Will any of our Brothers tell us how our Mahatmas stand to
these revered personages?
--R. Ragoonath Row
Editor's Note
In the Buddhist Mahavanso, Chandagatto, or Chandragupta, Asoka's
grandfather, is called a prince of the Moryan dynasty as he certainly
was--or rather as they were, for there were several Chandraguptas. This
dynasty, as said in the same book, began with certain Kshatriyas
(warriors) of the Sakya line closely related to Gautama Buddha, who
crossing the Himavanto (Himalayas) "discovered a delightful location,
well watered, and situated in the midst of a forest of lofty bo and
other trees. There they founded a town, which was called by its Sakya
lords, Morya-Nagara." Prof. Max Muller would see in this legend a
made-up story for two reasons: (1) A desire on the part of Buddhists to
connect their king Asoka, "the beloved of gods," with Buddha, and thus
nullify the slanders set up by the Brahmanical opponents of Buddhism to
the effect that Asoka and Chandragupta were Sudras; and (2) because this
document does not dovetail with his own theories and chronology based on
the fanciful stories of the Greek-Megasthenes and others.
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