Udāna Comm. (P.T.S.), 332].

c31.123

¹¹ Ibid., V, p. 377; Lalitavistara (Lefmann), p. 215. Buddhist Suttas, S.B.E., XI, p. 92; Jātaka, VI, 151, 450.

c31.124

At Benares there was a rich banker named Mahādhanaseṭṭhi. His parents taught him dancing and music, and he married the daughter of another rich banker, and of similar education. Mahādhana became addicted to drink and gambling, with the result that he lost his own wealth as well as his wife’s, being finally reduced to begging for alms.¹² In general, however, the merchants of Benares must have been highly respected, for we read in the Divyāvadāna (p. 100) that after the death of Priyasena, the chief merchant, Brahmadatta, king of Kāśī, appointed Supriya chief merchant of the royal court; and after Brahmadatta’s death, the ministers anointed Supriya king (p. 121).

c31.125

¹² Dhammapada Comm., Vol. III, p. 429.

c31.126

There was in Benares a market known as the ivory workers’ bazar, where ivory articles were sold.¹³ There were also stone cutters or experts in working stone-quarrying and shaping stones.¹⁴

c31.127

¹³ Jātaka, II, p. 197.

c31.128

¹⁴ Ibid., I, p. 478.

c31.129

Five hundred carpenters lived in a village in Kāśī.¹ There was in Benares a great carpenter-quarter containing a thousand families. These carpenters avowed publicly that they could make a bed or a chair or a house; but when they took a large advance from the people, they proved themselves to be liars. They were then so much harassed by their customers that they had to leave the town.² A certain carpenter of Benares prepared mechanical wooden birds (airships), by means of which he conquered a tract of land in the Himalayas. His capital was known as Kaṭṭhavāhananagara. He sent valuable presents to the king of Benares who in return sent him the news of the advent of the Buddha Kassapa in Benares.³

c31.130

¹ Jātaka, II, p. 18.

c31.131

² Ibid., IV, p. 159.

c31.132

³ Suttanipāta Comm., II, pp. 575ff.

c31.133

In Benares, there was a village of hunters on the banks of the river (=Ganges), and another on the farther side. Five hundred families dwelt in each.⁴ The Nesāda of the Māra Jātaka (II, 36), who was ordered by the king to catch a golden peacock, practised the profession of a hunter in a Nesāda village near Benares.

c31.134

⁴ Jātaka, VI, p. 71.

c31.135

There were snake-charmers in Benares (Jātaka, III, p. 198). An elephant festival was held in the city, in which Brahmins had to chant elephant lore (Hastisūtram). In this festival five score elephants with pure white tusks were used.⁵ There was also a time-honoured drinking festival, at which people used to drink strong liquor and quarrel with one another. Sometimes their legs and arms were broken, crowns were cracked, and ears were torn off.⁶

c31.136

⁵ Ibid., II, p. 48.

c31.137

⁶ Ibid., IV, p. 115.

c31.138

From the Jātakas it is evident that the people of Benares were charitable, especially to hermits.⁷ Visayha, a great merchant of Benares, had alms-halls built at the four city-gates, besides one in the heart of the city and one at the door of his own house. He distributed alms at these six points, and everyday 600,000 men came there to beg.⁸ In the Lalitavistara there is a reference to Ratnacūḍa (Ratna-śikhī), a charitable king of Kāśī.⁹

c31.139

⁷ Ibid., I, p. 361; p. 239 (Fausböll).

c31.140

⁸ Ibid., III, p. 129. Cf. the almost identical stories of Saṅkha, Jātaka, IV, p. 15; Jātaka, I, p. 262; and of Prince Jarāsandha, Jātaka, IV, p. 176.

c31.141

⁹ Lefmann, p. 171.

c31.142

Enthusiastic young men of Benares used to go to Taxila, for their education.¹⁰ We read in the Dhammapada Commentary (I, 251ff.) how a certain king of Benares paid 1,000 kahāpaṇas to a young Brahmin for teaching him a mantra (spell) which afterwards proved the means of saving his life, when his barber and senāpati (general) plotted to kill him; and how another king of Benares paid 1,000 *kahāpaṇas* to a young Brahmin for a spell which enabled him to read people's evil thoughts, so that he could learn whether any of his subjects spoke ill of him. There seem to have been educational institutions at Benares also, some of which were even older than those of Taxila (*Khuddakapāṭha Comm.*, 198). We find for instance that Saṅkha, a Brahmin of Taxila, sent his son Susīma to Benares to study.¹

c31.143

¹⁰ Dhammapada Comm., I, pp. 250-51; Jātaka, II, 47.

c31.144

¹ *Dhammapada Comm.*, III, 445.

c31.145

A knowledge of spells formed an important part of a young man's education in the days when Kāśī was an independent kingdom; and it is natural that we should read of numerous superstitions which were current in Benares. We read in the Jātakas of the skill of the Brahmins of Benares in '*Lakkhaṇamantam*', or charms for discovering the auspicious signs of various creatures.² In Benares there was a Brahmin who professed to be able to tell whether the swords (of warriors) were lucky or not.³ There was a superstitious belief current in Kāśī, as in other countries, that it was an evil omen if the wind touching the body of a *caṇḍāla* (outcaste) touched that of a person of another caste.⁴ Slaughter of deer, swine and other animals for offerings to goblins was in vogue in Benares.⁵

c31.146

² *Jātaka*, IV, p. 335.

c31.147

³ *Ibid.*, I, p. 455.

c31.148

⁴ *Ibid.*, III, p. 233.

c31.149

⁵ *Ibid.*, IV, p. 115.

c31.150

Besides those already referred to, names of places mentioned in literature as belonging to Kāśī are Vāsabhagāma, Macchikāsaṇḍa, Kiṭāgiri and Dhanapālagāma.⁶ The place which was most intimately associated with the several visits that the Buddha paid to Benares was Isipatana Migadāva, a famous Deer Park near the city. It was eighteen leagues from Uruvelā, and it was there that the Buddha preached his first sermon after his enlightenment, to his friends the Pañcavaggiya monks.⁷ There also the Buddha spent his first rainy season; and he mentioned Isipatana as one of the four places of pilgrimage which his devout followers should visit.⁸ 'Isipatana was so called because sages, on their way through the air (from the Himalayas) alight here or start from here on their aerial flight'.⁹ Several other incidents connected with the Buddha, besides the preaching of his first sermon, are mentioned in the texts as having taken place in Isipatana.¹⁰

c31.151

⁶ B. C. Law, *India as described in early texts of Buddhism and Jainism*, p. 42.

c31.152

⁷ *Dīgha Nikāya*, III, p. 141, *Majjhima Nikāya*, I, pp. 170ff.; cf. *Saṃyutta Nikāya*, V, pp. 420ff.; *Kathāvatthu*, pp. 97, 559.

c31.153

⁸ See *Buddhavamsa Comm.*, p. 3; *Dīgha Nikāya*, II, p. 141.

c31.154

⁹ Malalasekera, *Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names*, s.v. Isipatana.

c31.155

¹⁰ E.g. *Vinaya Piṭaka* (ed. Oldenberg), I, p. 15f.; *Dīpavamsa*, pp. 119-20; *Therīgāthā Comm.*, p. 220; *Aṅguttara Nikāya*, I, pp. 110ff., 279-80; III, pp. 392ff., 399ff.; *Saṃyutta Nikāya*, I, pp. 105-6; V, pp. 406-8.

c31.156

Some of the most eminent members of the Buddhist community seem to have resided at Isipatana from time to time; among recorded conversations at Isipatana are several between Sāriputta and Mahākoṭṭhita,¹ and one between Mahākoṭṭhita and Citta-Hatthisāriputta.²

c31.157

¹ *Saṃyutta Nikāya*, II, pp. 112-14; III, pp. 167-9, 173-7; IV, pp. 384-6.

c31.158

² *Aṅguttara Nikāya*, III, p. 392f.

c31.159

According to the *Mahāvaṃsa*, there was a large community of monks at Isipatana in the second century B.C. For we are told that at the foundation ceremony of the Mahā Thūpa in Anurādhapura, twelve thousand monks from Isipatana were present.³ Isipatana was still a monastic centre in Hsüan-Tsang’s time, for he found 1,500 monks studying the Hīnayāna there.⁴ He quotes the *Nigrodhamiga Jātaka* (*Jāt.*, I, 145ff.) to account for the origin of the Migadāya or Deer Park at Isipatana. According to him, the Deer Park was the forest which was given by the king of Benares for the deer to wander in it unmolested.

c31.160

³ *Mahāvaṃsa*, XXIX, p. 31.

c31.161

⁴ Beal, *Records of the Western World*, II, pp. 45ff.

c31.162

Isipatana is identified with the modern Sāranāth, six miles from Benares. Cunningham⁵ found the Migadāya represented by a fine wood, covering an area of about half a mile, extending from the great tomb of Dhamek on the north to the Chaukundi mound on the south.

c31.163

⁵ *Arch. Reports*, I, p. 107.

c31.164

Near Benares, too, was a grove of seven sirīsaka-trees where the Buddha preached to the Nāga-king Erakapatta⁶; and also the Khemiyambavana where Udena met Ghoṭamukha.⁷ On the other side of the river was Vāsabhagāma, and beyond that another village called Cundaṭṭhila.⁸ The Buddha is several times spoken of as staying in Benares, where he preached several sermons,⁹ and converted many people, including Yasa, whose home was in Benares,¹⁰ and his friends Vimala, Subāhu, Puṇṇaji and Gavampati, all members of eminent families.¹¹

c31.165

⁶ *Dhammapada Comm.*, III, p. 230.

c31.166

⁷ *Majjhima Nikāya*, II, p. 157.

c31.167

⁸ *Petavatthu Comm.*, p. 168; B. C. Law, *India as described in early texts of Buddhism and Jainism*, p. 42; see also Barua and Sinha, *Barhut Inscriptions*.

c31.168

⁹ E.g. *Aṅguttara Nikāya*, I, pp. 110f., 279f.; III, pp. 392f., 399f.; *Saṃyutta Nikāya*, I, p. 105; V, p. 406; *Vinaya Piṭaka*, I, pp. 189, 216f., 289; *Samantapāsādikā* (P.T.S.), I, p. 201.

c31.169

¹⁰ *Vinaya Piṭaka*, I, p. 15.

c31.170

¹¹ Ibid., p. 19.

c31.171

In the Buddha’s time, the *Santhāgārasāla* (Council-Hall) of Benares was no longer being used so much for the transaction of public business as for public discussion on religious and philosophical questions.¹ Ascetics who came to the city found lodging for the night in the Potters' Hall.²

c31.172

¹ E.g. Jātaka, IV, p. 74.

c31.173

² E.g. Dhammapada Comm., I, p. 39.

c31.174

Many venerable Buddhist monks, e.g. Sāriputta, Mahāmoggallāna, Mahākaccāna, Mahākoṭṭhita, Mahācuṇḍa, Anuruddha, Revata, Upāli, Ānanda and Rāhula journeyed through the country of Kāsī.³ The Buddha's converts in Benares included Aḍḍhakāsī, the daughter of a rich banker of Kāsī, who became a courtesan, whose fee was fixed by the king at half of the daily income of Kāsī (this explains her name, Aḍḍhakāsī). After her conversion by the Buddha, Aḍḍhakāsī is said to have become an arahat.⁴ For other references to nuns who were connected with Kāsī, see, e.g. *Therīgāthā Comm.*, p. 106 and pp. 151-2. Elsewhere in the same work (pp. 71-2) it is said that Bhaddā Kapilānī became the chief queen of the king of Benares on account of her approving the offering of cloth to the Buddha in a previous birth.

c31.175

³ Vinaya Texts, Pt. II, pp. 359-60.

c31.176

⁴ Therīgāthā Comm., pp. 30-1. See also Vinaya Texts, III, p. 360, n. 3; II, pp. 195-6, n. 3.

Linked texts (44)