The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c30.34

v1.c30.34

In Buddhist literature Pushyamitra figures as a great persecutor of the Buddhists, bent on acquiring fame as the annihilator of Buddha's doctrine. He meditated the destruction of the Kukkuṭārāma, the great monastery which Açoka had built for 1000 monks to the south-east of Pāṭaliputra; but, as he approached the entrance, he was met with the roar as of a mighty lion and hastily withdrew in fear to the city. He then went to Çākala (Siālkot) in the E. Punjab and attempted to exterminate the Buddhist community there, offering a reward of 100 *dīnāras* for the head of every monk. The end of this persecutor of the faith was brought about by superhuman interposition¹.