such as Mahapajapati Gotami (the first nun) and his wife Yaśodharā. Another important figure is Aṅgulimāla, who was a mass murderer before becoming a monk under the Buddha. His tale serves as a story of redemption. Later Buddhist saints such as Mahinda and Sanghamitta, both children of Ashoka are also part of Buddhist myths. Another example are stories related to the cult of the monk Upagupta who, according to legend, lived in the time of Ashoka. He does not appear in central Pali texts, but is a well known figure in the northern regions of Theravāda, including northern Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos. In these regions a variety of tales with related themes and motifs occur, and form the basis of ritual activity, usually carried out by the lay people. Such activities occur in a liminal space on the edge of the officially sanctioned Theravādin praxis. Buddhist myths also feature heavenly beings, called devas. Buddhist myth adopted several Indian figures such as Brahma, Indra (also known as Sakka) and Prithvi. Sectarian myths The schools of Buddhism told stories of the origin of their own particular school. These narratives function like creation myths, explaining how the school came to be, and why it has a special authority to convey the Buddha's teaching. Unlike the pan-sectarian myths of the Buddha's life or the Jātakas, these exist specifically to promote one's own school in relation to contemporary rivals. Such sectarian myths also typically include an account of how the Dharma triumphed over primitive and violent religious cults, especially human or animal sacrifice in worship of yakkhas. The Theravāda origin story is found in multiple places, such as the Dīpavaṁsa, where the Buddha himself is said to have predicted the spread of Theravāda to Sri Lanka. Moreover, in both the Dīpavaṁsa (Island Chronicle) and the Mahāvaṃsa (Great Chronicle), the Buddha is said to have actually visited the island three times. The Sarvāstivādins located their origins in the time of Ashoka, claiming to be the true Dharma that spread to Kashmir when Buddhism in the Middle Country had become corrupt. Other stories developed to give authority to certain texts. The Mahāyānists needed to address the fact that their texts were unknown in the initial period of Buddhism, and developed stories such as that they had been hidden in the realm of the nagas (snake-like supernatural beings) until people wise enough to understand them were born. Some