He conferred the going-forth (pabbajjā) on Mahinda (Mhv.v.206; Dpv.vii.25). After the Third Council he went as a missionary to Mahisamaṇḍala, where he taught the Devadūta Sutta, converting forty thousand people and conferring ordination on forty thousand more. Mhv.xii.3, 29; Dpv.viii.5; Sp.i.66.