King Asoka and Buddhism - Urban Dharma

from the pens of many an intellectual or political leader whoadmired Aśoka for what he said and believed. Among them,Jawaharlal Nehru said:Aśoka’s pillars of stone with their inscriptions would speak tome in their magnificent language and tell me of a man, who,though an emperor, was greater than any king or emperors’This astonishing ruler, beloved still in India and in manyother parts of Asia, devoted himself to the spread of Buddha’steachings, to righteousness and goodwill, and to public worksfor the good of the people. He was no passive spectator of events,lost in contemplation and self-improvement. He laboured hardat public business and declared he was ready for it. 58The Sri Lankan writer quoted just above waxed eloquent as heoutlined the role of Aśoka in what was meant to be a preludeto a serious analysis of the state of Buddhism on the eve of the2,500 th death anniversary of the Buddha. He wrote:Aśoka, the mighty conqueror, sheathing his sword forever afterthe conquest of Kalinga, became transformed into the world’smost compassionate monarch. The Lord of Hindustan becamethe Lord of Compassion. Declaring his admiration for the Buddhistethic, he set up a humane government, whose officialswere instructed to provide free medical attention, a compassionatejail administration, poor relief, old age pensions, amenitiesfor travellers and animal hospitals; while he admonishedthe people to be dutiful to parents, kind to children and servants,charitable and tolerant. Aśoka’s frontier policy was in thesame vein; he renounced war as a method of settling disputes,and in a proclamation addressed to the border tribes he toldthem not to be afraid of him, for his heartfelt desire was to begood to them.On the numerous stone pillars that Aśoka set up were longinscriptions in which he lectured to the people in a fatherly tone,and to some extent took them into his confidence, explaining205