King Asoka, after witnessing the devastating consequences of the Kalinga War, experienced profound remorse and sorrow. This led to his conversion to Buddhism, seeking to spread the teachings of the Buddha and promote peace. In his quest to distribute the Buddha’s teachings far and wide, Asoka embarked on a mission to build stupas containing the Buddha’s relics.
Then King Asoka, intending to distribute far and wide the bodily relics of the Tathagata, went together with a fourfold army to the Drona Stupa that Ajatasatru had built. He broke it open, took out all the relics, and, putting back a portion of them, set up a new stupa. He did the same with the second Drona Stupa and so on up to the seventh one, removing the relics from each of them and then setting up new stupas as tokens of his devotion. Then he proceeded to Ramagrama. There, the Nagas took him down to the Naga palace and told him, “We here pay homage to our Drona Stupa.” Asoka, therefore, let them keep those relics intact, and the Naga king himself escorted him back up from the palace.
त्यसपछि राजा अशोक तथागतका शारिरीक अवशेषहरू टाढा-टाढासम्म बाँड्ने मनसाय राख्दै, चौगुना सेना लिएर अजातशत्रुले बनाएको द्रोण स्तुपमा गए। उनले त्यसलाई भत्काए, सबै अवशेषहरू निकाले, र तिनीहरूको एक भाग फिर्ता राखेर नयाँ स्तूप स्थापना गरे। उनले दोस्रो द्रोण स्तूप र सातौं सम्म पनि त्यस्तै गरे, प्रत्येकबाट अवशेषहरू हटाए र त्यसपछि आफ्नो भक्तिको प्रतीकको रूपमा नयाँ स्तूपहरू स्थापना गरे। त्यसपछि उनी रामग्राम तिर लागे। त्यहाँ नागहरूले उनलाई नागा दरबारमा लगेर भने: “हामी यहाँ हाम्रो द्रोण स्तुपलाई श्रद्धांजलि अर्पण गर्दछौं।” त्यसैले अशोकले ती अवशेषहरूलाई अक्षुण्ण राख्न दिनुभयो र नागा राजा आफैंले उनलाई दरबारबाट फिर्ता लिएर गए।
Then Asoka had eighty-four thousand boxes made of gold, silver, cat’s eye, and crystal, and in them were placed the relics. Also, eighty-four thousand urns and eighty-four thousand inscription plates were prepared. All of this was given to the Yaksas for distribution in the eighty-four thousand Dharmarajikas he ordered built throughout the earth as far as the surrounding ocean, in the small, great, and middle-sized towns, wherever there was a population of one hundred thousand persons. Now in those days, in the city of Taxila, there were thirty-six hundred thousand people; they therefore requested thirty-six boxes of relics. Asoka realized he could not agree to this if the relics were to be distributed far and wide. However, he was a master of cleverness; he announced that since he could not give the Taxilans more than one share of the relics, he would have to execute thirty-five hundred thousand of them. (They quickly withdrew their demand.) Later, Asoka formally proclaimed that no additional relics were to be given where there were more than one hundred thousand people, and none at all where there were fewer than that. Asoka then went to the Kukkutarama Monastery and spoke to the elder Yaksas: “This is my wish; I would like to complete the building of all eighty-four thousand Dharmarajikas on the same day, at the same time.” “Very well,” replied the elder Yaksa, “when the moment comes, I shall signal it by hiding the sun with my hand.” Then, not long thereafter, he eclipsed the sun with his hand, and all at once the eighty-four thousand Dharmarajikas were completed. Now when King Asoka had completed the eighty-four thousand Dharmarajikas, he became a righteous Dharmaraja, and thenceforth was known as “Dharmasoka.”
त्यसपछि अशोकसँग सुन, चाँदी, बिरालोको आँखा र क्रिस्टलले बनेका चौरासी हजार बक्सहरू थिए र ती अवशेषहरू राखिएका थिए। साथै, चौरासी हजार कलश र चौरासी हजार शिलालेख प्लेटहरू तयार गरियो। यो सबै यक्षहरूलाई चौरासी हजार धर्मराजिकहरूमा बाँड्नको लागि दिइएको थियो जुन उहाँले पृथ्वीभरि वरपरका महासागरसम्म, साना, ठूला र मध्यम आकारका सहरहरूमा जहाँ एक लाख जनसंख्या थियो, निर्माण गर्नुभएको थियो। अब ती दिनहरूमा, तक्षशिला शहरमा छत्तीस लाख मानिस थिए; त्यसैले तिनीहरूले छत्तीस बाकस अवशेषहरू मागे। अवशेषहरू टाढा-टाढासम्म बाँड्ने हो भने अशोकले यो कुरामा सहमत हुन नसक्ने महसुस गरे। तथापि, उहाँ चतुर हुनुहुन्थ्यो। उनले घोषणा गरे कि तक्षशिलालाई अवशेषको एक भाग भन्दा बढी दिन सक्नुहुन्न, उसले ती मध्ये पैंतीस लाखलाई मृत्युदण्ड दिनुपर्नेछ। (तिनीहरूले तुरुन्तै आफ्नो माग फिर्ता लिए।) पछि, अशोकले औपचारिक रूपमा घोषणा गरे कि एक लाख भन्दा बढी मानिसहरू भएको ठाउँमा कुनै अतिरिक्त अवशेषहरू दिइने छैन, र त्यो भन्दा कम भएको ठाउँमा कुनै पनि छैन। त्यसपछि अशोक कुक्कुटाराम मठमा गए र ठूला यक्षहरूलाई भने: “यो मेरो इच्छा हो; चौरासी हजार धर्मार्जिकको भवन एकै दिन, एकै समयमा पूरा गर्न चाहन्छु।” “धेरै राम्रो,” जेठा यक्षले जवाफ दिए, “जब समय आउँछ, म सूर्यलाई हातले लुकाएर संकेत गर्नेछु।” त्यसपछि, केही समय नबित्दै, उहाँले आफ्नो हातले सूर्य ग्रहण गर्नुभयो, र एकैचोटि चौरासी हजार धर्मराजिकहरू पूरा भए। अब जब राजा अशोकले चौरासी हजार धर्मराजिकहरू पूरा गरिसकेका थिए, उनी धर्मार्जित बने र त्यसपछि “धर्मसोक” भनेर चिनिए।
Source : The Legend of King Asoka, A Study and Tranlation of Ashokavadana by John S. Strong |(2008)
