She was also the mother of Ashoka's first two children—his son, Mahendra, and daughter, Sanghamitra—both of whom played important roles in the spread of Buddhism to other countries.
The Mahabodhivamsa (a Ceylonese source) calls her Vedisa-Mahadevi and a Sakyani or a Sakyakumari as being the daughter of a clan of the Shakyas who had immigrated to Vedisa nagaram out of fear of Vidudabha menacing their mother country.
Yet, Devi failed to convert Ashoka to Buddhism and he left her and their children in Vidisha when he was finally recalled to Pataliputra.
[2] Thus, Devi did not follow Ashoka as sovereign to Pataliputra, for there his Chief Empress (agramahisi) was his wife, Asandhimitra.
[1] It would have been unfitting for a prince of the House of Maurya to have a merchant's daughter for a spouse, and a more suitable wife was found for Ashoka in Princess Asandhimitra who was his chief empress for the majority of his reign.