A short note on Asoka

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Dear all,

 

The various sources in history present a fascinating story of Asoka, the

Mauryan king.

 

 

 

Asoka was called by many names such as Devanam priya and priyadarsi. There

are obviously many Asokas etc in history

 

 

 

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In fact, Priyadarsi as a title to Asoka is a misnomer, as Asoka was known to

be ugly and hence, disliked by his father.

 

 

 

Quote

" The Sanskrit *DivyÄvadÄna *elaborates the ugly appearance

 

and fierce nature of Aśoka and presents a grotesque and

 

gruesome episode of how he converted his royal pleasance

 

into a place of terror, horror, oppression and tragic deaths of

 

the unwary visitors and passers-by through his agent Candagirika.

 

17 It also attributes to Aśoka the beheading of 500 ministers

 

with his own sword and the burning to death of 500 court

 

ladies. The Chinese *AÅ›okÄvadÄna *resorts to higher levels of

 

poetical imagination in representing Aśoka as a most wicked

 

character. "

 

 

 

Unquote

 

 

 

 

 

The name of his mother is mentioned as Janapada Kalyani, which was also the

name of an unfortunate bride married to Nanda, the Sankya prince who Buddha

has converted to a monk on the night of his marriage.

 

 

 

In any case, it is apparent that Asoka's mother is a Brahmin, coming from

the banks of River Champa, perhaps married to Bindusara on his campaigns to

Anga, the country of Bihar lying on the other side of the river. Some

sources mention her name as Dharma, a disciple of Ajivaka preceptor JanÄsana

(JarÄsana, Jarasona, skt : :Pingalavatsa)

 

 

 

 

 

Some people cling to his obviously false connection to a Greek mother,

perhaps because of the romanticism that is offered by such a connection.

 

 

 

His mother, fallen out of grace with the king due to palace intrigues , had

named Asoka since the birth of the child has made her " sorrow less " His

brother was named Vitasoka since the queen felt that the birth of the second

male child has ultimately put an end to her sorrows.

 

 

 

Asoka was a man of great tact.

 

 

 

There was a great revolt against the oppression by the officers in the

province of Taxila, who were a republic before being brought under the rule

of the empire of Bimbisara. Asoka was sent there as Viceroy to quell the

same, which he did to a great aplomb, without using much force or inviting

resentment from the people of Taxila. In fact, he might have been fondly

remembered into the later days as priyadarsi(?) by these people, connected

to Iranians, as evinced by an Aramaic edict found in Taxila.

 

 

 

He was later sent to Ujjain as the regent there by his father.

 

The ceylone sources mention a 4 year interregnum between the demise of his

father and his ascension to the throne. This must be true since Asoka had

no less than 7 brothers contending for the throne, each one of them being

strong in his own right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The same tact which was exhibited at Taxila was displayed by him in his

later years of rule, though not so openly . Romila Thapar once said he is a

ruler of great ambition.

 

 

 

 

 

I feel he used the concept of dharma, not for religious reasons but to

discipline people into his fold – In other words, he has used religion as a

political tool. This is apparent since most of his edicts are found in gold

bearing areas This has influenced the common man so much that the guilds of

artisans, mostly consisting of common people, have heavily donated to Sangha

(Amaravati and Ajanta epigraphy)

 

 

 

For example, how he uses carrot and stick method can be seen in one of the

famous edicts:

 

 

 

* " Now the Beloved of the Gods thinks that, even if a person should*

 

*wrong him, the offense would be forgiven if it was possible to forgive*

 

*it. *And the forest-folk who live in the dominions of the Beloved

 

of the Gods, even them he entreats and exhorts in regard to

 

their duty. It is hereby explained to them that, in spite of his

 

repentance, the Beloved of the Gods possesses power enough

 

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to punish them for their crimes, so that they should turn away

 

from evil ways and would not be killed for their crimes. "

 

 

 

That he did not place the edict of his repentance due to the kalinga war,

which has been placed in many places anywhere in or around Kalinga country

raises many doubts about the sincerity of his repentance. Why did he not

want the people of Kalinga know about his repentance?

 

 

 

He prohibited animal sacrifices and eating of meat even at his palace. But

by his own admission, the cooking of meat has continued daily at a low

level, obviously for the consumption of the king, whereas he prevented most

of the palace dwellers from partaking meat.

 

 

 

Also, he talked of respecting Brahmins and Sramanakas (monks, not

necessarily Buddhist) and he dedicated two caves to Ajivakas, perhaps in

the tradition of his mother., in the 12th year of his coronation, much later

to Kalinga war.

 

 

 

 

 

In view of this, it is often doubted the stories of his conversion are ever

true.

 

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He does not mention the names of Nyagrodha and Mogaliputta Tissa in his

edicts, who the Buddhist sources have eulogized as the main preceptors for

Asoka. On the other hand, these sources do not discuss Kalinga war at all.

The Buddhist sources say that Asoka got converted to Buddhism in 4th year of

his coronation, whereas as per his own confession, Asoka started following

as a lay upasaka (which does not mean conversion) only after Kalinga war.

 

 

 

Further, his edicts also do not speak of his foreign missions, for which

Tissa was more responsible.

 

 

 

Perhaps, What is spoken by Buddhist sources may not be about Mauryan Asoka

but about somebody else, one immediate name that comes to my mind is Asoka

of Kashmir, who was mentioned in Raja Tarangini.

 

 

 

Please acknowledge,

 

 

best regards,

 

 

 

Kishore patnaik