Kosala

For some reason, they, you know, they show up in the suttas quite a bit, uh, King Pasenadi and Queen Mallika.

I think he- he's King of Kosala.

And that the story that he, that Mallika was a, uh, a poor flower girl, but that she had a great heart and, uh, she was a devoted follower of the Buddha.

A- a- and, uh, again, this is maybe mythology, but, uh, uh, I like the my- the mythology of it, that she wasn't terribly attractive.

She wasn't ugly, but she just wasn't, wasn't like, "Oh my God," you know? She was just or- sort of ordinary looking.

But King Pasenadi was coming back from, like, a battle, I think, and coming back into, uh, town, into the city.

I, I think it's Savatthi is the capital of Kosala.

I could be wrong about that, but ...

And then out of compassion, this small G god, this deva tells Bahiya, "Sorry to tell you, but you're not fully enlightened.

There is someone who is fully enlightened called the Buddha, who lives, you know, in, over in the Ganges Valley, like in Kosala or something." And so Bahiya just immediately packs his stuff and takes off walking to, to find this enlightened being.

So, I mean, that kind of communication, I mean, in a way both had died and then been reborn.

One had been reborn as a god, one had been reborn as this ascetic philosopher, Swami Bahiya.

At Sāvatthī.

King Pasenadi of Kosala sat to one side, and the Buddha said to him, "So, great king, where are you coming from in the middle of the day?" "Sir, there are anointed aristocratic kings who are infatuated with authority and obsessed with greed for sensual pleasures.

They have attained stability in the country, occupying a vast conquered territory.

Today, I've been busy fulfilling the duties of such kings." And this is so mundane.

It caused a furor among the higher castes in the capital.

Never in the history of Kosala had an untouchable been accepted into a spiritual community.

People even complained to the king, the king of Kosala.

And the king decided this was so important, he would go out to the Buddha's encampment himself and see what was going on.

So the king, King Pasenadi, came out in his fine carriage, got down from his carriage, walked toward the Buddha's hut.

I never saw people exactly like them, but there's the smack of the East about them.

Vendhya, maybe, or Kosala.

Were you a king in Kosala? She asked, masking her keen curiosity with derision.

No, but I was a war chief of the Aphgullas, who live in the Himelian Mountains above the borders of Vendhya.

These people favor the Kosalans, but why should Kosalans be building a city this far to west? The figures portrayed were those of slender, olive-skinned men and women, with finely chiseled exotic features.

They wore filmy robes and many delicate jeweled ornaments, and were depicted mostly in attitudes of feasting, dancing, or lovemaking.

Easterners, all right, grunted Conan.

The warriors swarmed in, and the halls of Xuchotl ran red.

Having entered the dwelling, King Pasenadi bent low before the Blessed One with his head on the ground and kissed the Blessed One's feet, embracing them with his hands.

I am Pasenadi, Lord, the King of Kosala.

I am Pasenadi, Lord, the King of Kosala.

And the Buddha sees the depth of his feelings, but he doesn't feel pain.

Proudly exalted by the adoration of the king, he wants to know if it is well grounded.

But if, uh, the Buddha need the Sangha to realize his dream, and then Obama also needs a strong Sangha in order to realize his dream, because his dream is a collective, collective one.

And we should lend a helping hand in one way or another and how? When the Buddha, uh, met, uh, King Prasenajit the last time, that took place in, uh, northern Kosala.

During that last meeting, the king was able to tell the Buddha, "Lord Buddha, every time I see your Sangha, I have confidence in you more and more." It's a very strange, uh, statement.

Every time I see your Sangha moving around, I have more confidence in you.