Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c16.200

v1.c16.200

1. Candagutta.—King of Jambudīpa. He belonged to the Moriya dynasty and gained the throne through the scheming of Cāṇakka, who slew the rightful king Dhanananda and his heir Pabbata.¹ Candagutta reigned twenty-four years and succeeded by his son Bindusāra. His grandson was Asoka.² Candagutta’s senior contemporary in Ceylon was Paṇḍukābhaya, who died in the fourteenth year of Candagutta’s reign.³ The Milinda⁴ mentions a soldier Bhaddasāla, in the service of the Nanda royal family, who waged war against Candagutta. In this war there were eighty “Corpse Dances” in which dead bodies danced. The Theragāthā Commentary⁵ states that the father of the Thera Tekic-chakārī incurred thed ispleasure of Candagutta, who, at the instigation of Cāṇakka, cast him into prison.