King Bimbisara

The Buddha’s first royal patron

King Bimbisara had earlier offered half his kingdom to the ascetic Gautama which he turned down because he wanted to search for Enlightenment. King Bimbisara had asked him to return to Rajagaha to enlighten him should the ascetic find what he was looking for. When Gautama became the Buddha, The Enlightened One, he did not forget his promise to come back. Followed by a large number of his disciples, he decided to revisit Rajagaha. His fame as a religious teacher was spreading in the city and it eventually reached the ears of King Bimbisara.

On heating that the Buddha had arrived at the city’s gateway, the king went out with a large number of his subjects to welcome the Buddha and his disciples. He approached the Buddha and paid his respects, but some of his subjects did not know to whom they should pay respects: the Buddha or Venerable Kassapa. They wondered whether the Buddha was leading a Holy Life under Venerable Kassapa or the reverse as both were highly respected religious teachers.

The Buddha read their thoughts and asked Venerable Kassapa why he had given-up his fire-sacrifice. Understanding the motive behind the question Venerable Kassapa explained that he preferred the peaceful state of Nibbana to useless sensual pleasures. After this he fell at the feet of the Buddha and said, "My teacher, lord, is the Exalted One: I am the disciple."

The devout people were very glad to hear of conversion. The Buddha then preached the Dhamma, and Bimbisara attained the first stage of Sainthood. After realizing the doctrine, king Bimbisara addressed the Buddha, "Formerly, O Reverend Sir, when I was a prince, I had five wishes. They are now fulfilled. My first wish was to become king. My second wish was that a fully Enlightened One should visit my country. My third wish was that I should associate with such Enlightened One. my fourth wish was that He should preach to me the doctrine. Now all these wishes are fulfilled."

Out of gratitude for this spiritual gift from the Buddha, king Bimbisara gave a park with a quiet bamboo grove for the use of the Buddha and his disciples. This park was named the Bamboo Grove. The Buddha spent three successive rainy seasons there and three other rainy seasons later. After listening to the Dhamma, the king became a good and pious ruler but to his past bad Karma, he had to face an untimely and miserable death caused by his son’s wickedness.