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Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c7.s1.t10: Co-Wives

Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c7.s1.t10

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Co-Wives

c7.s1.t10.1

There were jealousies and rivalries among the co-wives in the harem and so the harem had its own internal politics. The Vivāgasuya refers to king Mahāseṇa of Supaittha, who had one thousand queens. The prince Sihaseṇa is said to have married five hundred girls, of whom Sāmā was the chief and the prince's favourite. The prince Sihaseṇa who had become a king now, was so fond of Sāmā that he neither cared for nor took any notice of the other queens. When the mothers of the neglected queens came to learn of the unhappiness of their daughters they plotted among themselves to put queen Sāmā to death. When the king came to know of this he caused to be built a great mansion and issued invitations to the mothers of the neglected queens. After sometime the king shut all its doors and set fire to it.⁵⁷ Then we read about Revai, who was the chief among the thirteen wives of Mahāsayaya of Rāyagiha. She could not enjoy fully the company of her husband owing to her twelve co-wives. So she is said to have disposed of six of them by means of weapons and the rest by means of poison.⁵⁸ The commentary on the Uttarādhyayana mentions king Jiyasattu of Khiipait-thiya, who married a painter's girl named Kanayamañjarī. The king had many other queens and he visited them by turns. Once it was the turn of Kanayamañjarī who told him nice stories, and detained him for six months. The king was very much pleased with her and exclusively devoting himself to the pleasure of love with her alone, he passed the time. Upon this her co-wives became enraged against Kanayamañjarī and sought for an opportunity to take revenge on her. One day the co-wives made a complaint to the king against Kanayamañjarī saying that she was working some evil spell against him. The king made inquiries and he was pleased with the prudence of his beloved. The king made her the mistress of the whole kingdom and invested her with a frontlet (patta).⁵⁹

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⁵⁷ p. 51 f.

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⁵⁸ Utā., 8, p. 62.

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⁵⁹ p 141 a f,cf. also Sujāta Jātaka (No. 306), III, p. 21.

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Very often the queens were jealous of the sons of their co-wives. When king Gunacanda, after the death of his father, came to the throne of Sāketa, his step-mother felt suspicious of him and sent him a poison-smeared sweet-meat ball (moyaga) to eat. At that time Gunacandra's two step-brothers also were present there. He divided the moyaga in two and gave each of them. Soon after eating this the boys were affected by poison and the physicians were called for treatment.⁶⁰ Then we hear of the jealous step-mother of Kuṇāla who caused his step-son's eyes to be put out by her stratagem.⁶¹ We also come across instances when a king was poisoned by his own queen. We are told that when king Paesī of Seyaviyā embraced the Jain faith, he did not attend to state affairs attentively. Thereupon his queen Suriyakantā is said to have poisoned him and established her son on the throne.⁶²

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⁶⁰ Ava. cū, p. 402 f

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⁶¹ Bṛh. Bhā., 1. 3275.

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⁶² Rāya Sū., 203 f ; Kauṭilya gives some traditional names of queens who had conspired against their husbands and which had cost them their lives. Kauṭilya asks the king to guard himself from his queens. Armed women generally guarded palace and the king entered it if he was personally satisfied of the queen's purity Hence it was necessary to wean her from the undue influence of ascetics, buffoons and public women , Arthaśāstra, p. 40.

Cites (6)