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Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c15.s1.t5: Measures adopted to disseminate Instructions in the Law of Piety

Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c15.s1.t5

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Measures adopted to disseminate Instructions in the Law of Piety

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Though himself convinced of the truth of the Buddha's teaching, of the efficacy of worship at Buddist holy places, of the necessity of making a confession of faith in the Buddhist Trinity, of keeping in close touch with the Buddhist Order of monks and maintaining its discipline and solidarity, Aśoka probably never sought to impose his purely sectarian belief on others. He attempted, however, to put an end to practices and institutions that he considered to be opposed to the fundamental principles of morality which, according to him, constituted the essence of all religious. The prospect that he held before the people at large is not that of *sambodhi* (or of *nirvāṇa*) but of *svarga* (heaven) and of mingling with the *devas*. *Svarga* could be attained and the gods could be approached by all people, high or low, if only they showed *parākrama*, zeal, not in adherence to a sectarian dogma or the performance of barren ritual (*maṁgala*) but in following the ancient rule (*porāṇā pakitī*), the common heritage of Indians of all denominations, *viz*., “obedience must be rendered to parents and elders ; firmness (of compassion) must be shown towards living creatures ; truth must be spoken ; these same moral virtues must be practised. In the same way the teacher must be reverenced by the pupil, and fitting courtesy should be shown to the relatives.” In Edict XIII we have the following : “hearkening to superiors, hearkening to father and mother, hearkening to teachers (or elders), and proper treatment of friends, acquaintances, comrades, relatives, slaves¹ and servants, with steadfastness of devotion.” Edict VII lays stress on “mastery over the senses, purity of mind, gratitude, and steady devotion”. In the Second Pillar Edict it is declared that the Law of Piety consisted in *Apāsinave*, *bahukayāne*, *dayā*, *dāne*, *sache* *sochaye*, “little impiety, many good deeds, compassion, liberality, truthfulness, purity”.

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¹ For the question of slavery in Maurya India, see Monahan, *Early History of Bengal*, pp. 164-65. It is to be noted that Aśoka did not abolish slavery, just as he did not do away with caste or *purdah*. He simply wanted to mitigate the rigours of the existing social polity.

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In the Pillar Edicts again prominence is given to self-examination and spiritual insight. Towards the end of his career Aśoka seems to have been convinced that reflection and meditation were of greater efficacy than moral regulations. But the need for such regulations was keenly felt by him in the early years of his reign.

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We learn from Minor Rock Edict I that for more than two-and-a-half years Aśoka was a lay disciple (*Upāsaka*). During the first year he did not exert himself strenuously. Later on he seems to have *entered*¹ the *Saṅgha* and begun to exert himself strenuously.² He issued the famous proclamation, "Let small and great exert themselves," and caused to be engraved the imperishable record of his purpose on the rocks and upon stone pillars wherever there were stone pillars in his dominions.

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¹ "Approached," according to Hultzsch, in whose opinion the two-and-a-half years of *Upāsakatva* include the period which followed his "visit" (not "entry") to the *Saṅgha*. The view that Aśoka actually joined the Holy Order is, however, supported by I-tsing who mentions an image of Aśoka dressed in the garb of a Buddhist monk (Takakusu, *I-tsing*, 73). That rulers and statesmen could be monks as well, even in early times, appears probable from Lüders Ins. No. 1144 which refers to a *Śramaṇa mahāmātra* of Nāsik in the days of the early Sātavāhana king Kṛishṇa, *Cf.* Milinda, IV.6. 49 (ref. to a Śramaṇa King); Geiger, trans., *Mahāvaṁsa*, 240 (Kuṭakaṇṇa Tissa).

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² Rock Edict IV has been interpreted by scholars to mean that Aśoka sought to promote the observance of the Buddhist doctrine by exhibiting spectacles of aerial chariots (*Vimānadasanā*), of elephants (*Hastidasanā*), masses of fire (*Agikhaṁdhāni*) and other representations of a *divya*, i.e., divine (not terrestrial) nature. Dr. Bhandarkar (*Ind. Ant.*, 1912, p. 26), refers to the Pāli *Vimānavatthu* which describes the splendour of the various celestial abodes (Vimānas) in order to induce listeners and spectators to live good and unblemished lives, and thereby attain to these. Aśoka is said to have made representations of these Vimānas and paraded them in various places. *Hasti*, according to Dr. Bhandarkar, is *Sveto hasti*, i e., Buddha himself who is also described as "*Gajatama*," i.e., Gajottama, the most excellent elephant. As regards *Agikhaṁdha* (*Agniskandha*) Dr. Bhandarkar draws our attention to *Jātaka* No. 40 which refers to a blazing fire-pit created by Māra on the surface of which the Bodhisattva strode and gave a bowl to a hungry *Pachcheka Buddha* and extolled alms-giving. Hultzsch suggests that *Hasti* may refer to the vehicles of the four "*Mahārājas*" (*lokapālas* or guardians of quarters). He takes *Agikaṁdha* to refer to 'radiant beings of another world' while Jarl Charpentier (*IHQ*, 1933, 87) understands it to mean piles of (hell-) fire. The interpretation of Hultzsch accords better with the testimony of the commentary on the *Rāmāyaṇa* (II. 68. 16) which explains *divyāni* as *viśishṭa devatādhishṭhitam*. The celestial elephant figures prominently in the Tārāvaloka story of the *Kathā-sarit-sāgara* (Penzer, VIII. 131), and Mountain of fire, *ibid* 50, 51; III. 6, 17; Cf. also *aggi-khando* in *Jataka*, VI 330, Coomaraswamy in B. C. Law. vol. I. 469; Note the *Sutta* referred to in Geiger, *Mahāvaṁsa*, trans. pp. 85, 110. The passage containing the words *Vimānadasanā, Hastidasanā, etc.* has been explained differently in *A Volume of Indian Studies presented to Professor E. J. Rapson*, p. 546 f. According to the interpretation that finds favour with some writers, the spectacles in question were exhibited not by Aśoka but by previous rulers to the accompaniment of the sound of drums. But thanks to Aśoka “the sound of the bheri had become the sound of *dharma*,” that is to say instruction in dharma took the place of martial music that used to be heard on the occasion of pompous shows of edifying subjects in bygone times. What former kings could not accomplish by gaudy spectacles, was achieved by Aśoka by the simple unostentatious teaching of the true Doctrine. The *bheri* was now used to announce the king’s rescripts on morality, cf. the Yerraguḍi copy of the Minor Rock Edict—*Rājuke ānapitaviye bherinā jānapadaṁ ānāpayisati raṭhikānaṁ cha* (*Ind. Culture*, I, p. 310; IHQ, 1933, 117).

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Aśoka at first utilised the existing administrative machinery for religious propaganda.¹ He commanded his Council (*Parishad*) to inculcate the *Dharma* on the subordinate officials styled *Yutas* and ordered the latter as well as the higher officials styled *Rājūkas*, and *Prādeśikas* to inculcate the same while they set out for tour (*anusaṁyāna*). The *Dharma* which they were to preach was explained thus: “An excellent thing is the hearkening to father and mother²; an excellent thing is liberality to friends, acquaintances, relatives, Brāhmaṇas and ascetics; excellent is abstention from the slaughter of living creatures; excellent is small expense with small accumulation.”

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¹ According to one view Aśoka sent special missionaries styled *Vyuṭha* to expound his teaching. The interpretation of *Vyuṭha* as missionary was suggested by Senart and accepted by Smith (*Aśoka*, Third Ed., p. 153 Dr. Bhandarkar takes *Vyuṭha* or *Vivutha* to mean “officials on tour.” Hultzsch thinks that *Vyuṭha* refers to Aśoka himself while he was on tour (p. 169, note 8). The word has also the sense of dawn, day-break, day, in other words, it has a chronological significance. Other interpretations are also suggested by scholars. The least plausible is the one offered by Dr. Barua (*D. R. Bhandarkar* volume, 369.) who finds in the expression reference to the copies of the particular proclamation sent forth from the capital.

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² Cf. *Sigālovāda Suttanta* (*Dialogues of the Buddha*. III, 173 ff).

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When he had been consecrated thirteen years, Aśoka created the new officials called *Dharma-mahāmātras* who were specially entrusted with the work of "*dhammādhi-thāna*" and "*dhammavadhi*", *i.e.*, the establishment and increase of Piety.

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While his officers were busy preaching the new Gospel, the emperor himself did not remain idle. Already in his eleventh regnal year he had "started on the path" leading to *Sambodhi* (*ayāya Sambodhim*)¹ and commenced the tours of Piety (*Dhamma-yātā*) in the place of the old tours of pleasure (*Vihāra-yātā*). In the tours of Piety this was the practice—visiting ascetics and Brāhmaṇas, with liberality to them; visiting elders, with largess of gold; visiting the people of the country or perhaps rural areas (*Janapada*) with instruction in the Law of Piety, and discussion of that law. The memory of a pious tour in Aśokas twenty-first regnal year² (B. C. 249 according to Smith) is preserved by the Rummindeī and Nigālī Sāgar epigraphs in the Nepalese Tarai. These records prove that Aśoka visited the birth-place of Gautama and paid reverence to the *stupa* of Konākamana, one of the former Buddhas.³

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¹ Some scholars take *Sambodhi* to mean 'supreme knowledge'. But Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar contends that *Sambodhi* is equivalent to the Bodhi Tree or the Mahābodhi Temple at Bodh Gayā. According to the *Divyāvadāna* (p. 393) Aśoka visited Bodhi in the company of the *Sthavira* or Elder Upagupta (Hultzsch, CII, xliii).

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² Were these tours decennial?

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³ He had enlarged the stupa of Konākamana six years earlier, but the personal presence on that occasion is by no means clear.

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In 242 B.C., according to Dr. Smith, Aśoka issued the Seven Pillar Edicts which contain, among other things, a review of the measures taken during his reign for the "promotion of religion, the teaching of moral duty".

Cites (7)