On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c17.s3.74

v2.c17.s3.74

The pilgrim next tells of the Asoka tope which was beside the one last mentioned. This Asoka tope was at the place where the Buddha’s relics were divided among the eight kings, and in front of it was a stone pillar recording the circumstances. Yuan-chuang relates that after the Buddha’s cremation eight kings came, with their armies, and using the services of the brahmin Chih-hsing (直性), “Honest nature,” begged the Mallas of Kusinagara to give them shares of the relics. The Mallas rudely refused, and the kings were about to wage war when Chih-hsing became mediator. Acting on his advice all agreed to have the relics distributed equally among the eight kings. Then Indra claimed a share for the gods, and the Dragon-kings also claimed a share. So the brahmin divided the relics into three lots, one for the gods, one for the Dragon-kings, and the third was subdivided into eight shares for the kings. The gods, dragons, and kings were all deeply affected.