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Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c39.s3: Aśoka

Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c39.s3

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Aśoka

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The two outstanding Maurya rulers, Candragupta and Aśoka, put into shade the glories of the other rulers of this dynasty. Candragupta again was surpassed by his grandson Aśoka, who not only extended his dominion but also consolidated his vast empire and brought peace and happiness to his innumerable subjects. He had the rare courage and intelligence to see through the aims and activities of his ministers and never allowed himself to be ruled by them. Untrammelled by the age-long traditional beliefs and customs, he freely exercised his power of judgment in order to distinguish the right from the wrong, be it a secular or a religious matter. No reliable history of this great ruler, to our regret, has come down to us but

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help of Cāṇakya extended his dominion from the eastern to the western ocean... During the reign of this king a monastery called Kusumālaṅkāra was built at Kusumapura. In this monastery lived Ācārya Mātrceta, who spread both Hinayāna and Mahāyāna. About this time Bindusāra's brother's son king Śricandra erected a temple of Avalokiteśvara and maintained 2000 monks of the Mahāyāna school. Tāranātha, it seems, had made some confusion of the name of Bindusāra with that of a later king.

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many distinguished scholars have reconstructed the history of this great man from the several inscriptions left by him, and the traditions preserved in the Buddhist-Sanskrit and Pāli texts. These traditions¹ have not been so exhaustively studied as the inscriptions and so we have thought it fit to give them here in bare outlines to enable the readers to find out from the mass of legends the common nuclei which might be taken as authentic.

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¹ There are four Aśokan stories in the *Divyāvadāna* (pp. 369-434), viz., *Paṃsupradāna*, *Kuṇāla*, *Vitaśoka* and *Aśoka*.

Buddhist-Sanskrit Traditions

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*Succession:* Bindusāra married a brahmin girl and had by her two sons Aśoka and Vītaśoka.² One day he enquired of Piṅgalavatsa, an Ājīvaka monk, as to which of his sons would ascend the throne after him, and found out from Piṅgalavatsa’s hint that Aśoka would succeed him. Piṅgalavatsa, after making this prophecy, left the place for a border country for safety. About this time, there was a revolt at Takṣaśilā. To quell the revolt Bindusāra deputed Aśoka, who carried out the mission successfully. Meanwhile, Bindusāra’s ministers became displeased with the manners of Susīma, the eldest son of Bindusāra, and wanted to place Aśoka on the throne, though it was not the will of the old king. A fight ensued between Aśoka and Susīma, and the latter was ultimately killed and Aśoka seized the throne. Susīma’s valiant soldiers, who were left alive, entered the Buddhist Saṅgha as monks, and in course of time, became *arhats*.

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² Wassiljew’s notes in Tāranātha’s *Geschichte des Buadhismus*, p. 287; Divyā., p. 369.

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*Conversion:* After accession to the throne, Aśoka put the old ministers, excepting Rādhagupta, to death. He made Rādhagupta his chief minister.¹ At his advice he appointed a hangman called Caṇḍagirika, who by nature was cruel and ferocious. Aśoka built for him a house, into which, it was ordained, whoever should enter would be put to death by Caṇḍagirika. The house was similar in conception to the hell described in the Buddhist text called *Bālapaṇḍita Sūtra*. One day, a bhikṣu called Samudra unknowingly entered into the house and was placed on fire, but he could not be burnt to death. On the other hand, he showed some miracles and reiterated the prophecy of the Teacher that one hundred years after his *pari-nirvāṇa*, Aśoka would become the monarch with his capital at Pāṭaliputra, and that he would propagate the religion widely by erecting stūpas over the relics of the Teacher. On hearing this episode of Samudra, Aśoka became repentant, confessed his sins, and asked for pardon. He ultimately took refuge in the saint, in the Buddha and in his *Dharma*.² After developing faith in the *Triratna* he used to salute the monks everywhere, whether alone or in the midst of many, much to the chagrin of his minister Yaśas, who, although a devotee of Buddha, wanted the king to discriminate among the monks by their original castes but Aśoka resented the idea and explained to him how mistaken was his notion.³

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*Erection of Stūpas:* At this time, Bhikṣu Yaśas was the Saṅghatthera at Pāṭaliputra, where was situated the monastery

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1. In one of their previous lives, it is said that Rādhagupta approved the gift made by Aśoka when as a child he gave some mud as rice-gruel to Buddha who accepted the gift and foretold that Aśoka would be reborn as a king of Pāṭaliputra and disseminate his religion. See *Divyā.*, p. 402.
2. *Divyā.*, p. 380.
3. *Divyā.*, p. 382.

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Kurkuṭārāma. Aśoka approached him and expressed his desire to erect stūpas over the relics. He had the relics deposited in the stūpas erected by Ajātaśatru and others opened up, dividing them into several portions for constructing stūpas over them at different places. All these stūpas were completed on the same day and hour, and from that day onwards Aśoka came to be known as Dharmāśoka instead of Caṇḍāśoka.

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About this time he heard the name of Upagupta, the renowned monk of Mathurā, and probably the Saṅghatthera of the place, and became anxious to make his acquaintance. Upagupta also, on coming to know of Aśoka's change of heart and desire to propagate the religion, came down to Pāṭaliputra and was royally received by the king. Aśoka laid bare his heart before him and declared that he was prepared to sacrifice his self, son, house, wife, treasury and kingdom for the sake of the religion¹ and that he wanted his help to propagate the religion further by marking the spots sanctified by the Teacher by his presence on different occasions during his life-time. A detailed geographical account of the peregrinations of Buddha was then given by Upagupta,² and Aśoka marked every spot sanctified by Buddha's presence by a stūpa.

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¹ Divyā., p. 388: आत्मापुत्रं गृहं दारान् पृथिवीं कोशमेव च। न किञ्चिदपरित्यक्तं धर्मराजस्य शासने॥ Cf. also, pp. 403, 429.

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² He was first taken to Lumbinivana, then to the different sites of Kapilāvastu, then the meeting places of Gautama with Bimbisāra, Ārāḍa, Rudraka, Nandabālā. Then he was shown Bodhimūla, the way to Vārāṇasī, Ṛṣipatana and Kuśinagara. Cf. Watters, II, p. 91.

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The spots sanctified by the demise of Śāriputra, Maudgalyāyana, Mahākāśyapa, Vakkula and Ānanda were also pointed out by Upagupta and marked by Aśoka with stūpas.

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Quinquennial ceremonies of gifts: Aśoka then instituted the quinquennial assemblies of Buddhist monks¹ for offering gifts to monks of all quarters which included Tamasāvana (in Kashmīr), Revataka (in Mahāvana), Śairīṣaka (in Anavataptahrada), and Gandhamādana mountains. After taking bath he used to put on new clothes with wide borders,² observe the eight śilas prescribed for the lay-devotees, and then make his offerings to the monks of all quarters.

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¹ Divyā., p. 398: सायंमद्य च करिष्यामि सत्कारं पञ्चवार्षिकम् ।

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² Divyā., p. 398: बालाग्रतानि वासांसि नवानि दीर्घदशादि प्रावृत्याष्टाङ्-समन्वागतमुपवासमुपोष etc.

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In the quinquennial assembly, he came across two Ubhaya-tobhāgavimuktau arhats,³ and out of deep veneration for them, he started offering robes to the monks in addition to food.

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³ Divyā., p. 404. For the two classes of Arhats, see *Aspects of Mahāyāna Buddhism*, p. 276.

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Bathing Bodhi-tree: Besides his offerings to the monks, he worshipped the Bodhi-tree and spent large sums on its worship. His devotion to the Bodhi-tree rose to such a pitch that it even roused the jealousy of his queen Tiṣyarakṣitā, who once contrived to have the Bodhi-tree destroyed. At the instance of Piṇḍola Bharadvāja he instituted the ceremony of bathing the Bodhi-tree, before offering gifts to the monks.

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Buddha's Image: While holding the quinquennial ceremony of gifts, he found out that the oldest monk living at the time was Piṇḍola Bharadvāja, who was then residing at a place on the north of Śatarājya in the Gandhamādana mountains, and that he had seen Buddha many times. He listened to his description of Buddha's figure, which was endowed with all the major and minor signs. He was highly pleased with the account but there is no mention of Aśoka’s attempt to make an image.

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*Conversion of Vitaśoka:* When Aśoka had become an ardent devotee of Buddha, erected several stūpas, instituted the quinquennial offerings to the Saṅgha and gave alms daily to countless monks, his brother continued to be an adherent of a non-Buddhist sect, condemning the Śākyaputrīya Śramaṇas as unfit for attaining emancipation on account of their easy going life.¹ In order to convince Vitaśoka of the excellence of the Buddhist way of life, Aśoka put his brother on the throne with all the royal paraphernalia for one week on the condition that he would be put to death after that time. Vitaśoka could not enjoy his royalty due to fear of death and became emaciated. Then Aśoka pointed out to him that how the Buddhist monks, who constantly cogitated on the end of their lives, could enjoy food and other articles of use. Vitaśoka realised the value of Aśoka’s instruction and became a convert to Buddhism. He was ordained by Yaśas, the Saṅghasthavira of Kurkuṭārāma. He, however, being a member of the royal family, received too much attention from the people of Pāṭaliputra, and so seeking solitude he went to a monastery in Videha to complete his spiritual exercises. After attaining *arhathood*, Vitaśoka paid a visit to Aśoka, and delivered to him and Rādhagupta a discourse.

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¹ *Divyā*, p. 419: नास्ति शाक्यपुत्रीयां मोच इति। Cf. Watters, II, pp. 93 ff.

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*Beheading of Ascetics:* Vitaśoka went to a border country Puṇḍravardhana where he fell ill, but was cured by the medicine sent by Aśoka. During his illness, his hairs, nails etc. grew, and his look and dress appeared like that of an Ājīvaka ascetic. At this time, certain Nirgrantha (Ājīvaka) devotees of Puṇḍravardhana showed disrespect to a Buddha-image. This enraged Aśoka, who ordered the death of all Ājīvakas, and even fixed the price of one dinara for every head of a Nirgrantha. Vītaśoka was mistaken as a Nirgrantha ascetic and was beheaded. This gave a very rude shock to Aśoka.

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Last days of Aśoka: Aśoka began to multiply his gifts to the Saṅgha, and this drained the treasury so much that his gifts had to be forcibly stopped by the Crown-prince Sampadi,¹ son of Kuṇāla. Evidently Aśoka was now in his dotage and could no longer exercise his royal power freely, and had to remain satisfied by giving to the Saṅgha whatever he could lay hold of.² Rādhagupta continued to be his minister up to his last days.

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¹ According to the Jaina tradition, Aśoka was followed by Kuṇāla and Samprati. The latter, as Smith observes, promoted the cause of Jainism as Aśoka did of Buddhism. See K. T. Shah, *Jainism in North India*, pp. 138, 144-5. The inscriptions on Nāgārjuni Hill too indicate that Daśaratha's leanings were towards the Ājīvakas, an offshoot of the Jainas. See *Infra*., p. 254. According to *Divyā*., p. 432, the successors of Aśoka were Samapadi-Bṛhaspati-Vṛsasena-Puṣyadharma-Puṣyamitra, the last of whom announced 100 dināras for every head of a Buddhist monk. According to the *Vāyu Purāṇa*, Kuṇāla reigned for eight years. He was followed by his son Bandhupālita. His successors were Indrapālita-Devavarman-Śatadhanus-Bṛhadratha. See *Infra*., p. 254.

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² Cf. Watters, II, p. 99.

Pāli Traditions

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The following traditions are preserved in the Ceylonese chronicles in Pāli.

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Succession: The family priest Janāsana ājīvaka foretold that Aśoka would succeed Bindusāra to the throne. This Ājīvaka monk was later ordained by Assagutta at Vattanīya hermitage and became the preceptor of Aśoka in his early days.¹ Aśoka was at Ujjeni when his father was in the death-bed. He hurried back to the capital and, after killing 99 step-brothers, seized the throne of Magadha. The eldest son of Bindusāra was Sumana. It took him four years to consolidate his powers. He formally crowned himself as the king of Magadha and made his uterine brother Tissa the Crown-prince.

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¹ *Vamsatthappakāsinī*, I, p. 192-3. This incident is recorded in the *Sīhalatthakathā* in the commentary on *Cūḷasihanādasutta* of the *Majjhimasaṅgīti*. This however is not found in Buddhaghoṣa’s commentary.

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*Conversion:* He was continuing the family tradition of feeding several brāhmaṇas, but he became dissatisfied with the unseemly manner of the brāhmaṇas. At this time, he met Nigrodha Sāmaṇera, who was a posthumous son of Sumana, the eldest son of Bindusāra. He listened to his discourse on *Appamāda* (diligence) and was very much impressed by Nigrodha’s demeanour and arranged daily food for him and his fellow brethren, in place of the non-Buddhists whom he had been feeding so long.²

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² This information is derived from *Vinayatthakathā* and not *Mahāvamsatthakathā*. See *Vamsatthappakāsinī*, I, p. 207.

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*Erection of Stūpas:* Learning from Moggaliputta Tissa, that there were 84,000 dharmas, he decided to build one monastery for each dharma.³ He made lavish gifts to the Triratna. All these monasteries were completed on the same day and hour. He built caityas on the spots sanctified by Buddha’s presence.⁵ He ordered that all men observing uposatha should congregate for worship.¹ From that day onwards, he became known as Dharmāśoka instead of Caṇḍāśoka.²

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³ Cf. *Divyā.*, p. 419: यदा राजाशोकेन भगवच्छासने श्रद्धा प्रतिलब्धा तेन चतुरशीतिधर्मराजिकासहस्रं प्रतिष्ठापितं पञ्चवार्षिकं च कृतम् etc. see also p. 429.

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⁴ *Mahāvamsa*, V. 175.

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¹ *Mahāvamsa*, V. 182.

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² *Ibid.*, V. 189.

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*Buddha's image:* He had an image of Buddha endowed with all the major and minor signs made by Mahākāla Nāga. Then he instituted the ceremony of the worship of Buddha-image.

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*Conversion of Tissa, the Crown-prince:* Tissa doubted the efficacy of the Buddhist way of life. In order to convince him of its excellence, Aśoka put him on the throne for seven days on the condition that he would be put to death after that time. Tissa became pale and emaciated and could not enjoy his royalty. The king then pointed out to him how the monks, who constantly thought of death, could enjoy worldly pleasures. Tissa was converted and was ordained by Mahādhammarakkhita the Yonaka. After Tissa, Aggibrahmā, the nephew and son-in-law of Aśoka, as also Aggibrahmā's son, Sumana, took ordination. Then followed the ordination of Mahinda and Saṃghamittā. Moggaliputta Tissa became the *upajjhāya* of Mahinda, Mahādeva the *ācariya*, and Majjhantika gave the *kammavācā*.

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*Medicines:* On hearing that a bhikkhu called Tissa died for want of medicine, Aśoka made arrangements for giving medicines to the monks.

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*Beheading of unorthodox monks:* Aśoka ordered that all monks should observe the fortnightly *uposatha*. On the refusal of the orthodox monks to carry out the order of the king, his minister began to behead them, when the king's brother Tissa intervened by offering his head. When this was brought to the notice of the king, he was shocked and sought advice for exoneration from such a hineous act. This led to the arrival of Moggaliputta Tissa, who had retired to the forest, at Pāṭaliputra.

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*The two traditions compared*

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The above two traditions preserved in Sanskrit and Pāli, evidently have a common basis, which may be briefly stated thus:—

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(i) Aśoka's mother had Ājīvaka leanings though Bindusāra followed the brāhmanical religion.

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(ii) Aśoka secured the throne of Magadha after a fratricidal war, in which all of his step-brothers were killed, leaving a posthumous son of his eldest brother, and his uterine brother called Vītāśoka in the Sanskrit, Tissa in the Pāli tradition.

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(iii) Aśoka was converted to Buddhism by Samudra or Nigrodha. The former probably belonged to the entourage of the eldest son of Bindusāra, as it is said in the Sanskrit tradition that the valiant soldiers of Susīma (in Pāli Sumana) became *arhats*. Nigrodha also is described as the posthumous son of Sumana. Hence the conversion was made by somebody connected with Susīma or Sumana.

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(iv) Aśoka erected several monasteries, and *stūpas* over the spots sanctified by Buddha's presence.

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(v) In the Sanskrit tradition, emphasis is laid on the worship of Bodhi-tree while in Pāli on the worship of Buddha's image.

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(vi) The story of the conversion of Aśoka's brother Vītāśoka or Tissa is almost identical.

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(vii) In Sanskrit, the story of the quinquennial assembly of monks is given in detail and seems to have a historical basis as it is echoed in the Aśokan inscriptions.¹ The Ceylonese chronicles very probably utilised this tradition of quinquennial assembly for their story of the Third Council and edification of the Theravāda sect.¹

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¹ See Rock Edict III.

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¹ See Infra.

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(viii) The story of the beheading of ascetics including Vītaśoka is echoed in the Ceylonese tradition of the beheading of the unorthodox monks, but the former story appears to be more plausible. In any case, the underlying fact is that Aśoka did commit the blunder of ordering death of some ascetics.

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(ix) In both the traditions, there is no mention of Aśoka having taken ordination and joined the Saṅgha. All that we have is that on ceremonial occasions Aśoka observed the eight śīlas like a good upāsaka.

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(x) Aśoka’s gifts to the Saṅgha were endless. In Ceylonese tradition, however, the enormity of gifts is not so much emphasised upon as his consent to the ordination of his son and daughter, who were responsible for propagating Buddhism in Ceylon. It may be that the Sanskrit writers were not interested in this propagation and so passed over the incident as unimportant.

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(xi) The Saṅghatthera of Pāṭaliputra is called in the Sanskrit texts as Yaśas while in Pāli, it is Yonaka Dhammarakkhita. Prominence is given to Upagupta of Mathurā in the Sanskrit traditions and Moggaliputta Tissa in Pāli. This is evidently a result of the sectarian bias. Upagupta was a Sarvāstivādin and so he is mentioned in the Sanskrit texts belonging to the Sarvāstivādins. He is ignored in the Theravāda tradition preserved in Pāli, which puts up the name of Moggaliputta Tissa in stead. Both Upagupta and Moggaliputta Tissa might be historical persons, but their position as a religious adviser of Aśoka should be discounted.

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(xii) In conclusion, it may be remarked that Aśoka might not have been as tolerant as he posed to be in his Edicts, at least in his early days. It may be that in his old age he realised his mistake of supporting one sect as against another and felt repentant, and in order to atone for his misguided deeds, he began to preach toleration.

Cites (10)