King Asoka and Buddhism - Urban Dharma

to gratify ambition and enrich the State, served to crystallizeinto convictions impressions that had been slowly forming inhis mind. (Emphasis mine.)”The issues listed above arise simply because Aśoka had notstated how and when he came into contact with Buddhism.The confusion among most scholars had arisen because RE XIIIhas been generally interpreted as an account of Aśoka’s conversionto Buddhism.” Such an interpretation accords with thepopular concept of psychological change following from a tellingoccurrence in a person’s life (e.g. the sight of the sick, theold, the dead and the ascetic, which turned the Buddha on hisway to renunciation). A very careful scrutiny of this Edict incomparison with MRE I would show that it is the latter whichdescribes his conversion to Buddhism rather than the former.What RE XIII recounts is Aśoka’s intense emotional experiencewhich prompted him to change his policy of dig-vijaya(i.e. imperialist expansion as enjoined as a major duty of a kingaccording to the Hindu dharmaśāstras) 28 to dharmavijaya or conquestthrough righteousness. The purpose of this Edict wasspecific, to dissuade his sons and grandsons from resorting toconquest by arms: “that they should regard conquest throughDharma (dharmavijaya) as the true conquest. Such a conquestbrings happiness to all concerned both in this world and inthe next.”In Aśoka’s own words, the effect of the Kalinga war onhimself was as follows:Now that the country of the Kalingas has been conquered, theBeloved of the Gods is devoted to an intense practice of theduties relating to the Dharma, [or, according to other versionsof the Edict, zealous discussion of Dharma], to a longing forDharma and to the inculcation of Dharma among the people.53