History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c12.s6.52

c12.s6.52

The accounts of the progress of the war in the two stories are also discrepant. The *Nirayāvalikā* tells of a fierce battle in which at least part of Ajātasattu-Kūṇiya’s forces was defeated by Ceḍaga.³ The other Jaina accounts speak of protracted warfare. The Pāli story, on the other hand, makes no mention of any severe fighting, but suggests that the resistance of the Vajjis was slight, since they had been previously weakened by the intrigues of Vassakāra.⁴ Yet the building of the fort at Pāṭaligāma suggests not that Ajātasattu-Kūṇiya contemplated the invasion of the territory of a comparatively weak enemy, but that he was himself expecting invasion; this indeed is explicitly stated to be the motive in fortifying the village.⁵