Pre-Buddhist India: A Political, Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey of Ancient India Based Mainly on the Jataka Stories c3.s2.t1.28

c3.s2.t1.28

Vidura is a just and truthful man, possessing great power of eloquence, so much so that all kings from India are said to have approached him and—sat at his feet to hear the Dhamma.⁴ His discourse on a householder’s life and happiness, and his advice to young aspirants to the king’s court, testify to his genius and political insight.⁵ In the Dasa-Brāhmaṇa Jātaka,⁶ he figures as an advocate of a revolting opinion about the Brāhmaṇas of his time, which may well have some historical significance.⁷ The Vidhurapaṇḍita Jātaka relates at length, predominently in gāthās which run in the epic strain, the story of Vidhura and the Yakkha prince Puṇṇaka :⁸ the Nāga queen Vimalā’s desire for the heart of Vidhura, the princess Irandatī’s search for a husband to fullfil that desire, her union with the Yakkha prince Puṇṇaka, his victory at a dice play with king Dhanañjaya and the consequent winning over the wise man, their return to the Nāga capital, the queen’s humbling down at the sight of the great man, and his final release and a gift of a precious jewel from Puṇṇaka which he delivered to the Kuru king—all this may only be a fable, pure and simple, though as old as the second century B. C..⁹