King Asoka and Buddhism - Urban Dharma

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ecords relating to Dharma, appointed Mahāmātras to deal with theaffairs connected with Dharma, and issued proclamations on Dharma.Those Dharma-Mahāmātras of mine are occupied with variouskinds of activities which are beneficial both to ascetics andto householders. And they are occupied with all the religioussects. I have arranged that some of them will be occupied withthe affairs of the Saṅgha. Likewise I have arranged that some ofthem will be occupied with the Brāhmaṇas and Ājīvakas. SimilarlyI have arranged that some of them will be occupied withthe Nirgranthas. In the same way I have arranged that some ofthem will be occupied with various other religious sects. Thedifferent Mahāmātras are occupied not only with the communitiesreferred to above, but also with the other sects not mentionedspecifically.My intention is that the noble deeds of Dharma and the practiceof Dharma which consists of compassion, liberality, truthfulness,purity, gentleness and goodness will thus be promoted among men.Whatever good deeds I have performed, those the peoplehave imitated and to those they are conforming. Thereby theyhave progressed and will progress further in respect of obedienceto mother and father, obedience to elders, courtesy to theaged and courtesy to the Brāhmaṇas and Śramaṇas, to the poorand the distressed, and even to slaves and servants.This progress of Dharma among men has been promotedby me only in two ways, viz., by imposing restrictions in accordancewith the principles of Dharma and by exhortation. But ofthese two, the restrictions relating to Dharma are of little consequence.By exhortation, however, Dharma has been promoted considerably.The restrictions relating to Dharma are, indeed, such ashave been enjoined by me, viz., that certain animals are exemptfrom slaughter, and also the numerous other restrictions relatingto Dharma that I have imposed. The progress of Dharma amongmen has indeed been promoted by me considerably by exhortationin regard to the abstention from hurting any living beingand abstention from killing any animal. (Emphasis mine.)71
Conspicuous by its absence is any reference in this particularinscription to foreign missions. If Aśoka assigned high priorityto dissemination of Dharma beyond his dominions, whywas this fact left out from what appears to be a comprehensiverecord of his achievements? But three edicts record Aśoka’srelations with territories outside his empire. RE II, which inthe series RE I – IV is dated not earlier than twelve years aftercoronation, speaks of the social service measures that Aśokaundertook in the bordering territories:Everywhere in the dominions of King Priyadarśī the Beloved ofthe Gods, and likewise in the bordering territories such as those of theChoḍas and Pāṇḍyas as well as of the Sātiyaputra and the Keralaputraas far south as Tāmraparṇi, and in the territories of the Yavanaking Antiyoka and also the kings who are neighbours of the said Antiyoka— everywhere King Priyadarśī, Beloved of the Gods, hasarranged for two kinds of medical treatment, viz., medical treatmentfor men and medical treatment for animals. And whereverthere were no roots and fruits, they have been caused to beimported and planted. On the roads, wells have been caused tobe dug and trees have been caused to be planted for the enjoymentof animals and men.RE V, which is not dated but definitely written after the creationof the posts of Dharma-Mahāmātras thirteen years aftercoronation, speaks of the propagation of Dharma in territoriesof the western frontiers of Aśoka’s empire:In the ages gone by, there were no officers called Dharma-Mahāmātras. So I created the posts of Dharma-Mahāmātrasthirteen years after my coronation. These officers are occupiedwith all the religious sects for the establishment of Dharmaand for the promotion of Dharma as well as for the welfare andhappiness of those who are devoted to Dharma even among theYavanas, Kāmbojas and Gandhāras, the Rāshtrikapaitryānikas and72
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King Asoka and BuddhismHistorical &
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Buddhism / Indian History / Asian S
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ContentsThe Contributors ..........
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3. The Gathering of the Relics ....
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owing to the inability of certain s
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1Aśoka — The Great UpāsakaRICHA
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Buddhism which Aśoka announced in
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not only urges diligence on others,
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84,000 monasteries and as many stū
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e Aśoka, a layman, who tests monks
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eousness can hardly have been Buddh
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Notes1. P.H.L. Eggermont, The Chron
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2Aśoka and Buddhism as Reflectedin
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elation to Brahmanism. There was ce
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the correct doctrine. What is of si
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Page 36 and 37: days remains unclear unless the com
Page 38 and 39: since he showed them the way and th
Page 40 and 41: the importance of trade, the first
Page 42 and 43: accordance with dhamma was preferab
Page 44 and 45: in Kalinga, is interestingly omitte
Page 46 and 47: was largely absent. The phrase that
Page 48 and 49: That the larger corpus of edicts we
Page 50 and 51: 3Emperor Aśoka and Buddhism:Unreso
Page 52 and 53: to punish them for their crimes, so
Page 54 and 55: Aśokan scholars since the 1830’s
Page 56 and 57: Pandukabhaya had built them a resid
Page 58 and 59: The Mahāmātras stationed at Kauś
Page 60 and 61: The Sri Lankan Pali records, which
Page 62 and 63: problem. Nor would there be a diffi
Page 64 and 65: 17 th Gets concerned over indiscipl
Page 66 and 67: to gratify ambition and enrich the
Page 68 and 69: whose central theme is the conquest
Page 70 and 71: are altogether silent on a Kalinga
Page 72 and 73: All men are my children. Just as, i
Page 74 and 75: within his dominions. The frontier
Page 76 and 77: tendents of matters relating to the
Page 78 and 79: edicts addressed to the Saṅgha; a
Page 80 and 81: evidence of Aśoka’s own lithic r
Page 82 and 83: all these sermons could be describe
Page 86 and 87: the other peoples dwelling about th
Page 88 and 89: earlier, the creation of the new ca
Page 90 and 91: five Greek kings among themselves a
Page 92 and 93: gratitude, amounting at times to sh
Page 94 and 95: e inconsistencies begin to make sen
Page 96 and 97: onistically with a brahmin exponent
Page 98 and 99: 3 rd ed. rev. (New Delhi: Governmen
Page 100 and 101: far been found, the latest being th
Page 102 and 103: made, it rendered subsequent steps
Page 104 and 105: its Culture, 2nd. ed. rev. (Colombo
Page 106 and 107: The central theme in the majority o
Page 108 and 109: on a statement made by I-tsing 5 th
Page 110 and 111: confused accounts of the Sanskrit S
Page 112 and 113: the Vinaya. Some of them tended the
Page 114 and 115: In the foregoing data we have two i
Page 116 and 117: Aśoka cannot be expected to decide
Page 118 and 119: and while Aśoka who meted out such
Page 120 and 121: (2) Aliyavasāni (P. Ariyavaṃsān
Page 122 and 123: to it as sambuddhasamayaṃ, “the
Page 124 and 125: 5Aśoka and the Emergence of a Sinh
Page 126 and 127: 5. the Mahābodhivaṃsa (10 th or
Page 128 and 129: 3. The Mission to Sri Lanka: Brief
Page 130 and 131: was planted in the Mahāmegha Park
Page 132 and 133: disbelieve these events associated
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and he saw to it that his actions s
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at Kalinga, would have paid special
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missionaries to propagate the Buddh
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To the first question the answer is
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fore Mahinda Thera’s Buddhist mis
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and the countries they visited. 47
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order. 55 Their son Sumana was a me
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it to wither away. But Aśoka manag
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Notes1. G.P. Malalasekera, ed. Va
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ical and Social Studies, Vol. I, No
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6Images of Aśoka:Some Indian and S
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legends and stories that were told
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Sanskrit avadānas each have their
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who pointed out the honey store bec
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the Fierce — an appellation that
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the end of Aśoka’s life, it is o
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somewhat regained consciousness, he
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elics of the Buddha for redistribut
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the glory of Sri Lanka and on its p
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Secondly, related to this are the d
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It is clear, then, that this is a t
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how in the Aśokāvadāna these wer
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eborn as a god in one of the heaven
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the night, the guardian gods came t
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monarch bested by a nāga, nor, out
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as Japan were inspired to emulate i
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ConclusionWith this Lokapaññatti
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6. A.L. Basham, “The Rise of Budd
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y dint of his military power. This
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43. Strong, p. 192. Upagupta has al
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62. T.W. Rhys Davids, E. Carpenter,
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sequently carried on in the histori
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Aśoka remained largely a name in t
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of Jalauka’s name in other record
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the Sanskrit original is no longer
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Upagupta commanded immense venerati
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(5) His conversion to Buddhism is a
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whose noble fame travelled far and
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surrounded by a coating of inventio
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missionary role claimed by Aśoka i
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Aśoka and, by implication, these m
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of forbearance and light punishment
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from the pens of many an intellectu
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ascribed to Aśoka ideas and deeds
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the only scholar of the West to dis
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such a way that no heretical monks
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(2) that he used Buddhism — or ra
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in this by the fact that these sect
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of the land’s greatest moments in
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ecame infinitely more spiritual. Bu
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frontier areas as a reaction agains
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Present-day India has been so impre
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3. K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, Age of th
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y V. Sirinivasa Sarma (Delhi: Banar
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Pali et Traduction, L’Ecole fran
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I have drawn closer to the Sangha a
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The chronological constraints have
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MapsAśoka’s Indian Empire235
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