King Asoka and Buddhism - Urban Dharma

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Buddhism / Indian History / Asian StudiesKing Aśoka and BuddhismKing Aśoka, the third monarch of the Mauryan dynasty in thethird century B.C., was the first ruler of a unified India and oneof the greatest political figures of all time. After he embracedthe teachings of the Buddha, he transformed his polity fromone of military conquest to one of Dharmavijaya — victory byrighteousness and truth. By providing royal patronage for thepropagation of Buddhism both within and beyond his empire,he helped promote the metamorphosis of Buddhism into aworld religion that spread peacefully across the face of Asia.The present collection of essays by leading Indologicalscholars draws upon both the inscriptions and the literary traditionsto explore the relationship between King Aśoka andthe religion he embraced. In highlighting the ways in whichAśoka tapped the ethical and spiritual potentials of rulership,these papers deliver a message highly relevant to our owntime, when politics and spirituality often seem pitted againstone another in irreconcilable opposition.Contents: Richard Gombrich: Aśoka-The Great Upāsaka; RomilaThapar: Aśoka and Buddhism as Reflected in the Aśokan Edicts;Ananda W.P. Guruge: Unresolved Discrepancies between BuddhistTradition and Aśokan Inscriptions; N.A. Jayawickrama: Aśoka’sEdicts and the Third Buddhist Council; Anuradha Seneviratna:Aśoka and the Emergence of a Sinhala Buddhist State in Sri Lanka;John S. Strong: Images of Aśoka; Ananda W.P. Guruge: EmperorAśoka’s Place in History.Cover design by Mahinda Jeevanandaiv
Page 1 and 2: King Asoka and BuddhismHistorical &
Page 7 and 8: Anuradha Seneviratna is Professor o
Page 9 and 10: 8. Conclusions ....................
Page 11 and 12: Editor’s PrefaceALARGE NUMBER OF
Page 13 and 14: AcknowledgementsTHE EDITOR AND PUBL
Page 15 and 16: unit of a new order of magnitude in
Page 17 and 18: eally mean by kamma, etc. Aśoka do
Page 19 and 20: laity are to come each uposatha to
Page 21 and 22: says to the elder, “Since the Sa
Page 23 and 24: “Defender of the Faith,” called
Page 25 and 26: sources say 42 that Mahinda stayed
Page 27 and 28: 22. Bhabra inscription.23. Kosam, S
Page 29 and 30: eflect a more complex situation but
Page 31 and 32: in Kalinga. The Major Rock Edict XI
Page 33 and 34: in addressing the sangha. He states
Page 35 and 36: as a reference to true and false go
Page 37 and 38: to elephant-keepers was to chiefs w
Page 39 and 40: We are used to treating the Mauryan
Page 41 and 42: to in the edicts and in relation to
Page 43 and 44: all future conquests will be by per
Page 45 and 46: possibly fully aware of their role
Page 47 and 48: The discussion on what constitutes
Page 49 and 50: patronage which he extended to it d
Page 51 and 52: The country of the Kalingas was con
Page 53 and 54:
that they should adopt the policy o
Page 55 and 56:
4. Was he actually involved in the
Page 57 and 58:
(3) MRE III, a unique text found on
Page 59 and 60:
oped a closer association with monk
Page 61 and 62:
Now comes the problem of reconcilin
Page 63 and 64:
6 th Aśoka intervenes in the suspe
Page 65 and 66:
The central issues before the histo
Page 67 and 68:
This is due to the repentance of th
Page 69 and 70:
There are some topics which have be
Page 71 and 72:
Therefore, acting accordingly, you
Page 73 and 74:
other suitable occasions on any day
Page 75 and 76:
RE XII is Aśoka’s Magna Carta on
Page 77 and 78:
version to Buddhism persists as reg
Page 79 and 80:
these texts. Twice in MRE III he ca
Page 81 and 82:
These teachings, in fact, are the v
Page 83 and 84:
If Aśoka was responsible for this
Page 85 and 86:
Conspicuous by its absence is any r
Page 87 and 88:
Antiyoka (also mentioned in RE II):
Page 89 and 90:
missions to Greek kingdoms in the d
Page 91 and 92:
Here again, the Sri Lankan Pali sou
Page 93 and 94:
monk responsible for his conversion
Page 95 and 96:
had to be altered in the light of n
Page 97 and 98:
Notes1. H.G. Wells, The Outline of
Page 99 and 100:
Thapar, Aśoka and the Decline of t
Page 101 and 102:
points worth considering.” T.W. R
Page 103 and 104:
were instituted. Duties and functio
Page 105 and 106:
4Aśoka’s Edicts and the ThirdBud
Page 107 and 108:
step further in describing the last
Page 109 and 110:
All these references are of great s
Page 111 and 112:
names of the suttas are given in th
Page 113 and 114:
and giving them white clothes he di
Page 115 and 116:
in the previous sentence. All event
Page 117 and 118:
sibility for disrobing the heretics
Page 119 and 120:
Notes1. More than anywhere else in
Page 121 and 122:
ut I did not make great progress fo
Page 123 and 124:
gave protection to the Order and en
Page 125 and 126:
philosophy of life with others livi
Page 127 and 128:
concluded that the Mahāvaṃsa was
Page 129 and 130:
mission to Sri Lanka by assigning A
Page 131 and 132:
4. The Political BackgroundDuring A
Page 133 and 134:
after the conquest of Kalinga the B
Page 135 and 136:
5. The Sri Lanka-Kalinga TieThe pol
Page 137 and 138:
Dharmapradīpikā of the 13 th cent
Page 139 and 140:
envoys bearing valuable presents to
Page 141 and 142:
The adoption by Tissa of the title
Page 143 and 144:
successfully paint his glowing pict
Page 145 and 146:
monks because they spent some time
Page 147 and 148:
Devānampiyatissa was a form of the
Page 149 and 150:
concept of Dharma, the Universal La
Page 151 and 152:
16. Thapar, A History of India, 1:7
Page 153 and 154:
45. JRAS (CB), 1929, p. 282; Adikar
Page 155 and 156:
starting point for a study of the g
Page 157 and 158:
In the North Indian tradition, howe
Page 159 and 160:
A. The Early Traditions1. The Gift
Page 161 and 162:
the Aśokāvadāna are rather diffe
Page 163 and 164:
This is not to say that Aśoka in t
Page 165 and 166:
ways serve to beget more cruelty, f
Page 167 and 168:
There is in this a kind of Sinhales
Page 169 and 170:
and King Ajātasattu brought there
Page 171 and 172:
When he heard: “There are eighty-
Page 173 and 174:
time, it is claimed, the Buddha mer
Page 175 and 176:
B. Later DevelopmentsWe have looked
Page 177 and 178:
the fairly late (14 th century?) Da
Page 179 and 180:
interpretation of Kṣemendra seems
Page 181 and 182:
taking the construction of 84,000 s
Page 183 and 184:
Having passed this first checkpoint
Page 185 and 186:
so meditating, the flames did not h
Page 187 and 188:
Notes1. N.A. Nikam and Richard McKe
Page 189 and 190:
13. See P.H.L. Eggermont, “New No
Page 191 and 192:
34. See the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta
Page 193 and 194:
53. Jacqueline ver Eecke, ed. and t
Page 195 and 196:
7Emperor Aśoka’s Place in Histor
Page 197 and 198:
dition has highlighted as its conce
Page 199 and 200:
These verses are interpreted as con
Page 201 and 202:
in Kalhaṇa’s Rājataraṅgiṇ
Page 203 and 204:
purpose has been religious edificat
Page 205 and 206:
(2) The genealogy had been wrongly
Page 207 and 208:
holy places connected with the Budd
Page 209 and 210:
Aśoka, as elaborated in the previo
Page 211 and 212:
est in both recording and studying
Page 213 and 214:
Buddhist countries, 47 namely, Burm
Page 215 and 216:
apart — provide substantial infor
Page 217 and 218:
from them a rousing welcome charact
Page 219 and 220:
how he had been touched to believe
Page 221 and 222:
Nehru who said, “Aśoka is one of
Page 223 and 224:
explanation. So they continued to q
Page 225 and 226:
He had, nevertheless, to admit that
Page 227 and 228:
The Mauryan period was the culminat
Page 229 and 230:
problems of his times. It is quite
Page 231 and 232:
identification with Buddhism for ma
Page 233 and 234:
Being speculations built upon impre
Page 235 and 236:
The majority of the Indian scholars
Page 237 and 238:
Notes1. Although Asiatic Researches
Page 239 and 240:
11. Stein, Vol. I, pp. 74 - 75.12.
Page 241 and 242:
29. Ibid., pp. 239 - 40 (C & N ed.,
Page 243 and 244:
y Ratanapala of Thailand in 1517, g
Page 245 and 246:
54. H.G. Wells, The Outline of Hist
Page 247 and 248:
82. Ibid., pp. 142 - 43.83. Ibid.,
Page 249:
Areas to which Buddhist Missions we
show all

King Asoka and Buddhism - Urban Dharma

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?