King Asoka and Buddhism: Historical and Literary Studies

249 Pages·1994·1.503 MB·English

by  Richard Gombrich, Ananda Guruge, Romila Thaper, N.A. Jayawickrama, John Strong

King Aśoka and Buddhism
H L S
ISTORICAL AND ITERARY TUDIES
E
DITED BY
A S
NURADHA ENEVIRATNA
B P S
UDDHIST UBLICATION OCIETY
K S L
ANDY RI ANKA
P 1994
UBLISHED IN
B P S
UDDHIST UBLICATION OCIETY
P.O. B 61
OX
54, S M
ANGHARAJA AWATHA
K , S L
ANDY RI ANKA
C © 1994 A S
OPYRIGHT BY NURADHA ENEVIRATNA
ISBN 955–24–0065–2.
Buddhism / Indian History / Asian Studies
King Aśoka and Buddhism
King Aśoka, the third monarch of the Mauryan dynasty in the
third century B.C., was the first ruler of a unified India and one
of the greatest political figures of all time. After he embraced
the teachings of the Buddha, he transformed his polity from
one of military conquest to one of Dharmavijaya — victory by
righteousness and truth. By providing royal patronage for the
propagation of Buddhism both within and beyond his empire,
he helped promote the metamorphosis of Buddhism into a
world religion that spread peacefully across the face of Asia.
The present collection of essays by leading Indological
scholars draws upon both the inscriptions and the literary tra-
ditions to explore the relationship between King Aśoka and
the religion he embraced. In highlighting the ways in which
Aśoka tapped the ethical and spiritual potentials of rulership,
these papers deliver a message highly relevant to our own
time, when politics and spirituality often seem pitted against
one another in irreconcilable opposition.
Contents: Richard Gombrich: Aśoka-The Great Upāsaka; Romila
Thapar: Aśoka and Buddhism as Reflected in the Aśokan Edicts;
Ananda W.P. Guruge: Unresolved Discrepancies between Buddhist
Tradition and Aśokan Inscriptions; N.A. Jayawickrama: Aśoka’s
Edicts and the Third Buddhist Council; Anuradha Seneviratna:
Aśoka and the Emergence of a Sinhala Buddhist State in Sri Lanka;
John S. Strong: Images of Aśoka; Ananda W.P. Guruge: Emperor
Aśoka’s Place in History.
Cover design by Mahinda Jeevananda
iv
The Editor
Anuradha Seneviratna is Professor of Sinhala at the Univer-
sity of Peradeniya. His prior publications include The Springs
of Sinhala Civilization; Buddhist Monastic Architecture in Sri Lanka;
Mahintale: Dawn of a Civilization; and a two-volume work on the
Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.
The Buddhist Publication Society
The BPS is an approved charity dedicated to making known
the Teaching of the Buddha, which has a vital message for
people of all creeds. Founded in 1958, the BPS has published
a wide variety of hooks and booklets covering a great range
of topics. Its publications include accurate annotated transla-
tions of the Buddha’s discourses, standard reference works, as
well as original contemporary expositions of Buddhist thought
and practice. These works present Buddhism as it truly is — a
dynamic force which has influenced receptive minds for the
past 2,500 years and is still as relevant today as it was when
it first arose. A full list of our publications will be sent upon
request with an enclosure of U.S. $1.50 or its equivalent to cover
air mail postage. Write to:
The Hony. Secretary
Buddhist Publication Society
P.O. Box 61
4 Sangharaja, Mawatha,
Kandy, Sri Lanka.
v
The Contributors
Richard Gombrich is Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford
University and Fellow of Balliol College. He is also the
Honorary Secretary and Treasurer of the Pali Text Society.
His previous publications include Precept and Practice:
Traditional Buddhism in the Rural Highlands of Ceylon (1971),
The World of Buddhism (with Heinz Bechert, 1984), Theravāda
Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern
Colombo (1988), and Buddhism Transformed (with Gananath
Obeyesekere, 1990).
Ananda W.P. Guruge has served as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to
France and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO in Paris. He is
presently the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United States.
He holds a Ph.D. and D. Litt. (Hon.) and is the author of
The Society of the Ramayana (1960), From the Living Fountains
of Buddhism (1984), Buddhism — The Religion and its Culture
(2nd ed. 1984), and The Mahāvaṃsa — An Annotated New
Translation with Prolegomena (1989).
N.A. Jayawickrama was Professor and Head of the Department
of Pali of the University of Peradeniya and later Professor and
Head of the Department of Pali and Buddhist Civilization
at the University of Kelaniya. He is at present Editorial
Adviser to the Encyclopaedia of Buddhism and Professor
Emeritus of the University of Peradeniya. His publications
include The Inception of Discipline and the Vinayanidāna (1962),
The Epochs of the Conqueror (1968), and The Story of Gotama
Buddha (1990).
vi
Anuradha Seneviratna is Professor of Sinhala at the University
of Peradeniya. His publications include The Springs of Sinhala
Civilization (1989), Buddhist Monastic Architecture in Sri Lanka
(1992), Mahintale: Dawn of a Civilization (1993), and a two-
volume work on the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (1987,
1990).
John S. Strong is Associate Professor of Religion at Bates College,
U.S.A., and author of The Legend of King Aśoka (1983) and
The Legend and Cult of Upagupta.
Romila Thapar is Professor of Ancient Indian History at the
Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University
in New Delhi. Her publications include Aśoka and the Decline
of the Mauryas (1961), A History of India, Vol. I (1984), and
From Lineage to State (1984).
vii
Contents
The Contributors ....................................................................................................................... vi
Editor’s Preface .......................................................................................................................... xi
Editor’s Note ............................................................................................................................. xii
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... xiii
1 Aśoka — The Great Upāsaka
R G 1
ICHARD OMBRICH .................................................................................................
1. Aśoka’s Inscriptions 2
........................................................................................
2. Aśoka in Buddhist Tradition 6
.....................................................................
3. The Missions: Interpreting the Evidence 10
.........................................
Notes 13
...........................................................................................................................
2 Aśoka and Buddhism as Reflected in the Aśokan Edicts
R T 15
OMILA HAPAR .........................................................................................................
3 Emperor Aśoka and Buddhism:
Unresolved Discrepancies between
Buddhist Tradition & Aśokan Inscriptions
A W.P. G 37
NANDA URUGE .........................................................................................
1. Introduction 37
........................................................................................................
2. Conversion of Aśoka to Buddhism 42
.....................................................
3. When, How and by Whom? 46
...................................................................
4. Major Discrepancies in Events and Dates 49
.......................................
5. Historical Reliability of Rock Edict XIII 54
...........................................
6. Aśoka’s Role in the
Propagation of Buddhism in his Empire 63
........................................
7. Foreign Missions of Aśoka 70
.........................................................................
viii
8. Conclusions 79
.........................................................................................................
Notes 84
..........................................................................................................................
4 Aśoka’s Edicts and the Third Buddhist Council
N.A. J 92
AYAWICKRAMA ...............................................................................................
Notes 106
........................................................................................................................
5 Aśoka and the Emergence
of a Sinhala Buddhist State in Sri Lanka
A S 111
NURADHA ENEVIRATNA ..................................................................................
1. Introduction 111
....................................................................................................
2. Sources 112
..............................................................................................................
3. The Mission to Sri Lanka: Brief Account 115
.......................................
4. The Political Background 118
......................................................................
5. The Sri Lanka-Kalinga Tie 122
.....................................................................
6. Aśoka and Tissa 125
...........................................................................................
7. The Advent of Mahinda 130
..........................................................................
8. Saṅghamittā and the Bodhi Tree 132
......................................................
9. Conclusion 135
.......................................................................................................
Notes 137
........................................................................................................................
6 Images of Aśoka:
Some Indian and Sri Lankan
Legends and their Development
J S. S 141
OHN TRONG .....................................................................................................
A. The Early Traditions 146
.........................................................
1. The Gift of Honey and the Gift of Dirt 146
.........................................
2. The Fate of the Bodhi Tree 152
..................................................................
ix
3. The Gathering of the Relics 154
.................................................................
4. The 84,000 Stūpas or Vihāras 157
.............................................................
B. Later Developments 162
...........................................................
1. The Gift of Dirt Reconsidered 162
............................................................
2. The Legends of the Queens 165
................................................................
3. The Collection of Relics: A New Story 168
..........................................
4. The 84,000 Stūpas Once More 170
...........................................................
Conclusion 173
..............................................................................................................
Notes 174
........................................................................................................................
7 Emperor Aśoka’s Place in History:
A Review of Prevalent Opinions
A W.P. G 182
NANDA URUGE ......................................................................................
1. Introduction 182
....................................................................................................
2. Aśoka in the Mainstream Indian Tradition and Literature 184

3. Aśoka of the Northern Buddhist Sources 188
...................................
4. Aśoka of the Sri Lankan Pali Sources 195
............................................
5. Aśoka of Edicts and Inscriptions 201
......................................................
6. Aśoka in the Eyes of Recent Writers & Scholars 203
.....................
7. Aśoka and the Decline and Fall of the Mauryan Empire 217
..
8. Conclusion 221
.......................................................................................................
Notes 224
........................................................................................................................
Maps
Aśoka’s Indian Empire ................................................................................................. 235
Areas to which Buddhist Missions were sent ............................................. 236
x
Editor’s Preface
A
LARGE NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARS agree that
Emperor Aśoka of India in the third century B.C. was
one of the greatest conquerors who later achieved the most
difficult conquest of all — the conquest of himself — through
self-conviction and his perception of human suffering. After
embracing the Dhamma of the Buddha as his guide and ref-
uge, he transformed the goal of his regime from military con-
quest to conquest by Dhamma. By providing royal patronage
for the propagation of Buddhism both within and outside
his vast dominion, he helped promote the metamorphosis
of Buddhism from one among many sects of Indian ascetic
spirituality into a world religion that was eventually to pene-
trate almost all of southern and eastern Asia.
The present collection of papers by leading Indological
scholars is intended to highlight different aspects of the close
connection between the political and religious life of this exem-
plary Indian ruler. By underscoring from different angles the
ways in which Aśoka tapped the ethical and spiritual poten-
tials of rulership, and did so in ways which did not violate the
religious convictions of those who did not accept the same sys-
tem of beliefs that he himself endorsed, these papers, in their
totality, deliver a message that is highly relevant to our times,
when political and ethical goals so often seem to ride a colli-
sion course and religious tolerance is threatened by fanaticism
and belligerent fundamentalism.
This volume arose out of a seminar on King Aśoka and
Buddhism that had been scheduled to be held at the Buddhist
Publication Society in March 1987, but had to be cancelled
xi