King Asoka and Buddhism - Urban Dharma

earlier, the creation of the new cadre of Dharma-Mahāmātrasthirteen years after the coronation is, in every likelihood, thestarting point of his Dharmavijaya. Thus a mission to Magascould most reasonably be fixed between 13 and 15 years aftercoronation. This would of course, favour 273 – 272 B.C. as themost acceptable date proferred for Aśoka’s coronation. But severalmajor issues relating to Aśoka’s foreign missions remainto be solved. A number of specially convincing synchronizationsin Sri Lankan history favours 270 – 269 B.C. This wouldmean that Aśoka’s programme of disseminating the Dhammabegan around the tenth year after coronation. 40The most fundamental of such issues relates to whetherAśoka ever sent Buddhist missionaries to the Greek territoriesspecified in RE XIII. It was Rhys Davids who, in 1902, expressedhis initial doubts in the following terms:It is difficult to say how much of it is mere royal rodomontade.It is quite likely that the Greek kings are only thrown inby way of makeweight as it were and that no emissaries hadbeen actually sent there at all. Even had they been sent, there islittle reason to believe that Greek self-complacency would havebeen much disturbed. Aśoka’s estimate of the results obtainedis better evidence of his own vanity than it is of Greek docility.We may imagine the Greek amusement at the absurd idea ofa “barbarian” teaching them their duty; but we can scarcelyimagine them discarding their gods and their superstitions atthe bidding of an alien king.”He proceeded to analyze the data in the Sri Lankan chroniclesand elaborated his view further as follows:The Chronicles thus not only confirm but also supplementAśoka’s information about the missions. And when we find thatthey ascribe the sending out of the missionaries, not to Aśoka, but tothe leaders of the Order, and that they make no mention of any such75