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It is King Ashokas own philosophy not Buddhism

-Chandrakanth, 11110024

King Ashoka
Kalinga war:

8 stupas: In which year, who made them, what is their relevance to Buddhism.[study the document, downloaded yesterday] Because the ancient Indians used perishable materials like palm leaves as writing material, we have no written documents before the third century B.C.E from south Asia[3]. However throughout his reign Ashoka had his ideas carved on the both large and small stones, called edicts and later on stone pillars. Thus Ashokas inscriptions are providing full record of his thoughts and movements. Stupas: Pillars: Rock edicts: Ashoka kingdom includes present India (except southernmost part), Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Persia is the land next to Ashoka kingdom. Probably he might be inspired by the public monuments of the kings of Persia1. He publicized his change of heart and new imperial policies in a series of engraved rock and pillar inscriptions scattered throughout his lands. Here I am providing the evidences to prove my argument. The earliest known document in the history of religious toleration was made by King Cyrus II, Persian king. Cyrus issued a declaration inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform2 on a clay cylinder, which was discovered in Babylon in 1879. On this cylinder Cyrus announced a number of reforms he made after conquering the country. These include arranging, the restoration of temples and organizing. Similarly, the Behistun inscription, a multi lingual stone inscription
1 2

Now it is called Iran One of the earliest known systems of writing

approximately 15 m high and 25 m wide located in western Iran. It was written by Darius I. This inscription begins with a brief autobiography of Darius I, he also proclaimed himself victorious in all battles during the period of upheaval[4]. Herodotus (484 425 BCE), the Persian king ran some 2,875 km Royal road from the city of Susa to port of Smyrna (modern Izmir in Turkey) on Aegean sea. This highway built by the Persian king of Darius I to facilitate rapid communication. Ashokas: Roads, Planting trees, rock editcs, wells etc. The stupa originated as piled up burial-tumulus and constituted the most characteristic monument of Buddhist religion, although stupas of other faiths are not unknown. There are sites like Sanchi and Taxila (Pakistan) have Buddhist monuments, even though they were not visited by Buddha[5]. As Persian kings did the reconstruction, organizing of temples King Ashoka might applied this to Stupas. Vaisali is one of the eight holy places of Buddhism has uninscribed Mauryan pillaer. Besides this piller stupas were found in 1957-58. It was seen to have started stupas of unpretentious size in the pre-Mauryan age and was enlarged four times[5]. The materials used for these were bad, so these stupas were just rebuild by Ashoka. Stupa at Piprahwa in Basti District of Uttar Pradesh is a brick stupa of probable pre-Asokan date. Some of these stupas contained a network of walls containing the hub spokes and rim of whell, while others contained interior walls in a swastika shape. This Ashoka wheel on these stupas conatin 24 spokes. But Buddhas dhamma chakra contains only 8 spokes (Right view, right thought, right speech, right behaviour, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right meditation), therefore there is no exact relationship between Ashoka dhamma chakra on these stupas and Buddha dhamma chakra.

Many Modern assessments have tended to view King Ashoka largely only as a Buddhist. When placed in historical context in more recent times the man and his ideas come to be liberated from this single perspective[1]. We need to see him as a person with strong commitment to change society through his own philosophy. The Ashokas edicts are the best way of initiating a reassessment of the king and the nature of his policies, and even it applies to the present politicians. Ashokas dhamma3 is a philosophical entity that emphasizes on the high ideals in order to lead a successful life. He wanted everyone to live peacefully and co-exist in harmonious environment[2]. Some of his ideals were avoiding wars, spreading peace, stopping animal sacrifices, giving respect to elders, masters treating slaves like humans, and promoting vegetarian (result of stopping animal killing) etc. King Ashoka dhamm was essentially a code of ethical behaviour and the benefits. His formulations of dhamma were intended to influence the conduct of categories of people in relation to each other especially where they involved unequal relationships. Eg: children and parents, teachers and pupils, and employees and employers etc. Buddha dhamma teaches us to maintain purity of life, to reach perfection in life, to live in Nibbana4, to believe that all compound things are impermanent, to believe karma is the instrument of moral order. All these Buddha dhamma are targeted towards the personal life perfection, it doesnt say how to behave with colleagues, neighbours or with animals and how to treat them. The teachings of Buddha that life is permeated with suffering caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases, and that enlightenment obtained through right conduct, wisdom, and meditation. Ashokas dhamma didnt derive from Buddhas divine

3 4

Equivalent to Sanskrit word dharma The salvation of soul

inspiration. It was more in keeping with the ethic conditioned by the logic of given social situations[1].

References: 1] Jstor 2] http://www.iloveindia.com/history/ancient-india/maurya-dynasty/ashoka-dhamma.html 3] http://books.google.co.in/books?id=


MLXDr0GRHQC&pg=PA62&dq=why+did+ashoka+to+buddhism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oWlhUfiOM8rNrQeUvY GICg&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=why%20did%20ashoka%20to%20buddhism&f=false 4] http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?era=-1000

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