Description

Taishō 2043

Volume 50

The Biographical Scripture of King Aśoka is a biography of King Aśoka, the third ruler of the Mauryan Dynasty in Magadha in Central India during the third centurry B.C.E. It relates how King Aśoka unified India for the first time and, having been converted to Buddhism, sent emissaries throughout the land spreading the teachings of Buddhism.

Note: A similar biography exists, Taishō 2042 (Skt. Aśokarājāvadāna). As the contents and order of events described therein agree with the present work, the two are thought to be variant translations of the same original text.

Source
Skt. *Aśokāvadāna. Translated into the Chinese by Saṃghabhara as Ayuwang jing (阿育王經), 10 fascicles.