Vol. VI, No. 2.] Buddhist Legends of Asoka. 7i 



[N.S.] 



The elder said :— " We are, lord, monks, disciples of the king 

 of righteousness. We have come from Jambudlpa out of 

 kindness to you." King Tissa, recollecting in what way the 

 admonition had been sent him by Asoka Dhammaraja, threw 

 down his weapon and sat down on one side holding friendly 

 converse with him. 



While he was doing so his forty thousand followers came 

 up and surrounded him. The Thera then showed the other 

 elders to the king. '-When did they come? "inquired the 

 king. "They came along with me, lord," responded the 

 Thera. ' ■ Are there any other monks like these in Jambudlpa ? ' ' 

 asked the king. " My lord," answered the Thera, " Jambudlpa 

 now-a-days is glittering with orange robes, and holy ones 

 abound in all directions. There are many Arahats who know 

 all the three Vedas, who have attained to the supernatural 

 powers, who can penetrate into the hearts of others, and in 

 whom human passion is extinct." The king was highly 

 pleased to hear this speech . 



means 



? 3 



of the Tree-simile and so on taught him the Dhamma, causing 

 men and gods to applaud. It is said : 



" Having known the king to be a wise man, the wise Thera 

 imparted to him the small Suttanta of the elephant's foot-print 

 simile. 1 At the end of the sermon he, along with those forty 

 thousand men, became established in the three Refuges. 



Now the king, having invited the Thera to take food at his 

 place the next day, went to the city and decorated the whole city 

 as well as the palace for this occasion. Then he caused the 

 elders to sit down and served them with choice food, specially 



Then he went and sat down on 

 one side with five hundred women headed by queen Anula. 

 Then the Thera caused to rain down upon them a shower of the 

 precious jewels of the Law, and the five hundred women 

 attained to the fruits of the First Path. 



Thereafter he converted a thousand people in th 

 elephant-stables and a thousand in Nandanavana ; thus, on the 

 second day, he established in the fruits of the First Path two 

 thousand five hundred souls, on the third day eight or nine 



occasion 



thousand . 



hundreds 



many thousands, of many hundreds of thousands to imbibe the 



Law. It is said : 



' ' Mahamahindatthera like the sun, shining in the sky of 

 Lanka, made the converted people bloom like lotuses by means 

 of the rays of the Dhamma. Mahamahinda in the midst of the 

 sky of Lanka caused the converted people who were like lotuses 

 to blossom by means of the rays of the Dhamma. Mahama- 



Cullahatthipadopamamsuttantam. Majjhima I. 175 //. Compare 

 itta I. 86. Afie. V. 21, and the Dhammapada Commentary 1. ZZ8 



