Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c27.s3.1

v2.c27.s3.1

King Muṇḍa was succeeded by his son Nāgadāsaka, who ruled for 24 years. With Nāgadāsaka ended the rule of the line of kings that commenced with Bimbisāra.³ In the Ceylonese chronicles, all the successors of Bimbisāra are described as patricidal (*pitughātakavaṃsa*); how far this statement is reliable remains yet to be examined, but it seems that the Buddhists were not in much favour of these kings, and evidently, as the *Mmk.* says, Buddhism was on the wane all along this period of about half a century. Madhyāntika’s departure to Kashmir and his attempt to propagate Buddhism far away from Magadha is also an indirect hint to the unpopularity of the religion in the province of its origin.