airo international research journal november, 2016 volume ... singh...tour of all the holy places...

Airo International Research Journal November, 2016 Volume VIII, ISSN: 2320-3714


V. A. SMITH TOWARDS ASHOKA’S POLICIES OF DHAMMA

Harjit Singh

Research Scholar OPJS University

Guide Name- Dr. Shish Ram Boyat

Associate Prof.

Declaration of Author: I hereby declare that the content of this research paper has been truly made by me including the title of the research paper/research article, and no serial sequence of any sentence has been copied through internet or any other source except references or some unavoidable essential or technical terms. In case of finding any patent or copy right content of any source or other author in my paper/article, I shall always be responsible for further clarification or any legal issues. For sole right content of different author or different source, which was unintentionally or intentionally used in this research paper shall immediately be removed from this journal and I shall be accountable for any further legal issues, and there will be no responsibility of Journal in any matter. If anyone has some issue related to the content of this research paper’s copied or plagiarism content he/she may contact on my above mentioned email ID.

ABSTRACT:

Ashoka, the greatest of the Mauryas, formulated the policy of dhamma,which occupies a

significant place in the Mauryan polity. Though theword dhamma is sometimes associated with

religion, but actually it was asecular policy having certain social and political implications.He

passed the IndianCivil Services exam in 1871 and was appointed to what would becomethe

United Provinces in India. He would go to serve between 1871–1900in a variety of magisterial

and executive positions including terms asdistrict and sessions judge eventually retiring as

commissioner in July1900. By 1910 Smith was settled in Oxford where he joined St.

John'sCollege and was appointed a Curator of the Indian Institute. After hisreturn to England,

Smith wrote books on various rulers such asthe Buddhist emperor, Ashoka and the Mughal

emperor, Akbar, and ahistory of fine arts in India and Ceylon. He also published

twocomprehensive volumes on Indian history, The Early History ofIndia and The Oxford

History of India.

KEYWORDS:V.A. Smith, Ashoka’s, Policies, Dhamma,India.

INTRODUCTION:

The word dhamma is the Prakrit form of the

Sanskrit word dharma. Theterm dharma has

been variously translated as piety, moral life,

duty,righteousness and religion. As far as

Ashoka‘s policy of dhamma isconcerned, it

was non- ritualistic and non-doctrinaire. It

was a synthesisof moral principles of all the

religions and aimed at promoting moral

andsocial consciousness among the people.

The dhamma was related toguiding

individual behaviour in society according to

universal moral lawswhich transcended all

sectarianism. The dhamma of the edicts


wasbasically a social and an ethical code [1].

It contained no astute exposition ofdoctrine

or metaphysical dogma. It was solely a

moral code.Some historians link Ashoka‘s

policy of dhamma with

Buddhism.According to V.A. Smith1

Ashoka actually became a Buddhist monk

fora short span of his life. Smith believes

that he was both a monk and amonarch at

the same time. D.R. Bhandarkar claims that

Ashoka wasa Buddhist and his policy of

dhamma was actually original Buddhism

aspreached by the Budhha.

RadhaKumudMookerji also formulates that

as far as the personal religion of Ashoka is

concerned, it may betaken as Buddhism [2].

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

Ashoka as a Buddhist: Various arguments

are formulated to show that Ashoka was a

Buddhist. Itis quoted that Ashoka took the

tour of all the holy places associated withthe

Buddha. He visited Lumbini, Bodhagaya,

Sarnath and Kushinagar. Heconstructed a

number of monasteries or vih for the

Buddhist monks.These places became the

centres of Buddhist learning. He

alsoconstructed a number of pover the relics

of the Buddha. Heconvened the third

Buddhist Council at Pataliputra in 251

B.C.E. forsorting out differences among the

followers of the Buddha. The

Councilpresided over by MogaliputraTissa

not only helped in resolvingdifferences

among various Buddhist sects but also

recommendedmeasures to further propagate

Buddhism. Ashoka‘s inscriptions alsoreveal

that he was a Buddhist [3]. In the Bhabru

and Saranath edicts hemakes an open

confession of his faith in the trinity— the

Buddha, theDhamma and the Sangha. In the

1st rock edict he uses the termsanghaupete.

The word sanghaupete has been interpreted

differently bydifferent scholars. Some say

that it stands for Ashoka‘s visit to thesangha

while others hold the view that Ashoka

became a bhikshu andlived in the sangha. In

several cases Ashoka refers to the Buddha as

―theLord‖ and in one case the Buddhist

doctrine is mentioned as ‗the truefaith‘[4].

Minor pillar edict 2 contains the text of his

order to his officers tothe effect that the

heretical monks and nuns should be expelled

from thesangha. This attempt on Ashoka‘s

part to promote the unity of theBuddhist

church is also known from the Southern

Buddhist tradition. TheKalsi and Dhauli

rocks bear the figure of an elephant near the

inscriptionof Ashoka which is described

respectfully as ‗the best elephant‘ and

‗thewhite elephant‘. On the Girnar rocks,


the figure of the elephant is lost; butthe label

speaks of ―the All- white elephant named

the proccurer ofhappiness for the whole

world‖ . There is no doubt that the white

elephantin these cases is the Buddha,

symbolically represented [5]. It is well

knownthat the Buddha was often indicated

by the figure of an elephant in earlyIndian

art. The Ceylonese chronicles namelypvmh

andMhvmh refer to Ashoka‘s

conversion to Buddhism. Ashoka‘semphasis

on non-violence also implies that his

dhamma was somehowthe expression of

Buddhism because in Buddhism also we see

emphasison non-violence [6].

But a minute analysis of Ashoka‘s policy of

dhamma suggests that thedhamma cannot be

identified with the Buddhist doctrine. In his

policy ofdhammaAshoka nowhere mentions

the basic themes of Buddhism likethe four

nobel truths, eightfold path, py-mpdtheory

ofmomentariness and ddhnidnhk . In his

personal beliefAshoka might be a Buddhist

and as a result of his personal belief hemight

have declared his faith in the Buddhist

trinity but his policy ofdhamma was

different from Buddhism [7]. The reference

in the 7th pillaredict to the appointment of

dhmm-mhmfor all communities andsects—

the Jaina, the Buddhist and the Ajivikas—

indicates thedifference of dhamma as a set

of ethical rules from any particularreligious

doctrine. It was a kind of universal religion.

It was theessence of various creeds or we

can say that it was above religioussystems

and basic principles of individual doctrines.

To understand thetrue nature of Asoka’s

policy of dhamma let us see what Ashoka

didmean by the term dhamma[8].

Dhamma:TheConcept: In the 2nd pillar

edict Ashoka himself asks ‗what is the

dhamma? (kiyamchudhamme?)‘. And the

answer provided in the same edict is ‗it

isabsence of sin, many good deeds, charity,

donation, truthfulness andpurity (

pinvehkynedy dne heye)‘. Thus

thedhamma policy interpreted in the edicts

may be described as a two-foldpolicy

containing negative and positive aspects. In

the negative sense itemphasises abstention

from sin. In the positive sense it emphasizes

positive virtues like truthfulness, charity,

purity and tolerance.

DhammaasAbstentionfromSin: In his 3rd

pillar edict Ashoka mentions the wrong

deeds or thepinv . The 3rd edict reads as,

―a person has an eye on his gooddeeds only

and says to himself: ‗this good deed I have

done. ‘ Not in theleast does he notice his sin,

saying to himself; ‗this sinful act have

Iperpetrated, ‘or ‗this indeed is what is


called sin‘. But this is certainlydifficult to

scrutinise. Nevertheless, one should verily

look into the matterthus: ‗these passions

surely lead to sin, such as violence, cruelty,

anger,vanity and jealousy. Let me not ruin

myself by reason of these verypassions.

‘One should seriously reflect on the

following: this one is formy good only in

this world and the other one is for my good

also in thenext world [9].

In the 10th rock edict the dhamma is also

negatively defined asaparisravas i.e.

freedom from parisrava or apunya or the

evil. The edictreads as ―whatever

endeavours are made by king Priyadarshi,

Beloved ofthe Gods, are made for the sake

of the people‘s happiness in the otherworld

and in order that all men should have little

corruption. And, what issinful is corruption.

This comparative freedom from corruption

is indeeddifficult to achieve both for the

poor and the rich if they do not makegreat

efforts by renouncing every other aim [10].

This is certainly more difficult for the rich to

achieve.

Ashoka has not only mentioned the sin but

has also suggested the path toknow his sins.

This is the path of introspection or self-

examination. In the1st minor rock edict,

while describing the purpose of inscribing

the edicthe talks of exertion or pkm . One

method of this exertion is self-examination.

One must examine one‘s good deeds and

bad deeds. In the1st pillar edict he

emphasises rigorous self-examination or

pikh andintense effort or h as essential

aids to moral life. In the pillar edict he

points out another form of self-examination

called reflection or nijhati.Thus while

negatively interpreting the dhamma,Ashoka

basically focuseson abstention from wrong

deeds or sin [11].

DhammaasaSetofVirtues: In its positive

sense the dhamma is a prescribed code of

conduct forvarious sections of society. It

takes the form of certain instructions

ofbehaviour embracing the various relations

of life. It comprises thefollowing virtues:or

obedience to father and mother, elders,

teachers, and men ofhigh caste or rank.

Various rock edicts like the rock edict 3, 4,

11 and 13and the 7th pillar edict talk of this.

The 3rd rock edict declares that it

ismeritorious to obey the mother and father.

It is meritorious to haveliberality to friends,

acquaintances and relatives and to the

Brahmins andthe sramanas. The 7th pillar

edict says that due to the good

deedsperformed by Ashoka and its imitation

by the subjects, the subjects haveprogressed

and will keep on progressing further in


respect of obedience tomother and father,

elders, and offering courtesy to the aged and

to theBrahmins and the sramanas.Apachiti or

Respest towards teacher. In the 2nd minor

rock edict he asksthe pupil to obey his

teacher.Sampratipatti or proper treatment

towards ascetics (both the Brahminsand

sramanas), relatives, servants and

dependents, the poor and miserable,friends,

acquaintances and compassions. Rock edicts

4, 9, 11, 13 andpillar edict 7 and minor rock

edict 2 mention these instructions.

Whiledescribing the dhamma in the 9th rock

edict he says that the dhammacomprises

proper courtesy to slaves and servants,

reverence to elders,restraint in one‘s dealing

with living beings and liberality to the

Brahminsand sramanas. These and similar

other virtues are indeed the ceremoniesof the

dhamma.nm or liberality towards ascetics,

the Brahmins and sramanas,

friends,comrades and relatives and the aged.

It can be seen in the rock edicts 3, 8,9, and

11. In the 8th rock edict Ashoka mentions

his visit to Sambodhi(Bodhagaya where the

Buddha got enlightenment) ten years after

hiscoronation. This was the beginning of a

pilgrimage which later became aregular

phenomenon. During these pilgrimages

many activities took placelike visiting the

Brahmins and sramanas and making gifts to

them,meeting the aged and making

provisions of money for them, andcontacting

the people of the countryside, instructing

them in the dhammaand discussing with

them the principles of the dhamma.

Along with these practical measures the

dhamma also had severalcharacteristic

doctrines and philosophical positions

bringing out theoriginality of Ashoka‘s ideas

of moral reform. Among these

theoreticalformulations the main ones were

non-violence and toleration [12].

Accordingto K.A.N. Sastri, ―the promotion

of toleration and harmony amongdifferent

religious sects and kindness towards animal

life were twoparticular aspects of the

dhamma to which Ashoka gave very

specialattention.

Non-violenceorAhi: Ashokarecognised the

sanctity of animal life on principle. In the

3rd ,4th,and 11th, rock edicts and the 7th

pillar edict Ashoka talks of nnmnmhor

abstention from slaughter of living beings,

pnnmsamyamo or restraint of violence

towards living beings,vihimhnm or non-

violence towards life, vhnmkhi or non-injury

to all creatures and pneh or treatment of

living beings withkindness. In the first rock

edict he makes a clear command that no

livingbeing should be slaughtered for


sacrifice. In the same edict he furthersays

that, ―many hundred thousands of living

beings were formerlyslaughtered every day

in the kitchen of Priyadarshi, Beloved of the

Gods,for the sake of curry. But now when

this record relating to the dhamma iswritten,

only three living creatures are killed daily

for the sake of curry,viz., two birds and one

animal.

Even this animal is not slaughtered

regularly. These three living beingstoo shall

not be killed in future.‖ 7 In the 4th rock

edict also we see thereference to abstention

from the slaughter of life and absence of

cruelty toliving beings. In the minor rock

edict 4 it is mentioned that since the kinghas

restricted the killing of animals even for his

own consumption,therefore, only a few

animals are killed for the royalty. Having

seen thisall men have given up the slaughter

of animals; even the fishermen arenow

subject to prohibition. Ashoka‘s declaration

of relinquishment ofyuddha-vijaya or

conquest by war and adoption of dhamma-

vijaya orconquest by the dhamma is also a

declaration of belief in non-violence.

Toleration: Another doctrinal specialty of

Ashoka‘sdhamma was the principle

oftoleration. Though a Buddhist in his

personal belief, he never imposed hisreligion

on others. He never looked down upon other

religions. He alwaysrespected other

religions and treated them on the basis of

equality. Royalpatronage was not limited to

any particular sect. He held the scales

evenlybetween the competing claims of

different religious sects to the

royalpatronage as shown by his grant of

cave-dwellings to the Ajivikas

andNirgranthas equally with the Buddhists

through the instrumentality of hisofficers,

the dhmm-mhmsuperintending their affairs at

the stateexpense. He also favoured the sect

of the worshippers of the previousBuddha

by doubly enlarging the p of the

Buddha Konamkamana andpaying a

personal visit to the shrine.

In his various rock edicts he gives

instructions for good behaviour withall

ascetics be it orthodox like the Brahmins

and heterodox like thesramanas. But the

declaration of toleration as a doctrinal

principle is mostvisible in his rock edicts. In

the various rock edicts he preaches

liberalityto Brahmins and sramanas as a

public duty and equally condemnsunseemly

behaviour towards them. Though the

principle of toleration isseen in the 7th rock

edict also, it is best expressed in the 12th

rock edict.The 7th rock edict is the

expression of the wish of the monarch that


allreligious sects should live harmoniously

in all parts of his kingdom. Allof them

should achieve self-control and purity of

thought. According tothe monarch if a

person practises great liberality but does not

possessself-control, purity of thought,

gratitude and firm devotion, he is

quiteworthless. The 12th rock edict talks of

viddhi or the growth of the essentials

ofthe dhamma, vk-samyama or restraint of

speech, mvy or concourseand bahusruta or

the sects should not remain self-contained

but shouldknow each other‘s doctrines. The

12th rock edict is so important from thepoint

of view of toleration as a doctrinal principle

that the whole edictneeds to be quoted. It

reads as:

King Priyadarshi, Beloved of the Gods,

honours men of all religiouscommunities

with gifts and with honours of various kinds,

irrespective ofwhether they are ascetics or

householders. But the Beloved of the

Godsdoes not value either the offering of

gifts or the honouring of people sohighly as

the following, viz., that there should be

growth of the essentialsof the dhmm viddhi

among men of all sects. And the growth

ofthe essentials of the dhamma is possible in

many ways. But its root lies inrestraint in

regard to speech, which means that there

should be noextolment of one‘s own sect or

disparagement of other sects oninappropriate

occasions. On the contrary, other sects

should be dulyhonoured in every way on all

occasions. If a person acts in this way, henot

only promotes his own sect but also benefits

other sects. But, if aperson acts otherwise,

he not only injures his own sect but also

harmsother sects. Truly, if a person extols

his own sect and disparages othersects with

a view to glorifying his sect owing merely to

his attachment toit, he injures his own sect

very severely by acting in that way.

Therefore,restraint in regard to speech is

commendable, because people should

learnand respect the fundamentals of one

another‘s dharma. This indeedis the desire

of the beloved of the Gods that persons of

all sects becomewell-informed about the

doctrines of all religions and acquire

pureknowledge. And those who are attached

to their respective sects shouldbe informed

as follows: ‗the Beloved of the Gods does

not value eitherthe offering of gifts or the

honouring of people so highly as the

following,viz., that there should be a growth

of essentials of the dhamma amongmen of

all sects.‘ Indeed many of my officers are

engaged for therealization of the said end,

such as the mhmin-charge of theaffairs

relating to the dhamma, the mhmwho are

superintendentsof matters relating to the


ladies of the royal household, the officers in-

charge of my cattle and pasturelands, and

other classes of officials.And the result of

their activities, as expected by me, is the

promotion ofeach one‘s sect and

glorification of the dharma.

Dhamma-mangala: In the 9th rock edict he

attacks the value of many of the most

practisedceremonies. He maintains that the

practice of morality is infinitely

morevaluable than the observance of these

ceremonies. Ashoka mentionsspecifically,

ceremonies performed during illness, at the

birth or marriageof a child or when setting

out on a journey. He particularly criticizes

mothers and wives as practising vulgar and

useless ceremonies. In the 9th

rock edict it is

said that:―People perform various

auspicious ceremonies on the occasion of

illness,the weddings of sons, the weddings

of daughters, the births of childrenand the

setting out on journeys. On these and similar

other occasions,people perform many

auspicious ceremonies. And on such

occasions, thewomenfolk in particular

perform many and diverse ceremonies

which aretrivial and meaningless.

Auspicious rites, however, should certainly

beperformed. But the said kinds of rites in

fact produce meagre results. Onthe other

hand, such ceremonies as are associated

with the dhammaproduce great results.

These comprise the following, viz., proper

courtesyto slaves and servants, reverence to

elders, restraint in one‘s dealings withliving

beings and liberality to the Brahmins and

sramanas. These andsimilar other virtues are

indeed the ceremonies of the dhamma.

Therefore,whether one is a person‘s father,

or son, or brother, or master, oracquaintance,

or even a mere neighbour, one ought to

declare to him:‗this kind of rite is good. One

should observe this practice until

one‘sdesired object is attained and resolve

that the practice will be observedagain and

again even after the object is attained.‘ The

other kinds ofauspicious ceremonies,

referred to above, are indeed of dubious

value.Perchance a person may attain his

object by performing those

ceremoniesperchance he may not.

Moreover, performance of those ceremonies

may produce results in thisworld only. But

the said rites of the dhamma are not

restricted to time. Ifa person performs them

and does not attain his result in this world,

eventhen they produce endless merit for him

in the next world. And, if aerson attains his

object in this world, both the results are

obtained byhim, viz., the desired object is

attained in this world as also endless meritis

produced for him in the next world by those


ceremonies of thedhamma.‖ According to

RomilaThapar this was an attempt to see

ritual from arational point of view.

Ashokarealised the excessive emphasis of

ritualsin the religious observances of his

time. He was aware that much of itwas

meaningless and was merely a source of

income to the officiatingpriest. His

contention that these ceremonies bear little

fruit, and ascompared to them the practice of

morality is truly valuable, is an attemptto

look at ritual from a rational point of view.

The main objection of Ashoka to these

rituals was not on religiousgrounds but on

practical grounds. He was concerned with

the greatexpense demanded by each of these

ceremonies, an expense which fewwere able

to afford, and which as far as its evaluation

in terms ofeconomics went, was money

badly employed, since it tended

toaccumulate in the hands of small section

of society. It would then beexpended largely

in fulfilling unnecessary requirements.

Dhamma-vijaya: In the 13th rock edict

Ashoka shows a preference to dhamma-

vijaya orthe conquest by the dhamma over

yudhha-vijaya or the conquest by war.In the

light of the war of Kalinga and its disastrous

impact over the livesof men and other

creatures he gave up the idea of conquest by

war andviolence. In the edict Ashoka shows

his remorse over the destructiveimpact of

the Kalinga war and considers conquest

through the dhamma tobe the best conquest

because whatever conquest is achieved in

this waycreates an atmosphere of

satisfaction everywhere both among the

victorsand the vanquished. Regarding the

purpose of the 13th rock edict he saysthat

―and this record relating to the dhamma

has been written on stone forthe following

purpose, viz., that my sons and great grand-

sons should notthink of a fresh conquest by

arms as worth achieving, that they

shouldadopt the policy of forbearance and

light punishment towards thevanquished

even if they conquer a people by arms, and

that they shouldregard conquest through the

dhamma as the true conquest. Such

aconquest brings happiness to all concerned

both in this world and in thenext.‖ Romila

Thapar15maintains that the idea of conquest

through the dhammais a logical

development of the theory of dhamma.

According to RomilaThaparKalinga was

conquered in the 9th year of Ashoka‘s reign.

Afterthis conquest Ashoka ceased to indulge

in wars of aggression. This, webelieve, was

not because he completely forsook the idea

of war as ameans to an end, though he

claims to have done so, but because with


theconquest of Kalinga the consolidation of

the empire was complete.Furthermore now

there was no opposing power within the

empire. Thepeople on the frontier were

generally too weak to consider a war

againsthim. The only possibility was a

campaign against the Greek kingdoms

ofAsia Minor. But they were too distant and

the acquisition of their territorywas not of

particular interest to the Ashokan Empire.

CONCLUSION:

Evidence of anatomically modern humans in

the Indian subcontinent is recorded as long

as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier

hominids including Homo erectus from

about 500,000 years ago. The Indus Valley

Civilization which spread and flourished in

the northwestern part of the Indian

subcontinent from 3300 to 1300 BCE was

the first major civilization in South Asia. A

sophisticated and technologically advanced

urban culture developed in the Mature

Harappan period, from 2600 to 1900 BCE.

This civilization collapsed at the start of the

second millennium BCE and was later

followed by the Iron Age Vedic Civilization,

which extended over much of the Indo-

Gangetic plain and which witnessed the rise

of major polities known as the

Mahajanapadas. In one of these kingdoms,

Magadha, Mahaviraand Gautama Buddha

propagated their Shramanicphilosophies

during the fifth and sixth century BCE.‖ the

Indian subcontinent; the blending of the

Indus ValleyCivilization and Indo-Aryan

culture into the VedicCivilization‖

―thedevelopment of Hinduism as a

synthesis of various Indian cultures

andtraditions; the rise of the Śramaṇ a

movement; the decline of

Śrautasacrificesandthebirth of the

initiatorytraditionsofJainism, Buddhism,

Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism; the

onset of asuccession of powerful dynasties

and empires for more than two

millenniathroughout various geographic

areas of the subcontinent, including the

growthof Muslim dynasties during the

Medieval period intertwined with

Hindupowers; the advent of European

traders resulting in the establishment ofthe

British rule; and the subsequent

independence movement that led tothe

Partition of India and the creation of the

Republic of India.

REFERENCES:

1.Singh, N.K. and Mishra, A.P. (ed.),

OrientalPhilosophyandReligion(Vol.

2.I-Hinduism), New Delhi, Global Vision

Publishing House, 2005, p.213.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_India#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBongard-Levin197911-5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Gangetic_plain



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahavira

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shramana

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9Arama%E1%B9%87a



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrauta


3.Kane, P.V., ioyof hmh (Vol. I, Part I,

secondedition),

4.Poona, Bhandarkar Oriental Research

Institute, 1968, p. 3. 62.Manusmriti, Chapter

I, Shloka 31, op.cit., p. 9.

5.Manusmriti, Chapter I, Shloka 90, Ibid, p.

27.

6.Basham, A.L., op.cit., p. 143.

7.Manusmriti, Chapter 11, Shloka 132,

op.cit., p. 404.

8.Manusmriti, Chapter III, Shloka 20, 21,

Ibid, p. 84.

9.Also see hh Book III, Chapter II,

Translated by Shamasastry, R.,

10.Edited by Narain, V., Delhi,

Chaukhambha Sanskrit Pratishthan, 2005

(Reprint), p. 305.

11.Kapoor, Subodh, TheIndianEnyclopaedia

(Vol. 15), New Delhi, Cosmo Publications,

2002, p. 4678.

12.Smith, V.A., TheEarlyHistoryofIndia

(fourth edition), New Delhi,

RamanandVidyaBhawan, 1970, p. 168.

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