A few days afterwards, Dzanecka called Tsanda-gutta, and commissioned him to take a sword, and during his brother’s sleep to steal away from him his gold necklace, carefully avoiding either to cut the string or to untie it. Tsanda-gutta went to the place where his brother was sleeping. After a few moments of reflection, seeing but one way to obey his father’s order, he cut off at once his brother’s head, and brought entire the necklace of gold, which he placed at his father’s feet. The latter, without giving a sign of approbation or displeasure, remained silent.
Dzanecka gave all his treasures to Tsanda-gutta. Having pointed out to him and minutely explained the course he had to follow for obtaining the high station he was destined to, the pounha repaired to some other place, bidding him remember him after he became a king. With the treasures left at his disposal, Tsanda-gutta levied men, and went on from success to success, until he possessed himself of Pataliputra and killed Dananda. He received the water of consecration, and began his reign in 163. That monarch seems to have been accustomed to the use of poisons. For it happened that, on a certain day, his first queen, belonging to the Maurya race, tasted a mouthful of a dish prepared for the king. This caused her death. At the time of that fatal occurrence she was far advanced in pregnancy. The king, without a moment’s delay, ordered her belly to be opened; the infant was taken out and put in the belly of a goat freshly slain. The child lived, and was called Bandasura.
Tsanda-gutta, after a reign of twenty-four years, died in 187, and was succeeded by his son Bandasura, only sixteen years old. Both the father and the son were supporters of the pounhas, and fed daily an immense number of them in their palace. Bandasura reigned twenty-seven years, that is to say, until the year 214. He had altogether 101 sons. His first queen, called Damma, had become the mother of two sons, called Athoka and Teissa. When she was pregnant of the first, she had five dreams: First, she thought she was stretching her two feet, one resting on the sun, and the other on the moon; second, it appeared to her that she was devouring the stars; third, she fancied she was eating the clouds; fourth, she imagined she was eating the worms’ dunghills; fifth and finally, she imagined she was eating the leaves of all the trees. According to the prediction of the soothsayers, the five dreams meant that the son whom she had in her womb would rule over the whole of the island of Tsampoudipa; that he would destroy all his brothers, who would unite to dispute the throne with him; that he would disperse all the heretics or upholders of false tenets, who, like clouds, obscure the glory of religion; that he would possess all above the earth to the height of one youdzana, and all below the earth to an equal depth.
When Athoka was sixteen years old, his father sent him to Outzeni to govern that city, and the territories annexed to it. On his way to that city, Athoka had to pass through Wedika, distant fifty youdzanas from Pataliputra, in an eastern direction. The town had been founded by the princes of Kapilawot, when that city had been almost destroyed in the days of Buddha. In that place he married the daughter of a rich man, named Dewa. After his arrival at Outzeni, Athoka’s wife presented him first with a son, who was named Maheinda, and subsequently with a daughter, called Seingamitta. Athoka remained nine years at Outzeni. At the end of that period, hearing that his father lay dangerously ill, he hastened to Pataliputra, to assist him and render all the services dictated by filial love. On his return, having to pass through Wedika, he left in that place his wife and his two children. A little while after his arrival at his father’s capital, the king breathed his last, and Athoka was proclaimed king.
The new monarch, however, found himself soon surrounded by many enemies. With the exception of Teissa, who was born from the same mother, all his brothers conspired against him. The oldest of all, named Thoumana, was the originator and leader of the rebellion. After a protracted struggle, Athoka’s good fortune prevailed. His rebellious brother Thoumana was overcome and made a prisoner; soon after, he was put to death. The same sad and cruel fate befel the other ninety-eight brothers. But it took three years before Athoka could free himself from all his enemies. On the fourth year after his accession to the throne, that is to say, in 218, he received the royal consecration, and in honour of his mother took the name of Dammathoka. He obtained a universal sway all over Dzampoudipa.
Up to the period of his consecration, Athoka had always favoured the pounhas. In imitation of his father’s conduct, he fed daily an immense number of them in his palace. They all dressed in white clothes. It was only after he had received the royal consecration that he became a convert to Buddhism, through the instrumentality of his own nephew, the Rahan Nigrauda. A few particulars respecting this celebrated religious may not be unacceptable to the reader.
After Thoumana’s death, his wife Thoumana-dewi was near the moment of her confinement. Under disguise, she contrived to baffle the snares of her husband’s enemies and elude their pursuit. She went to the neighbourhood of the village of Dountsanka, a little distant from Pataliputra in an eastern direction, and rested under a banyan tree. A small shed was provided for her, and the head man of the village, who looked upon her as his daughter, supplied her with food. She was delivered of a son, whom she named Nigrauda. When he was about seven years old he was confided to the care of the venerable Varuna, who instructed him in his monastery, and taught him the Kamatan. He became a religious, and was made a patzin. The monastery of the venerable Varuna was not very distant from the southern gate of the city.
On a certain day the young religious Nigrauda rose up at an early hour, and having paid his respects to his great instructor, put on his cloak, and, taking under his arm the mendicant’s pot, left his monastery, entered the city by the southern gate, and shaped his course towards the eastern one, with the intention of going to visit his mother. At that very moment King Athoka was standing over the lion’s gate of his palace enjoying the cool of the morning breeze. He saw the young religious passing with a grave and steady step. All was graceful and dignified in his deportment. A placid joy, a serene modesty, and a majestic appearance beautified his countenance to such an extent that, at the first look, the king felt an irresistible affection for the young Samane. Without a moment’s delay he despatched an officer to call him. With a kind and affectionate tone the king invited him to ascend the steps of his palace, and insisted on serving him with his meal. When the repast was over, Athoka said: “Young Samane, do you know well all the doctrines taught by your instructor?” “I am somewhat acquainted with them,” replied Nigrauda modestly. “If such be the case, will you be pleased to explain them to me?” He then said in reply: “He who is diligent in practising the duties that procure merits enjoys true happiness; he shall be exempt from death. He who neglects the duties that procure merits is unhappy, and is in a state of death.” The king, delighted with the instruction delivered to him by the young Samane, offered him several presents suitable to the religious profession. But Nigrauda would not accept them, except in the name and for the benefit of his instructor; because it was he who had the charge of teaching people to avoid evil, to do good, and to practise the religious duties. As to him, he was but a disciple. Athoka was greatly pleased with the modesty and disinterestedness of the young Samane.
On other occasions the king sent for Nigrauda, and heard his instructions with such a good result that he gradually became a perfect convert. By the advice of his spiritual guide, Athoka made daily presents to a certain number of religious of the Buddhistic persuasion. The number of the religious who every day attended the court to receive presents gradually swelled to the amount of 60,000. Nigrauda instructed his royal pupil on the three Saranans and the five precepts. He infused into his soul a tender love for Buddha and his religion. The great change in the king’s dispositions happened on the fourth year after his coronation. Up to that time he had favoured the party of the pounhas, as his father and grandfather had done. He was in the habit of daily affording food and maintenance to sixty thousand pounhas wearing the white dress.
Not satisfied with the liberal offerings of every day, the king said to the Rahans: “My intention is to build a great number of dzedis in all the cities of Dzampoudipa. But where are to be found the relics of the most excellent Buddha, that they may be divided and enshrined in the principal dzedis?” By his order the relics were searched for in every direction. The dzedis already built in Wethalie, Kapilawot, Allakappa, Pawa, and Koutheinaron were all demolished. An exception was made in favour of the dzedi in the village of Rama. The Nagas, guardians of the place, would not allow that monument to be touched. In vain did the workmen strive with pickaxes to demolish the dzedi. Their instruments broke in pieces as soon as they came in contact with the building. But in none of them could the precious deposit be found. The king commanded that the demolished sacred monuments should be rebuilt precisely in the same shape and form as they stood previously. Athoka, disappointed but undismayed by his want of success, directed his steps towards Radzagio, and resolved not to relax in his exertions until he had found the precious object of his eager desires. Having arrived at that place, he assembled all the Rahans and people, and inquired if there was no person who could lead him in the way to discover the relics. In the crowd there was a Rahan one hundred and twenty years old, who said that when he was a Samane about seven years old, his superior directed him to take some flowers and perfumes, and, leading him to a retired place, said to him, “You see that dark bush in the middle of which there is a small stone dzedi; let us prostrate ourselves before it and make our offering.” When this was done he added with a solemn tone of voice, “Young Samane, observe well this spot, and ever remember it.” He said nothing more, and we returned to our home. “This is doubtless,” said the king, “the very spot I am searching after, without having ever been able hitherto to discover it.” The king and his people hastened to the indicated place. Great offerings were made to the guardian Nat in order to propitiate him. The Nat, assuming the shape of a young man, removed all the obstacles that obstructed the way to the place. When the king was near the first door, he discovered the ruby whereupon was seen the above-related inscription. On touching the bolt the door was suddenly opened, when, to the great surprise of all present, the lamps that had been lighted two hundred and eighteen years ago were found burning and full of oil; the flowers, without the least sign of withering, were as fresh and beautiful as those in the gardens; the smell of the perfumes seemed to be even more exquisite than that of new ones. The king, taking the gold leaf, read the inscription concerning him. He took all the relics, except a few that he left therein, replaced and arranged everything as he had found it. The finding of the relics happened in 218.[33]