Page:The Malavikagnimitra, Tawney (2nd edition, 1891).djvu/20

means of making himself famous, and applied to a Hindu purohita, who recommended him to suppress Buddhism by force. The King adopted the suggestion, and went with a force composed of all four arms^[1] to Kuttukarama in the vicinity of Pataliputra, with the firm determination of destroying the law of Bhagavat. Three times, when on the very threshold of the vihara,^[2] he was deterred by the roar of a lion from carrying out his intention, and returned to the city without effecting anything; At last he summoned a meeting of the inmates of the monastery, and informed them that he intended to destroy the law of Buddha, and asked them which they would choose, the destruction of the vihara, or that of the stupa.^[3] They preferred to leave the place; the King then utterly destroyed the vihara, and massacred all its inhabitants. He then moved on to Cakala, where he proclaimed that whoever brought in the head of a Cramana^[4] should receive a hundred gold pieces. One of these offered his own head to the murderers, in order to save the law and the lives of the other Arhats.^[5] When the King heard this, he gave orders that every Arhat in that province should be put to death, but he subsequently met with so much opposition that he no longer continued his persecutions in this quarter, but turned off to Koshtaka, and thence went towards the

1. Viz.. cavalry, infantry, elephants, and archers.
2. Buddhist convent.
3. A kind of tumulus erected over relics of the great Bnddha (commonly called Tope).
4. Buddhist ascetic.
5. The highest rank in the Buddhist hierarchy.