Ancestry of Chandragupta Maurya - Origin From Shakya

Origin From Shakya

Shakya was an ancient Janpada of India and it was an independent kingdom in the foothills of Himalayas. The capital of Shakyawas Kapilvastu. The Buddhist text,Mahavamsa(II, 1-24) traces the origin of the Sakyas to the Ishvaku clan of Ayodhya in which Shri Rama was born. The famous kshatriya muni ] was born in the Shakya clan. Shakya kshatriyas were considering themselves as the purest breed of kshatriya. To protect their purity, they were doing same Gotriya(Sagotriya) marriage which is prohibited in Hinduism. This sentiment lead to mass scale massacre by king of Kosala after one incident. Prasenjit (Pasenadi) was suryavanshi kshatriya king of Kosala with its capital at Shravasti. He was prominent follower of Gautam Buddha and builds many Buddhist monasteries. After defeating Shakya republic, he asked for one Shakyan girl whom he will marry and make patrani (main queen). He also promised that the son born out of her would be the next king of Kosala. Shakyas who were proud of the superiority of their blood took meeting in Santhagaraat Kapilvastu. Santhagara decided that they would not give their girl even though she will be made patrani of Kosala. Then they decided that they would give the daughter of Nagmunda who was slave of Mahanaam Shakya, Uncle of Gautam Buddha. The slave girl, named Vasavkhattiya, was then given to king Prasenjit as Shakya girl. King married to Vasavkhattiya and gave birth to a boy who later became the Prince of Kosala. The name of prince was Virudhaka (Pali: Vidudabha). At the childhood, prince Virudhaka came to his maternal place, Kapilvastu. Small age children welcomed the prince and when enquired, it was said that elder children were outside for some work. Shakyans arranged his living in their Santhagara only. While returning back to Shravasti, one of his bodyguards forgot his arms in Santhagara. The bodyguard returned to Santhagara and saw that Shakyas were washing their Santhagara place with milk with the help of lady slaves. That lady slave was scolding the mother of Prince Virudhaka as slave daughter while washing the place. The bodyguard got angry and informed the matter to Virudhaka. Virudhaka was ashamed and wanted to take revenge from his father Prasenjit and Shakya republic. Earlier Prasenjit knew the truth but he forgave the girl and Shakya people but hid the matter from Virudhaka. Prince Virudhaka displaced Prasenjit as king of Kosala and wanted to take revenge from Shakya. He tried to attack Kapilvastu many times but each time Buddha came in between. When Gautam Buddha was 80 year old and was near to Vaishali, and wanted to declare his mahaparinirvana, King Virudhaka went towards Kapilvastu. His army surrounds the Shakaya republic. Virudhaka call the Pramukh of Shakyagana and asks for apology from the Shakya Santhagara. Shakyas took meeting in Santhagara and it was decided that they would not apologize for their act even though they knew that they could not stand in front of Kosala army. After this he gave order to his army that don’t kill the Shakyas who apologize, don’t touch women and children, do not kill the person who runs from you. The Santhagara in which he stayed in childhood was destroyed. Shakyans who didn’t apologized were killed in masses. Many Shakyans fled from Kapilvastu. It is widely believed that they fled to Pipphalvana where they adopted new title as “Maurya”. Maurya Kshatriya traces their origin from Shakya republic with reference to this incident. The greatest king of India, Ashoka, was born in Mauryan dynasty. Shakyans were killed in masses while maintaining their purity of blood and self-respect.