ASHOKA DHARMA


Ashoka takes an honourable place in the galaxy of monarchs ever known to Indian history. He is a great ideal today because he is a great harbinger of peace. He is the only monarch in the history of the world who is the preacher of universal morality to the people.
The ideal of  kingship of Ashoka was to promote the material as well as spiritual welfare of his subjects;  to make the mankind happy in this world and also in the other world. Ashoka’s efforts after Dhamma date from his conquest of Kalinga. The reason of his moral propagandism is suggested to be that he feels bound to promote the real welfare of his subject, as ‘a father does of his children’. The reason is further indicated in the following statement: “And whatever efforts I am making is made that I may discharge the debt which I owe to living beings, that I may make them happy in this world and that they may attain heaven in the other world” (R.E. VI). Thus Ashoka takes to moral propagandism as an absolute duty of the ruler towards his subjects, one of the obligations of kingship. Such a duty must need be wide and Catholic in its outlook and scope, such as the promotion of happiness of all sections of people both in this world and the next.
             Rock Edict XIII gives information that a turn in his ideal of kingship or in his religious thought came after his conquest and annexation of  Kalinga in his 9th regnal  year. There arose in his mind a heavy remorse by thinking of  horrors of Kalinga war. These slaughter, death and captivity seemed exceedingly serious to the monarch. His actions as a monarch were changed and since then the sound of ‘Bheri’ had become the sound of ‘Dharma’.
            After the war the chiefest conquest, in his opinion, was not the victory in a military war, but the victory of law of Piety (dharma vijaya) and in a way he advised his sons and grandsons not to think of conquering a new conquest by war, and that they should consider that to be the real conquest which is through the law of piety, as it avails both for good in this world and the next.
            It appears that after Kalinga war he altogether stopped slaughter and killing of animals. It can not be ignored that Ashoka was up in arms against sacrificial slaughter that was prevalent in this country under the brahmanic system of Vedic sacrifices. He found offence in even convivial gatherings where meat doles must have been distributed to merry makers. Due to his compassion for animal life the king brought out a code of regulations restricting slaughter and mutilation of various kinds of animals, birds and acquatic lives, prevention of caponing of cocks, of burning of chaff along with living creatures within, of forest conflagration, feeding of the living with the living, and of destruction of elephant preserves or of fish ponds and these were prominent features in the king’s restrictive regulations.
            D.R. Bhandarkar opines that ‘his ideal was to promote material and spiritual welfare of the whole world consisting not only of men but also of beasts and other creatures, not only again in his own kingdom but also over the world known or accessible to him.
            The source of his ideal was his dhamma. Ashoka’s dhamma is a code of certin ethical principles and humanitarian ideals with its universal dimension. And it is this which Ashoka tries to propagate as far as possible. His Dhamma of edicts is not any particular religious system but the moral law independent of any caste or creed, the sara or essence of all religions. One can see in it the efforts on the part of the king to unite the various sects and sections of the society and to promote the ideas of peaceful co-existence and universal brotherhood.
            Scholars dispute whether Ashoka’s concept of dhamma was based on Buddhism or not. Negatively, we may say that it was not to be identified with any of the then prevailing faiths of the country. It was certainly not Buddhism, his own religious system. “We hear from him nothing concerning the deeper ideas or fundamental tenants of that faith; there is no mention of the Four Grand Truths, the Eight fold Path, the Chain of Causation, the supernatural quality of Buddha;’ the word and the idea of Nirvana fail to occur; and the innumerable points of difference which occupied the several sects are likewise ignored”. It can be argued that his idea of Dhamma absorbed common ethical principles or essence of all religious sects in which Buddhist principles also form a part.
It has two aspects; Negative and Positive.

Positive aspect of Dhamma:
In its positive aspect, we find the mention of certain virtues in the edicts, viz,
(i)          Sadhuta, saintliness,
(ii)        apasinavam, freedom from sin
(iii)       Daya, kindness
(iv) Danam, liberality
(iv)       Satyam, truthfulness
(v)         Saucham, purity
(vi)       Mardavam, gentleness
(vii)     Samyama, self control
(ix) Dharmarati, attachment to morality.
           
In P.E.I. love to Dharma, self-examination, obedience, fear of sin and enthusiasm are mentioned as requisites for the attachment of happiness in this world and the next. In its practical  aspect, it prescribes a comprehensive code of conduct embracing various relations of life. It is described as comprising:
(i)  Prananam anarambha, abstention from slaughter of living beings.
(ii)  Avihisa bhutanam, non-violence towards life.
(iii) Susrusa, obedience to father, mother and teachers
(iv) Apachiti, respect of pupils towards the gurus
(v)  Sampratipatti, proper treatment towards brahmanas, sramanas, relations and acquaintances.
(vi)  Danam, liberality towards brahmanas, sramanas, friends and the aged.
(vii)  Apa-vyayata, less expenditure
(viii) Apa-bhandata, moderation in saving

By the inclussion of those common duties, the emperor no doubt aimed at this purity of domestic life so essential to the well being of the society. The circle of human relations embraced even the brahmanas and sramanas, thereby making it necessary to the householders to support the acetics. In R.E. III and IV the king gave the direction and even enforced it that the lower animals must be met kind treatment by their human masters.

In R.E. XIII, the Dhamma is described in a nutshell as the right attitude towards all manifesting itself in non-injury, restraint, equal treatment and mildness in respect of all creatures, human beings as well as beasts and birds.

Negative aspect of Dhamma:
In its negative aspect Ashoka has pointed out certain vices which should be avoided and not be practiced by human beings viz krodhah, anger; manam, pride; irsa, envy; nisthuryam, cruelty; chandyam, rage or fury. In R.E. X the dhamma is also negatively defined as aparisravam, i.e. freedom from evil.
      We have already seen how much Ashoka cherished all his domestic relations brothers and sisters, sons and grandsons and other female relations of his, in whose affairs, moral welfare and happiness both in this world and the next, he was keenly interested. Those outside his own family the people at large, he regarded as his own children for whose welfare he was constantly working. In P.E. II, Ashoka himself refers to his many and various kindnesses and good deeds in respect of both man and beasts, birds and aquatic creatures. Ashoka also insists on dharmanusasanam, preaching morality as the supreme duty of the king, and accordingly he himself undertook a part of this public instruction in morality by moving among his subjects in different parts of the country, instructing them in morality and questioning them also about morality as stated in R.E. VIII. In R.E., VI, he asserts the promotion of good of all as the most important duty of the king, which could only be discharged by exertion and dispatch of business.
Ashoka has drawn certain comparisons between the practices of ordinary life and those of Dhamma so that the people may understand his idea of Dhamma. Dharmadana is better than the ordinary gift. While alms-giving was commended, the higher doctrine was taught that there is no such charity as the charitable gift of the law of piety; no such distribution as the distribution of piety R.E. XI.
Secondly Ashoka cared very little for ordinary mangalas or rituals performed by the people specially by the women kind and was inclined to look with some scorn upon ordinary ceremonies, which, as he observes, bear little fruit. True ceremonial consists in the fulfilment of that law which bears great fruit; and includes kind treatment of slaves and servants, honour to teachers, respect for life and liberality towards srarmanas and brahmanas.
Thirdly, Ashoka insinsists on Dharmavijaya, which, he considers is only the true conquest rather than an ordinary conquest. Glory of a king does not depend upon the physical extent of his dominion but upon the victory of hearts and wills of the people by the force of moral pursuation.

Some important features of Ashoka’s Dhamma
It is distinguished by several doctrines and philosophical positions bringing out Ashoka’s ideas of moral reform Ashoka insists on the quality of self-examination. This must mean examination of one’s bad deeds with his good ones (P.E. III). In P.E.I, he emphasises intense self-examination (pariksa) and intense effort (utsaha) as among the aids to moral life.
Next is emphasised the need of self-exertion as a means of moral progress. The need, he frankly admits, is all  the greater for a man of ‘high degree’ (R.E. X). He further points out: ‘Difficult, verily, it is to attain such freedom (from sin), whether by people of low or high degree, save by the utmost exertion (parakrama), giving up all other aims’. The Minor Rock Edict-I  publishes the declaration: ‘Let small and great exert themselves’. He wanted to see such a purpose to increase from more to more. He did not forget to say that even people living outside the Indian borders  should strive for the same end.
Ashoka also emphasised on the quality of tolerance. It appears that many religious sects and faiths flourished during his reign in India and hence, toleration was insisted as an absolute duty. The root of toleration is restraint of speech, ‘refraining from speaking well of one’s own sect and ill of others.’ On that basis toleration among the followers of different faiths will grow, and it should be further promoted by making them know of one another’s doctrines, so that the follower of one sect may` be able to appreciate the doctrine of other sects. Out of this width of knowledge will spring a wider outlook, charity and toleration, and purity of doctrines, the essence of all religions (R.E. XII).
Another important feature of his dhamma is emphasis on the essence of religion. Every religion has two aspects; ethncal and doctrinal. Ethics is the inner and doctrine is the outer manifestation of the religion. All religions agree on the ethical aspect but they differ with respect to outer manifestation. The ethics is the Sara or essence of all religions. In the words of D.R. Bhandarkar, “What constitutes Ashoka’s originality of mind, as of all saints, is his concentration on the essence of religion, which all sects possess in common specially at a time when they have lost sight of it.”
Lastly for kings and administrators, the ideal of Dharmavijaya has been prescribed. The real fame for a king does not depend upon the territorial expansion of his dominion, but upon the moral progress he can help his people to achieve. It is evident that by these and other similar prescriptions. Ashoka tries to instal morality as the governing principle and force in every walk of life and to spiritualise politics and, in deed, all life’s activities. His new ideals and doctrines express themselves in a new language, a variety of terms invented by Ashoka himself. In Pillar Edict-I he sums his intention by saying that he wants the maintenance, governance happiness and protection of the people to be regulated by dharma, and the people to grow day by day in their dependence upon Dharma and devotion to Dharma.
We may note that Ashoka had faith in the other world  repeated in several of  his edicts and also in the attainment of svarga or happiness in the that world  as a  result of pursuit of  dharma in this world.  He also believed in the eternity of heaven and, consequently, in the  immortality of soul.  He  considered the  other world, as the ultimate objective of life.  In R.E.X, he makes it clear that all his endeavour is for the sake of other world.  As a believer in the svarga, Ashoka also says in his R.E. IV how he tried to stimulate his  people to virtue by presenting  before them pictures of such blisses awaiting them after death.
The dhamma that is thus presented in these Edicts is another name for the moral and virtuous life and takes its stand upon the common ground of all religions. It is not sectarian in any sense, but is completely cosmopolitan, capable of universal application and acceptance as the Sara, essence of all religions and is thus worthy of a sovereign of a vast empire comprising peoples following different religions. Thus in the moral interests of the diverse peoples committed to his care, Ashoka was at pains to think out a system which might be imposed upon his subjects irrespective of their personal faiths and beliefs. Thus he laid the basis of a universal religion and was, perhaps, first to do so in history.

Propagation of Dhamma in external relations
Ashoka organised an efficient system of foreign missions with a desire to diffuse the blessings of his ethicl system in all the independent kingdoms with which he was in touch. His conception of the idea of foreign missions was absolutely original, and produced the well considered results. Royal missionaries were dispatched to all the dependent states and tribes on the borders of the empire, and in the wilder regions within its border to independent kingdoms of Southern India, and to the five Hellenistic countries of Syria, Egypt, Cyrene, Mecedonia and Epirus. Ashoka for the same purpose sent his son Mahendra and daughter Sanghmitra to Ceylon in the reign of Tissa.
The Border states and tribes brought in this way within the circle of his ethical system includuded the Kambojas; the Gandhars and Yavanas of the Kabul valley regions; the bhojas, Pulindas and Pitenikas dwelling among the Vindhya range and Western Ghats, and the Andhra Kingdom. Four independent Southern Kingdoms; the Chola, Pandya, Keralputra and Satiyaputra were on such good terms with Ashoka that he was at liberty to send his missionaries to preach the people of these lands.
In organizing such missions to foreign countries at the expense of India, Ashoka perhaps felt that India also would be benefited along with them. These were the countries with which India had active intercourse in those days, and it was desirable that they should conform to common codes and ideals of conduct and thought. The influx of foreigners to India in those days is quite apparent from the statement of Megasthenes that there was a separate department of administration to deal with their special interests. The history of the Western Greek countries does not preserve any record showing how Ashoka’s missionaries fared there, but we need not assume on a priori grounds that those countries did not welcome the Indians who too brought them only a message of peace and good will. It is difficult to dispute that Buddhist thought has left its marks upon some phases of Western thought, notably “the heretical Gnostic sects and some of the more orthodox forms of Christian teaching”. (V.A. Smiths’s Early History of India IVth ed. P.197).
It is almost certain that Ashoka, by his comprehensive and well-planned measures, succeeded in transforming the doctrine of a local Indian sect into one of the great religions of the world. He did not attempt to destroy either Brahmanical Hindusim or Jainism; but his prohibition of bloody scarifices, the preference which he openly avowed for Buddhism and his active propaganda, undoubtedly brought his favourite doctrine to the front and established it as a dominant faith in India as well as Cylon.

Ashoka’s Concept of Peaceful Co-existence
The discussion on Ashoka’s Dhamma would remain incomplete unless it is analysed in the light of his idea of peaceful co-existence Religious toleration in India is traditional co-existence of all religious sects and creeds prevails even now. But the root of such toleration may be traced to Ashoka’s religious activities. His idea of peaceful co-existence suggests that there should not be shown dishonour and condemnation to another sect; all other sects should be honoured by all men and in all ways. Thus acting they would be able to promote their own sect and benefit the other sect. Acting otherwise they would hurt their own sect and harm other sect.
Ashoka’s principle of co-existence strove to bring together people following different faiths and to bind them in a harmonious union. As has been stated above the king did not attempt to destroy brahmanical  religion, Jainism or any other faith but tried to provide a common ground for all sects by means of certain ethical principles and practices acceptable to all. And, therefore, Ashoka preached his concept of Dharmavijaya.It differs from the concept of Digvijaya of later Hindu monarchs who believed in the territorial expansion of their dominions. Ashoka ardently desired to conquer human hearts not by sword but by the superior ideals of humanity i.e., love, goodwill sympathy and assurance of non-aggression and advancement of the cause of humanity through piety and works of public utility.  
The principles of non-violence and peaceful co-existence reflected in Ashoka’s Dhamma are the instruments of global force of “peace, progress and prosperity” that plays by the rules without hegemonic designs based on military might. Hence, it was an empire of righteousness, an empire resting on right and not on might. He also gave to his people belonging to different communities and sects, certain common ideas of thought and conduct which entitle him to be the humanity’s first ruler with universal love and morality. He lives with us even today in our national emblem. Such is the influence of Ashoka’s  dhamma on history. The significant role played by him in the history of the world has aptly been described by Toynbee in the following words. “Ashoka will continue to be remembered because he put conscience into practice in the exercise of his political power. This is all the more notable considering that unlike ourselves Ashoka lived in the pre-atomic age, and therefore he did not have the obvious urgent utilitarian incentive, that our generation of mankind has to renounce the use of war as an instrument of national policy. Waging war with even with the deadliest of weapons then at Man’s disposal, Ashoka would have run no risk of getting his own subjects exterminated not to speak of bringing annihilation upon the human race as a whole.”