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Vitashoka as called in Divyavadana or Tissa (born 3rd-century BC) was a prince of the Maurya Empire as the only uterine of Ashoka,〔The Legend of King Aśoka: A Study and Translation of the Aśokāvadāna,John Strong, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1989, p. 222-234〕 and the only brother left alive by Ashoka. According to Divyavadana, he was a follower of the Tirthikas and used to criticize the Buddhist monks for living a comfortable life. He was made to sit on the throne by the courtiers. When Ashoka found out about that, he persuaded Vitashoka to become a Buddhist. Vitashoka became a monk and practiced austerities rigorously. Divyavadana narrates a story of someone in Pundravardhana and then again at Pataliputra, drew a picture of the Buddha bowing before Nirgrantha Nataputta. As a punishment, Ashoka ordered the Ajivikas〔Divyavadana apparently equates the Nirgranthas and Ajivikas here.〕 to be put to death and declared a reward for killing of Nirgranthas. Someone killed Vitashoka taking him to be a Nirgrantha. His head was taken to Ashoka. After identifying that it was his own brother, Ashoka stopped giving orders for executions. He is referred to as Tissa in Sri Lanka chronicles.〔Yuan Chwang's travels in India Volumes 14-15 of Oriental Translation Fund Volume 2 of On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629-645 A.D, Stephen Wootton Bushell Authors 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Vitashoka」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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