The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c9.31

v1.c9.31

A decisive argument against any early dating of the Upaniṣads would be available if we accepted the view often held⁴ that the Ajātaçatru who figures in the Kauṣītaki and the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣads as king of Kāçī is identical with the Ajātasattu of the Buddhist texts,¹ who was contemporaneous with the Buddha. It appears to me, however, that any such identification wholly lacks justification, especially as the name is no more than an epithet and thus possesses singularly little probative value, while the king of the Buddhist texts is not king of Kāçī.