204 Chapter 9
and distribute them among tens of thousands of shrines throughout the
realm. King Asoka (304– 232 BC) ruled the powerful Mauryan Empire
from about 273 to 232 BC in Pataliputta and became a follower of Buddha.
During his long reign, Asoka constructed many stupas to enshrine a mul-
titude of Buddha’s relics across his vast kingdom, fulfilling the prophecy
of Ajatasatru. 47
Several Hindu and Buddhist texts in various translations describe
Ajatasatru’s automaton warriors guarding the relics until the arrival of
Asoka. The wooden androids were said to whirl with the speed of the
wind, slashing intruders with swords. Some traditions attribute their
creation to Hindu divinities: Visvakarman, the engineer god, or Indra,
the guardian god. But the most arresting and mysterious account of the
robot guards has come down to us through a tangled route: it appears
in the collection of tales known as the Lokapannatti from Burma, a Pali
(sacred language) translation of an older, lost Sanskrit text, which is itself
known only from a Chinese translation. The dating of the Lokapannatti
is uncertain, perhaps eleventh or twelfth century, but the stories “drew
Fig. 9.5. Two traditional dvarapala- yaksha guardian warriors armed with spears on either side
of a table holding Buddha’s relics, panel relief, Kushan, Gandhara, Swat, first to second cen-
tury AD, inv. 1966,1017.1 © The Trustees of the British Museum. The panel relief is flanked by a
pair of six- foot- tall guardian warriors, found at ancient Pataliputta, Mauryan Empire, third to first
century BC, plate 13, E. J. Rapson, Cambridge History of India (1922). Collage by Michele Angel.