King Asoka and Buddhism - Urban Dharma

1Aśoka — The Great UpāsakaRICHARD GOMBRICHTHE MOST IMPORTANT BUDDHIST LAYMAN in history hasbeen the Emperor Aśoka, who ruled most of India forthe middle third of the third century B.C. On the capitalof one of the pillars Aśoka erected is beautifully carved awheel with many spokes. This representation of the wheel ofDhamma which the Buddha set in motion is the symbol chosento adorn the flag of the modern state of India. The lionson the same capital are on the state seal. Thus India recallsits “righteous ruler.” Aśoka is a towering figure for manyother reasons too, but we confine ourselves to his role in Buddhisthistory. Before Aśoka Buddhism had spread throughthe northern half of India; but it was his patronage whichmade it a world religion.Aśoka was the grandson and second successor of Candragupta,who founded the Mauryan dynasty and empire about324 B.C. We have very little evidence about the precise extent ofwhat Candragupta conquered and even less about the activitiesof his son Bindusāra, but Candragupta’s empire may alreadyhave covered northern India from coast to coast and probablycomprised about two-thirds of the sub-continent. Bindusāraand Aśoka extended it further to the south. The capital was thecity of Pāṭaliputta, which had been founded as the new capitalof Magadha fairly soon after the Buddha’s death; modernPatna is on the same site. The Mauryan empire was a political1