King of Avanti in the time of the Buddha. His name was Pajjota, the sobriquet being added on account of his violent temper.
Once, when ill with jaundice, he asked Bimbisára to lend him the services of Jívaka, as no other doctor could cure him. The cure for the malady was ghee, for which Pajjota had a strong aversion. Jívaka, therefore, decided to administer it disguised in an astringent decoction, and obtained the king's permission to use any of the royal animals or to leave the city at any time he wished, on the plea that he must go in search of various medicines. When all preparations were complete, Jívaka gave the king the medicine and escaped on Bhaddavatiká, the king's she-elephant, before the truth was discovered. (The elephant could travel fifty yojanas in one day, and Káka, sixty). The king sent Káka in pursuit, but Jívaka gave Káka a purgative and so delayed his return until the medicine had taken effect on the king. Later, when Pajjota was cured, he sent Jívaka many costly presents, including a garment of Siveyyaka cloth (Vin.i.276ff; AA.i.216).
King Udena was Pajjota's rival in splendour, and Pajjota decided to take him captive by taking advantage of his fondness for elephants. The plan succeeded and Udena was taken prisoner, but in the end Udena eloped with Pajjota's daughter, Vásuladattá, and made her his queen consort. Besides the she-elephant and the slave Káka, already mentioned, Pajjota had three other fleet-footed conveyances: two mares, Celakanthí and Muńjakesí, both capable of travelling one hundred leagues a day, and an elephant, Nálágiri, able to go one hundred and twenty leagues a day. In a past birth Pajjota had been the servitor of a certain chief. One day, when the chief was returning from the bath, he saw a Pacceka Buddha leaving the city, where he had begged for alms without receiving anything. The chief hurried home and, finding that his meal was ready, sent it to the Pacceka Buddha by the hand of his fleet-footed servant. The servant travelled with all possible haste and, having given the meal to the Pacceka Buddha, expressed certain wishes, as the result of which in this birth he gained possession of the five conveyances. He had authority equal to the power of the sun's rays. (This may be another explanation of the nickname Canda). His last wish was that he should partake of the Truth realised by the Pacceka Buddha (DhA.i.196ff).
Mahá Kaccána was the son of Pajjota's chaplain and later succeeded to his father's post. When the king heard of the Buddha's appearance in the world, he sent Kaccána with seven others to the Buddha, to bring him to Ujjeni. But the Buddha sent Kaccána and his companions, now become arahants, to preach to the king and establish the Sásana in Avanti. The mission was successful. The Theragáthá contains stanzas uttered by the Thera in admonition to the king. It is said that the king had faith in the brahmins and held sacrifices involving the slaughter of animals; he was wicked in his deeds. One night he had a dream which frightened him and went to the Thera to have it explained. The Thera told him of the necessity for leading a virtuous life. We are told that from that day the king abandoned his evil ways and lived righteously (Thag.vs.496-501; ThagA.i.483ff; AA.i.116f).
According to the Dulva (Rockhill, op. cit., 17), Pajjota was the son of Anantanemi and was born on the same day as the Buddha. He was called Pajjota (Pradyota), because at the time of his birth the world was illumined as if by a lamp. He became king of Ujjeni at the time of the Buddha's Enlightenment (Rockhill, op. cit., 32, n.1). He had a minister called Bharata, a clever mechanic (Rockhill, op. cit., 70, n.1).
It would appear from the Samantapásádiká (Sp.i.214) that Pajjota was born as the result of an ascetic, or some other holy person, having touched the navel of his mother.
Pajjota was the friend of Bimbisára, and when the latter was put to death by Ajátasattu, Pajjota seems to have made preparations to wage war on Ajátasattu. The defences of Rájagaha were strengthened to meet the threatened attack, but nothing further happened (M.iii.7).
The Sarabhanga Játaka (J.v.133) mentions a king Canndapajjota, in whose dominion was Lambacúlaka, where lived the ascetic Sálissara. This either refers to another king of the same name or, more probably, it is an attempt to identify Lambacúlaka with some place in the country over which Pajjota ruled in the time of the Buddha.