On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c19.35

v2.c19.35

Fa-hsien, who agrees with Yuan-chuang in placing the Cock Monastery to the south-east of Pāṭaliputra, does not make any mention of the great gathering of bhikshus at it, nor is this mentioned in the “Fang-chih”. The number of the bhikshus who accepted Asoka's invitation to meet at Pāṭaliputra is given in other books as 300,000. These Brethren did not come to hold a Council but only to a grand meeting and entertainment, to attend Asoka's first “quinquennial festival of the holy priesthood”. The senior among them was the great Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja who had seen the Buddha.² In the D text of the Life this monastery has the name Ku-t'a, but in another text it is Ni-ku-t'a that is perhaps, Nigrodha. This was the name of the son of Susīma, the elder half-brother of Asoka, whom the latter murdered. Nigrodha became a Buddhist monk, and was in great favour with his uncle, being instrumental, according to some accounts, in converting the king to Buddhism.³