CHAPTER IX.
AÇOKA OF MAGADHA.
The Brahmans had reason to expect favourable effects from the changes they had made in their doctrine and ethics. They had taken account of the desire for the worship of more real and living deities, and in order to satisfy this they had pushed Brahman into the background; they were zealous in giving tangible shape to the benefits which their deities had bestowed upon men; they ascribed the best results to pilgrimages, and if on the one hand they intensified the merits and efficacy of penance, they allowed on the other hand the merit of works to fall into the background, and moderated asceticism. They sought to reconcile the elements of Buddhist speculation with their ancient system, and increased the circle of the men admitted to salvation. In the Yoga they had as a fact found a deeper solution of the problem of the liberation of the Individual than Buddha had pointed out in his doctrine. Then it happened that so far from obtaining the assistance and support from the state which the new law claimed, the power of the throne which ruled all India ranged itself on the opposite side.
As we have seen, Chandragupta's great kingdom was maintained in its full extent by his son Vindusara, and the relations to the West became more extensive under his reign. When Vindusara was in his last sickness, his son Açoka, the viceroy of Ujjayini, hastened to Palibothra, as the Buddhists inform us, possessed himself of the throne, and caused his brothers to be put to death, with the exception of one born from the same mother as himself.[769] Like his father Vindusara, he daily fed 60,000 Brahmans, ruled with a severe and cruel hand, and himself carried out the execution of those who had incurred his anger. After three years of this savage conduct he was converted, according to the account of the Singhalese, by Nigrodha the son of Sumana, one of the brothers murdered by him, to whom the Sthaviras had granted the initiation of the novice (p. 465). According to the account of the northern Buddhists, a Buddhist Samudra, a merchant of Çravasti, who had come to Palibothra, was thrown at Açoka's order into a vessel full of boiling fat and water. Samudra felt no pain, and when the fire under the kettle could not be kindled by any means, the king was summoned to see the marvel. This sight and Samudra's exhortation converted the king to Buddhism. Açoka entreated the holy man to forgive him his sinful acts, took his refuge in the law of the Enlightened, and promised to fill the earth with Chaityas (monuments) in honour of Buddha. He caused a large monastery, the Açokarama-Vihara, to be built for the Bhikshus at Palibothra,[770] and instructed his viceroys to erect viharas in all his cities. The relics of Buddha, which had been divided after his death and placed in eight monuments (p. 365), Açoka caused to be taken away; only the part which the Koçalas had received from Ramagrama and concealed there, remained untouched. The other relics of the Enlightened were divided into 84,000 parts, and placed in cases of gold, silver, crystal, and lapis-lazuli, so that each of the great, middle-sized, and small cities in the kingdom of Açoka might receive a relic of Buddha. In order to preserve these, 84,000 stupas, i. e. domes with coverings over them, together with as many viharas, were built at Açoka's command.[771] Thus the king adorned the surface of the earth with beautiful stupas, which were like the summits of the mountains, and furnished them with precious stones, parasols, and standards,[772] and travelled to every place where Buddha had stayed and preached, and announced his determination to honour these places also by monuments. In all the cities of the kingdom the law of the Enlightened was proclaimed in the name of the king;[773] the son of the king, Mahendra, and his daughter Sanghamitra, who was born to him before his accession to the throne, renounced the world and received the consecration of the mendicant, the son in the twentieth, the daughter in the eighteenth year of her age; even Tishya, the brother of Açoka, who alone had been spared, became a Bhikshu, and entered the Açokarama.[774]
As errors had crept in and the true law was not observed everywhere in the viharas, the king took the advice of the Sthavira Maudgaliputra,[775] sat on the same seat with him, and assembled in council the orthodox and heterodox Bhikshus. When the purity of the sacred law had again been established by the assembly, Maudgaliputra perceived that the time had come to spread abroad the doctrine of the Enlightened. He sent the Sthavira Mahadeva into the land of Mahisha (a region on the Narmada);[776] Mahadharmarakshita into the land of Maharashtra (the upper Godavari); Dharmarakshita into the land of Aparantaka,[777] Çona and Uttara into the gold-district of Suvarnabhumi; Madhyama and Kaçyapa into the Himavat; and Madhyantika into the land of Cashmere and the Gandharas. Mahendra, the king's son, set out in person to preach the good law in Lanka, when Açoka had explained to the envoys, whom Devanampriya-Tishya, the king of Lanka, had sent to him at Palibothra, that the king might enlighten his spirit and seek refuge with the best means of salvation, even as he (Açoka) had sought refuge with Buddha and the Dharma (law) and the Sangha (community). When Mahendra arrived at Ceylon, Devanampriya-Tishya received him hospitably, gave him the garden of Mahamegha near the metropolis Anuradhapura for a habitation, and there built him a vihara.[778] He converted the inhabitants of Lanka by thousands. At his request Açoka sent him the alms-jar of Buddha, and his right shoulder bone, which the king of Lanka deposited in a stupa, built on Mount Missaka, near Anuradhapura, and Mahendra's sister Sanghamitra followed her brother to Lanka with eleven other initiated women, in order to convey there a branch of the sacred fig-tree of Gaya, under which enlightenment was vouchsafed to Buddha (p. 339). Mahendra received five hundred Kshatriyas of the island into the sacred order; Sanghamitra initiated five hundred maidens and as many women of the royal palace as mendicants; and when the branch was planted in the soil of the garden of Mahamegha, it grew up into a great tree. Açoka daily supported 60,000 Bhikshus by alms,[779] and during the rainy season, 300,000 religious persons and novices; and gave all his treasures, his ministers, his kingdom, his wives, and finally himself to the assembly of the Aryas.[780]
Such is the account of Açoka given in the tradition of the Buddhists. We can establish the fact that he succeeded his father on the throne of Magadha in the year 263 B.C. and retained it till 226 B.C.[781] His inscriptions, the oldest which have come down to us, enable us to test more closely the narration of the Buddhists, who had every reason to honour the memory of the great king, who became a convert to their religion, and gave it a pre-eminent position throughout his vast empire. Both in the neighbourhood of the modern Peshawur, at Kapur-i-Giri, to the north of Cabul, and near Girnar (Girinagara) on the peninsula of Guzerat, and on the rocks of Dhauli in the neighbourhood of Bhuvaneçvara, the metropolis of Orissa, near Khalsi on the right bank of the Yamuna, at Delhi (the ancient Indraprastha), at Allahabad, Bakhra, and Bhabra in the neighbourhood of the ancient Palibothra, the modern Patna, and finally at Mathiah and Radhya,[782] in the valley of the upper Gandaki on the borders of Nepal, we find inscriptions of this king. Some are hewn in the rocks, others engraved on separate monolithic pillars, about forty feet in height; pillars of the law they are called by him who erected them. Carefully rounded and smoothed they carry above the capital of beautiful pendent lotus leaves, on a square slab, lions of excellent execution, without doubt the symbol of the lion of the tribe of the Çakyas, of Çakyasinha, Buddha. Two pillars of this kind, the one entire the other broken, are at Delhi; the other four are at Allahabad, Bakhra, Mathiah, and Radhya. If Açoka caused inscriptions to be engraved at Peshawur, beyond the Indus, the regions which Seleucus had given up to Chandragupta must have been retained by Vindusara and Açoka. The inscriptions on the peninsula of Guzerat (they speak of buildings at Çirinagara which Açoka had caused to be erected there by his viceroy Tuhuspa),[783] and those at Bhuvaneçvara, on the mouths of the Mahanadi, as well as those on the borders of Nepal, prove that Açoka's dominion reached from the Himalayas to the mouths of the Narmada and Mahanadi. According to the tradition of Cashmere Açoka reigned over that land also, extended the metropolis, Çirinagara, built two palaces there, caused a lofty Chaitya to be erected, and covered Mount Çushkala near Çirinagara with stupas.[784] The inscriptions of Açoka himself inform us that he carried on war against the land of Kalinga in the south of Orissa, on the lower course of the Godavari (p. 410), and subjugated the inhabitants to his power;[785] and that he ruled over the Gandharas, Cambojas and Yamunas, the Rashtrikas and the Petenikas. Under the name of Cambojas are comprised the Aryas on the right bank of the Indus. To the south as far down as the Cabul, the Yavanas are evidently the Greeks, with whom Alexander had peopled the three cities called after him, which he founded in Arachosia (on the Arghandab and the Turnuk, where the modern Kandahar and Ghazna stand), and on the southern slope of the Hindu Kush at the entrance of the path leading to the north into Bactria.[786] The Rashtrikas are the inhabitants of the coast of Guzerat, the Petenikas are the inhabitants of the city and land of Paithana on the upper Godavari.[787] Hence the dominion of Açoka extended from Kandahar, Ghazna, and the Hindu Kush, as far as the mouth of the Ganges, from Cashmere down to the upper and lower course of the Godavari.
According to his inscriptions the influence of Açoka extended even beyond these wide limits. At the boundaries of the earth, so we are told, were to be found the two cures established by him, the cure for men and the cure for animals. Wherever healing herbs, roots, and fruit trees were not in existence, they were brought and planted by his order, and wells were dug by the wayside. This was done among the Cholas and Pidas, in the kingdom of Keralaputra, and on Tamraparni (Ceylon). Even Antiyaka, the king of the Yavanas, and four other kings, Turamaya, Antigona, Maga, and Alissanda, "had followed the precept of the king beloved of heaven," i. e. of Açoka.[788] The Cholas and Pidas lay to the south of the Deccan, the former on the upper Krishna, the latter on the Palaru. Keralaputra, i. e. son of Kerala,[789] is the ruler of the state founded by Brahmans on the southern half of the Malabar coast (p. 368). It is clear from this, no less than from the conquest of Kalinga by Açoka, how successful in the times of the earliest rulers of the house of the Mauryas, was the power of Arian India collected in that kingdom in forcing its way to the south, both on the coasts and in the interior of the Deccan; and at the same time these inscriptions confirm the statements of Singhalese tradition about the connection in which Açoka stood with this island. They also show us that Açoka not only maintained but extended the relations into which his grandfather had entered with the kingdom of the Seleucidæ, and his father with the kingdom of the Ptolemies. Açoka is not only in connection with Antiyaka, i. e. with his neighbour Antiochus, who sat on the throne from 262 to 247 B.C., and with Turamaya, i. e. with Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt (285-246 B.C.), but also with Antigonus Gonnatas of Macedonia (278-258 B.C.), with Alissanda, i. e. Alexander of Epirus (272-258 B.C.), and even with Magas, king of Cyrene. The Seleucidæ, it is true, had reason to keep on a good footing with the powerful king of India; and the Ptolemies took a lively interest in the trade of India and Egypt. But the kings of Macedonia, Epirus, and Cyrene were unconcerned with such matters. It is mere oriental extravagance that Açoka causes these princes to obey his commands, though the fact that Açoka is acquainted with Epirus and Cyrene shows how greatly the horizon of the Indians had extended since the time that Alexander trod the Panjab. Not merely were these lands of the distant west known, Açoka was in connection with them. Ambassadors were sent to their princes and are said to have received the assurance that no hindrance would be placed in the way of the preaching of the doctrine of Buddha.[790]
The inscriptions of Açoka contradict the tradition which represents him as becoming a convert to the doctrine of Buddha in the third year of his reign. It is possible that he may have shown himself favourable to the Buddhists a few years after his accession; but it is clear from the inscriptions at Delhi that he did not openly profess their doctrine till after long consideration, and the inscriptions at Girnar inform us that he took this step in the tenth year after his consecration, i. e. no doubt, after his accession, consequently in the year 254 B.C., and that he did not take it without special regard to the ancient religion and the Brahmans. The king, we are told in that inscription, was no longer given up to the chase of animals, but to the chase of the law, to making presents to Brahmans and Çramanas, to searching out and proclaiming the law. This conversion is said to have been announced by sound of drum, with trains of festal cars, elephants, and fires; many divine forms were also displayed to the people.[791] In an edict published two years later Açoka gives command that in the kingdom which he has conquered and the territories in union with him assemblies shall be held in every fifth year, at which the laws are to be read and explained: obedience to father and mother, liberality to the nearest relations and friends, to Brahmans and Çramanas, economy, avoidance of calumny and the slaying of any living creature; after this confessions were to be made.[792] These are, as we have seen, the fundamental ethical rules of the Enlightened. In Buddha's doctrine good actions come from the feelings and heart; the right feeling of the heart is to show sympathy and pity to all living creatures, and to alleviate their lot. This precept also Açoka was at pains to fulfil; in all his inscriptions he calls himself not Açoka but Devanampraiya Priyadarçin, i. e. the man of loving spirit beloved by the gods.
Though the doctrine of Buddha had received a firm basis immediately after the death of the master by the collection of his sayings, and the rules of ethics and discipline had been gathered together at greater length and in an authentic form at the synod of Vaiçali in 433 B.C., different tendencies and views inevitably arose among the believers as time went on. Some kept strictly to the sayings of the master, the principles of the synod; others commented on the traditions, and deduced consequences from the principles given. The speculative basis of the doctrine gave sufficient occasion to further research and meditation, and hence to the formation of different schools, which as they rose became rivals. The school of the Sautrantikas acknowledged only the authority of the sutras, the sayings of the master collected at the first synod, and abandoned any independent speculation. The school of the Vaibhashikas, i. e. the school of dilemma, drew speculative consequences from tradition, and ascribed canonical value to philosophical treatises (abhidarma), which were thought to come from the immediate disciples of Buddha, more especially from his son Rahula and from Çariputra. To these were added serious disputes on the discipline. The Bhikshus of Vaiçali who had been excluded from the community of the faithful by the second synod, are said to have adhered to their explanation of the discipline, and to have supported it by corresponding principles. This teaching of theirs, and the more lax observance of duties, they naturally explained to be the true doctrine of Buddha, and found adherents. At any rate we may easily see, that in the first half of the third century two hostile parties stood opposed in the Buddhist Church, the orthodox party, the party of the Sthaviras, and their opponents, who were denoted by the name Maha-Sanghikas, i. e. adherents to the great assembly. The more lax discipline which they preached, the more convenient mode of life which they permitted, are said to have brought numerous followers to this party. Brahmans are said to have taken the yellow robe without seeking for consecration, to have settled themselves in the monasteries, and filled everything with confusion and heresy.[793] It is, no doubt, credible that when Açoka had openly gone over to the doctrine of Buddha, when he caused it to be preached with the authority of the state, and gave valuable gifts to the clergy, Brahmans would enter the viharas for other than spiritual reasons. We may further concede to tradition that it was Maudgaliputra, the head of the Açokarama, the monastery founded by Açoka at Palibothra, who caused a new synod to be assembled in order to establish the discipline and put an end to disputes. That such a synod did meet in the year 247 B.C. is proved by a letter which Açoka sent to this meeting in the seventeenth year of his reign at Palibothra; it has been preserved for us in the inscription of Bhabra (p. 525). "King Priyadarçin"—so the letter runs—"greets the assembly of Magadha, and wishes it light labour and prosperity. It is well known how great is my faith and reverence for Buddha, for the law and the community (sangha). All that the blessed Buddha has said, and this alone, is well said. It is for you, my masters, to say what authority there is for this; then will the good law be more lasting. The objects which the law comprises are the limits prescribed by the discipline, the supernatural qualities of the Aryas, the dangers of the future (i. e. of regenerations in their various stages), the sayings of Buddha, and the sutras of Buddha, the investigation of Çariputra and the instructions of Rahula with refutation of false doctrine: this is what the blessed Buddha taught. These subjects comprised by the law it is my wish that the initiated men and women hear, and ponder continually, and also the faithful of both sexes. This is the fame on which I lay the greatest weight. Hence I have caused this letter to be written to you which is my will and my declaration."[794]