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Tribes in Ancient India c51: Chapter XLVII. The Videhas

Tribes in Ancient India c51

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Chapter XLVII. The Videhas

c51.2

The Videhas are mentioned in the Brāhmaṇa portion of the Vedas as a people in a very advanced stage of civilisation. The part of the country where they lived appears to have been known by the name of Videha even in the still more ancient times of the Saṃhitās, for the *Yajurveda Saṃhitās* mention the cows of Videha, which appear to have been particularly famous in ancient India.¹

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¹ The commentator of the *Taittirīya Saṃhitā* explains the adjective *Vaidehī* by *Viśiṣṭa-deha-sambandhinī*, ‘having a splendid body’ (see *Vedic Index*, Vol. II, p. 298 and Keith’s *Veda of the Black Yajus’ School*, Vol. I, p. 138).

c51.4

According to Julius Eggeling, a confederacy of kindred peoples known as the Kośala-Videhas, occupying a position of no less importance than that of the Kuru-Pañcālas, lived to the east of the Madhyadeśa at the time of the redaction of the Brāhmaṇas. The legendary account is that these people claimed Videgha Māthava as their common ancestor, and the two branches are said to have been separated from each other by the river Sadānīrā (corresponding either to the Rāpti or to the Gandak). In Eggeling’s opinion, the Videha country in those days constituted the extreme east of the land of the Aryans.² Dr. Weber notes that the Aryans, led by Videgha Māthava and his priest, apparently pushed up the river Sarasvatī as far east as the river Sadānīrā which formed the western boundary of the Videhas, or more probably the Gandak (? = Sadānīrā) which was the boundary between the Kośalas and the Videhas.³

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² *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*, S.B.E., Vol. XII, Intro. XLII-XLIII.

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³ S.B.E., Vol. XII, p. 104 f.

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The Videha country, as we have seen, is said to have derived its name from this King Videgha Mathāva or Videha Mādhava, who introduced the sacrificial fire; and according to some, this introduction of the sacrificial fire is symbolical of the inauguration of the Brahmanical faith in the region. This legend, which is of importance in connection with the question of Aryan settlement in the Videha country, may be read in full in the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*. According to this account, King Māthava Videgha carried Agni Vaiśvānara (=fire) in his mouth. When invited to do so, Agni sprang forth, and started to flash over the ground, burning it up. Starting from the river Sarasvatī, he went burning along towards the east, drying up all the rivers. Only he did not burn over the river Sadānīrā, flowing from the Northern (Himalaya) mountain. ‘That one of the Brāhmaṇas did not cross in former times, thinking, “It has not been burnt over by Agni Vaiśvānara”. Nowadays, however (i.e. in the time of the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa), there are many Brāhmaṇas to the east of it.... Māthava, the Videgha, then said (to Agni), “Where am I to abide?” “To the east of this (river) be thy abode”, said he. Even now this (river) forms the boundary of the Kośalas and the Videhas; for these are the Māthavas (or descendants of Māthava).’¹

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¹ Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, transl. Eggeling, S.B.E., XII, pp. 104-6.

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Great importance has rightly been attached to this passage which, since the days of Professor Weber, has been taken by scholars to indicate the progress of Vedic Aryan civilisation from N.W. India towards the east. Though we cannot be sure about this point, yet it shows at least that in which times the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa considers ancient, the Videha country had received Vedic civilisation, and the cult of offering sacrifices in fire had developed there. According to tradition, the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa was compiled in the Videha country by Yājñavalkya who flourished at the court of the Emperor (Samrāṭ) Janaka, though parts of it bear testimony to its having originated like the other great Brāhmaṇa in the country lying farther to the west.

c51.10

In the later Mantra period, Videha must have been organised so far as to take a leading part in Vedic culture, and the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa clearly indicates that the great spiritual and intellectual lead offered by Samrāṭ Janaka and Ṛṣi Yājñavalkya was accepted by the whole of N. India. Ṛṣis from the Kuru-Pañcāla regions flocked to the court of Janaka and took part in the discussions held about the supreme Brahman; and they had to admit the superior knowledge of Yājñavalkya. In our opinion, the Videha country must have received Vedic culture long before the time of the compilation of this Brāhmaṇa, for we find in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad which forms a part of it, that Samrāṭ Janaka of Videha was a great patron of Vedic culture, and that Ṛṣis from the whole of N. India repaired to his court.²

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² Cf., for example, the story of Yājñavalkya and the cows, Brh. Up., III, 1-9.

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From the Bṛhadāraṇyaka account, it would seem that at the time of the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa the Videha Brāhmaṇas were superior to the Kuru-Pañcālas as regards the Upaniṣadic phase of the development of Vedic culture.

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In other works of the Brāhmaṇa period as well as of the Sūtra period that followed, other celebrated kings of Videha are mentioned (vide Vedic Index, II, 298), so that there can be no question but that the Videhas maintained a high position in Vedic society at least in the *Brāhmaṇa* period, and from the superior intellectual position that they had attained in this period it is legitimate to assume that Vedic Aryan culture had taken its root in Videha long before the *Brāhmaṇa* age, and most probably in the early *Saṃhitā* age of the *Ṛgveda*.

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The *Jātaka* stories, too, refer to sacrifices performed by the Videhan kings, saying that goats were sacrificed in the name of religion.¹ We are told in the *Purāṇas* that Nimi, Ikṣvāku’s son, performed a sacrifice for a thousand years, with the help of Vaśiṣṭha who had previously officiated as high-priest at a certain Yajña performed by Indra.²

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¹ *Jātaka* (Fausböll), Vol. I, pp. 166ff.

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² *Viṣṇupurāṇa*, p. 246 (Vaṅgavāsī edition).

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The evidence of the *Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇa* also testifies to the sacrificial activities of the Videhan royal family. Viśvāmitra is represented as saying to Rāma: ‘We are going to Mithilā, of which Janaka is the ruler. After attending the great Yajña of Janaka we shall make for Ayodhyā.’³

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³ *Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇa*, *Bālakāṇḍa*, Chap. VII, p. 68, Kāli Śaṅkara Vidyāratna’s edition.

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Coming to the Epic age, we find Rāmacandra, the hero of the *Rāmāyaṇa*, marrying Vaidehī (= Sītā), the adopted daughter of Janaka, king of Mithilā.⁴ This Janaka is probably not the same person as the patron of Yājñavalkya; it appears that several sovereigns of the dynasty bore that name which had been rendered glorious by the intellectual and political powers of the Vedic king. The *Rāmāyaṇa* gives a splendid picture of the Videhan capital and the wide and richly equipped sacrificial ground of King Janaka.

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⁴ *Rāmāyaṇa*, *Bālakāṇḍa* (Bombay edition), Chap. 73.

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The distance between Mithilā and Ayodhyā may be gauged from the fact that during the reign of Janaka, king of Videha, it took Viśvāmitra, together with Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, four days to reach Mithilā from Ayodhyā. On the way they rested for one night only, at Viśālā.⁵ The messengers sent by Janaka reached Daśaratha’s capital in three days of very fast travelling; while Daśaratha on his journey to the Videhan capital in his chariot took four days. Mithilā is identified by tradition with the modern Janakapura in the hills in the present Nepalese territories; a large number of pilgrims visit it every year.

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⁵ *Rāmāyaṇa* (Vaṅgavāsī edition), I–3.

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Videha, its capital, Mithilā, and its King Janaka are mentioned many times in the *Mahābhārata*. After Yudhiṣṭhira’s accession to the throne of Indraprastha, before the Rājasūya sacrifice, Bhīma defeated the king of the Videha people in the course of his *digvijaya*.¹ Karṇa also conquered Mithilā, the Videha capital, during his *digvijaya*.² The celebrated sacrifice of Janaka is referred to in several places,³ while a conversation between Janaka and Yājñavalkya is related in the *Śāntiparvan* (Chap. 311). There are many references to Janaka's spiritual enlightenment, his talks with Pañca-śikha, with Sulabhā and others, and the teaching imparted by him to the young Śuka.⁴ Kṛṣṇa, together with Bhīmasena and Arjuna, visited Mithilā on his way from Indraprastha to Rājagṛha.⁵ The Videhas are mentioned twice in the list of peoples in the *Bhīṣmaparvan*: once as Videhas along with the Magadhas, and once as Vaidehas along with the Tāmraliptakas.

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¹ *Sabhāparvan*, Chap. 30.

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² *Vanaparvan*, 254.

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³ *Ibid.*, Chaps. 132, 134, etc.

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⁴ *Śāntiparvan*, Chap. 327, etc.

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⁵ *Sabhāparvan*, 20.

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The *Viṣṇupurāṇa* also mentions the Videha country, furnishes a list of its rulers from ancient times, and gives a fanciful account of the origin of the name of Videha and also that of Mithilā, the capital. The story goes that Vasiṣṭha, having performed the sacrifice of Indra, proceeded to Mithilā to commence the sacrifice of King Nimi. On reaching there he found that the king had engaged Gautama to perform the sacrificial rites. Seeing the king asleep he cursed him thus: ‘King Nimi will be bodiless (*videha*, *vi-vigata-deha*), inasmuch as he having rejected me has engaged Gautama’. The king on awakening cursed Vasiṣṭha, saying that he too would perish, as he had cursed a sleeping king. Ṛṣis churned the dead body of Nimi, and as a result of the churning a child was born, afterwards known as Mithi⁶ (supposedly from *manth*, to churn). According to the *Bhaviṣyapurāṇa*, Nimi's son Mithi founded a beautiful city which was named Mithilā after him. From the fact of his having founded the city, he came to be known as Janaka (‘begetter, creator’).⁷ The *Mahāgovinda Suttanta* of the *Dīgha Nikāya* gives another account of the origin of Mithilā, stating that it was built by Govinda.⁸

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⁶ *Viṣṇupurāṇa*, pp. 388ff. See also *Bhāgavatapurāṇa*, IX, 24, 64.

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⁷ *Bhaviṣyapurāṇa*: ‘*Nimeḥ Putrastu tatraiva . . purijanana sāmarthāt Janakaḥ sa ca kīrtitaḥ*’. See also *Bhāgavatapurāṇa*, IX, 13, 13, where the story of the founding of Mithilā is also related.

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⁸ P.T.S., Vol. II, p. 235.

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Undoubtedly the most important Videhan king was Janaka, but we find references to other kings in ancient literature, namely Sāgaradeva, Bharata, Aṅgīrasa, Ruci, Suruci,⁹ Patāpa, Mahāpatāpa, Sudassana, Neru, Mahāsammata, Mucala, Mahāmucala, two Kalyāṇas,¹ Śatadhanu of ill-fame,² Makhādeva, Sādhina and others.

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⁹ For the story of Suruci’s childless queen, see *Jātaka* (Fausböll), IV, pp. 314 foll.

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¹ Mahāvamsa, P.T.S., Chap. II, p. 12. Kalyāṇakāduve.

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² Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Pt. III, Chap. XVIII, p. 217. (Vaṅgavāsī Ed.)

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Kings of Videha usually maintained friendly relations with neighbouring powers. We have already referred to the marriage of Sītā and Rāmacandra, son of Daśaratha, king of Kośala. Instances of matrimonial alliances concluded by the kings of Videha with the neighbouring royal families occur also in later literature. Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar points out that in the plays of Bhāsa, Udayana is called Vaidehīputra, indicating that his mother was a princess of Videha.³ In the Buddhist literature we have a reference to a Videhan princess (no doubt a queen of Bimbisāra), who was the mother of Ajātaśatru. Her name was Vāsavī.⁴

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³ Carmichael Lectures, 1918, pp. 58, 59. Udayana is addressed as Vaidehīputra (S.V., Act 6, p. 68, Ganapati Śāstri’s Ed.).

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⁴ Rockhill, Life of the Buddha, pp. 63-4.

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Vardhamāna Mahāvīra, the great founder of Jainism, ‘a Videha, son of Videhadattā, a native of Videha, a prince of Videha, had lived thirty years in Videha when his parents died.’⁵ Mithilā was his favourite resort, and he spent six monsoons there.⁶

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⁵ Jaina Sūtras, S.B.E., Vol. XXII, Pt. I, p. 256.

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⁶ Ibid., p. 264.

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At the time when the Buddha preached his gospel, we find the ancient Videha country cut up into parts, the Licchavis occupying the foremost position. Eight peoples are named as making up the Vajjian confederacy, the Licchavis and the Videhas occupying a prominent position. The confederacy, according to Kautilya, was a ‘rājaśabdopajīvī’ Saṅgha.⁷ Videha was twenty-four yojanas in length from the river Kauśikī to the river Gaṇḍak, and sixteen yojanas in breadth from the Ganges to the Himalayas.⁸ The capital of Videha, Mithilā, was situated about thirty-five miles north-west from Vesālī.⁹

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⁷ Arthaśāstra, trsl. Shāma Śāstrī, p. 455. See also Licchavi chapter.

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⁸ Bṛhat Viṣṇupurāṇa.

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⁹ Rhys Davids, Buddhist India, p. 26.

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It is stated in the Jātakas that the city of Mithilā was seven leagues, and the kingdom of Videha 300 leagues in extent.¹⁰ It was the capital of the kings Janaka and Makhādeva, in the district now called Tirhut.¹¹ The city of Mithilā in Jambudvīpa had plenty of elephants, horses, chariots, oxen, sheep and all kinds of wealth of this nature, together with gold, silver, gems, pearls and other precious things.¹² From a Jātaka description, we learn that the kingdom of Videha had 16,000 villages, storehouses filled, and 16,000 dancing girls.¹ Magnificent royal carriages could be seen, drawn by four horses; and the Videhan king was driven in state around his capital.²

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¹⁰ Jātaka (Fausböll), Vol. III, p. 365: Tiyojanasatike.

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¹¹ Rhys Davids, Buddhist India, p. 37.

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¹² Beal, Romantic Legend of Śākya Buddha, p. 30.

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¹ *Jātaka* (Fausböll), Vol. III, p. 365.

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² *Ibid.*, Vol. II, p. 39.

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In the *Si-Yu-Ki* (Buddhist Records of the Western World) we find that the Chinese traveller Hsüan Tsang, describing the kingdom of Fo-li-shi (Vrji), says that the capital of the country was Chen-shu-na. Beal quotes V. de St. Martin who connects the name Chen-shu-na with Janaka and Janakapura (= Mithilā).³

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³ Beal, *Records of the Western World*, Vol. II, p. 78, n. The actual words are: ‘... Janaka and Janakapura, capital of Mithilā’; but, as we have seen, Mithilā is identified with Janakapura.

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From very early times, Videha was frequented by merchants. At the time of Buddha Gautama we find people coming from Śrāvastī to Videha to sell their wares.⁴

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⁴ See, e.g. Dhammapāla’s *Paramatthadīpanī on the Theragāthā*, Pt. III, pp. 277-8.

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The Videhas were a charitable people. Many institutions of charity were in existence in their country, and we are told that six hundred thousand pieces were spent daily in alms-giving.⁵

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⁵ *Jātaka* (Fausböll), Vol. IV, p. 355. See also *Makhādeva Jātaka*.

c51.59

The Jātaka stories often make extravagant demands upon popular credence, as when they relate how the average length of human life at the time of the Buddha Gautama was thirty thousand years. More fortunate than the average mortal, King Makhādeva of Mithilā had a lease of life of eighty-four thousand years,⁶ in the earlier portion of which he amused himself as a royal prince. Later on, he was appointed a Viceroy, and last of all became king. We come to a more sober estimate when we find it related that there lived in Mithilā a Brāhman named Brahmāyu, aged one hundred and twenty years, who was well versed in the Vedas, Itihāsas, Vyākaraṇa, Lokāyata, and was endowed with all the marks of a great man.⁷

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⁶ *Ibid.*, Vol. I, p. 139.

c51.61

⁷ *Majjhima Nikāya*, Vol. II, pp. 133-4.

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Polygamy appears to have been in vogue among the kings of Videha. Brahmadatta, king of Benares, had a daughter named Sumedhā whom he declined to give in marriage to a Videhan prince who had a large number of wives, fearing that her co-wives would make her life miserable.⁸

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⁸ *Jātaka* (Fausböll), Vol. IV, pp. 314 foll.

c51.64

Many writers bear testimony to the devotion and faithfulness of Videhan princesses. The story of Sītā is too well-known to be repeated. Again, it is stated in the *Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra* that when Ajātaśatru arrested his father Bimbisāra at the instigation of Devadatta, and confined him in a room with seven walls, declaring that none must approach him, Vaidehī (i.e. Videhan princess), the queen-mother, kept him alive (until she was discovered), by concealing food and drink for him.¹

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¹ S.B.E., Vol. XLIX, pp. 161-201.

c51.66

We read in one of the Jātakas that the people of Videha once reproached their king for his childlessness.²

c51.67

² Jātaka (Fausböll), V, pp. 279-80.

c51.68

The kings of Mithilā were men of high culture. We have already referred to Janaka, the great Rājarṣi of the Brahmanic period. In the Buddhist age, we find Sumitra, king of Mithilā, devoted to the practice and study of the ‘true law’.³ King Videha of Mithilā had four sages to instruct him in law⁴; and we read⁵ that the son of this King Videha was educated at Taxila, the usual seat of learning for young men of noble birth.⁶

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³ Beal, Romantic Legend of Śākya Buddha, p. 30.

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⁴ Jātaka (Fausböll), VI, p. 333.

c51.71

⁵ Ibid., Vol. II, p. 39.

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⁶ See my paper: ‘Taxila as a seat of learning in the Pāli Literature’, J.A.S.B., Vol. XII, 1916.

c51.73

Stories regarding the religious tendencies of the royal family of Videha are frequently found in ancient literature,—see, e.g. the story of King Nimi and the hawk, Jātaka, III, p. 230. Another Jātaka story relates that Videha, king of Videha, and the Bodhisattva, then king of Gandhāra, were on friendly terms, although they had never met. Once, on the fast day of the full-moon, the king of Gandhāra took a vow to keep the five moral precepts, and delivered before his ministers a discourse on the substance of the law. At that moment the demon Rāhu was overshadowing the full-moon’s orb so that the moon’s light was dimmed by an eclipse. The king observing the phenomenon thought that all trouble came from outside; he considered his royal retinue was nothing but a trouble, and that it was not proper that he should lose his light like the moon seized by Rāhu. He thereupon made over his kingdom to his ministers, took to a religious life, and having attained transcendental powers, spent the rainy season in the Himalayan regions, devoting himself to the delights of meditation.

c51.74

When the king of Videha heard of the religious life of the king of Gandhāra, he abdicated his throne, went to the Himalayan region and became a hermit. The two ex-kings lived together in peace and friendliness without knowing each other’s antecedents. The ascetic of Videha waited upon the ascetic of Gandhāra. One day, they witnessed an eclipse of the moon, and this was the indirect cause of their recognising each other as former fellow kings.⁷

c51.75

⁷ Jātaka (Fausböll), Vol. III, pp. 365-6.

c51.76

We have already referred to the long life of King Makhādeva of Mithilā. One day this king, on his barber showing him a grey hair from his head, thought that his days were numbered. Handing over his kingdom to his son, the old king became a recluse, and developed very high spiritual powers.¹

c51.77

¹ Jātaka (Fausböll), I, pp. 137-8. In the Makhādeva Sutta (Majjhima Nikāya, Vol. II, pp. 74-83) we find the same story with slight variations. Nimi, a later king, was like Makhādeva. Indra with other gods came to him and praised him. When Nimi reached the Assembly Hall of the gods, he was received cordially by Indra, and sent back to his kingdom in a celestial chariot.

c51.78

Sādhina, a righteous king in Mithilā, kept the five śīlas and observed the fast-day vows. His virtue was praised by the princes of heaven who sat in the ‘Justice Hall’ of Śakra, and all the gods desired to see him. Accordingly, Śakra ordered Mātali to bring Sādhina to heaven in his own chariot. Mātali went to the kingdom of Videha on the day of the full-moon, driving his celestial chariot side by side with the moon’s disc. All the people shouted, ‘See, two moons are in the sky’. Then, when the chariot came nearer, they saw what it was, and concluded that it had come for their virtuous king. Mātali went to the king’s door and made a sign that he should ascend the chariot. After arranging for the distribution of alms, the king went with Mātali. One-half of the city of gods and twenty-five millions of nymphs, and a half of the palace of Vaijayanta were given to Sādhina by Śakra; and the king lived there in happiness for seven hundred years. But when his merits were exhausted, dissatisfaction arose in him, and he did not wish to remain in heaven any longer. The king was carried back to Mithilā, where he distributed alms for seven days. On the seventh day he died, and was reborn in the heaven of the thirty-three (gods).²

c51.79

² Jātaka (Fausböll), Vol. IV, pp. 355-6.

c51.80

Śakra is concerned in another legendary story about the Videhan royal family. Suruci, king of Mithilā, had a wife named Sumedhā who was childless. Sumedhā prayed for a son. She took the eightfold sabbath vows (aṭṭhasīlāni), and sat meditating upon the virtues; and Śakra appeared to her and granted her boon.³

c51.81

³ Ibid., Vol. IV, pp. 315 foll.

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