Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/205

BUDDHIST PROPAGANDA 167 the Satiyaputra country may be identified with the region where the Tulu language is spoken, of which Mangalore is the centre. With all these kingdoms Asoka was on such friendly terms that he was at liberty to send his missionaries to preach to the people, and even to found monasteries in several places. One such institution was established by his younger brother Ma- hendra in the Tanjore District, where its ruins were still visible nine hundred years later. An ancient Chinese writer assures us that " accord- ing to the laws of India, when a king dies, he is suc- ceeded by his eldest son (Kumararaja) ; the other sons leave the family and enter a religious life, and they are no longer allowed to reside in their native king- dom." This compulsory withdrawal from secular af- fairs did not necessarily imply the disappearance of the younger brother into obscurity. The Church in India, especially in Buddhist India, as in Roman Catho- lic Europe, offered a career to younger sons, and the able ecclesiastic sometimes attained higher fame than his royal relative. Mahendra's assumption of the yellow robe, in accordance with the rule above stated, was, in the first instance, probably due to political necessity rather than to free choice; but, whatever motive may have led him to adopt the monastic life, he became a devout and zealous monk and a most successful mis- sionary. When Asoka determined to extend his propaganda to Ceylon, he selected as head of the mission his monk brother, who probably was already settled at his mon-