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.”