When Socrates Met The Buddha - David H. Sick (2007)

When Socrates Met the Buddha: Greek and Indian Dialectic in Hellenistic Bactria and India
Author(s): David H. Sick

Source: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Third Series, Vol. 17, No. 3 (Jul., 2007), pp. 253-
278
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain
and Ireland
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When Socratesmet theBuddha:
Greek and IndianDialectic inHellenistic
Bactria and India
DAVID H. SICK
Ifwith all these openings there had been no exchange whatever between East and West in their
itwould have been strange, to say no more; and though, as I repeat, we

literary productions,
have no tangible evidence of anything like translations, whether oriental or occidental, at that
time.. -1
Those words come from one ofMax M?llers last essays 'Coincidences', in which he listed
the many of contact between East and West in the period after Alexander the Great's
points
invasion of Bactria and the Indus valley. M?ller thought
a translation of a literary work from
Greek or Latin to Sanskrit or Pali or vice versa be the key to the numerous
might resolving
similaritieshe had found in themyths of East andWest, particularly in the sacred texts of
Buddhism and Christianity. In fact, according to his son, the collection of these parallels was
the project on which M?ller was working at his death.2 Had the fatherof the SacredBooks
of theEast lived another half century,he would have had his translation,but, I believe, he
would have been disappointed with the profit accrued so far from the discovery.
The translations we now have are Greek versions of portions of Asoka's monumental
found in Kandahar after the second world war, in one of the lulls
inscriptions, infrequent
in Afghanistan's tumultuous A continuous text of the end of rock edict XII and the
history.
beginning ofXIII came to light in 1963, and a compilation of theminor rock edictswas
found in 1957. The latter was rendered in both Greek and Aramaic. To be certain, M?ller
would have for much more; these we have rescued 300
hoped through inscriptions only
words of Greek from the multicultural world of Hellenistic India, and, to be certain, neither
is actually a literal translation but more of a paraphrasing or summary. Their initial discovery
excited scholars in usually distinct fields. The of solving questions concerning

possibility
the first major historical interaction between the eastern and western traditions has attracted
much interest, since so little direct evidence exists from Hellenistic India and
especially
Bactria. Much effortand skillhave been used in deciphering, editing, and publishing these
texts.3 I believe we can now move studies and commentaries to use Asoka's
beyond linguistic
1
EM. M?ller, Last Essays (FirstSeries) (New York, 1901), p. 269.
2
Ibid., p. vi.
3
For the initial discovery, seeL. Robert, "S?ance du 20 Juin", GRy4J(i958), pp. 189-191, andD. Schlumberger,
"Une nouvelle inscription Grecque d'A?oka", CRAI (1964), pp. 126-140. Fuller treatments can be found in G.
Pugliese Carratelli, G. Garbini, and U. Scerrato, A bilingual Graeco-Aramaic Edict byAsoka (Rome, 1964); this
is a revised version in English of G. Pugliese Carratelli, G. Levi Delia Vida, and U. Scerrato, Un editto bilingue
greco-aramaicodiAsoka (Rome, 1958); D. Schlumberger, L. Robert, and A. Dupont-Sommer, "Une bilingue gr?co
aram?enne d'Asoka", JA CCXLVI (1958), pp. 1-48; and E. Benveniste, "Edits d'Asoka en traduction grecque",
JRAS, Series3, 17, 3 (2007), pp. 253-278 ? The Royal Asiatic Society 2007
doi: 10.1017/S1356186307007249 Printed in theUnited Kingdom

254 David H. Sick
as a sort of cultural Rosetta stone, to resolve other about

multilingual inscriptions questions
the relationship between ancient India and the Mediterranean.4 Ifwe look at the content of
those few lines, we can trace it in two directions, both to the east and to the west.
The fact that Asoka chose to use one of his major to the
proclamations (XII) prescribe
manner of discussions to be held between members of different schools or
philosophical
orders is significant. It is striking that a ruler, even one such as Asoka with an
religious
interest in religion, would use a to instruct or monks,
public proclamation philosophers
"to accept each other's The recommendations are laden with the
teachings".5 emperor's
ecumenism for which he became famous. He and his government will "honour all sects"6
and will ask the to respect each other as well own

sages by neither overly praising their
schools nor too harshly criticizing others.7 Criticism and adulation "should be light on
any occasion",8 for it is in the interaction between sects that their are best
respective goals
achieved.
Those acting in thisway will become better educated, providing for each other as much as each
knows.9
If one does not so humiliate a discussant or one's own

glorify philosophic accomplishments,
continued and are In short, Asoka asked the learned of his realm
dialogue growth possible.
to cooperate in the acquisition of knowledge, and the key to this was to be
cooperation
self-control.
It is to our advantage that a Greek version of the brief treatise on public discussion was made
and is now extant. dialogue is a tradition shared by both Mediterranean

Teaching through
and Indian philosophy and religion.We will follow the ideas and language of the twelfthedict
west into the famous between Alexander the Great and the brahmans and east into
dialogues
the complex conversations between King Milinda, the Greek Menander, and the Buddhist
monk The latter dialogue is recorded in the Milindapa?ha, a non-canonical but

N?gasena.
very work of Buddhism. Our final is to provide some into two

important objective insight
JA CCLII (1964), pp. 137-157. Some linguistic studies include S. Shaked, "Notes on the new Asoka inscription
from Kandahar", JRAS (1969), pp. 118-122; K.R. Norman, "Notes on the Greek Version of Asoka's Twelfth
and Thirteenth Edicts", JRAS (1972), pp. 111-118; A. Christol, "Les edits grecs d'Asoka: ?tude linguistique", JA
CCLXXI (1983), pp. 25?42. For the Asokan edicts more generally, more recent developments, and bibliography,
see ER. Allchin and K.R. Norman, "Guide to the Asokan Inscriptions", South Asian Studies I (1985), pp. 43-50;
and R.Thapar, Asoka and theDecline of the Mauryas, rev. ed. (Oxford, 1997), pp. 228-238, 250-266.
4
In keeping with the goals ofM?ller, E Adrados, "Asoka's Inscriptions and Persian, Greek and Latin Epigraphy",
inAmrtadh?r?: Prof.R.N. Dandekar Felicitation Volume, ed. S.D. Joshi (Dehli, 1984), pp. 1-15, traces the style used
inAsokan inscriptions through theHellenistic period and into Augustan monumental proclamations.
5
XII.8:... T<x?cAAf|Aarv ?i??yu-CXTCX 7tap<x??xecr0ai... (The eighth line according to the editions of
Benveniste and Schlumberger.)
6
XII.A: Devanampriyo Priyadrasi raya savra-prasamdani... pujeti... The edition and system of citation is that
of E. Hultzsch, The InscriptionsofAsoka (Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum I) (Oxford, 1925). The laterworks of J.
Bloch, Les InscriptionsdAsoka (Paris, 1950) and P.K. Andersen, Studies in theMinor Rock Edicts ofAsoka (Critical
Edition I) (Freiburg, 1990) are also very helpful. I am citing from the edicts found at Sh?hb?zgarhi unless stated
otherwise. These are, of the extant Prakrit versions, the closest geographically to Kandahar. It should be noted,
however, that the last incomplete line of theGreek, Kcxi oTi ?v Tol?; ?9veoTV elairv..., seems to be setting up
a sentence similar to one found atK?ls? XIII.J. I have not corrected suspected errors nor added presumed diacritical
marks. In discussing specificwords, I have, however, standardised forms and added markings.
See sections D-H in the Prakrit and 11.3-8 in the Greek.
8
XII.D:... lahuka va siya tasi tasi prakara[n]e |
9
XII.9-10: TOCUTCt 6? 7TOlo?vire?; 7To?uu-(x9?oTepoi ?aovToa, 7rapoc?i??vTec; oc\\f[\oi? ?cra
?Koccrzo? o?tc?-v ?nicrzocroa.

When Socratesmet theBuddha 255
vexing questions: what of Greece is there in theMilindapa?ha and what of India is there in
the gymnosophists of the classical tradition?
I. Methodology
Before to source criticism and our final I must sound a few about
turning goals, warnings
the methods that have been used in the past to sort similar and those that
through questions
I intend for this study. Many attempts have been made to describe Greek sources, literary
or otherwise, extant or which influenced the Milindapa?ha, or, conversely, to
hypothetical,
prove that the text is almost completely Indie in inspiration. Famously, W. W. Tarn claimed
text must on a shorter Greek

that the Pali have been based original. Jan Gonda responded by
that nearly every characteristic of the dialogue that Tarn claimed to be Hellenic or
showing
Hellenistic could as come from an Indie source.10 many have tried to trace
easily Similarly,
the Indian characters in Plutarch's life of Alexander or other Graeco-Roman accounts back
to Indian types if not actual individuals, while the more circumspect have argued that the
of Greek literature are a of a Greek worldview. Richard Stoneman

gymnosophists product
uses the Laws as a measure the reliability of the Greek which
ofManu of accounts, derive
in his view, from the first-hand experiences of Megasthenes, while Truesdell

ultimately,
Brown and Beverly Berg believe the gymnosophists to be Cynic philosophers translated to
an Indian those who cross-cultural influence and those who argue
setting.11 Typically, posit
it talk past one another; a source of influence is seldom before another
against disproved
is proposed.
explanation
An from the debate over the cultural location of the Milindapa?ha would be
example
here and prepare us for our own discussion of its relation to the Asokan
helpful proclamations.
I have chosen a rather to demonstrate more the theoretical framework
simple point easily
which underlies the controversy. Just before the second meeting of Milinda and N?gasena,
the king and his counsellors discuss the number of companions the monk should be allowed
to bring with him to the One Sabbadinna is insistent that the monk
palace. advisor, by name,
ten companions, the king license to bring as many as
bring only although gives N?gasena
he likes.12 To Tarn, the number ten is significant because it is the number of Indian sages
that were questioned by Alexander. It puts the Milindapa?ha squarely in the Greek
literary
tradition, although Milinda, by rejecting that number, transforms the tradition.13 Gonda
however, to these arguments with evidence from the Indian cultural tradition.
responded
10
W.W. Tarn, The Greeks inBactria and India, 3rd ed. (Chicago, 1997), pp. 414-436. J.Gonda, "Tarn's Hypothesis
on the Origin of theMilindapa?ha", Mnemosyne II (1949), pp. 44-62. See also Y. Vasilkov, "Did East andWest
reallyMeet inMilinda's Questions," Petersburg Journal ofCultural Studies I (1993), pp. 62-77, who has gathered many
of the early attempts to prove influence.
11
R. Stoneman, "Naked Philosophers: The Brahmans in the Alexander Historians and the Alexander
Romance", JHS CXV (1995), pp. 99-114. T. Brown, Onesicritus (Berkeley, Ca., 1949), pp. 24-53; B. Berg,
"Dandamis: an Early Christian Portrait of Indian Asceticism", C & M XXXI (1970), pp. 269-305. Not allwork,
of course, falls easily into one of two camps: A. J. Festugi?re, "Trois rencontres entre la Gr?ce et l'Inde", RHR
CXXV (1942-3), pp. 32-57 at 40, sees the toposof amonarch questioning the sage as amulticultural product, with
"un aspect oriental et un aspect grec".
12
Mil. 2.1.3. I am following the citation system of T.W Rhys Davids, The Questions ofKing Milinda (Sacred
Books of theEast, vol. 35-36) (Oxford, 1890-1894) 2 vols., since it ismost commonly available. This system does
not correspond to that used in the edition in Pali with a Sanskrit translation of J. Pathak (Delhi, 1964) nor that of
V Treckner, The Milindapan?ho (London, 1880).
13
Tarn, p. 433.

256 David H. Sick
Ten is significant to Buddhism as well; it indicates

completeness: "... there are ten good gifts
to the bhikku, ten rules for the ten and ten attributes.. ."14 How are
king, plagues heavenly
we to choose between these for Sabbadinna's insistence on the number ten?
explanations
Gonda and Tarn do not or cannot, because of their distinct to the claims
training, speak
of one another, and, moreover, their ideas are not exclusive. Any element of a
mutually
cultural product
can be
multiply motivated, and we would expect multiple influences in a
multi-cultural environment.
scientific method, or even Socratic advances a

Traditionally, dialogue, by testing proposal,
and, if it proves wanting, that proposal is rejected and another is put up for consideration.
In proving influences on texts, particularly those that have been to many cultural
exposed
traditions, such an for proof is not It is not to influence,
approach possible. possible disprove
or, to state the proposition to prove no influence. The latter requires the proving
positively,
of a negative, a The to these would, of course, be
logical impossibility. exception principles
situations of chronological, or other As a student of mine once
geographical, impossibility.
wrote "Cicero little of Christianity", and he stumbled upon the truth,
dubiously, thought
since the famous Latin orator of the first century BCE thought very little of Christianity
indeed.
to the
J. Duncan M. Derret? has shown, with regard question of the transfer of ideas
between Buddhism and Christianity, that these problems in the traditionalmethodology

have a stalemate:
produced
Scholars as optimistic as or positive for the Indian side asWinternitz cannot be sure that the
gospel texts are not derivative (and therefore false), or are incapable of showing that they are
not derivative; meanwhile New Testament scholars have abdicated interest in the question as
of conclusive treatment... If in the words of Professor Caird no New

temporarily incapable
Testament teacher would give Indian claims any "credence for a minute" it is not because they
know the claims to be false, but because their minds are not prepared to approach the subject.15
The abundance of negatives in that short quotation should reveal the essence of the problem.
In order to prove a cross-cultural influence, one is also asked to prove the absence of the
in the cultural In other words, with to the New

quality indigenous background. regard
Testament question, in order to prove the influence of a Buddhist J?taka story on the nativity
narrative of Luke or Matthew, in terms of theme, or content, one is asked to

language,
demonstrate first that Luke or Matthew could not have found such a theme or narrative
structure in the Judaic or Hellenic traditions. New Testament scholars, ifwe accept Derret?s
view of the situation, ignore ihe claims of Indologisis, because they have formulated their
own from materials in their own with its own focus,

explanations discipline geographic
not have a of Indie literature or culture to the
and, moreover, they do knowledge disprove
As these are not solvable, resort to the of chronology,
Indologists. arguments they question
14
Gonda, p. 53. He does not, however, explain why Milinda allows formore than ten bhikkus, contrary to the
tradition often representing completeness.
15
J. Duncan M. Derrett, "Greece and India: theMilindapa?ha, the Alexander-romance and the Gospels",
Zeitschriftf?r Religions-und GeistesgeschichteXIX (1967), pp. 33-64 at 37. Derrett himself has made progress in this
area through careful scrutiny of each proposed connection. See also "An Indian metaphor in St. John's Gospel",
JRAS IX (1999), pp. 271-286; "Consolation and a parable: two contacts between Ancient Greece and Buddhists",
BSOAS LXV (2002), pp. 518-528; "The Picnic, The Buddha, and St.Matthew", JRAS XIV (2004), pp. 75~79

their only viable means of proof. Derrett, for example, dates the Milindapa?ha much later
than many other scholars, and this dating at 150 CE allows him to claim that it contains
allusions to Christian texts, rather than vice versa.16
Our is to start from the multilingual of Asoka so that we may avoid,

plan inscriptions
to some extent, these of methodology. First we will not have to argue the
problems
of one tradition over the other. On one level, such an argument is
chronological precedence
not necessary because the Greek versions are of the Prakrit texts.17 the
epitomes Logically,
full treatment must come before the digest, but on another level, the study of a translation
may allow us to rethink our traditional notion of borrowing.18 For even when we have direct
evidence of the transference of an idea between cultures, we will find that this transference
is in reality a and not a Moreover, even in the case of these

negotiation simple borrowing.
translations, where the Indie versions have we assume a strong of
precedence, possibility
transference from the Greek to the Indian, since a conversation or would have
negotiation
been necessary to convey the words into Greek. This is not to say that
simple borrowing does
not exist between cultures; or the names of persons and realia would
certainly technologies
involve less negotiation, but, the history of scholarship on the Greeks in Bactria and
given
northwest India, it is time for a corrective.19 As a classicist, I am somewhat disheartened that
Iwill not be able to sharemy listof Graecisms in theMilindapa?ha by this approach. A facile
list of cultural is alluring but of minimal value. We will resort to this tactic
borrowings only
when we can discuss a matter from both sides and locate itwithin both the Graeco-Roman
and Indie cultural traditions.
II. Tracing Themes in the Greek and Prakrit Proclamations of Asoka
Iwill referto theGreek inscriptions ofAsoka as follows in order to simplifythe discussion:
Text A: the Greek and Aramaic found in 1957, some of the themes of
inscription addressing
the first minor rock edict.
Text B: theGreek text redacted from rock edictsXII and XIII found in 1963.
A. Dhamma and evae?eioc
One claim often repeated in Asokan studies is that ev?'e?eioc 'piety' is used in the Greek
versions as a synonym for Pr?k. dhamma-/Skt. dharma- 'moral order'.20 Let us our
begin
close this claim, for it will allow us to note the sort of cultural
reading by examining
16
Derrett, "Greece and India", at pp. 40-43, 57-63.
17
Pugliese Caratelli et alii, p. 29; D.D. Kosambi, "Notes on theKandahar Edict ofAsoka", Journal of theEconomic
and Social History of theOrient II (1959), pp. 204-206; Benveniste, p. 146.
18
We should also keep inmind theAramaic version; theGreek and Aramaic show a degree of similaritywhich
would best be explained through the derivation from a common third source, not by direct borrowing from one
to another. Pugliese Carratelli et alii, pp. 5, 42.
As pointed out by Frank Holt in his preface to Tarn's third edition, pp. iii-v, a division has existed from
almost the inception of themodern study.There are thosewho approach the culture as an Indie phenomenon and
thosewho describe it inHellenistic terms.Note the titles of the first twomajor works in English: Tarn's The Greeks
inBactria and India versus A.K. Narain's The Indo-Greeks (Oxford, 1957). Later studies depend heavily on these two
works because of their comprehensive accumulation of data.
20
R. Thapar has disseminated most widely the proposed connection between euae?eicx and dharma. See
Decline of theMauryas, p. 276; "Epigraphic Evidence and Some Indo-Hellenistic Contacts during theMauryan
Period", in Indological Studies: Prof. D.C Sircar Commemoration Volume, ed. S.K. Maity and U. Thakur (Delhi,

258 David H. Sick
that had to occur in translating Asoka's edicts into Greek. We must be careful
negotiation
in accepting the proposition. Asoka's dhamma, which is actually written as dhrama- in some
instances, particularly at Sh?hb?zgarhi andM?nsehr?, should not be equated fullywith Pali

dhamma- and all its later Buddhist connotations. After all, the edicts are not written in
Pali. One assumes that the connection between dhamma and was after
evae?eia suggested
comparing Text A, which opens with the line "... ?ocai\ei)c nio?dcfJOT|c; evde?eiOc[y]
'?bei?êv Tole; orvOpdmoic;..." and then lists several results of the king's demonstration of
piety, with loci from the edicts which also describe the positive outcomes of the emperor's
institution o? dhamma. The results of the establishment of the Greek and Indie are
concepts
very similar in several instances. For Text A claims that after Piodasses21 showed
example,
piety, the people refrainedfrom harming living things and obeyed theirparents and elders.
We find similar outcomes to Asoka's of dhamma in the second minor rock edict.
application
What is remarkable about this equation is that at no point in the Greek are
evcre?eiot or
words from the same root used as a direct translation for dhamma or related terms; words
with the root are used six times in the Greek.
evae?-
Those with a basic knowledge of Greek and Indian philosophy and ethicswill recognize
that evue?eioc is wholly as a translation for dhamma. As Kosambi out,
inadequate points
even numerous Indo-Greek chose instead derivatives of 6lkt| as an
kings justice' equivalent
on their ev de?eioc defines a respect or awe or other
coinage.22 by humans toward the gods
divine it applies much less to interactions between mortals themselves.23 In fact,

beings;
the description of evue?eiot found in Plato's contradicts the two outcomes of
Euthyphro
Asoka's dhamma above from the edicts. Socrates' interlocutor a
given Euthyphro, supposed
on his own father for the murder of a slave and at one defines
expert piety, prosecutes point
piety or holiness (?cJiOTrj?/)

as a knowledge of prayer and sacrifice.24The latterwould, of
course, in a Greek context harm to animals. Dhamma, or dharma, on the other hand,
require
is universally it describes a cosmic order in which there is a specific role for every
applicable;
individual both in nature and According to Lord Krsna in the Bhagavad Qua,
society.25
"One's own in its imperfection is better than someone else's (dharma)
duty (dharma) duty
1987), pp- 15-19 at 17-18; but also Pugliese Carratelli et alii, pp. 32-33, Schlumberger et alii, p. 6, Benveniste,
p. 147, Adrados, pp. 12-13.
nio?dcaon?;, which transliterates Piyadassi- or Priyadrasi-, appears to be a coronation name or other title;
the name Asoka is used in the edicts only atMaski and Gujarr?. See D.C. Sircar, Asokan Studies (Calcutta, 1979),
PP- 53?54, 87-88; Pugliese Carratelli et alii, p. 5, Benveniste, pp. 142-146, R. Thapar, Decline of the
Mauryas, pp. 6,
226-227.
22
Kosambi, p. 204, and A.L. Basham, "The Rise of Buddhism in itsHistorical Context", Asian Studies IV
(1966), pp. 395-411 at 405n.42. See Tarn, pp. 262-263, for a discussion of the coinage.
23 can be applied to those in a superior political or social position, such as a ruler,
By transference eucre?eiot
parent, or elder, but by the classical period it ismore and more restricted to the divine. See D. Kaufman-B?hler,
"Eusebeia", Reallexikon f?r Antike und ChristentumVI, pp. 985-1022, andW. Foerster, "f eucre?fic;, f eixre?eicx,
t eucre?etu", Theological Dictionary of theNew TestamentVW, pp. 175-178.
24
Euthyphro is in a sense hyper-pious to the point of the ridiculous, and, as one might expect, Socrates
undermines the knowledge and conduct of the supposed expert. We can assume, however, that the ideas of
Euthyphro represent a trend of thought at Athens. Plato would be unlikely to confront them otherwise. The
sections mentioned above are 4a, 5d, 13b, I4b-c.
25
Since dharma is an important concept in Indian philosophy and religion from the Vedic to the modern
period, the bibliography is immense. A few places to startwould include R.C. Zaehner, Hinduism (Oxford, 1966),
pp. 102-124; G. Flood, An introductiontoHinduism (Cambridge, 1996), pp. 51-71; and the introduction byW.
Doniger and B.K. Smith of the Laws of Manu (New York, 1991), pp. xxxviii-xl, liv-lviii, lxxvi-lxxvii; the text itself
is crucial to understanding dharma in the classical period.

Thus, there is a dharma to follow for every individual, and, in fact, a

well-performed".26
supposed Steyas?straeven outlined the dharma for thieves, for if one was destined to be a
thief, one must well the duties of a thief.27 There would be religious duties owed
perform
to the and in the form of rituals, but all of one's social obligations would
gods performed
also be defined by dharma.
At at least one in Text B, the translator realizes that evcre?eioc is inadequate to
point
convey the complexities of dhamma. At section I, after the authorial voice has repeatedly
recommended that respect be shown between sects, he concludes with the phrase "they
should both hear and listen to one another's dhamma".28 In this context, the meaning of
'ethic', or 'role in a specific situation' more to dhamma than that of'universal

'duty', applies
moral order.' The that there are and distinct orders of dhamma.
phrase acknowledges unique
A notion of piety would seem for the context. In the Greek, at line 8
general inadequate
of Benveniste s or edition, the same idea is expressed as follows: "... Kai
Schlumberger's
aAAfjAarv ?i??cyu.cxTa TTapao?xecrBai." 6?6ay|xa 'lesson, teaching, principle' is a more
concrete noun than the abstract virtue of piety; in reference to a or

religious philosophical
sect one can to the or lessons, whereas any manifestation of piety,
point specific principles
because it is so large a concept, will not convey the full significance of the Indie usage. There
is, however, a in Asokan Greek to concretize from

tendency evcre?eioc, perhaps coming
its association with dhamma.
As we mentioned, Text A opens with a demonstration of piety on the part of the emperor.
to the Greek see above), he "showed to the

According (for which, literally piety people".
Such a construction, that is evo~e?eiot as the direct of the verb 'show' or
object 6eiicvu|il
one of its compounds, is rather rare in Greek and the Asokan appears to be the
example
earliest extant.29 Ifwe understand ?e?KTVDua in a derived, abstract sense, Asoka is teaching
or
piety to the but, ifwe read that verb in its most basic meaning and
explaining people,
accept the broadest of Toic;crv0pcu7Tol?;, the emperor seems to be

understanding revealing
a hidden wonder to mortals. He may, in fact, be to the itself. It is
alluding inscription
a since the at first a or revelation to all
striking opening, emperor implies proclamation
as one reads further, it becomes clear that he is chiefly his
humanity, although, addressing
own subjects.We find a similarphysicality to eixje?eioc in Text B aswell; in edict XIII,
where the emperor recounts his tale of conversion after the destruction of Kalimga, he notes
a definite he followed in pursuit of ?VO~e?ei<X: "... he made for himself an effort

regime
and a system itself is not made a we
concerning piety".30 Although piety physical entity,
26
BG 18.47; the translation comes fromK.W. Bolle, The Bhagavad G?ta (Berkeley, 1979).
27
For the evidence for the existence of the Steyasastra, see R.P. Das, "The Science of Stealing (Steyasastra)
in Ancient India and its Study", in Tohfa-e-Dil. FestschriftHelmut Nespital, ed. Dirk L?nne (Reinbek, 2001) I,
pp. 167-175, and earlier A. Hillebrandt, "Zur Charakteristik der Sarvilaka in der Mrcchatik?. Spuren eines
f?r Indologie und Iranistik I (1922), pp. 69-72.
Steyasastra?", Zeitschrift
... a?ama?asa dhramo sruneyu ca susruseyu ca...
I base this claim on my search of the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae. A few of themore easily accessible later
examples would include Athan. Ar. 26.321.28, Corp. Herrn. 4.7.3, Eutrop. (Paeanius' translation) 8.23.12, Joseph.,
4/10.50.2, Orig. Cels. 7.51.22.
30
11. 15-16:... OTiou?frv Te Kai c?)VTa?,LV neriovryzoii ne?A evcre?eiocc. The stone itself reads
O?xvtocE,w, but many accept the emendation ?irvTCtaiv proposed by L. Robert. See Schlumberger, "Nouvelle
Inscription", p. 131 and Benveniste, p. 138. In this expression our text comes closest to a direct equivalency between
dhamma and euere ?eicx. See section C of the Prakrit version.

2?0 David H. Sick
learn that there are to be and social manifestations of it. One in essence can "do
personal
piety".
Francisco Adrados has noted a similar of piety in funerary of
prominence inscriptions
Antiochus I of Commagene (ca. 69?34 BCE) and theRoman emperor Augustus. He
goes so far as to an Asokan influence.31 We also see a of e?cre?eia
posit concretizing
in Antiochus' inscription. At 11. 11-14, the king calls ei)0"e?ei(X both the most steadfast
possession (ktt\<ji? ?e?aioTcrrr]) and sweetest delight (?c7to?ai>cric;r|??0Tr|) for human

and, in this instance, the writer does intend all mortals, since the article has been
beings,
omitted from cbv0pomol. He later speaks of revealing a way of life through the judgment
of his piety, using a compound of the verb be?KVV[Li in keeping with theAsokan language
discussed above. He furthermore describes his mausoleum and the statuary associated with
it as both a witness and representation of his piety The Greek terms used for 'witness'
([i?pT?c) and 'representation' (T?7toc;) both imply physical action; in the former case, a
witness is one who has seen and can report an event, and, in the latter case, a
representation
is an imprint made through physical The link between Asoka's Bactria and
pressure.32
Antiochus' would be the Seleucid I have not found
Commagene certainly empire, although
a which have served as the vehicle to convey this emphasis on and
specific inscription might
understanding of piety from one time and location to the other.
We are that the use of ewe?eia to translate dhamma had

obviously implying
consequences for that concept in the Greek tradition, but we must

keep in mind the
difficulties of our Both of these are and neither was static

undertaking. concepts complex
within its respective tradition. We see that the translator himself had doubts about the
equation, and, in an inversion of our argument, some modern

Indologists have used the
Greek translation as evidence for determining the meaning of Asokan dhamma, that
arguing
to all and thus Asoka is ecumenical in outlook.33 We now move
piety would apply religions
on to another which receives at least as much attention as evae?eioc/dhamma
concept
in the Asokan and for which the evidence for Indie influence on the Greek
inscriptions
tradition ismore definite.
B. ?yKporreta, guti-, and sayama
Self-control or eyK porreta is an interest of three of the four major Greek found
inscriptions
to date in This in an Indie context should not be surprising. Ascetism
Afghanistan.34 emphasis
has been a part of Indian culture as far back as the extant evidence allows us to trace it.35
31
Adrados, pp. 11-14.
32
For the so-called nomos inscription ofAntiochus I, see D. H. Sanders, ed., Nemrud Dagi (Winona Lake, 1996)
II, pp. 206-224, and earlierW. Dittenberger, Orientis Graeci InscriptionesSelectae (Hildesheim, i960) I, pp. 591?603.
The lines pertient to euae? Clocare 11-14, 26-27, 51-53, 212-217.
33
Basham, p. 405; Thapar, "Epigraphic Evidence", pp. 17-18.
34
The exception is the thanksgiving offering of the son Aristonax also found at Kandahar. P.M. Fraser, "The
Son of Aristonax at Kandahar", Afghan Studies II (1979), pp. 9-21; W. Peek, "Hellenistiches Weihgedicht aus
Baktrien", ZPE 60 (1985), pp. 76. See R. Merkelbach and J. Stauber, Steinepigramme aus dem griechischenOsten
(Munich, 2001) III, pp. 6?8 for a collection of the Greek texts from the region.
P.S. Jaini, "Sramanas: theirConflict with Brahmanical Society", in Chapters in Indian Civilization, ed. Joseph
Elder (Dubuque, la., 1970) I, pp. 1-81 at 44-47, provides background on ascetism in India before the rise of the
sramans, but see also the introductory chapter inW. Doniger O'Flaherty, Ascetism and Eroticism in the Mythology of
Siva (Oxford, 1973), pp. 40-110.

Several seals from theHarrapan civilization depict an individual seated in a pose typical of
meditation, with legs crossed and extended armsbalanced gently on theknees. The individual
is sometimes represented with three faces, wears a horned headdress, and is surrounded by
wild animals.36 In Vedic literature we find mention of various ascetic characters: munis, yatis,
and inner heat or is the long
parivr?ts, vr?tyas cultivate their tapas through austerity. Famous
haired, naked muni of RV 10.136 who flies through the air in an ecstatic state.37 Ascetism,
however, becomes more common and in India with the rise of the sramans in the
systematic
sixth centuryBCE. Buddhism and theBuddha himselfwere just one particularly successful
constituent group of this movement. Sramanism was a reaction to traditional
inspired by
as in the Upanisads. means to
brahmanist culture represented by the Vedas and reformed One
to the of the brahmans was to the customary

respond hereditary privileges reject completely
status of "householder" to resort to a very
adopted by males and simple life 'in the forest'.
the brahmans may have to the revolution renunciation as

Although responded by adding
a fourth stage of life for all, extreme forms of ascetism, such as those the
promoted by
arose and should be to the less severe monastic of the Buddhists.38
Jains, compared practices
notes about his visit to confirm the prominent of both
Megasthenes' P?taliputra position
sraman and brahman ascetics in the early third century BCE. He claimed that among the
sramans the most were those who lived in the forest and subsisted on leaves and
respected
wild fruit.39We thus find Asoka in themiddle of this debate, and perhaps through his
edicts and their ideas about self-control and ahimsa 'non-violence' he is even in conversation
with such conservative documents as the Gita.40 In addition to his famous in edict
palinode
XIII against the war with Kalimga and the frequent and scattered references to his refusal
to kill animals, Asoka at several valorises self-control, which is generally termed as

points
sayama- Skt. a In his seventh edict, for example, he

(< samyama-), literally 'binding together'.
recommends that self-control be a of all religious/philosophical schools.41
primary objective
At the beginning of Text B, ?yKpoctri?, the adjective related to eyKpcrreia, is used to
capture the sense ofguti- in the compound vacaguti- 'restrained in speech' ofXII.D. The Greek
term eyi< porreta itself can be rendered as 'inner or it differs from

literally strength power';
36
The most famous seals come fromMohenjo-Daro; see J.Marshall, ed.,Mohenjo-Daro and theIndus Civilization
(London, 1931) I, pp. 53, III, p. 17 and E.J.H. Mackay, Further Excavations atMohenjo-Daro (Dehli, 1937-8) I,
p. 335, II, pp. 222, 235, 420. The interpretation of the figure as a yogi of some type continues today; see G.L.
Possehl, The Indus Civilization: a Contemporary Perspective (Dehli, 2002), pp. 141-144.
37
See P. Koskikallio, "Baka D?lbhya: a Complex Character inVedic Ritual Texts, Epics and Pur?nas," Electronic
Journal of Vedic Studies I (1995) http://wwwi.shore.net/~india/ejvs/issues.html; T. J. Elizarenkova, Language and
Style of theVedicRsis, ed.W. Doniger (Albany,N.Y., 1995), pp. 15?16, 67?70, for a discussion of the "inner vision"
of the poets; and J.Gonda, The Vision of theVedic Poets (The Hague, 1963), pp. 289?301, his discussion of dhy?nam
or 'meditation.'
38 In
addition to Jaini, see G.C. Pande, Sramana Tradition: Its History and Contribution to Indian Culture
(Ahmedabad, 1978) and A.K. Warder, Indian Buddhism (Dehli, 1970), pp. 28-42. For early Buddhist practice,
seeM. Wijayaratna, BuddhistMonastic Life according to theTexts of theTherav?da Tradition, transs.C. Grangier and S.
Collins (Cambridge, 1990), pp. 1-17.
39
See Strabo 15.1.60, which cites Megasthenes; the terms used in this section are BpctXU?rve^ and
Tapuorve?-.
I. Selvananyagam, "Asoka and Arjuna as Counterfigures Standing on the field of Dharma", HR XXXII
(1992), pp. 59-75; C.-A. Keller, "Violence et dharma, chez Asoka et dans la Bhagavadgita", Asiatische Studien XXV
(i97i),pp. 175-291.
41 seeXIII.O, Dehli-Topra
In addition toVII.B and VILE, IVO, and the version of the firstminor rock edict
from Gujarr? at line I. There may also be a mention atXILD but the text is in dispute. See Sircar, p. 38n.7 and
K.R. Norman, "Lexical Variation in theAsokan Rock Edicts", TPS (1970), pp 121-136 at p. 133.

2?2 David H. Sick
the traditional Greek virtue aa>4>poOTrvr], which is also often translated 'self-control' or
by
the same human as the result of a physical rather than
'temperance', by describing activity
a mental It is significant that our translator chose the former term over the latter.
ability.
ao)(J)poo"?vr| is a mental state which relieves the holder of excessive desires related to sex,
eating, and the consumption of alcohol. The physical control of these desires is?yK porte la.
'
For at 430e Plato terms CU(j)pocrtrvr| a K?O"|?oc; or 'order which allows
example, Republic
the superior part of the soul to control the inferior,
while Aristotle derives ?yKporte loefrom
the verb KpocTetv 'to conquer' at Nicomachean Ethics 7.7.4 In with
(ii50a35).42 keeping
this line of Aristotle, in the same work at 7.2.6 and 7.9.6
reasoning, (ii46aio) (ii52ai),
contends that the temperate (o acbc^parv) have no desires overwhich control (?y Kporreicx)
is necessary; a of the soul to reason results in an absence of excess
perfect ordering according
desire, and, thus, the temperate have no desires to
improper struggle against.
In Text A, the voice of the emperor paradoxically suggests that in his new order, established
by evoe?eioc or dhamma, "if there are anywithout inner strength (?cKpotTel?;), theyhave
ceased from their lack of inner strength (Tf|?; ?tKpaom?;) through power." The physical
quality of theword is emphasized with the idiosyncratic phrase KOCT?c?trvotuT'V 'through
as ?trvajxic; can even a The statement is unclear, however,
power', imply physical ability.
with regard to the exact nature of the power, themeans bywhich it is to be applied, and the
of the wielder. We see here the broad context of dhamma, in that its sphere of
identity perhaps
influence extends beyond Greek ewe?eia into that traditionallyallotted to aci)(|)pocn3'VT|.
Dhamma, as acuc^poovvr], diminishes the need for physical power; its presence allows
just
those who are weaker to succeed in self-control. In Text B, the emperor promotes
physically
the growth ofeyKporreia and evae?eioc among all the sects or schools (biocipi?oci).
The two terms seem to be used as a synonym for the Prakrit s?lavadhi-
together 'growth
of the essential', ifwe compare the beginning of edict XII, we cannot be certain,
although
for the beginning of the Greek has been lost.43 The same edict is particularly
proclamation
concerned with control of speech and argues that control of speech requires the greatest
inner of all.
strength
The third Afghani Greek text concerned with?y Kporreicx comes from a rather remarkable
site; its discovery demonstrated the full extent of Greek settlement in Bactria. In 1966
a was uncovered in the t?menos of a hero in a Greek in
dedicatory inscription colony
northern on the river Oxus. There, a certain Klearchos, the Peripatetic
Afghanistan perhaps
philosopher from Soli inCyprus, dedicated a listofDelphic sayings to the hero Kineas. We
can reconstruct a list of 150 such maxims from other sites, but at A? Khanoum on
nearly
the Oxus, five survive. the extant "As a young
only Among phrases isrj?cb'V ?yKpaTTj?;
42
(TGu4>poOirvr) is the subject of discussion of Plato's Charmides, while Xenophon, Mem. 1.5 ei a/its,emphasises
Socrates' physical abilities with regard to?yicpaTeux See H. Chadwick, "Enkrateia," Reallexikon f?r Antike und
ChristentumV, pp. 343-365; H. North, SOPHROSYNE: Self-Knowledge and Self Restraint inGreek Literature (Ithaca,
N.Y., 1966), pp. 125-132; M. Vorwerk, "Plato on Virtue: Definitions of ZQOPOZYNH in Plato's Charmides and
Plotinus Enneads 1.2 (19)", AJPCXXll (2001), pp. 29-47.
43
Norman, "Notes on the Greek Version", pp. 111-113, posits that the opening lines of the Prakrit versions
have been summarized and conflated in theGreek and insightfullynotes some problems with the usual interpretation
of s?lavadhi-. He suggests further that?yicp?Teicx and eucre?e tocare given as examples of this term. The fact
that the two Greek concepts are in the nominative case, however, and thus the subject of themissing verb would
argue that they are rather a translation of s?lavadhi-,which is in a similar syntactic position in the Prakrit, whatever
the latter termmay mean.

man, be strong within".44 Valerie-P. Yailenko first noticed the link between the dedication
of Klearchos and the Asokan and the prominence of eyKpcnreiot in all.

proclamations
he became in old arguments of historical precedence. Mistaking
Unfortunately, entangled
the phrase 'in the tenth year of his rule', for the date of the inscription itself instead of
the sequence of time in the internal narrative, Yailenko claimed that the Greek versions
of the of the emperor those in Prakrit. he went on

inscriptions pre-dated Consequently
to conclude that Asoka's concept of dhamma on The
depended heavily Delphic morality.45
emperor may indeed have been to the traditional Greek ethic at

exposed expressed Delphi,
but we cannot such a the historical of the Greek texts of
prove theory by precedence
Yailenko s work does allow us, however, to note a theme in the intellectual
Afghanistan.
milieu of the Hellenistic community of greater India; it moreover evidence of a
provides
multicultural only in the material culture ofthat
synthesis previously recognized region.46
C. Speaking and Not Speaking: Controlling the Tongue inHellenistic Greece

and India
Yailenko also noted a stylisticparallel in the listofDelphic sayingsand theAsokan inscriptions:

both tend to use short, pithy commands which exhort the reader to moral
improvement.47
Many are familiarwith thewords inscribed upon the temple of Apollo atDelphi: yvco0i
cjotVT?v 'Know and [ir\8?v ?yocv too much'. Asoka's authors do tend
yourself 'Nothing
toward this structure, albeit in dependant, infinitive phrases, but the Indie Greek also employs
a related form of sentence: the gnomic truth, expressed in the third person. Thus we read in
TextB both commands such as (îXov? Kai?Taipoi)??cya7T?cv Kai |irf|?ioa|)ev?ecr0ai

'Love and do not deceive your friends and as well as the
companions' expression ?yK?>ocvf\?
6? uxi?iora ?ori'V os &V y?cuo~(a)r)^?yKpaTr|? u 'He ismost in controlwho is in control
of the tongue'. The latter phrase may seem familiar to those with a of classical
knowledge
literature; we see the same sentiment often in aphorisms. to Cicero,
expressed According
for example, "Discretion iswelcome among humankind, the tongue Itwill also
suspect".48
resonate well with Indologists, for the Buddhist scriptures include many similar proverbs,
some of which are attributed to Gautama himself. similar are the words from the
Strikingly
Sutta Nip?ta: "... he indeed is a muni who is controlled in The question of the
speech".49
44
The Delphic maxims of A? Khanoum appear to be related to an inscription dating to 300 BCE found in
Asia Minor, a papyrus in the collection of theUniversity of Athens, and a list attributed to Sosiades but found in
theworks of Stobaeus. All the collections contain variations on a basic list. See L. Robert, "De Delphes ? l'Oxus",
CRAI(i?68), pp. 415-457 at 421-457; Iohannis Stobaei Anthologii Libri duo Posteriores, ed. Otto Hense (Berlin, 1894),
pp. 125-128; F.W Hasluck, "Inscriptions from theCyzicus District, 1906",JHSXXVII (1907), pp. 61-67 at 62-63;
A.N. Oikonomides, "The Lost Delphic Inscription with the Commandments of the Seven and P. Univ. Athen.
2782," ZPE XXXVII (1980), pp. 179-183.
45
V.-P. Yailenko, "Les maximes Delphiques d'A? Khanoum et la formation de la doctrine du dhamma d'Asoka,"
Dialogues d'histoire ancienneXVI (1990), pp. 239-256; see p. 250 for his reconstruction of the date.
46
The influence of classicism on Buddhist art has long been recognised. For a full treatment of theGandharan
movement, including a description of important recent discoveries from the Swat valley in Pakistan, seeD. Faccenna,
P. Callieri, A. Filigenzi, "At theOrigin of Gandharan Art", Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia IX (2003),
PP. 277-380.
Yailenko, p. 244. The syntactic parallel again does not prove the precedence of theGreek; we would expect
our translator to fall into customary, comfortable patterns of speech.
48
Orat. 145: prudentia hominibus grata est, lingua suspecta.
49 v.
850: sa ve v?c?yato muni || See G.F. Allen, The Buddha's Philosophy (London, 1959), pp. 51-54, for a
collection of proverbs and anecdotes which express a similar attitude toward silence.

2?4 David H. Sick
source of the proverb used in the Greek edict is an intriguing one, since it is not a direct
of the relevant section in the Prakrit of edict XII, which reads, "The root of
equivalent
(the growth of the essential) is the control of Did our multi-cultural translator
speech".50
transpose an Indie into Greek, or did he borrow a clever from the Greek
expression saying
tradition? The answer is not but we can follow the words into
immediately apparent, put
the mouth of Asoka forward in time into Greek and Roman cultural history.
M. Philonenko has traced the Asokan to several loci in classical literature,
expression noting
a discussion in the third chapter of the New Testament letter of James. 3.8
particularly James
reads: Tryv b? y?cocraocv o?>?etc; boc\x?o\bv-vocn?cvQp n v, ?cKaTaaTcnw kock?-v,
jaeaTT] loo ?ccvaTricjxSpol). "No mortal is able to tame the tongue, the most erratic of evils,
full of deadly poison". Philonenko tentativelysuggested a path fromAsoka toJames through

Philo and even the Essenes.51 What he failed to notice is that various versions of
perhaps
the Greek Asokan find voice in works with an interest in India, among
proverb especially
those who as a mode of life.
prescribe philosophy
to the CE Iamblichus,
According third-century neo-platonic philosopher Pythagoras
a of silence on the part of his disciples as a test before
required five-year period accepting
them into the community, for control of the tongue was the more difficult than any other
for self-control:... tgjv ???arv to?to, t?
subject ?? xoc?eTiibTepo^ ?y KpaTevuxrrarv
The silence was viewed as a for ao)(j)pocrirvr|.
y?d)0"oT|? KpocTerv.52 catalyst Apollonius
of Tyana, the so-called pagan saint of the first-century CE, who to his
according biographer
Philostratus did visit and study in India, also kept the prescribed Pythagorean silence, but he
did so for more reasons. to Philostratus, have heard divine
mystical According Pythagoreans
secrets, which must be it is difficult.53 The of the Pythagorean
guarded, although similarity
to the Asokan is striking, in the Iamblichean and
prescription aphorism particularly example,
the tradition that Pythagoras travelled and studied in Babylon may come to mind. Several
scholars have suggested, although often only in passing, that the Pythagorean doctrine of
of the soul was learned from Indians whom the holy man encountered in
transmigration
The Asokan rule for yAcuo~OT|c; eyKpcnreiot a concrete connection
Babylon.54 provides
between the Pythagorean and Buddhist orders.55
50XII.D: tasa tu iyomu?a yam vacaguti... The demonstrative tasa refersback to salavadhi, and here Norman's
interpretation of the term as 'mutual knowledge' does aptly fit the sense. See again his "Notes on the Greek
Version", pp. 111-113 for the difficulties of text and interpretation.
51
M. Philonenko, "Un ?cho de la pr?diction d'Asoka dans l'?p?tre deJacques"', in J.Bergman, K. Drynjeff, H.
Ringen, ed., Ex Orbe Religionum: Studia Geo Widengren Oblata (Leiden, 1972) I, pp. 254-265 at 262-265. Derrett,
"An Indian metaphor", (n. 15 above) at pp. 276-277, proposes a Buddhist interpretation for James 3:5-6.
52
lam., VP 17.72, and 31.195: '... to control the tongue, this ismore difficult than othermatters of self-control.'
53
Philostr., VAi.r. TXnXkocyocp Qei? Te Kcxi(XTt?ppr|Taf?Kouo'V, ?rv Kpccrelv x<xAe7tcrv rrv... For
Apollonius' silence, see 1.14-15.
54
K. V. Fritz, review of "J.A. Philip Pythagoras and Early Pythagoreanism", Gnomon XL (1968), pp. 6-13 at
8-9; W. Burkert, Lore and Science inAncient Pythagoreanism, trans.E.L. Minar, Jr. (Cambridge, Mass., 1972), p. 133;
M.L. West, Early Greek Philosophy and theOrient (Oxford, 1971), pp. 61-62. J. Ferguson, ed., Clement ofAlexandria
Stromateis, Books One toThree (Washington, 1991), p. 75 n329. Alexander Polyhistor, according to Clement of
Alexandria Strom. 1.15.70, believed that Pythagoras actually met with brahmans. C.H. Kahn, Pythagoras and
thePythagoreans (Indianapolis, 2001), p. 19; C. Riedwig, Pythagoras: Leben, Lehre, Nachwirkung (Munich, 2002),
pp. 17-18, 96-97. K. Karttunen, India in Early Greek Literature (Helsinki, 1989), pp. 112-115, provides a more
extensive yet skeptical treatment of the evidence.
55
Robert, "Une bilingue gr?co-aram?enne d'Asoka", pp. 14-15, finds a few terms from Pythagorean
vegetarianism (ocTtexecrGcxi TGO^?u^?XC?'V) used in Text A, although he argues that the Greek terminology
developed prior to theAsokan edicts.

The sentiment the control of speech is found not to Greek

concerning only transposed
but in Greek accounts of India itself. In the reconstructed work "On the Races of
settings
India and the Brahmans", we find a conversation between a group of brahmans and
supposed
Alexander the Great. This was first discovered among the works of a fifth-century
dialogue
Palladius of Helenopolis but is certainly a from much older sources. It
bishop compilation
contains material not in the commonly-known works on the life of Alexander by Arrian,
Curtius, or Plutarch.56 The conversation between the king and the Indian sages focuses
Q.
on the nature of wisdom and how wisdom effects the manner of life of the brahmans. It
also describes some cultural differences between the Greeks and the brahmans, whom the
text seems to consider a distinct race, both and for are described
ethnically ethically, they
as a sort of community of philosophers: ?-vope?/'E??rrve?; Bpayix?rva? '?yycvTe, {?c??'
ol>K As is often the case in this topos, it turns out that the naked, simple
e7t?y^C?Te}.57
are, in truth, more than the military conqueror, for they have
won
philosophers powerful
the battle within, while are concerned with externals and are often their
kings conquered by
desire for such. In the terminology of Asokan Greek, the brahmans have great ?yKporre ta,
while humans generally and kings and Greeks especially do not: ? (\>lhoo~o(\>o?y?p ot>
?eoTt?Cem?, &??? 6eo7ro?ei, a-v0pamoc;y?p cxvtov ov Kponrel.58Note the presence
of the same root KpcxT- in the verb KpotTerv 'to rule, be in power'. Brahmans need no
clothes, drink water from the river Tiberoboam, eat fruit from the forest, and say very
only
little; kings, on the other hand, are to numerous ethical conditions and diseases:
subject
"desires, love of money, love of pleasure, death by deceit, avarice,

{bodily intercourse},
quarrelling".59
The is developed further; it is not a of the
point concerning quarrelling only question
in which conversations are conducted; the problem lies not in the fact that Alexander
spirit
as a ismean-spirited or violent, but that Alexander as a Greek talks too much.
king simply
For you (Greeks) saywhat is fitting to do and do the things not fitting to say, and no philosopher
among you knows something unless he says it. For your mind is your tongue and your thoughts
are on your
lips.60
This caustic remark seems an indictment of the whole Greek

really philosophic project,
which, Socrates and his biographers, was upon We must call
through dependent dialogue.
to mind here not the best manifestation of dialectic to come from Athens, as it is often
in Socrates but some of the worst abuses of the method,

represented by Plato, sophistic
as of Plato's of the same name or in
represented by Euthydemus dialogue Strepsiades
56 am
I using the text ofW. Berghoff, Palladius De Gentibus Indiae etBragmanibus (Meisenheim am Glan, 1967).
See J.Duncan M. Derret?, "The History of 'Palladius on theRaces of India and the Brahmans'", C & M XXI
(i960), pp. 64?135 for another reconstruction. A portion of the text has been found on a second century CE
papyrus. Both Berghoff and Derret? thoroughly review the manuscript tradition, and Berg (above n.n) neatly
summarizes.
57 2. =
4 Berghoff, p. 16: "You Greek men know of theBrahmans, but you do not understand them".
2.3 = Berghoff, p. 14: "For the philosopher is not ruled but rules, for humans do not rule themselves".
59
2.6 = Berghoff, p. i6:?m9vu-ica, <?iAoxpu.u-aTiai, cJuAuooViai, ?oAoc{xrv?ai, {jcuu-cxtou.l?,?cxi},
4>ovo KToVim, 4>ei?tuA?oa, ?ixocrrao?ai...
60 2.8 = a ?ei 7totelv, Kai 7toie?Te a uri 6el A?yeiv-
Berghoff, p. i8:?\xel? 6? A?yexe Trap' ?u-Iv
6? o??eic; ctnAocr?4>arv o??ev?t?cv, ?ocv \xr\ AcxAfiacuCTtv-6u?uv y?p ? vou^?ciTtVTi yAwacra Kai
?n? Tol? xeiAecrt ai (\>?)?rve?.

266 David H. Sick
Clouds who to use any argument, or to escape from his

Aristophanes's plans just unjust,
debts.61 In the former and his brother use a set of
example, Euthydemus Dionysodorus
on to refute any answer that an interlocutor
prescribed questions dependent equivocation
might provide. Their objective is indeed not to find the truthbut to impress a handsome
in the locker room of a and are not serious
boy gymnasium.62 Euthydemus Strepsiades
of abuse of dialectic method; are comic characters, frivolous in their use
examples they
of argument, but the humour results from their relation to serious movements in Greek
philosophy. Aristotle labels thosewho cheat in argument "eristic" (?plOTlKo?) and charges
that many sophists employ eristic methods for personal The role of rhetoric and
profit.63
dialogue in classical Greece is an immense topic which

we cannot treat fully here.64 Our goal
at this is simply to some or context to the brahmans' of the
point provide support description
Greeks as talkative. Classical Greeks from serious to common
stereotypicalfy philosophers
hustlers delighted in contests ofwords, and in theHellenistic period thatfollowed, contrary
to the Asokan call for control, there were those who revelled in their words. Diogenes of
who came to be the most famous of the Cynic movement, in no small

Sinope, representative
part from the impudent thingshe said toAlexander theGreat, believed boldness of speech
to be the best thing in human society65
We should contrast this zeal for with the recommendations for control of the
speech
tongue which were in ethical treatises of the Hellenistic and later. Aesop
expressed period
advises his adopted Babylonian son iir?V\? be y?d)TTr|? ?yKpaTrj?; y?'Vov" in a long list
of ethical truisms in theLife ofAesop,66 and Plutarch agreeswith Asoka that control of the
is very difficult if not unless, in Plutarch's estimation, one
tongue impossible, applies practice
care ((xeAeTrj), and patience ((^1X0710^1 <x)in the undertaking.67He makes the
(?<JKT\(Ji?),
same elsewhere a memorable anecdote about the Scythian Anacharsis, who,
point by using
it seems, sleptwith one hand over his mouth and one over his genitals, "eyKpotTeoTepou
y?p ?eTo xoc?iô? oeia?oci rryv yAcoTTOcv."68 Philo69 and G. Musonius Rufus70 argue
independently that there must be three objects of eyKpcrreioc: the genitals, the stomach,
and the mouth, while St Anthony, from his cave in the desert, sees the stomach and
only
the tongue as threats.71
The range of thinkers is noteworthy?Jew, Christian, Pythagorean, Stoic- yet they all tend
toward topics of religion and ethics, and more remarkably, of all the similarly constructed
61
Ar., Nu. 97-98, etc.
62 At
275e Dionysodorus whispers to Socrates that the young interlocutor will be refutedwhatever way he
may answer, and at 272b, Socrates claims that the two can refute any argument, be it true or false.
63
Arist., SE 11 (i7ib-i72a).
64
Some good sources to consult on the importance of argument in Athenian society and the philosophical
schools include K.J. Dover, Aristophanes Clouds (Oxford, 1968), pp. xxxv-xliv; H.D. Rankin, Sophists, Socratics,
and Cynics (London, 1983); D. O'Regan, Rhetoric, Comedy, and theViolence ofLanguage inAristophanes' (<Clouds"
(Oxford, 1992), pp. 9-21; L.E. Vaage, "Like Dogs Barking: Cynic Parr?sia and Shameless Asceticism", Semeia LVII
(1992), pp. 25-39; G. Vlastos, SocraticStudies, ed. Myles Burnyeat (Cambridge, 1994).
65
D.L. 6.69:'Epc?TT|9eic; t? Ka??iOTo~v?v ?cvQp?moic, ?cjrn, "Ttappnaicx."
66
Vita Aesopi (Westermanniana) 109.14; see Fran?ois de Blois, "The Admonitions of ?durb?d and their
Relationship to theAh?qar Legend", JRAS (1984), pp. 41-53, forNear Eastern borrowings in the Life ofAesop.
67
Plu., De Cap. (Mor.) 90B.
Plu., De Garr. (Mor.) 505A: "... for he believed the tongue needed amore powerful restraint..."
69
Philo, De Congressu 80 and De Spec. Leg. II. 195.
70
Muson., Dissertationum a Lucio Digestarum Reliquiae, Discourse 16.72.
7
Apophthegmatapatrum 77.13.

Greek and exhortations we have reviewed, the one in Asoka's seems to be

proverbs inscription
the oldest.72 I have, furthermore, discovered no direct connection between and
?y Kporreicx
the tongue in the classical (5th~4th centuryBCE) authors. Prior to theHellenistic period, the
a at least as much as the argument
tongue was not
subject for?y Kporreicx, from silence allows
us to believe. Inner was needed to control desires, such as those related to

strength physical
and sex but not It would seem that speech would become an
eating speech. logical object
of ascetism after the explosion of rhetoric in classical Greece. To be sure, admonitions
only
to take care in speaking go back to Homer,73 but the view that rhetorical desire must
be controlled in a way similar to the sexual an elevated estimation of the power

requires
of the tongue. There is limited evidence thatwill allow us tomove thishypothesis beyond
whose of Socrates Chadwick credits as the
simple speculation. Xenophon, portrait Henry
foundation for the concept of ?y Kporreicx,74 marks as outside the scope
specifically speech
of concern for inner strength: "They knew Socrates... to have the greatest control over all
use him
pleasures, yet he might anyone who argued with however he wished75." According
to skill in dialectic is a matter for display, almost to the of the abuse
Xenophon's logic, point
of one's opponent; it is not a for the ?y Kporreicx of the previous clause.
subject
The treatmentof the issue by theChristian Platonist Clement ofAlexandria also deserves
closer examination. Clement seems to have had access, no doubt from the great to
library,
sources on India, He is, in fact, the only extant Greek
important including Megasthenes.
tomention is alleged to have
author the Buddha by title,76 and his teacher Pantaenus travelled
to India as an On several occasions in the Stromateis Clement cites from the

evangelist.77
firstcenturyBCE ethnographerAlexander Polyhistor,who wrote both about the history of
India and Pythagoreanism.78 Clement includes a slightlymodified version of the dialogue
between Alexander and the ten found at Plutarch Alex. 64. In Clement's
gymnosophists
version of the encounter the philosophers are no 'terrible/clever' and
longer Sewov?
'succinct' in answering as in Plutarch, but 'excellent,
?pocxyhoyovc questions, ocpicjTov?
noble' and ?paxvAoycuTOTovc; 'most In linking excellence to
succinct'.79 brevity, Clement
reveals his admiration for the Indo-Pythagorean rules concerning speech. He, in fact,
uses to try to moderate some of the extreme forms of ascetism
y?cuaoTj? ?yKporreicx
A possible exception, Arist. HA 536b, ismentioned by Philonenko, p. 263, but the usage is of a different
sort. Aristotle describes how young children are unable at first to control their tongues, just as they are unable
to control their bodies in general. Only as they grow and train in the needed skills do they become linguistically
adept. yAc?aOTiêyKp?TeLais amatter of physiology not morality in this instance.
73
Thersites, the most shameful man (aiGXL?"Toâvf]p) to come to Troy in Homer's estimation, is
interminable in speaking (au-eTpoeTiri^), and his mind is full of many, disordered words (?7tea aKocru? Te
7toAA? Te). See //.2.212?6.
74
Chadwick, p. 343: "Nach dem Bericht Xenophons, der vor allem den Vorwurf widerlegen m?chte,
Sokrates habe die Jugend verdorben, legte Sokrates gro?en Wert auf die Kontrolle der sinnlichen Leidenschaften
u(nd) erkl?rte die E(nkrateia) als die Grundlage der Tugend u(nd) der Religion."
75
X. Mem. 1.2.14: T??ecrav ?e Ea;KpaTT)v...Tcbvri6ovc?v 6? 7taacbv?yKpaT?crTaTov ?vto, tol?
6? ?iaAeyou-?voic; a?T?j n?cn xp?Jfxevov ?rv Tole; A?yotc bn ? ?ouAoiTo.
76
See Strom. 1.15.71; the earlier portions of this section almost certainly come fromMegasthenes, since it
follows Str. 15.1.60. Strabo does not refer to o Bo?TTO, however. There are some occurrences of the title in
material culture. See, for example, J. Cribb, "Kanshika's Buddha image coins revisited", Silk Road Archaeology VI
(1999?2000), pp. 151-189. BOAAO is inscribed on various series of Kushan coins.
77
Euseb. HE 5.10.
78 See
Clem. Strom. 1.70.1, 1.130.3, 3.60.2, collected in Jacoby, FGrHist 3A273.
79
See Plut. Alex. 64.1 and Clem. Strom. 6.4.38.

268 David H. Sick
which were in the new Christian movement, among those whom he

emerging particularly
identified as the Encratites, who indeed took their name from our and,
concept,80 according
to one church father, some of their beliefs from the Indian Clement argues
gymnosophists.81
that inner is to be not to sex but to other of life, including
strength applied only aspects
speech.
It is fitting to examine not only one form of self-control, that is that which concerns sexual
desires, but even that regarding the other sorts of things our souls desire decadently... Inner
a disdain over
strength entails for money, luxury, and property, power the tongue, and mastery
of base thoughts.82
In the section which follows this exhortation to a broader notion of self-control, Clement
compares the ascetics of India to those he has observed in his

again community, arguing
that in all cultures decisions about and codes tend to be Even in
celibacy dietary arbitrary.
Alexandria, at the end of the second century CE, one must make a case to
special apply
?y Kporreicx to
speech, and in the case of Clement, this argument is made after extensive
consultation of the classical sources on India.
It seems reasonable to conclude that the content of Asoka s edict if not the edict itself
spread beyond Hellenistic Bactria to the

larger Greek world, given the acceptance of an idea
found in an Asokan if not the very We have also a reason as to

aphorism, aphorism. suggested
why that particular aphorism resonated culturally with the Greeks: public speaking became
essential to success in the classical and, as any item which afford

political period, might
power, rhetoric was to abuse. We still have to address the Indie cultural
subject background.
did the emperor Asoka believe it important to express his ideas on self-control and
Why
self-control in speech in particular; we must assume his motivations to arise from an Indie
perspective, although they were expressed in an Indo-Greek context. In order to understand
this Indie we must discuss the social conventions and institutions which arose in
perspective,
India to allow for discussion among and philosophical sects.
religious
D. 6iaTpi?f| and p?samda-83
And there is no country where there are not those categories, namely both brahman and sraman,
except among the Greeks, and there is no country where men are not members of one p?samda
or another.84
80 P.
Brown, The Body and Society:Men, Women and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity (New York,
1988), pp. 122-139; D.G. Hunter, "The Language of Desire: Clement of Alexandria's Transformation of Ascetic
Discourse", Semeia LVII (1992), pp. 95-111.
81
See Hippol. Haer. 8.7 and R. Stoneman, "Who are the Brahmans? Indian Lore and Cynic Doctrine in
Palladius' De Bragmanibus and itsModels", CQ XLIV (1994), pp. 500-510 at 504.
82
Strom. 3.7.59: aAAa y?p o? u?vov 7tepi?v e??oc; Trrv ?yKp?Te?av cruvop?rv 7TpoofiKei,
TovT?oTi Ta acjjpo??cria, aAA? y?p Kai 7tepi Ta ?AAa ?cxa <77taTaA?u<7a ?mOuu-e!
r\ i|n>x? r|uxbv.. .?yKpcrrei? ?crriv, apyupiov KOTacJ>povelv, TpucJ^fi?', KTrjcrecuc, Q?oc?
KaTau-eyaAoc|)povelv, (jroyiocro? KpaTelv, KVpie?eiv Aoytauxov tc?v Ttovripcov; see 3.1.4 for the
construction ?yKp?Te La Ttepi Trrv yAcoacrav.
83 I am
following Norman, pp. 111-115, in normalising and correcting the various versions of thisword in
the edicts.
84
XIII.J (K?ls?): n[a]thi c? se jan[a]pade yat? nathi ime nik?y? ?nat? Yonesu, bamhmane c? samane c?, nathi c?
kuv?pi jan[a]padasi [ya]t? n[a]thi m[a]nus?n[a] ekatalas[i] [p]i p?shadasi no n?ma pas?de |

When Socrates met the Buddha 269
Those words from the version of rock edict XIII at K?ls? provide a good startingpoint
for a discussion of the context inwhich the philosophical debates noted inXII were to
occur. In the Asokan world view, humans, males at any rate, divide themselves into
naturally
schools of thoughts, sects if you will. There is no without the categories of brahman
place
and sraman among the Yonas, but, even there, there are still and men attach
except p?samda,
themselves to some sect or other. Rock edict V at line J corroborates the claim, noting
among the Yonas and Kambojas and mah?m?tas of dhamma to them. It is

p?samda assigning
a remarkable of the term, for elsewhere the comparable Skt. p?sanda-, as at Arthas?stra
usage
1.18.9, 1.19.29, 2.4.23, 3.16.39, etc., identifies non-Vedic sects. Asoka seems to subsume
brahmans, sramans and even Greek schools of thought into the same category. The levelling
of the categories is clearer at line G of XIII, where the emperor the to
deplores injuries
"brahmans, sramans, or other or householders" that may occur of

p?samda during conquest
other nations.
The fragmentary and redacted Greek version of XIII (Text B) ends abruptlywith the
phrase "And among the rest of the nations.. .".85 The logical completion ofthat sentence,
to the K?ls? version would be, "there are sramans and brahmans, but among the
by analogy
Greeks not". Ifwe had the completion of the thought, we
might learn whether our author
or translator would go so far as to declare that all men belong

to some 6l<XTpi?f| or other,
for that word is used to translate elsewhere in the document see below).
p?samda- (for which
Such a claim would be false for the classical in Greece, but these schools or
simply period
modes of thought became more important vehicles for conveying simplified philosophical
concepts to the masses in the Hellenistic We therefore accept the proposition
period.86 might
that every male of the Hellenistic or Roman would himself
generally-educated period align
with an Stoic, or less mode of thought but not every aristocrat in Athens
Epicurean, popular
of the fifth century was a member of the Academy or The diverse elements of
Lyceum.
the sramana movement, in comparison to classical Greek were and
philosophers, evangelical
populist in their approach. As we have noted, they strongly opposed the philosophies and
theologies which maintained the hereditary privileges of the brahmans, and they presented
their qualms to a audience. Take, for example, the custom of uposatha a of
general day, day
the month set aside for dialogue between monks and the custom
traditionally lay people;
seems to have been borrowed sramana
by the Buddhist community from other sects.87 Asoka
himself describes his own respectful visits and conversations with the sects.88 The tradition
is important to our of the Milindapa?ha, and we will discuss it below.

interpretation
The usage of 6lcXTpl?f| in Text B evidence that itsmeaning was in transition.
provides
The translator did not use it nearly as as occurs in the Prakrit,
frequently p?samda- although,
of course, we must remember that our document has lacunae. Forms of p?samda- occur
85
Line 22: KaioTi?v Tol?- ?Oveoiv elcruv...
86
See W Capelle and H.I. Marrou, "Diatribe", REA III, pp. 990-1009. Their focus is the so-called genre of
diatribe, but this genre, which is supposed to have been a rhetorical method for addressing a large audience, must be
related to the schools. See S. K. Stowers, The Diatribe and Paul's Letter to theRomans (Chico, Ca., 1981), pp. 48-78,
who emphasises the "scholastic social setting" of the genre, and by the same author, "Diatribe", in Greco-Roman
Literature and theNew Testament, ed. D. Aune (Atlanta, 1988), pp. 71-83.
87
G. MacQueen, A Study of theSr?manyaphala S?tra (Wiesbaden, 1988), pp. 121-13 4; see also n. 38 above.
88 In
addition to edict XIII.G = Greek 11. 16-17, see K?ls? edict XIII.J, and any version of III.D, IVA, IVC,
VIII.E, IX.G, XI.C, and theR?mp?rv? pillar text atHultzsch, p. 155.

270 David H. Sick
seventeen times in edict XII, and in each instance the word is compounded in some way,
but theGreek translatorrelated it to olotTpl?f] only once. Line B reads, "The Beloved of
the Gods does not, however, value either or honours as much as the growth of the
gifts
essential of all sects".89 Konr? n?tooi? noc? OKXTpi?ac- in Text B seems to be used as a
of the genitive Yet, the voice
rough equivalent plural savra-prasamdanam. although imperial
on to discuss relations between sects, does not recur in the translation of
goes 6l<XTpl?f|
edict XII. Circumlocutions and forms of words such as 'other', 'self and were
'neighbour'
chosen instead. The verb is found, however, at line 17 where, as a nominalised
OKXTpl?eu
participle, itfunctions as a rough equivalent forp?samda- in sectionG of edictXIII. o? 7repi

Tryv would mean 'those about This
evcse?eiocy OKXTpi?o'VTec' arguing piety/dhamma'.
usage demonstrates the development of the verb. OKXTpi?cu and thewords derived from it
referred to any means of passing time in an unessential can even
originally pursuit; they imply
a waste of time. Only when the terms became associated with philosophy and those Greek
aristocrats who were not to their time in fulfillment of basic needs, did the
pressed spend
secondary meanings associated with discussion and argument develop. (In fact, p?samda- may
have a more direct association with and argument, ifwe accept the etymology
questioning
those who were accustomed to argue about
proposed by Norman and Bailey.90) Finally, when
ideas in public divided themselves into separate groups, 6l(XTpi?f| could indicate a sect or
school of or even the site where members of such a group met.91 The presence
thought
of both Kcnr? nacjoc? toc? oiorrpi?ac- and o? nepi Tryv eucre?eia-v oiaTpi?o-vTec- in
Text B would argue thatwe find theword somewhere between the second and third steps
of its development. The verb can argument and discussion but there is infrequent
imply
of the specialized of the noun. The existence in India of distinct, even
application meaning
hereditary, schools of thoughtwell before the third centuryBCE can only have furthered
any for the Greek word to mean 'sect'. The specialised meaning of 6i<XTpi?f|
tendency
found in Hellenistic India must have to other parts of the Greek-speaking world.
spread
The of East and West here in regard to attitudes and methods of
meeting might again,
In India, or
philosophy, had consequences for both. by the third century BCE, philosophers,
had assumed the duty of conveying their ideas, in a simplified form, to a
pandits, although
In Greece, a formal for philosophical debates had
general public. by the third century, system
been established within the context of a traditional education in rhetoric. The confluence
of these two trends in philosophy can be found in theMilindapa?ha.
89 no cu
tatha [da]na va puja va Devanampriyo ma?ati yatha kiti sa[la]-vadhi siya savra-prasamdanam |
90
Norman, p. 113, following H.W. Bailey, "Kusanica", BSOASX1V (1952), pp. 420-434 at 427-428, derives
the term from a supposed Iranian *fras-+ -anda- 'asker, questioner'. M. Mayrhofer calls the etymology "schwerlich
vorzuziehen" (to other proposals). Kurzgefa?tes etymologischesW?rterbuch des Altindischen (Heidelberg, 1963) II,
pp. 265-266.
91
The examples given in the TLG inwhich OKXTpl?f] means a school of thought or the place where such
a group might meet are relatively late, even taken from Latin. The second century CE Latin sophist Aulus Gellius
at 17.20.4: sic enim me in principio
speaks of himself as "recently admitted into the school" of Calvenus Taurus
recens in diatribam acceptum...; see also 1.26.1 and 18.13.7. It is lamentable that so littlework has been done on
the history of theword OKXTpl?f], given the large bibliography on this genre and its use in the early Christian
community.

When Socrates met the Buddha 271
?. Milinda and the Ends and Rules of Discussion
In the Greek between Alexander and the brahmans, Indie wisdom is

dialogues presented
from a Greek and, in a further we see the brahmans' of
perspective, complexity, opinion
Greek in some of the same texts, although that opinion is obviously a
philosophy given by
Greek author. In the Milindapa?ha we find an Indian characterisation of Greek wisdom or
from a more Indie There are several of the

philosophy definitely perspective.92 key portions
which connect it both and, to some extent, in to the
dialogue thematically specific language
Greek accounts of Alexander and the twelfth and thirteenth edicts of Asoka. To establish
these thematic connections, we need to some about the character

provide background
Milinda himself and hismethods and goals in dialectic.
The initial action and discussion in the dialogue are driven byMilinda's search for an
Indian sage, and this quest is marked the king's to his retinue of
by repeated questions
Yonakas: "atthi ko ci pandito samano v? hr?hmano v? .. .?"93 Yet is it
sangh?gan?gan?cariyo why
that thisHellenistic kingwants to speakwith such a pandit? Allegedly he wishes to have his
doubts but even a cursory of the text proves that knowledge is not the
dispelled,94 reading
goal. He is interested inmetaphysical

king's original, primary questions only when his duties
as are He first marshals and reviews his and then, as the

king completed. troops daylight
lingers, searches for a worthwhile pastime. There is ample time for 6lcxTpi?f|. It becomes
clear after each of the initial discussions with the pandits Pur?na Kassapa, Makkhali Gos?la,
and that the king's interest is agonistic. These conversations end with a small dance
Ayup?la
of victory byMilinda, as ifhe had just scored a touchdown in theNational Football League:
so King Milinda,...
And clapping his hands, shouted to the Yonakas: "India is indeed an empty
as empty as chaff; there is no sraman or brahman who can confer with me to dispel my
thing,
doubts.. ."95
This declaration comes after the interlocutor is reduced to silence and unable to
respond.
It is a state to Socratic
aporia, and several Platonic arguments do result in a
comparable
similar to answer, but, of course, Plato's Socrates never in the silence of his
inability rejoices
discussants.96 To show that the exclamation is not made out of disappointment on the part
of the king, the reader is allowed to learn his inner motivation. Milinda is anxious when his
retinue seems neither embarrassed nor hesitant at the silence of the pandits, for he guesses
that the Yonakas know of yet another pandit who may challenge him still and ultimately
his doubts.97 That last sage, as one would isN?gasena.
dispel expect,
92 am
I setting aside Tarn's claim that the Pali text is based on a shorter Greek original. I view the claim as
neither proven or disproven.
93
Mil. i.io: "Is there some pandit, either sraman or brahman, a teacher of a large school or order..." See also
1.14, 1.37, 1.39.
94
Mil. i.io et aliis:... kankham pativinetum...
95
Mil. 1.39: atha kho milindo r?j?... apphotetv? ukkuttham katv? yonake etadavoca: "tuccho vata bho
jambud?po, pal?po vata bho jambud?po, natthi koci samano v? br?hmano v? yo may? saddhim sallapitum ussahati
kankham pativinetun" ti | See also 1.14.
96
See, for example, Gorgias 506b-c, when Callicles refuses to respond to the questions of Socrates on justice,
or the Protagoras at 335a, 348b, and 360e, where the namesake of the dialogue balks at Socrates' questioning, or the
final scenes of the Charmides and Euthyphrowhich end without resolution of the central question.
97
Mil 1.39.

272 David H. Sick
Milinda in fact has a with his 500 would he

perplexing relationship companions. Why
his escort to be embarrassed at the dialectic defeat of the most well-known
expect pandits? We
must assume that the Yonakas are their king, and, indeed, when
cheering against N?gasena
resolves one of Milinda s the Yonakas the
finally tricky questions, interject, "honouring
wonderful deed" of the monk: "Now, Great answer that ifyou can".98 We are still left
King,
a group who owes its economic and political to its association with
wondering why position
a powerful individualwould hope for the defeat of that individual in a theological debate.
In this instance, there would seem to be two Either the Yonakas
probable explanations.
themselves have Buddhist or, in a Greek manner, are
sympathies typically they barracking
an undefeated favourite in a contest of argument.99 The internal evidence is not decisive in
between these two options. The Yonakas know more about the local sages,
choosing plainly
for Milinda turns to them to find the most individuals. Yet, one of the more
highly-regarded
member of Milinda s retinue, or Antiochus in the Greek, converts
prominent Anantak?ya,
within the text itself.100 The four closest advisers, who are named, should be from
separated
the nameless retinue, however; the advisers are not called Yonakas.
The term Yonaka- itselfmay be As out

significant. pointed by Tarn and accepted by Gonda,
Yonaka- is rather rare in Pali.101 The two scholars do, naturally, differ in their explanations of
the word's Tarn looks to an unattested Greek form 'lorvcXKO?;, while Gonda argues
origin.
for a regular formation of Yona- from Sanskrit Yavana- and/or Old Persian Yauna-, since both
ava and au become 0 inMiddle Indie and Iranian Neither a for

respectively. posits meaning
the word which would us our Yonakas' behaviour toward their king and his
help interpret
dialectic conquests. Ifwe accept that the standard term for Greeks in the period was indeed
Yona- and the common secondary suffix -ka- has been added to it (as 'little regal one,
r?jaka-
?
prince' derives from Yonaka- does not mean 'Greek' but 'Grecian'. As ka
r?ja- 'king'),
is sometimes used to form a diminutive, the best translation even be
might 'Greekling'.102
Yonaka- would be the Indie term for a native individual who has Hellenised in some way and
is therefore called Hellenistic. This conjecture is also supported by the use of the term in a
at a Buddhist at Nasik.103 There, a certain

dedicatory inscription temple-cave Indr?gnidatta,
whose name is obviously endowed a in the name
Indie, chaitya hall of his parents for the
"worship of all theBuddhas" (savabudhap?j?ya),although he identifieshimself as a Yonaka.

The king's escorts, if they are also Hellenistic Buddhists, might therefore be doubly motivated
to cheer their patron:

against they could be advocates of Buddhist doctrine but familiar with
the traditional liberal rules of argument among the Greeks. Even if this interpretation of
98
Mil. 2.1.1: evam vatte pancasat? yonak? ?yasmato n?gasenassa s?dhu k?ram datv? milindam r?j?nam
etadavocum "id?ni kho tvam,maharaja, sakkonto bh?sass??" |
99
Socrates and his more famous interlocutors draw a crowd in several Platonic dialogues. One assumes the
audience was eager to see a battle of undefeated champions. The discussions with the sophist Protagoras and the
rhetorican Gorgias provide the best examples. Note also Apology 23c where Socrates comments upon the following
he has developed among thewealthy youth of Athens.
100
See Mil. 2.1.4.
101
Tarn, pp. 416?8; Gonda, "Origin of theMilindapa?ha", pp. 45?47.
102
See Whitney's grammar, pp. 466?469. Sanskrit Grammar, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, Mass., 1989). Lat. Graeculus
may also show a correlation between the diminutive and Hellenisation. See Juv. 3.78 and Petr. 76.10 where the
individuals identified as Graeculi are almost certainly not native Greeks but Hellenised Easterners.
103
Tarn, pp. 254-258, believes the individual to be a citizen of a Greek colony but does not recognise the
significance of the regular formation inMiddle Indie. For the inscription itself, see Jas. Burgess, Report on the
Buddhist Cave Temples and theirInscriptions (ArchaelogicalSurvey ofWestern India, IV) (London, 1883) pp. 114?115.

Yonaka- falls short, it is important to note the fluidity of the cultural borders in theworld of
theMilinda. Individuals identified as Greek support the ideas of an Indian Buddhist instead
of those of their king, who is said to have been born in a certain Alexandria.104
The fact that the Milindapa?ha models itself in its first sections on an earlier work is also
crucial to interpretingitsdialectic interactions.The Sama??aphala Sutta (= The Fruits of the

a which describes a discussion between another ofM?ghadha,
Life of Sraman), king, Aj?tasattu
and the Buddha himself, provides the necessary In both the
comparanda.105 dialogues,
encounter the same interlocutors before their central
kings preliminary meeting respective
one. Pur?na Makkhali Gos?la,
Kassapa, Nigantha N?taputta, Sa?jaya Belatthaputta, Ajita
Kesakambala, Pakudha are listed as the six pre-eminent of the day, and
Kacc?yana pandits
the used to describe these sages is nearly identical. Each of the pandits is called
language
"head of a community or order, founder of a school, famous, of great repute, respected by
in both works.106 are further common
many people ..." They distinguished by the question
atthi ko ci pandito samano v? br?hmano v? and the pat answer which follows it. These six are
the renowned (or notorious) heretics of the Buddhist tradition; their names and the schools
which would have been known to a wide audience. was

they founded Makkhali Gos?la
the founder of theAj?vikas, while Nigantha N?taputta is synonymouswith Mahavrra of the

are not labelled as "heretics" per se in our texts but are differentiated from
Jains.107 They
theBuddhist sages by form of address. In theMilinda, the two laterBuddhist interlocutors
of the king are honoured with the title thera-108, and in the sutta, the Buddha himself
is introduced in a wholly distinct manner at 92. The fact that the six named
predictably
are sramans or brahmans but outside orthodox Buddhism argues that Asoka's
pandits strongly
guidelines fordialogues between sects should be applied. Lest therebe any doubt, theAj?vikas
and theJains (Niganthas) are identified as p?samda on the seventh edict found on theTopra
now at Delhi.109
pillar
In the event, Milinda, never meets the final four members of the list of
inexplicably,
pandits, and, I believe, this lacuna in the plot argues for the chronological of the
precedence
Sama??aphala Sutta. There would be little point to listing characters who do not occur in
a text; that list must therefore have some other external to the text.
significance, probably
the very similar and identical characters the audience is encouraged to
Through language
compare the discussions in the two works, and, since the sutta is older, we must assume that
it is the author or a later redactor of the Milindapa?ha who wants the audience to make this
It is the behaviour of the kings that is accentuated for analysis. By

comparison.110 placing
104
For Milinda's birthplace, seeMil. 3.7.4.
105
Noted by Rhys Davids, pp. i:8n.2, ion.3. I am referring to the Pali version; it differs substantially from
the Chinese, Tibetan, and Sanskrit versions of the sutta. See MacQueen for a translation and comparison of the
differentversions.
106
Sam. 91: sa?ghi ceva gan? ca gan?cariyo ca ?ato yasass? titthakaro s?dhusammato bahujanassa. In Suttapitaka
D?ghanik?ya, ed. J.Bloch,J. Filliozat, L. Renou (Paris, 1949).Mil. 1.11: sanghino ganino gan?cariyak? ?ata yasassino
titthakar? s?dhusammat? bahujanassa (in the plural, referring to all six pandits).
107
See MacQueen, pp. 148-168; C. Vogel, The Teachings of theSix Heretics (Abhandlungenf?r die Kunde des
Morgenlande XXXIX.4) (Wiesbaden, 1970); A.L. Basham, History and Doctrine of theAj?vikas (London, 1951),
pp. 3-26, as well as Pande, Jaini, and Warder (n. 35 and n. 38 above) on the sramana movement generally.
at 1.1.14 and N?gasena later in the same section.
109?yupala
See sections Z and AA.
As I am concerned with Graeco-Indian relations generally and not theMilinda specifically, itmakes little
difference whether a redactor or the author is drawing the comparison between the two kings. Some intellectual

274 David H. Sick
the two kings in an almost identical situation, with similar the author
language, emphasises
the differences. For both their quest for knowledge or argument with
example, kings begin
a comment on the beauty of the night and the famiHar to their
question companions:
Beautiful indeed is the moonlit sraman or brahman may we .. .?m

night! What
The initial comment about the clarity of the moon seems

inconsequential, but to those who
know the tradition, itwould establish a common to the two dialogues. We

temporal setting
learn in the Sama??aphala Sutta that Aj?tasattu s quest on the fifteenth
began uposatha day,
day of the halfmonth, thenight of the fullmoon. As mentioned above, itwas customary for
sects to converse with the extended on this day, and itwould thus be predictable
community
that the kings speakwith pandits.We are furthered stirred to apply Asoka's guidelines for
debate, because he decreed that his own proclamation
on the pillar at S?rn?th be read by the
or on
lay followers, up?sak?, uposatha day112
At the point we have stopped in our citation above the question changes and we find
that the goals in discussion of the two kings differ. We have seen that Milinda s announced
is to speak with a and resolve his in this instance he clarifies his

goal pandit uncertainty;
method, for he adds that he to the pandit to ask s
plans approach questions.113 Aj?tasattu
is to be much more deferential: he intends first to honour the pandit and, in return
approach
he or sraman to or
for this respect, expects the brahman purify clarify his mind.114 Along
with this difference in objective comes a wide in attitude toward and treatment
divergence
of the heretical As it turns out, Aj?tasattu has met and conversed with all six
pandits. actually
and when each is suggested, his reaction is the same, since he is already familiar
previously,
with the problems in their philosophies and theologies. Each suggestion of a sage ismet
with a rather formal of the king's response: evam vutte
proclamation r?j? m?gadho aj?tasattu
tunh? ahosi.115 He neither criticises nor the philosophers and is, in fact, a
vedehtputto praises
fine model for Asokan ?yKpcrre lot. Not even when he met the heretics did he argue
actually
with them but kept his criticisms to himself, and his internal were severe,
openly judgments
for he refers to as the "most most confused of the sramans
Sa?jaya Velatthaputta stupid,
and brahmans".116 Yet, the king concludes his account of each discussion with the same
formulaic phrase:
with a knowledge of Pali is pairing the two. The dating of theMilindapa?ha is difficult because of various lacunae
and probable insertions. The absolute terminiare the second century BCE, because of the dates of the Greek king
Menander himself, and the fifth century CE, because of a mention by Buddhagosa. The date of S?ma??aphala
Sutta depends upon its inclusion in the Buddhist canon. If one accepts the tradition of the Buddhist councils, the
suttawould fall, at the latest, in the third century BCE under Asoka. The strongest evidence for the chronological
canon differs
precedence of the sutta is theMilindapa?ha's knowledge of the canon in general, although theMilinda's
from the standard slightly.See Mil. 1.14 for a mention of the Tipitaka. M. Winternitz, A History of Indian Literature,
trans. S. Ketar and H. Kuhn (Calcutta, 1933) II, pp. 15-17, 174-178. K.R. Norman, Pali Literature (A History of
Indian Literature, vol. VII.2), ed. J.Gonda (Wiesbaden, 1983), pp. 7-8, 110-114.
111
Sam. 91/M1/.1.14, 1.37: raman?y? vata, bho, dosin? ratti | kam nu khavajja samanam v? br?hmanam v?. In
the sutta the two sentences are not contiguous but close together. Aj?tasattu comments on the beauty of the night
in several clauses.
112
See S?rn?th H inHultzsch, pp. 161-164.
113
M1/.1.14, 1.37:... upasankameyy?ma pa?ham pucchitum...
114
Sam. 91:... payirup?seyy?ma yan no payirup?sato cittam pas?deyya ti |
115
"So he spoke, and Aj?tasattu Vedeh?putta, the king ofM?gadha, kept his silence." At Sam. 91, repeated
after the introduction of each heretic.
Sam. 99:... samanabr?hman?nam sabbab?lo sabbam?lho |

And so I... neither nor neither nor

pleased displeased, praising blaming, although dissatisfied,
no word of dissatisfaction, his words but not confounding them, rising
wanting understanding
from my place, I departed.117
s silence is the key to our We see that it is not a silence which

Aj?tasattu interpretation.
results from but out of self-control or even inner It is not a matter of his
ignorance strength.
desire, for he does not even want to correct the sages and he
restraining publicly, certainly
takes no joy in their
perceived
errors. His reaction is markedly different from the Greek
Milinda, and the author or redactor of the Milindapa?ha encourages his audience to compare
the behaviour of the two kings the key phrase: evam vutte... tunht ahosi. In the
by repeating
Milinda, however, it is not the king who keeps silence but the pandits defeated in dialogue.
There is in fact an inversionof the formula of the plot. Once Makkhali Gos?la has apparently
been refuted he refuses to answer, and the exact same is used to describe
by Milinda, phrase
his silence at Mil. 1.13 : evam vutte Gos?lo tunh? ahosi. The of Milinda silence all
questions
the sages who remain in his even the bhikkus who in the are
city, and take refuge Himalayas
silentwhen asked to confront theking. The key phrase is in fact repeated several times in the
early sections of the dialogue.118 The author of the later text, by putting itsmain character
in a similar setting with

some of the same subordinate characters and similar if not
using
identical language, calls us to note the difference, and once we note that difference, we are
almost to try to understand it. The easiest comes from the obvious
compelled explanation
differencebetween the two:Milinda is a Greek, while Aj?tasattu is ethnically Indian. Greeks
behave and, to some extent, that is, the of which Asoka
differently improperly, vacaguti-
is performed the latter and not the former.
speaks by certainly
There is therefore at least one bit of Greece in the Milinda: the major Greek character in
the dialogue behaves in a way that Indians and even the Greeks themselves would
perhaps
find stereotypicallyGreek. This Greek failing, the inability to restrain speech, as if speaking
were a desire, we have now seen attested from several cultural of the
physical perspectives
period.We find the criticism in theMilinda, an Indian cultural product; we find it in a Greek
cultural product, Palladius' treaty on the brahmans, although it is put in the mouth of Indie
characters; we see also concern about it intensify in moral treatises of the Hellenistic period;
and finally we find it in a bi-cultural product, the Greek and Prakrit edicts of Asoka.
III. Conclusions
to our we intended to trace themes from the Asokan to

According original goals, writings
both the East and West. Our study of the ascetism of silence has succeeded in that
regard. We
followed a on control of the tongue to numerous Hellenic outlets, and we noted a
proverb
concern for speech between sects, even those with Greek members, in the We
Milindapa?ha.
a reason dialectic was such a concern for the Greeks and perhaps
previously suggested why
to their Indian We have yet to explain Asoka's
why they appeared overly-talkative neighbours.
interest in dialectic or the reasons for its prominence in Hellenistic India from a
standpoint
117
Sam. 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99: so kho aham... neva abhinandim nappatikkosim anabhinanditv? appatikkositv?
anattamano anattamanav?cam aniccharetv? tarn eva v?cam anugganhanto anikkujjento utth?y?san? pakk?mim |
118
See Mil 1.15-16 for the silence of the brahmans, sramans, and bhikkus. Also 1. 12 and 1.39 for other
variations on the recurring phrase.

276 David H. Sick
in the Indian cultural tradition. Our one factor to this

investigations suggest contributing
and that factor is related to the of the sramans and the role for the
prominence, populism
king in theirpublic debates.

Our earlier comments chastised Milinda for failing to adhere to Asokan standards, but, in
truth,according to the prescriptions found in the twelfthedict, bothMilinda and Aj?tasattu

failed in their dialectic. SurelyMilinda wished to glorify himself, and thus, according to
XII.H, harmed his own cause instead.119 on the other hand, a
Aj?tasattu, by maintaining
public silence, did not allow for the exchange of ideas encouraged by Asoka.120 We might
an Aristotelian mean between the two, but, as are a case. Their
suggest kings, they special
discussion with the sages, as that of Alexander, is not conducted as an interaction
just
between social equals. This fact is acknowledged in theMilindapa?ha. After the initial
discussion between Milinda and N?gasena, the bhikku agrees to continue
only conditionally
the discussion: thekingmust change his goal andmethod of dialectic.Milinda has been using
a dialectic which the monk terms 'the talk of kings' but in order to continue the
r?jav?da-
discussion a dialectic termed 'the talk of sages' must be
profitably panditav?da- employed.121
The seminal difference between these two forms of speech is not found in the approach to
but the effect upon the participants. When discuss and a ismade in
dialogue pandits point
refutation, do not become angry because of it".122 N?gasena claims, however, that
"they
if an interlocutor refutes a
king, he is likely to receive a fine or even worse. Alexander's
threat to kill the gymnosophist who gave the worst response to his would be
questioning
in keeping with the customs of r?jav?da.123One wonders in fact how Asoka himself,when
he visited the sramans and brahmans on his tours for the promotion of dhamma, conducted
such
dialogues.124
Yet Milinda exceeds Alexander as a in that he agrees to continue the
philosopher,
conversation under the rules prescribed by N?gasena, but ultimately he is trapped between
the two types of dialectic, between and panditav?da. In a scene which is one of
r?jav?da
several likely candidates for the original ending of the work,125 the king and the monk
meet on the morning after a discussion. The basic tenets of Buddhism have
late-night
held sound against the questions and logical attacks of the Greek inquisitor, and both
discussants spent the remainder of the night alone reviewing the course of the argument.
That there is no resentment nor exultation in an eristic satisfaction

morning, victory, only
119
XII.H: "For whosoever praises his own sect (or) blames other sects, -all (this) out of pure devotion to his
own sect, (i.e.) with a view to glorifying his own sect- ifhe is acting thus, he rather injures his own sect very
severely". (Hultzschs translation) Cf. Greek 6-8: Ocl 6' ?"V ?ocvrov??nocwc?CJW, To?c 6? n?Aoc? ip?ytuorv
cJnAoTiu?Tepo-v 6LCX7tp?T[T]o^T(XL, ?ou?op.eôL 7Tap?tTo?c ?ou7io???yAau4>aL, 7to?? 6? uoc??o^
?Aa7TTOl>[CTL] eOCVToV?.
120
XII.I: "Therefore self-control (sayama-) alone ismeritorious, (i.e.) that they should both hear and obey
each other's morals (dhrama-)"'. (Hultzsch's translation) Cf. Greek 8: np?7tet ??c<A?f|?ol>?; 0ocuu??,erv Kai
T?a??fi?arv 6L6?yu.cxTa7Tapcx6?xecr0cx[i].
121
Mil. 2.1.3.
122 a distinction is
Mil. 2.1.3:... viseso pi kayirati, pativiseso pi kayirati, na ca tena pandit? kuppanti..."...
made and then a counter-distinction, and the pandits do not become angry on account of it..."
123
Plut. Alex. 64.1
124
See edict VIII and pillar textVI fromR?mpurv?.
125
Mil. 3.7.18. This iswhere both Finot, 2nd ed. (Paris, 1992) and Pathak end their editions. Such an ending
would maintain the parallel with the Sama??aphala Sutta. On the possible endings, see I. B. Homer's edition
(Oxford, 1963), pp. xxvii-xxxi.

that the were asked and the answers The "All

right questions appropriate given. phrase
was well asked by me/King Milinda, all was well solved by me/the venerable one"126 is
with in the scene and attributed to both It serves as a
repeated slight variations characters.
summation to their reviews of the argument. Milinda's motivation here can be

respective
explained by both cultural traditions:he, in a sense, fulfillsthe tenets of Indian panditav?da

as well as avoids the hatred of argument the tocsin of Socrates from his
(]Xi<JoXoyiot),
deathbed.127
Milinda cannot quite give himself over to panditav?da or follow the Socratic vocation
entirely. In keeping with Aj?tasattu, whom the Buddha claims would have attained the
eye of dhamma (dhammacakkhu),a significant step on the road to enlightenment, ifhe had
not killed his father to succeed to the throne,128 and Alexander, who said "If I were not
Alexander, Iwould be Diogenes",129 the Indo-Greek king claims he would be quickly killed
if he were to renounce In all
by his many enemies the world and follow N?gasena. three
cases the duties and privileges of rule are given priority

over the fruits of renunciation. From
the perspective of the gymnosophists, the monarchs mistake the nature of true freedom.
The which Milinda uses to describe his situation is one of the most in the
analogy poignant
dialogue:
Just as... a lion, the

king of beasts, trapped in
a
golden cage is ever staring outward, I... too,
although I live as a householder, am ever staring outward.130
Milinda sees the value of the life of the recluse, for it has been proven by argument, but
he is constrained to fulfilhis role as king. Although kingship has itsworldly advantages, it
prevents one from the summum bonum.
ultimately attaining
There is obviously a mean between and between and
r?jav?da panditav?da, kingship
a "middle so to One can become a a sect
monkhood, way", speak. lay follower of and
its tenets, an or 'one who sits close in the Indie context, and this status is,
up?saka, by'
in fact, the one which Asoka himself pursued. At
the beginning of the first minor rock
edict the Mauryan emperor that he has been an for two and a half years,
proclaims up?saka
and in several other he displays a close association with the Buddhist
although inscriptions
samgha, he never foregoes the propagation of a non-sectarian dhamma.131 With to our

regard
literary kings, Aj?tasattu also chooses this course,132 but the outcome for Milinda depends
on which of the work one
ending accepts.
126
Sabbam may?/Milindena ra??a supucchitam, sabbam may?/bhadantena suvissajjitan-ti.
127
Pl. Ph'd. 89d.
128
Sam. 140.
129
Plut. Alex. 15.3: 'A???c u-frveycu,' e?nev, 'el \xx\
????,cxv6po? fjurrv, /?.\Joy?^n^\?? v'Y\\xr['v.,
130
Mil. 3.7.18: seyath?... s?homigar?j? suvannapa?jare pakkhito pi bahimukho yeva hoti, evam?eva kho
'ham... ki?capi ag?ram ajjh?vas?mi, bahimukho yeva pana acch?mi.
131
See R. Thapar, "Asoka and Buddhism as Reflected in the Asokan Edicts", in Asoka 2300, ed. H.B.
Chowdhury (Calcutta, 1997), pp. 71-80. The volume also contains several essays by individuals who argue for a
more significant role forAsoka in the development of Buddhism.
132
Sam. 139.

278 David H. Sick
A role for philosophy among the general public, even among the leaders of thatpublic,
may be the largestdebt western philosophy owes the East. The explosion of philosophical
schools in the Hellenistic did not create an of lamp-carrying,
period empire pot-dwelling,
publicly masturbating Cynics but a society of up?sak?, inwhich any generally-educated

individualmight claim allegiance to one school or another. Consequently we know Caesar
as an Marcus Aurelius as a Stoic, and Cicero as an of all the schools of
Epicurean, amalgam
his day.


When Socrates Met The Buddha - David H. Sick (2007)

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When Socrates Met the Buddha: Greek and Indian Dialectic in Hellenistic Bactria and India

Author(s): David H. Sick

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Greek and IndianDialectic inHellenistic

Bactria and India

itwould have been strange, to say no more; and though, as I repeat, we

excited scholars in usually distinct fields. The of solving questions concerning

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as a sort of cultural Rosetta stone, to resolve other about

and will ask the to respect each other as well own

If one does not so humiliate a discussant or one's own

and is now extant. dialogue is a tradition shared by both Mediterranean

monk The latter dialogue is recorded in the Milindapa?ha, a non-canonical but

very work of Buddhism. Our final is to provide some into two

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text must on a shorter Greek

of Greek literature are a of a Greek worldview. Richard Stoneman

in his view, from the first-hand experiences of Megasthenes, while Truesdell

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Ten is significant to Buddhism as well; it indicates

scientific method, or even Socratic advances a

between Buddhism and Christianity, that these problems in the traditionalmethodology

of conclusive treatment... If in the words of Professor Caird no New

in the cultural In other words, with to the New

narrative of Luke or Matthew, in terms of theme, or content, one is asked to

own from materials in their own with its own focus,

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allusions to Christian texts, rather than vice versa.16

Our is to start from the multilingual of Asoka so that we may avoid,

is in reality a and not a Moreover, even in the case of these

and Indie cultural traditions.

II. Tracing Themes in the Greek and Prakrit Proclamations of Asoka

Iwill referto theGreek inscriptions ofAsoka as follows in order to simplifythe discussion:

A. Dhamma and evae?eioc

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instances, particularly at Sh?hb?zgarhi andM?nsehr?, should not be equated fullywith Pali

divine it applies much less to interactions between mortals themselves.23 In fact,

piety or holiness (?cJiOTrj?/)

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Thus, there is a dharma to follow for every individual, and, in fact, a

'ethic', or 'role in a specific situation' more to dhamma than that of'universal

aAAfjAarv ?i??cyu.cxTa TTapao?xecrBai." 6?6ay|xa 'lesson, teaching, principle' is a more

concrete noun than the abstract virtue of piety; in reference to a or

is, however, a in Asokan Greek to concretize from

to the Greek see above), he "showed to the

accept the broadest of Toic;crv0pcu7Tol?;, the emperor seems to be

a definite he followed in pursuit of ?VO~e?ei<X: "... he made for himself an effort

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possession (ktt\<ji? ?e?aioTcrrr]) and sweetest delight (?c7to?ai>cric;r|??0Tr|) for human

understanding of piety from one time and location to the other.

We are that the use of ewe?eia to translate dhamma had

consequences for that concept in the Greek tradition, but we must

difficulties of our Both of these are and neither was static

equation, and, in an inversion of our argument, some modern

B. ?yKporreta, guti-, and sayama

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to the of the brahmans was to the customary

the brahmans may have to the revolution renunciation as

to kill animals, Asoka at several valorises self-control, which is generally termed as

sayama- Skt. a In his seventh edict, for example, he

term eyi< porreta itself can be rendered as 'inner or it differs from

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