Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/256

254 with similar observances. At Srâwastî the pilgrims did reverence to the Jetavana monastery, where Gautama had so long dwelt and taught, and to the stûpas of his disciples, Sâriputra, Maudgalâyana, and Maha Kasyapa. But when the king visited the stûpa of Vakkula, he gave only one copper coin, inasmuch as Vakkula had met with few obstacles in the path of holiness, and had done little good to his fellow creatures. At the stûpa of Ânanda, the faithful attendant of Gautama, the royal gift amounted to six million gold pieces.

THE STORY OF VÎTÂSOKA

Vîtâsoka, the king's brother ,was an adherent of the Tîrthyas, who reproached the Buddhist monks as being men who loved pleasure and feared pain. Asoka’s efforts to convert his brother were met by the retort that the king was merely a tool in the hands of the monks. The king therefore resolved to effect his brother's conversion by stratagem.

At his instigation the ministers tricked Vîtâsoka into the assumption of the insignia of royalty. The king when informed of what had happened feigned great anger, and threatened his brother with instant death. Ultimately he was persuaded to grant the offender seven days' respite, and to permit him to exercise sovereign power during those seven days. During this period the fear of death so wrought upon