Ashoka’s Dhamma

Ashoka’s dhamma is the moral and ethical rules that should be followed by every citizen. It preaches about peace and togetherness among people, to respect elders and help those in need. This topic provides key insights for GS Paper-I, Ancient history of India section of the UPSC IAS Exam.

Content

• Who was King Ashoka?
• Kalinga war and its impacts
• Ashoka’s religion
• What was Ashoka’s Dhamma?
• Ashoka’s place in history
• Conclusion
• FAQs

Who was King Ashoka?

• Ashoka, popularly known as Ashoka the Great (273-232 B.C.), and Chakravarti Samrat Ashoka, was the third Mauryan Emperor of Magadha in the Indian subcontinent from 273 to 232 BCE.
• Ashoka was the third Mauryan emperor, son of King Bindusar and the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya who founded the Maurya Empire.
• He was the first king to educate his men and lead them to the path of truth.
• He was the only military man who gave up warfare.
• His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, stretching from present-day Afghanistan in the west to present-day Bangladesh in the east, with its capital at Pataliputra.
• Ashoka is the first king in the Indian history who has left his records engraved on stones. The history of Ashoka and his reign can be reconstructed with the help of these inscriptions and some other literary sources.
  • The inscriptions on rocks are called Rock Edicts, and those on Pillars, Pillar Edicts.
• About the year 262 B.C., he attacked on the kingdom of Kalinga (present day Orissa).
• He fought a bloody war after a great slaughter of men, women and children, he conquered Kalinga and added it to his empire.
  • But the sight of terrible ruin filled his mind with horror.
  • He decided not to fight anymore wars and bring peace to lives of people.
• After Kalinga war, there were no more wars in Ashoka’s kingdom and he was inclined towards Buddhism.
• Ashoka began issuing edicts after 12 years of his rule.
• These were his ideas on various matters such as religion, government, and the people’s behaviour towards one another. These were called as Ashoka’s policy of Dhamma.
• A patron of Buddhism, he is credited with playing an important role in the spread of Buddhism across ancient Asia.
• The Buddhist legends credit Ashoka with establishing many stupas, patronizing the Third Buddhist council, supporting Buddhist missionaries, making generous donations to the sangha, and even persecuting non-Buddhists.

Kalinga war and its impacts:

• The earliest event of Ashoka’s reign recorded in his inscriptions is his conquest of Kalinga (modern-day Odisha and nearby areas).
• This war was fought in the 8^th year of his reign.
• The Rock Edict XIII describes vividly the horrors and miseries of this war and its impact on Ashoka.
• According to this edict, 1 lakh people were killed in this war, several lakhs perished and one and a half lakhs were taken prisoners.
• These numbers may be exaggerated but it is clear that this war had a devastating effect on the people of Kalinga.
• This war had adverse effects on Ashoka too, and up to the extent that it changed his personality.
• He felt great remorse due to atrocities he made.
• Thus, he abandoned the policy of aggression and tried to conquer the hearts of the people.
• The drums declaring wars were replaced by the drums announcing ethical and moral principles with dhammaghosa.
• He started taking steps for the welfare of people and animals and sent ambassadors of peace to the Greek kingdoms in West Asia and several other countries.
• After the Kalinga war Ashoka adopted Buddhism, one of whose cardinal doctrines was non-violence and non-injury to living beings.
• Ashoka took for the propagation of Buddhism by conducting Dharmayatras and instructed his officials to do the same.
  • He appointed special class of officials called Dharmamahamatras whose sole responsibility was to propagate Dhamma among the people.

Did this make Ashoka weak?

• He did not become a weak-hearted pacifist after the Kalinga war, he grew passion for peace and humanity.
• He even warned people that these good measures should not be taken as a sign of weakness, as he would not hesitate to show aggression when and if needed.
• Within the empire he appointed a class of officers known as rajjukas who were vested with the authority of not only rewarding people but also punishing them if required.

Ashoka’s religion:

• It is widely known that personal religion of Ashoka was Buddhism in a later phase of his life but he never imposed his ideals on his subjects.
• He showed respect to all sects and faiths and believed in unity among ethical and moral values of all sects.
• In Rock Edict XII he pronounces his policy of equal respect to all religious sects more clearly. He says, that he “honours all sects and both ascetics and laymen, with gifts and various forms of recognition”.

What was Ashoka’s Dhamma:

• According to Ashoka, Dhamma is not a religion or a religious system but a Moral Law, a Common Code of Conduct, or an Ethical Order.
• The word dhamma is the Prakrit form of the Sanskrit word Dharma.
  • The edicts were written in the Brahmi script but the language was Prakrit.
  • Prakrit was spoken by the common people and Sanskrit was spoken by those who were educated.
    • Because Ashoka wanted to explain his ideas to ordinary people, he used a language that they would understand.
• The Ashokan inscriptions are found in India, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
• However, the name Ashoka occurs only in Minor Rock Edict I found at three places in Karnataka and one in Madhya Pradesh.
• All other inscriptions refer to him as devanampiya (beloved of the gods) and piyadasi.
• The policy of Dharma was an earnest attempt at solving some of problems and tensions faced by a complex society.
• Dharma was to generalize norms of social behavior and activities.
• Ashoka wanted all the different religious groups to live together in peace and tolerance.
• He never discussed God or soul or religion as such, he just asked people to have control over their passion, to cultivate purity of life and character in innermost thoughts, to be tolerant to other religions.
• He wanted people to be friendly towards one another.
  • The younger people should obey the older ones, and children should obey their parents.
• He was also hurt by the way slaves and servants were treated by their owners so he made a special plea that masters should be kind to their servants.
• He wanted to stop the killing of men and animals.
  • He promised not to fight any wars.
  • He forbade the people to sacrifice animals for religious ceremonies because he thought this was cruel nor did he like the people to eat meat.
  • In his own kitchen he stopped killing of animals and gave away non-vegetarianism.
• He wanted above all that the people should live in peace, and not fight over land and religion as the important thing was not the differences but the unity within the empire.
• The principles of Dhamma were formulated to be acceptable to people belonging to different communities and following any religion.
• Main features of Ashoka dhamma, as many rock edicts prescribed the following codes to be followed:
• Respect of mother, father, teachers, elders and other respectable people
• Respect towards teachers
• Proper treatment towards ascetics, relations, slaves, servants and dependents, the poor and miserable, friends, acquaintances and companions
• Liberality towards ascetics, friends, comrades, relatives and the aged
• Abstention from the killing of living beings
• Non-injury to all living creatures
• Spending little and accumulating little wealth
• Mildness in case of all living creatures
• Truthfulness
• Attachment to morality
• Purity of heart

Ashoka’s place in history:

King Ashoka has a special place in Indian history for being the greatest and kindest king. He is the only king in history who apologised to his conquered subject for having waged war against them and caused them misery and sufferings. For peace and brotherhood, he started Dharmayatras to propagate his idea of living.

Conclusion

Ashoka’s Dhamma, often referred to as Dharma, was a unique and profound policy promulgated by Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Dynasty after his conversion to Buddhism. It wasn’t a religion but a moral law that Ashoka sought to propagate throughout his empire, which stretched across much of the Indian subcontinent. Ashoka’s Dhamma was based on the universal values of morality, peace, and non-violence and was influenced by Buddhist teachings, though it maintained a non-sectarian and universal approach.

Ashoka’s Dhamma had a profound impact on the Indian subcontinent. It helped to integrate diverse peoples within the Mauryan Empire and fostered a culture of peace and non-violence. Although the political unity of the empire dissolved after Ashoka’s death, the ideals of the Dhamma influenced Indian culture and were instrumental in the spread of Buddhism across Asia.

Ashoka’s Dhamma remains a significant example of moral governance and ethical leadership, emphasizing the role of benevolent rule and the welfare state in the annals of history.

Ref: Source-1

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)