Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c6.3509

v1.c6.3509

At the conclusion of the Council, held in the seventeenth year of his reign,²⁰ Asoka sent forth theras to propagate the Buddha’s religion: Majjhantika to Kasmīra and Gandhāra, Mahādeva to Mahisamaṇḍala, Rakkhita to Vanavāsa, Yona Dhammarakkhita to Aparantaka, Mahārakkhita to Yona, Majjhima to the Himālaya country and Soṇa and Uttara to Suvaṇṇabhūmi; Mahinda with Iṭṭhiya, Uttiya, Sambala and Bhaddasāla he sent to Laṅkā.²¹ In the eighteenth year of his reign he sent to Laṅkā, at Devanampiyatissa’s request, Saṅghamittā, with a branch of the great Bodhi Tree at Buddhagayā.²² A little earlier he had sent by his grandson Sumana, some relics of the Buddha and the Buddha’s alms-bowl to be deposited in the thūpas of Laṅkā.²³