- Swami Vivekananda

You know how this great emperor Asoka was converted. This great emperor in his youth was not so good. He had a brother. And the two brothers quarrelled and the other brother defeated this one, and the emperor in vengeance wanted to kill him. The emperor got the news that he had taken shelter with a Buddhist monk.

Now, I have told you how our monks are very holy; no one would come near them. The emperor himself came. He said, “Deliver the man to me.” Then the monk preached to him: “Vengeance is bad. Disarm anger with love. Anger is not cured by anger, nor hatred by hatred. Dissolve anger by love. Cure hatred by love. Friend, if for one evil thou returnest another, thou curest not the first evil, but only add one evil more to the world.”

The emperor said: “That is all right, fool that you are. Are you ready to give your life—to give your life for that man?”

“Ready, sir.” And he came out.

And the emperor drew his sword, and he said: “Get ready.”

And just as he was going to strike, he looked at the face of the man. There was not a wink in those eyes. The emperor stopped, and he said: “Tell me, monk, where did you learn this strength, poor beggar, not to wink?”

 And then he preached again. “Go on, monk,” he said, “That is nice,” he said. Accordingly, he [fell under] the charm of the Master—Buddha’s charm.