King Asoka and Buddhism - Urban Dharma

Buddhism which Aśoka announced in what may well be theearliest of his edicts. In that edict 3 he says that he first becamean upāsaka, a Buddhist lay follower, but did not make muchprogress for a year; then, however, he “went to” the Saṅghaand made a lot of progress. We cannot be sure just what hemeant by “going to” the Saṅgha — the Buddhist tradition thatit meant going and living with monks may be an exaggeration— but in any case it clearly involved getting to know moreabout Buddhism.Almost all of Aśoka’s inscriptions are about dhamma. Bythis he did not mean specifically Buddhism, but righteousnessas he understood it. And it is clear that his understanding wasgreatly influenced by Buddhism. The best traditions of bothBuddhism and Indian kingship coincided in Aśoka’s declaredsupport for all religions. This support went far beyond passivetoleration: he dedicated caves to non-Buddhist ascetics, 4 repeatedlysaid that Brahmins and renouncers (śramaṇa) all deservedrespect, and told people never to denigrate other sects but toinform themselves about them.’Aśoka abolished the death penalty. 6 He declared many animalspecies protected species 7 and said that whereas previouslymany animals were killed for the royal kitchens, now they weredown to two peacocks and a deer per day, “and the deer notregularly — and in future even these three animals will notbe killed.” 8 (Here as so often the rather clumsy style seems tohave the spontaneity of unrevised dictation.) He had wells dugand shade trees planted along the roads for the use of men andbeasts, and medicinal plants grown for both as well. 8The influence of Buddhism appears in both substance andstyle. The Buddha took current terminology and adapted itto his purpose: who is the true brahmin; what should one3