King Bimbisāra

Also known as: Bimbisāra / Śreṇi Bimbisāra · Family: Magadha · Role: king · First appears: Chapter VI

In Chapter VI at Rājagṛha, King Bimbisāra made Gopāla his first minister and took Vāsavī as his wife; she received the name Vaidehī because she came from Videha. At Vaiśālī, during seven days together, Āmrapālī became pregnant by him. He was also the father of Prince Ajātaśatru and of Jīvaka Kumārabhaṇḍa. In Chapter IX, Bimbisāra appears with his son and court; the chapter VI account says that Ajātaśatru, impelled by Devadatta, killed his father.

In Chapter XIII, the account identifies Bimbisāra as the son of King Mahāpadma and Queen Bimbī. After banishing Girika and Sundara, he learned they were Nāgarājas; following the Buddha’s instructions, he asked their pardon and received it. He built a temple for each and founded a festival to be held every six months.

Relationship record

Life events

• King Bimbisāra made Gopāla his first minister.(Chapter VI · 📍 Rājagṛha)
  • With: Gopāla
  • “So he went to Rājagṛha, and King Bimbisāra made him his first minister.”
• King Bimbisāra took Vāsavī as his wife.(Chapter VI · 📍 Rājagṛha)
  • With: Vāsavī
  • “Thereupon he took her as his wife.”
• Āmrapālī became pregnant by King Bimbisāra during their seven days together.(Chapter VI · 📍 Vaiśālī)
  • With: Āmrapālī
  • “So he enjoyed himself with her, and she became with child by him.”
• Ajātaśatru killed his father, King Bimbisāra.(Chapter VI)
  • With: Prince Ajātaśatru
  • “At the time when Ajātaśatru, impelled by Devadatta, the friend of vice, deprived of his life his father, the lawful king”
• The water-courses began to dry up and the crops began to perish after the Nāgarājas departed.(Chapter XIII · 📍 Rājagṛiha)
  • “At that same time the five hundred warm springs in Rājagṛiha, the rivers, lakes, and pools, inasmuch as the deity no longer sent them from time to time a fulness of water, began to dry up, and the crops began to perish.”
• King Bimbisāra learned that Girika and Sundara had left because he banished them from his country.(Chapter XIII)
  • With: Girika Sundara
  • “Thereupon Bhagavant informed him that those two householders whom he had sent out of the country were precisely those two Nāgarājas”
• King Bimbisāra followed the Buddha’s instructions and received forgiveness from the Nāgarājas.(Chapter XIII)
  • With: Girika Sundara
  • “So when the king met the two Nāgarājas in the presence of Bhagavant, he followed his instructions, and received the pardon he asked for.”
• King Bimbisāra built temples for Girika and Sundara and founded a festival for them.(Chapter XIII)
  • With: Girika Sundara
  • “He built the two temples, the one for Girika, and the other for Sundara, and he founded a festival to be held every six months.”
• King Mahāpadma and Queen Bimbī’s son Bimbisāra was born.(Chapter XIII · 📍 Rājagṛiha)
  • With: King Mahāpadma Queen Bimbī
  • “In Rājagṛiha there was born to King Mahāpadma a son whom he called Bimbisāra, because he was the son of Queen Bimbī”

Chapter VI

• lord: Gopāla “So he went to Rājagṛha, and King Bimbisāra made him his first minister.”
• child: Prince Ajātaśatru “Moreover, he reflected that as such kings keep very much out of the way, and are greatly watched over and guarded, he would scarcely be able to find a fit opportunity if he were born again anywhere else, and that he must therefore be brought into the world by this king’s chief wife. By means of this curse he was brought into the world by Vāsavī.”
• married with Vāsavī “Thereupon he took her as his wife. As she came from Videha, she received the name of Vaidehī.”
• child: Jīvaka “The king entered her house and took his pleasure therein; and as all things were propitious, she became with child.”

Chapter IX

• child: King Bimbisāra’s son (Chapter 009) “King Bimbisāra with his son and his court”

Chapter XIII

• parent: King Mahāpadma “In Rājagṛiha there was born to King Mahāpadma a son whom he called Bimbisāra, because he was the son of Queen Bimbī, and at his birth the world was illumined as at the rise of the sun’s disk.”
• parent: Queen Bimbī “In Rājagṛiha there was born to King Mahāpadma a son whom he called Bimbisāra, because he was the son of Queen Bimbī, and at his birth the world was illumined as at the rise of the sun’s disk.”

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Extracted from the original text of Tibetan Tales, Derived from Indian Sources. Made with Rho MD.