of
India.

290. Q. _When did he reign?_

A. In the third century B.C., about two centuries after the Buddha's
time. Historians disagree as to his exact date, but not very greatly.

291. Q. _What made him great?_

A. He was the most powerful monarch in Indian history, as warrior and
as statesman; but his noblest characteristics were his love of truth
and justice, tolerance of religious differences, equity of government,
kindness to the sick, to the poor, and to animals. His name is revered
from Siberia to Ceylon.

292. Q. _Was he born a Buddhist?_

A. No, he was converted in the tenth year after his anointment as
King, by Nigrodha Samanera, an Arhat.

293. Q. _What did he do for Buddhism?_

A. He drove out bad Bhikkhus, encouraged good ones, built monasteries
and d[=a]gobas everywhere, established gardens, opened hospitals for
men and animals, convened a council at Patna to revise and re-establish
the Dharma, promoted female religious education, and sent embassies to
five Greek kings, his allies, and to all the sovereigns of India, to
preach the doctrines of the Buddha. It was he who built the monuments
at Kapilavastu, Buddha G[=a]ya, Isipatana and Kusin[=a]r[=a], our four
chief places of pilgrimage, besides thousands more.

294. Q. _What absolute proofs exist as to his noble character?_

A. Within recent years there have been discovered, in all parts of
India, fourteen Edicts of his, inscribed on living rocks, and eight on
pillars erected by his orders. They fully prove him to have been one
of the wisest and most high-minded sovereigns who ever lived.

29.5. Q. _What character do these inscriptions give to Buddhism?_

A. They show it to be a religion of noble tolerance, of universal
brotherhood, of righteousness and justice. It has no taint of
selfishness, sectarianism or intolerance. They have done more than
anything else to win for it the respect in which it is now held by the
great pandits of western countries.

296. Q. _What most precious gift did Dharm[=a]shoka make to Buddhism?_

A. He gave his beloved son, Mahinda, and daughter, Sanghamitta, to the
Order, and sent them to Ceylon to introduce the religion.

297. Q. _Is this fact recorded in the history of Ceylon?_

A. Yes, it is all recorded in the Mah[=a]vansa, by the keepers of the
royal records, who were then living and saw the missionaries.

298. Q. _Is there some proof of Sanghamitta's mission still visible