The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c14.139

c14.139

Also in interpreting the whims of the queen during the period of her pregnancy, eth Brâhmaṇas had to show their skill. In the introduction to the Thusa Jâtaka (III. 121) King Bimbisâra asks the fortune-teller (nemittika) what the whim of the queen, who wants to suck the blood from his knee, has for its significance. The fortune-teller’s reply is that his son will kill him and take the kingship into his own hands. On the day of naming, the child is called, on account of this, Ajâtasattu, *i.e.*, one who though unborn is still an enemy (of his father).