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By Jayaram V
By the time Asoka became the emperor, Buddhism
was already a well
established religion in several parts of the Indian
subcontinent, competing vigorously with other religious movements,
especially the dominant Brahminical religion with its roots deep in
several parts of the subcontinent, and the nascent Jainism that was
competing for supremacy in certain pockets of the country having
secured the support of eminent personalities like Chandragupta Maurya
and the royal patronage of the kings of Orissa in the east.
Asoka began his career in a controversial manner. We do not have
detailed accounts of his ealry life, but it seems his accession to the
throne was not smooth. According to traditional accounts, he had to
wage a war of succession against his own brothers for nearly four
years and kill them all before ascending the throne. During the early
part of his reign he led several campaigns either to suppress
rebellions or expand his empire. He established friendly
relations with foreign powers but maintained a policy of conquest
within the subcontinent.
The Kalinga war brought a radical change in his thinking and
approach heralded an era of peace within the subcontinent. He became convinced about the evils of war and
converted
to the path of Buddhism and the philosophy of non-violence. His direct
involvement with Buddhism, led to the expansion of Buddhism on
unprecedented scale to the far corners of India and the outside
world.
Available evidence suggest that although he was converted to Buddhism,
he maintained a very tolerant attitude towards other faiths and
treated his subjects fairly irrespective of their religious
beliefs. He preached and propagated a form of Dhamma or the law
of piety in his empire which was
partly Buddhist, partly Brahmnical and partly administrative or empirical in
its approach.
While personally following the teachings of the Buddha and spending
time in the company of the Buddhist monks, Asoka maintained a very
tolerant attitude towards other religions. Despite his interest in the
Buddhist way of life, he did not abdicate his responsibilities as the
emperor. His inscriptions suggest that he worked relentlessly for the
welfare of the people whom he considered as his children. He gave them
generous donations and allowed them to preach and practice their
respective religions in his empire. He also gave donations for
building cave dwellings for a religious sect named Ajivakas.
Although he propagated his law of piety with the flavor of
Buddhism, he called himself devanampriya or the beloved of the
gods. In many ways his law of piety was above sectarian approach. It
represented his effort to resolve the social, moral and religious
issues of his time in a secular manner without adding to the religious
tension that was already brewing between the orthodox and the the
heterodox sections of society. Asokas' Dhamma was more a code of
conduct used to inculcate moral discipline and social responsibility
among his people than a
theological sermon intended to convert them to Buddhism.
However there is little doubt that his commitment to the cause of
Buddhism was unquestionable. He gave up vihara yatras or tours of
pleasure and instead went on dharma yatras or tours of piety to preach
Buddhism. He replaced his policy of political conquest with that
of Dhamma Vijaya or the conquest of the Dhamma. He instructed
important members of his administration to go on tours and preach the Dhamma
to the masses. He got the relics of the Buddha recovered from the
earlier stupas and
redistributed them at various other places by building several new stupas. He
also played a prominent role in convening the third Buddhist Council
to resolve several issues concerning Buddhism. Because of his direct
patronage, Buddhism became very
popular in various parts of India and led to the establishment of several
Buddhist centers, especially the places like the present day
Andhrapradesh, Maharashtra, Madhyapradesh, Orissa and Karnataka. He dispatched Buddhist missions to various
parts of the world, such as present day Afghanistan, Syria, Egypt, Cyrene,
Macedonia and Emirus. Within the subcontinent, he sent missionaries to several
places. like Kashmir, the Himalayan country, Maharashtra, Varanasi,
Mysore and so on.
While we do not know much about the impact his missions to other
countries created, his mission to Ceylon was a great success. It
contributed directly to the spread of Buddhism in the island country.
Because of his efforts, Buddhism was an instant success in Ceylon. According to the Chronicles of Ceylon, Mahendra
(Mahinda), who was either a brother or son of Asoka, went to Ceylon, where he
converted the king and his 40000 subjects to Buddhism. It was followed by
another mission, which was headed by Sanghamitra, who was said to be a
daughter of Asoka himself. According to tradition she carried along with her a branch of the
original Bodhi tree under which the Buddha got enlightenment and planted
it there in the Ceylonese soil. The tree that grew out of the sapling
is still there for visitors to see. Sanghamitra converted many female members of the Ceylonese royal
family to Buddhism.
Post Mauryan Period
After the death of Asoka, the Mauryan empire
declined. But Buddhism grew in strength. The Sungas succeeded the Mauryans in
the north. They were staunch supporters of the orthodox Brahmincial religion
and revived the vedic practices. Some of them were very hostile to
Buddhism. Pushaymitra Sunga, one of the most prominent Sunga rules and hero
of the literary work "Malaviakagnimitram", said to have
indulged in the religious persecution of Buddhist monks in his empire and
rewarded those who persecuted the Buddhist monks.
The Bactrian Greeks who invaded India during
this time, brought
under their control the whole part of what is now known as
Western Pakistan and parts of northern India comprising Malwa, parts of
Rajastahn, modern U.P and Bihar. Little is known about their religious and
social institutions. Some of them adopted Buddhism and supported it like king Menander
who ruled
Punjab, with Sakala as his capital and was acclaimed by the Buddhist texts as
a great warrior king. The famous Pali Buddhist text, Milindapatha, records
his conversations with monk Nagasena.
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