Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c11.s24.2

c11.s24.2

¹ MV. v. 34-8 and 62-72 abridges and slightly alters DV. vi 25-99. The later account omits the religious quest part of the story and lays stress on the ‘want of self-control’ of the Brāhmaṇas at the distribution of food, which led the king to send for the other sects. The *Divyāvadāna* (xxvi) gives quite another account of Aśoka's conversion. It describes a prison which the king established in Pāṭaliputra under the control of Girika and the tortures to which persons who entered it were subjected; Samudra, a merchant prince of Śrāvasti, turned monk, entered the prison and by his miraculous powers, escaped the usual fate of persons who went in there. Aśoka heard of this, and witnessed more miracles performed by the *Bhikshu* and was converted (pp. 374-82) See also Watters, ii 88-91. Senart's remarks at IA xx p. 235 seek to account plausibly for the earlier date for the conversion given by the Sinhalese chronicles.