King Asoka and Buddhism - Urban Dharma

and King Ajātasattu brought there the seven doṇas of relics; butthe doṇa in Rāmagāma he did not take, knowing the Master’sintention. When King Aśoka saw the great treasure of relics hethought also to have the eighth doṇa brought. But, knowing thatit was destined by the Conqueror to be enshrined in the GreatThūpa in Sri Lanka, the ascetics of that time prevented Aśokafrom doing this. 36The Mahāvaṃsa then goes on to relate how much later the SriLankan Elder Soṇuttara, on Duṭṭhagāmaṇi’s behalf, descendsto the nāga palace where he asks the nāga king for the relics.His attitude is rather different than Aśoka’s: “The relics that arehere in thy hands,” he declares, “are appointed by the Buddhato be enshrined in the Great Thūpa… give them to me!” Butthe nāga king is not about to do so. He signals to his nephew, amonstrous nāga three hundred yojanas long, to take the relicsand hide them, which he does by swallowing them, casket andall. In the meantime, he tries to divert Soṇuttara’s attentionby arguing that all the jewels in Sri Lanka could not possiblymeasure up to the gems which adorn and honour the caityaof the relics in the nāga kingdom, and therefore he shouldnot “take the relics from a place of high honour to a place oflesser honour.” But Soṇuttara is not to be deterred. Telling thenāga king that “there is no understanding of the Dhamma inthy kingdom,” he uses his supernatural powers to magicallystretch out his arm; and reaching right down into the belly ofthe nāga king’s nephew he takes the relics and flees with themback to Sri Lanka. 37The difference between these two accounts, then, is clear:in the Aśokāvadāna, the stress once again is on the value ofdevotion to the relics, whether it be the devotion of Aśoka orof the nāgas. In the Mahāvaṃsa, the emphasis is once more on156