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passed away, were also visited with similar observances. At Saravasti the pilgrims did reverence to the Jetavana monastery, where Gautama had so long dwelt and taught, and to the Stupas of his disciples, Sariputra, Maudgalayana, and Mahakasyapa. But when the king visited the Stupa of Vakkula, he gave only one copper coin, in as much as Vakkula had met with few obstacles in the path of holiness and had done little good to his fellow creatures. At the Stupa of Ananda, the faithful attendant of Gautama, the royal gift amounted to six million gold pieces".
Many a scholars are of the view that Asoka had also become a Buddhist monk in his life-time may it be only for a short time. It seems most probable that the pilgrimage was undertaken by Asoka in the form of a Buddhist monk. But it does not mean that he ceased to be the king at that time.
Thus the purport of the expression "Samghe -Upete" also become meaningful. Asoka has stated in the above edicts that he became a lay-disciple two and half years before his stage of "Joining the Order" (Samghe -Upete). Now, if Asoka "Joined the Order" 20 years after his consecration, as stated by him in the Rummindei pillar Edict, he must have become a lay disciple seventeen and half years after his consecration. This is exactly the time of the 'Third Buddhist Council (257). Though generally it is helt that Asoka became a follower of Buddhism 9 years after his consecration, it seems that he considered himself initiated into "formal Upasaka -dharma (rules of the lay-disciple)" from the time of the Third Buddhist Council. Thus, we can say that Asoka became a lay disciple seventeenth and half years after his consecration; he "joined the order" 20 years after his consecration; and he wrote the above inscriptions (Minor Rock Edict Nos. I & II), slightly more than 21 years after his consecration.
"The second thing, to be paid attention to, in the aforequoted edicts, is the last time of the inscription viz. "Vyuthena savane kate 256 satavivasata". This line has also been interpreted differently by different scholars.
Etymologically, vyuthena is the Apabhramsa of the Sanskrit word vyustena and vivasa that of vivasat. Vyusta
