as clever and resourceful than as a fierce warrior or powerful king. The stories of the Jātakas as well as the post-Ashokan biographies also take important Buddhist virtues as their themes, such as the virtues known as the perfections (paramitas). The influential Pali Mahanipata Jataka for example is made up of ten stories each illustrating one of the ten paramitas. The Buddhist tantras meanwhile associated their numerous deities and cosmological elements with inner psychological states as well as physiological forces. Kingship and politics One of the earliest mythic motifs in the Buddha's life is the notion that he is a “Great Man” (mahāpurisa), who must choose his destiny. If he remains in the home, he will become a righteous universal emperor or "wheel turning monarch" (Pali: Cakkavatti; Sanskrit: Cakravartin), while is he chooses the way of renunciation he will become a Buddha. Of course, the historical bodhisattva chooses renunciation, but stories are told of those in the past who chose kingship. These are depicted to show an ideal of Buddhist leadership, one who rules without violence (ahimsa) while exemplifying and promoting Buddhist values. Buddhist kings are also seen as protectors and supporters of the Buddhist community. The deeds of a great Buddhist king include the protection of animals and the building of public works such as parks, wells, and roads. The stories Mauryan emperor Ashoka also added to the mythological elements of the myth of "Dharma King" (dhammaraja) and his great deeds. In much of Buddhist myth, Ashoka is the royal "exemplar par excellence" who exemplifies the ten royal virtues: generosity, moral virtue, self-sacrifice, kindness, self-control, non-anger, nonviolence, patience, and adherence to the norm of righteousness. This figure was much emulated by later Buddhist kings, who built stupas and temples and patronized the monastic community in imitation of Ashoka. This mimesis of the Ashoka myth by Asian Buddhist rulers is one way in which Buddhist myth influenced the Asian political ideology of states such as Angkor, Sukhothai and Pagan. The Jātakas depict many examples of kings and of the bodhisattva Gautama himself who was a king in many past lives, the most famous throughout Southeast Asia being the Vessantara Jataka. The Vessantara Jataka is basically a royal epic, whose hero is not a conqueror or warrior, but a hero of the Buddhist virtue of generosity (dāna) who takes a vow never to refuse to give away anything which might be