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abb

Assaka

1. Assaka.- A king mentioned in the Nimi JÄtaka, in a list of kings, such as DudÄ«pa, SÄgara, Sela, etc., who, in spite of all their great sacrifices, were not able to go beyond the Peta-world. J.vi.99.
2. Assaka.- King of Potali in the kingdom of KÄsi. His queen consort UbbarÄ« was very dear to him, and when she died he was plunged into grief. He put her corpse in a coffin, placed it under his bed and lay thereon, starving for seven days. The Bodhisatta was then an ascetic in the HimÄlaya, and just at this time he visited Potali. There, in the royal park, the king came to see him because he was told that the ascetic would show him UbbarÄ«. The Bodhisatta showed him UbbarÄ« now reborn as a dung-worm in the park, because, being intoxicated with her own beauty, she had done no good deeds. Seeing the king incredulous, the ascetic made her speak, and she declared that she cared much more for the dung-worm, who was now her mate, than for Assaka who had been her husband in her previous life. Assaka went back to the palace, had the body disposed of, married another queen and lived righteously. J.ii.155-8.
3. Assaka.- King of Potanagara in the Assaka country, soon after the Buddha’s death. He was the father of SujÄta and had two wives. He bequeathed his kingdom to the son of the younger wife (VvA.259-60).

See also Aruna (2).

4. Assaka.- The country of Assaka is one of the sixteen MahÄjanapadas mentioned in the Anguttara NikÄya (A.i.213; iv.252, 256, 260). It does not, however; occur in the list of twelve countries given in the Janavasabha Sutta. The Assakas are said to have had settlements on the GodÄvarÄ«, and BÄvarī’s hermitage (Sn.v.977) was in their territory, in close proximity to the Alaka or Mulaka (the district round Paithan) (Law, Early Geography, 21).

The country is mentioned with Avanti (J.v.317) in the same way as Anga with Magadha, and its position in the list between SÅ«rasena and Avanti makes it probable that when the list was drawn up, its position was immediately to the north-west of Avanti. It is probable, in that case, that the GodÄvarÄ« settlement, in the DakkhinÄpatha, was a later colony.

In the Assaka JÄtaka (J.ii.155) mention is made of a king Assaka whose realm was in the kingdom of KÄsÄ«. It is significant, in this connection, that the capital of Assaka, variously called Potana (e.g., D.ii.235; J.iii.3) or Potali (e.g., J.ii.155), is not mentioned in the reference to the GodÄvarÄ«.

According to the Culla KÄlinga JÄtaka (J.iii.3-5), at one time the King of Assaka (Arum) accepted the challenge of King KÄlinga of Dantapura to war, and defeated him. Later Assaka married KÄlinga’s daughter and the relations between the two countries were amicable. In the HÄthigumphÄ Inscription of KhÄravela it is related that KhÄravela, regardless of King SÄtakarnÄ«, sent a large army to the west (pachime disam) to strike terror into Assaka (or Asika) nagara. Law (Op.cit., p.21) thinks that the Assaka of the Culla KÄlinga JÄtaka, the Asikanagara of the HÄthigumphÄ Inscription and the Assaka of the Sutta NipÄta are one and the same place. This would probably be correct if Potana and Potali were regarded as two different cities, capitals of two different settlements having the same name.

Sanskrit authors speak of both AsmakÄ and AsvakÄ. It is not possible to say whether these represent two distinct tribes or whether they are variant names for the same people. Asanga mentions Asmaka in his SÅ«trÄlankÄra as a territory on the basin of the Indus. This would make it identical with the Assakenus of Greek writers, that is to the east of the Sarasvati, about twenty-five miles from the sea on the Swat valley. PÄnini mentions the Asmakas (iv.173). The MÄrkandeya PurÄna and the Brhat SamhitÄ place Assaka to the north-west. The Assaka capital, Potana, it has been suggested, is the Paudanya of the MahÄbhÄrata (i.77, 47). In the Commentary to Kautilya’s ArthasÄsta, BhattasvÄmi identifies Asmaka with MahÄrÄstra (Law, op. cit., 22).

Soon after the Buddha’s death, a King Assaka was the ruler of Potali, and he and his son SÅ«jata were converted by MahÄ KaccÄnÄ (VvA.259-67).

In the time of King Reṇu, the Assaka king of Potana was Brahmadatta (D.ii.236).

In the Buddha’s time the Assaka king is described as an AndhakarÄjÄ. He took a thousand for the plot of land sold for BÄvarī’s hermitage (SnA.ii.581).

Dictionary of PÄli Proper Names • G.P. Malalasekera
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