King Asoka and Buddhism - Urban Dharma

11. Stein, Vol. I, pp. 74 – 75.12. Ibid. Vol. I, Canto I, verses 108 – 152.13. Thapar, p. 189.14. Stein, Vol. I, p. 64.15. Ibid., p.75. On Śacināra and Śakuṇi, Romila Thapar says:“There is no corroboration of this in any other source. Thechronicle has such a confused account of the early kingsthat it is difficult to accept the statement without furtherproof.” (p. 13, n.6).16. Stein, Vol. I, p. 75.17. Beni Madhab Barua, Aśoka and His Inscriptions, 2nd. ed.(Calcutta: New Age Publishers, 1955), p. 2. As regardsthe current usage of Devānampiya to be a “fool” it may betraced to Islamic infuence as evinced from the referenceto a mentally retarded person by such terms as a “God’schild.” As such, this expression could have no relation toAśoka’s popular title.18. Cf. A.L. Basham, The Wonder that was India, (London:Sidgwick & Jackson, 1956), p. 44: “It is perhaps unjust tomaintain that India had no sense of history whatever, butwhat interest she had in her own past was generally concentratedon the fabulous kings of a legendary golden age, ratherthan the great empires which had risen and fallen in historicaltimes…. The history of Hindu India, as far as we can reconstructit, is almost completely lacking in the interestinganecdotes and vivid personalities which enliven the study ofhistory for professional and amateur historians alike.”19. Maurice Winternitz, A History of Indian Literature, trans.226