Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c13.s3.17

c13.s3.17

These are the two versions of the story which describe the elimination of the Sakyas at the hands of Viḍūḍabha-Virūḍhaka, the king of Kosala. We are inclined to ignore in the Pāli version the account of the Buddha in protecting his people because it may simply have been a gratifying tribute to the Master, over-emphasizing his influence on the political events of the time. Similarly we would ignore the dramatic effects worked-up by the Tibetan writers. From the crux of the two stories the simple fact emerges clearly that Viḍūḍabha invaded the land of the Sakyas for reasons not very different from those of his contemporary Ajātasattu’s invasion of the Vajjis.¹ Probably by attacking the Sakyas Viḍūḍabha wanted to gain possession of the land which had formerly been a part of the Kosalan kingdom. There was strong opposition from the side of the sturdy Sakyas, like that of the Vajjians against Ajātasattu, and there was severe fighting and great loss of life on both sides. The three returns of the invading army of Viḍūḍabha's on the intervention of the Buddha may suggest the long duration of the war. The Tibetan version does not exclude the role of diplomacy and the fermenting of dissension among the Sakyans. Consequently they were badly crushed with great losses sustained on both sides. We may further conjecture that because of these losses Ajātasattu took the opportunity to invade Kosalan territory soon after the war was over. Perhaps that is why we do not hear of Viḍūḍabha or his successors, if he had any, after his war with the Sakyas. When the curtain rises again, Kosala has been absorbed into Magadha.²