Volume-I, Issue-I, September, 2024
Volume-I, Issue-I, September, 2024 |
কোশলরাজ প্রসেনজিত ও বৌদ্ধধর্ম রোমানা পাপড়ি, প্রভাষক, পালি এন্ড বুদ্ধিস্ট স্টাডিজ বিভাগ, ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, বাংলাদেশ শিরীন আক্তার, শিক্ষার্থী, পালি এন্ড বুদ্ধিস্ট স্টাডিজ বিভাগ, ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, বাংলাদেশ |
Received: 10.09.2024 | Accepted: 29.09.2024 | Published Online: 30.09.2024 | Page No: 59-67 |
DOI: 10.69655/atmadeep.vol.1.issue.01W.009 | |||
ABSTRACT | ||
During the time of the great Gautam Buddha, the entire Indian subcontinent
was split into sixteen kingdoms. Among those, Kosala was the second most
powerful while Magadh was the strongest one. Amongst the
then statesmen's, it was Prasenjit, the son of king Mahakosala
, who
was the most intrigued patroniser of Buddhism. In accordance with the Holy
Scripture of Buddhism (The Tripitaka), Prasenjit is said to have been a
successful, benevolent and generous
king. His reign was all across Kashi-Kosala-Ayodhya-Saket.
Shravasti was the capital of his kingdom. In his
early life he went to Taxila to get his education which is considered to be the
most ancient educational hub. After completing his education, he came back to Kosala and
took the helm of that kingdom. At first he used to be lenient toward Jainism
and patronise Jainism but soon after meeting Lord Buddha, he became intrigued in the
philosophy of Buddhism and ended up being a dedicated follower . There was a
great eruption of paradigm shift in the political spectrum during the reign of
king Prasenjit because his focus and interest had drastically been shifted from
expanding territory to expanding the ideology of humanity and peace. Prasenjit's
reverence to Lord Buddha was second to none. He used to have conversations with
him (Lord Buddha) on almost everything including private, family
or even politics. He had made numerous bihar's and sacred places for Buddhist
monks. It is said that it was Prasenjit who
had made the first sculpture of Gautam Buddha. The economy of Kosala was at
it's peak during his rule. He used to patronise the Shresthi's (Business
class) to encourage them to do more business. He was always sincere about the
overall development of the livelihood of his citizens. Apart from the mere temporary skirmishes with
the state of Magadh, it is proven that he had
warm and good diplomatic relations with the other states around him. It was Vidudabha, the son of prasenjit, who had become the reason for
his death. Soon after the demise of king
Prasenjit, Kosala had lost it sovereignty and became a
part of Magadh. The contribution of Prasenjit is spreading Buddhism will always
remembered with outmost gratefulness. The main purpose of the article is to find out the contribution of
empire Prasenjit to Buddhism.
Keyword: Taxila, Shravasti, Sixteen Dreams, Buddha
Sculpture’s, Shresthi. |