L. A. Waddell— Upagupta, 
[Ho. 1, 
82 
that “king Piyadasi (A 95 ka), twenty years after liis accession (literally 
‘ anointing ’) himself came to this very spot and there worshipped 
saying ‘ Here was the Buddha, the pakya ascetic born,’ and that he 
erected this stone pillar which records that ‘ Here the Venerable One 
was born.’ ” 
Thus it would almost appear as if A^oka had merely repeated the 
words put into his mouth by Upagupta. However this may be, this 
remarkable coincidence seems to strengthen materially the historical 
value of this part of the somewhat legendary Divyavadana , which in 
spite of the internal evidence of its having been composed much later 
than the epoch of A^oka, still Btirnouf had already considered it to be 
semi-historical. 1 
This A^oka-legend goes on to relate how Upagnpta conducted the 
king to most of the chief sites hallowed by Buddha and his chief 
disciples. Amongst these latter, especial prominence is given to Maud¬ 
galyayana with whom as has been mentioned Upagupta seems possibly 
to have had his name associated. Certainly the following reference to 
Maudgalyayana invests him with much the same attributes as those 
ascribed to Upagupta at Mathura and Kashmir; and these are also 
mentioned by Hiuen Tsiang 2 and others, 3 The Avaddna says :— 
“ The Sthavira Upagupta showing afterwards the stupa of the 
Sthavira Maha Maudgalyayana thus spoke, ‘ Here, 0 great king, is the 
stupa of (the remains of) the great Maudgalyayana; you ought to 
honour it.’ ‘What are the merits of this sage,’ queried the king. The 
Sthavira replied ‘ He has been designated by "Bhagavat as the chief of 
those who possessed supernatural power, because with the great toe of 
his right foot he shook Vaijayanta, the palace of Cakra, the Indra of 
the gods. He converted the two Naga kings Handa and Upananda.’ 
And he uttered this verse : ‘It is necessary to honour, all that one can, 
Kolita (i e., Maudgalyayana) the foremost of Brahmans, # # * *. 
Who in this world could surpass the ocean of power of this sage in the 
perfect Intelligence—he who has conquered the serpents, those famous 
beings, so difficult to subdue ? ’ The king having given a hundred 
thousand (golden pieces) for the stupa of the,great Maudgalyayana 4 
exclaimed with hands joined in respect, ‘ I honour with bended head the 
celebrated Maudgalyayana, the foremost of sages, gifted with super¬ 
natural power, who has freed himself from birth, old age, sorrow and 
pain.”’ 6 
1 Bnrnouf’s Intro., 378 n. 2 Beal’s Si-yu-Jci, II, 176. 
S Conf. my Buddhism of Tibet, pp. 98-99; t 
4 This A<jdka Stupa was visited by.Hiuen Tsiang (Beal’s Si-yn-ki, II, 175.) 
Burnonf’s Intro., p. 348. . .. . 
