Tribes in Ancient India c50.202

c50.202

The Pāli Texts abound with references to the Buddha’s experience and converts in Magadha, and especially at Rājagṛha.⁴ One of the best-known stories is that of the Buddha and Bharadvāja, the Brahmin ploughman of Ekanālā, a Magadhan village.⁵ The *Dīgha Nikāya* and *Sumaṅgalavilāsinī* give a beautiful account of the visit paid to the Buddha by the parricide monarch of Magadha, Ajātaśatru. Territorial expansion could not satisfy Ajātaśatru or bring peace to his perturbed mind. After murdering his father he could not sleep soundly, but dreamed dreadful dreams; and he devised various means of spending the night without sleep. On one occasion, the whole of Rājagṛha was illumined and decorated and was full of festivities and enjoyments. Ajātaśatru with his ministers went on the terrace and saw the festivities going on in the city, so that he might not fall asleep. The moon-lit night by its soft beauty elevated his soul, and the thought arose within him of approaching a ‘Samaṇa or Brāhmaṇa’ who could bring solace to his tortured mind.⁶ Hearing of the great virtues of the Buddha from Jīvaka, the greatest physician of the day, Ajātaśatru came to the mango-grove where the Buddha was staying,⁷ and asked whether he could show him the effect of leading the life of a Samaṇa. The Buddha did so by delivering to the repentant king a discourse on various virtues of the ascetic life as narrated in the *Sāmaññaphala Suttanta* of the *Dīgha Nikāya*.⁸