buddhism in gandhra 55
archaeological remains from the previous period. Xuanzang reports on
the existence of six great stpas founded by Aoka (268–233 BC) and
situated near bigger towns, the greatest of which is the Dharmarjika
stpa at Taxila. Remains of many stpas and monasteries were actually
detected in and around Taxila,^37 but their dating to the Maurya time
is by no means certain.^38
The earliest Buddhist Kharo h epigraphic texts after those made by
Aoka is the reliquary inscription from Bajaur which was consecrated
under the reign of Menander (about 150 BC). Next comes that of
Patika at Taxila (about 5 AD).^39 Other reliquaries mentioning the kings
of Apraca and Oi who controlled the higher valleys near Gandhra
are datable around the beginning of the Christian era.
From the archaeological and epigraphic evidence we can assume
that the rst monasteries and stpas were built at the end of the third
century BC. During the second century BC, Buddhism progressed to
the higher regions and ourished in the rst century BC. It entered
the Kua empire, which had been founded by Indo-Scythian (Yuezhi)
conquerors during the rst to the third centuries AD.^40
- The Indo-Greek Kingdoms and Their Relation to Buddhism
The Indo-Greek king Menander (ca. 155–130)^41 is best remembered
from literary sources: He attained fame in the Buddhist text Milindapañha
(Milinda’s Questions).^42 This text is a dialogue between the Greek
king Menander and the Buddhist philosopher Ngasena, resulting in
Menander’s conversion to Buddhism. Although Menander is in fact a
historical person, the dialogue itself is ahistorical, as Milinda speaks to
the six heretics,^43 who lived at the time of the Buddha. According to
(^37) Brandtner 2001, pp. 37f.
(^38) Fussman 1994, p. 19.
(^39) Falk 2002, p. 99 n. 2. This inscription is written in the year 78 of the Mogasa
era during the reign of king Liaka Kusulaka. 40
Kulke & Rothermund 1998, pp. 101–106.
(^41) Kulke & Rothermund 1998, pp. 95f.
(^42) von Hinüber 2000, pp. 82–86; Fussman, 1993.
(^43) The six heretics are best known from the Smaññaphalasutta (Discourse on the
Fruit of the Life of a Recluse) of the Dghanikya (Long Group (of Discourses), DN I,
pp. 46–86). In this stra the tenets of six famous teachers of the time of the Buddha
are disputed and refuted in a discussion in the presence of the King Ajtaatru of
Magadha.