Asoka and his religious beliefs

Agnik Bhattacharya

Asoka, the name signifies that he was someone special in the context of ancient Indian
history. Yes this grandson of Chandragupta Maurya , son of Bindusara indeed was an
important character in ancient Indian history and among the Mauryan dynasty . But in
spite of his greatness, we do not posses any authentic information about how he looked and
the world was entirely ignorant about the fact that someone by the name of Asoka even
existed in the lineages of early Indian history. It was 1837 when James Princep , an officer
of English East India Company found out successfully by decoding some inscriptions that
someone by the name of Asoka existed . When James Princep succeed in reading Asoka‟s
Brahmi edict, it was not immediately clear to him just which king they referred to . This is
because most of them refer to Asoka by variants of two titles Devanampiya and Piyadasi .
The Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa (Ceylonese chronicles), which used these epithets for
Asoka, provided the crucial clues to the mystery. In the later decades versions of Minor
rock edicts – I containing the personal name of the king Asoki – were found first at Maski
and latter at Udigallam , Mitter and Gujjara .

The Asokan inscriptions stands out to be one of the most authentic archaeological
sources to reconstruct the history of the Mauryans . The Asokan inscriptions give us
information about the socio-economic conditions prevalent in Asokan and pre- Asokan
times. The Asokan inscriptions turn out to be the most authentic source which helps us to
reconstruct the greatest ruler of the Mauryan dynasty. The edicts of the Mauryan emperor
Asoka form a unique branch of Indian epigraphical literature for a variety of reasons.
They offer the earliest records in the Brahmi and Kharaoshthi alphabets in several forms
of Prakrit speech and throw welcome light on the meager and dubious information offered
by tradition on the career , religious , policy , administration of a mighty emperor who is
one of the greatest sons of India and the world . It is from this inscriptions that we first get
an idea about Asoka‟s religious faith and his religious believes, that he promulgated as
Dhamma (his own religious beliefs, originally propagated by the Buddha) . The inscriptions
provide the generosity and forbearance that the emperor introduced for the first time in his
reign. His liberal and impartial dealings with their subjects irrespective of their caste and
creed is first known from his inscriptions .Asokan inscriptions are mainly divided into 2
main categories – (i) 14 major rock edicts , (ii) 6 pillar edicts . Most of the inscriptions were
located along ancient trade and pilgrimage routes. Some of them, such as one at Sanchi ,
were located at important Buddhist monastic sites.

According to the rock edicts, the most important event or the turning point of his
life was the Kalinga war and this is given out by Asoka himself in the 13 th rock edict .
Asoka in his rock edict clearly says that he affected the conquest of Kalinga 8years after his
appointment. He killed, he slaughtered, he plundered the unconquered country , and
himself affirms that 150,000 men were deported , 100,00 were slain in battle and many
times that number died . During this battle, he lays stress on the injury to the beloved ones
of the victorious Brahmanas and Sramanas . After this war a drastic change came in the
mind of Asoka. He realized that by this conquest he has won the land, the resources but not
the mind , love and affection of the people . He realized that this victory of his was not true
because he was able to achieve several sorrows and grief of people who died in the war
along with their beloved ones. So, he started on a journey to know himself and the original
destination of mortal human life. Hence forth out of repentance, for the evils of conquest,
he began to study Dhamma with zeal , to leave Dhamma and to devote himself to the
instruction of people in Dhamma .

Asoka was the first ruler who inscribed his messages to his subjects and officials on
stone surfaces – natural rocks as well as polished pillars. He used the inscriptions to
proclaim what he understood to be Dhamma . This included respect towards elders,
generosity towards Brahmanas and those who renounced worldly life. The Prakrit term
„Dharma‟ is same as the Sankrit „Dharma‟ which is popularly, but not accurately,
translated as religion. Thus Asoka‟s Dhamma is commonly viewed as his personal religious
learning. In the 11th regnal year Asoka came to Bodhyagaya and went to the place where
Buddha had attained enlightenment .Asoka himself has termed it as „Dharma Yatra‟ and
has told that during this journey he has achieved a lot. Asoka came in close contact with
the Buddhist Samgha, and directed his entire attention towards Dharma Vijaya or
religious conquest as oppose to conquest by arms.

In the practice of Dhamma , Asoka actually emphasizes on the observation of

certain conducts . Among these code of conducts the observation of non- violence is clearly
mentioned in his pillar edict. Asoka eschewed war and replaced the sound of the war drum
(bherighohsa: REV) with the reverberation of the drum of Dhamma (Dhammaghosha).
When 16 years elapsed since his coronation, Asoka banished those who were excessively
fond of hunting and fishing ( Laghman Aramic Edict ) . Ten years later Asoka enlisted a
number of birds and animals which could be slaughtered. This attitude is in clear harmony
with his instituting facilities of medical treatment to both animals and human beings.
Asoka prescribes the inculcation of certain virtues for the practice of Dhamma. These are
according to PEII , little sin , many meritorious deeds , kindness , charity , truthfulness and
purity . To these are added the recommendation for avoiding some vices: violence ,cruelty ,
anger , pride , and jealously . Dhamma therefore appears to have consisted of proclaiming
a set of virtues and avoiding a number of vices.

Accoeding to B . N.Mukherjee , Asoka had no intention of equating Dhamma with

Buddhism, his personal faith . In the propagation of his Dhamma , Asoka was attempting
to reform the narrow attitude of religious teachings , to protect the weak against the strong,
and to promote throughout the empire a conscious of social behavior so broad in its scope
that no cultural group could object it . Recent readings in the Greek edict of Asoka offer
another dimension to the policy of Dhamma . The Greek edict from Kandahar enlists some
of the salient features of Eusebia (Piety) the Greek translation of Dhamma . Among the
virtues to be inculcated for the practice of Eusebia / Dhamma was that Asoka‟s subjects
“had to mind the king‟s subjects”. ( ta tou Basileos sompheranto noi) .This implies that the
subject had to mind and /or pray respect to the interest of the ruler , in other words , the
subjects were to demonstrate firm devotion to the ruler himself . According to
B.N.Mukherjee , the concept in the Greek edict is in fact an elaboration and elucidation of
the term “didhabhatita “ occurring in his Prakrit edicts . Mukherjee has cited or referred
to Panini‟s grammatical treatise to suggest that in his pre –Mauryan text one of the
meaning of bhakti or devotion was devotion to the ruler. Dhamma indeed therefore was a
very broad based social code of ethical conducts. According to B.D. Chattopadhay , the all
encompassing ideology of Dhamma is eloquently expressed by Asoka‟s aim to maintain by
Dhamma , to rule by Dhamma ,to make people happy according to Dhamma ,and to
protect according to Dhamma .

Although we know that after the Kalinga war, Asoka came in close contact with the
Buddhist Samgha , it is scarcely necessary to state that Asoka was a follower of Buddhism .
All Buddhist records tell us that he had espoused that religion. On the other hand, there is
no work, literary or scriptural, which says that he had embraced any other faith .
According to H.H.Wilson and Edward Thomas Asoka was Jaina like his father and
grandfather at first but later became a Buddhist afterwards. But it is no longer permissible
to call in question the Buddhist faith of Asoka. According to J.J.Fleet , the Dhamma
inculcated in the rock and pillar edcits way in no way the Buddhist Dhamma , because in
them Buddha is not mentioned at all and the Samgha only once and in such a way as to
place it on a par with other creeds . The object of these edicts, according to Fleet was not to
propagate any particular religion, but it was an attempt to govern the entire kingdom in
accordance with the duty of pious kings. According to Fleet Asoka converted to Buddhism
in the 13th year from his coronation, that is , two years after his pillar edicts were engraved.
According to Hultzsch , it is true that Asoka converted to Buddhism in the 9th year of his
reign and by the 10th year he was already a Buddhist . This evidence is supplied by Minor
Rock Edict I , in that edict Asoka begins by saying that „ It is more than two years and a
half that I am a lay worshipper , but did not exert myself for one year . But indeed, for
more than one year that I have been living with the Samgha I have exerted myself
strenuously‟. When therefore this edict was engraved, he had already been a Buddhist for
just less than three years. In , the first place , it is unfortunate that the interpretation of
Hultzsch , though it is of such paramount importance for the religious history of Asoka ,
has not been even so much as referred by other scholars . Secondly, nowhere do the Pali
chronicles describe any part of Asoka‟s life which was a stage of inaction. For even long
before Asoka paid a state of visit to the Samgha , we find him bestowing alms on 60,000
Buddhist monks in his own palace and building 84,000 viharas . Thirdly, it was not during
the second stage that he first visited the Sangha , as implied by others . Finally what is most
important to remember is that the Samgham – upagatatva of Asoka lasted for the whole
period of his second stage, namely for more than one year. We thus see that Asoka became
a convert to Buddhism in the 9th year of his reign , that for one year he did not much exert
himself for this faith , and that in the 10th year he adopted a strenuous career , which he
signalized with a pilgrimage to the Bodhi tree .

When Asoka took to Buddhist faith, the economic prosperities of the monasteries
grew by leaps and bounds and the monks lived in ease and comfort. The heretics who had
lost their income and honor were attracted by these prospects to enter the Buddhist order.
So , the number of false monks became far larger than true believers of Buddhism . For 7
years no Uposatha or Pavarana ceremony was held in any of the monasteries. Asoka was
filled with distress with the failure of Samgha , so the King sent messengers to the monks to
come to Pataliputra . Therefore the Third Buddhist council was held at Pataliputra under
the patronage of Asoka. Asoka convoked the Third Buddhist council to settle the
differences of matters on doctrine and discipline among the Buddhist monks of different
sects. He wanted to establish the purity of teachings of Lord Buddha . According to
Kathavathu , the Third Buddhist council was not a general council but was a meeting of the
Sthaviravadins . Maggaliputta Tissa precided over the council and a 1000 noted monks
participated in it . The most significant outcome of the council was that true faith was
restored and Tissa Thero compile “ The Abhidhamma” . Maggaliputta Tissa himself set
forth the Kathavathu Pakarana . For 9 months he worked with the bhikkhus and the
compilation of the true Tripitaka was completed .According to the Mahavamsha the king
at the close of the Third Buddhist council sent Majjhantika to Kashmir and Gandhara ,
Mahadeva to Mahimsa mandala , Rakkhita to Vanavasa , Yana Dhamma Rakkhita to
Aparantaka , Maharakkhita to Yana , Sona , Uttara to Suvarna Bhumi and Mahendra
with Uttiya Ittiya , Sambala to Lanka or Ceylon . At the request of the request of the
Devanompiya Thissa , the king of Ceylon , Asoka sent his daughter Sangamitra with a
branch of Bodhi tree to propagate Buddhist teachings there .Asoka‟s mission was thus not
confined within the boundaries of India . Through his efforts Buddhism was introduced in
a large part of the world and Buddhism occupied a prominent position in India and
abroad. So, he is regarded as the first royal patron of Buddhism for his manifold to the
cause of Buddhism .
 So, we see that Asoka in his early life was entirely committed towards
administrative work and expanding the Mauryan Empire and hence he is sometimes
termed as „Chanda Asoka‟. But after the Kalinga war he realized the original aim of
human life and by seeing the sorrow of people and by realizing it he converted to Buddhist
faith in the 9th year from his convocation. Inspired from the Buddhist faith he started
spreading and propagating Dhamma ( his own religious belief ) . Yet the policy of Dhamma
failed and did not succeed. It may have been due to Asoka‟s over – anxiety for its
acceptance , or to his own weakness when he became obsessed with Dhamma in the latter
part of his reign .Nevertheless , Asoka deserves admiration , not only for recognizing the
need for a social ethic , but for attempting to both define and independent such an ethic in
his capacity as emperor .

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