Ashoka had edicts inscribed on stone pillars and placed throughout his kingdom. These meant that the lay people, who up until then had had not much to do with the Buddhist practices, could now understand the teachings of the Buddha which were previously too complicated for them to follow. The edicts are of great value as a source of information on Ashoka’s policies. They are more reliable than the Ceylon Chronicles, although without these the connection between the King Piyadasi in the edicts and the great emperor Ashoka would never have been made.
The edicts were written for a variety of reasons. Ashoka wanted to spread the policies, especially of ethics, justice and welfare, to all parts of his kingdom while also trying to show people that he had changed and was now committed to following the way of the Dharma. His edicts encouraged many people to join the faith, although it has been questioned whether people did actually believe the teachings or whether they joined simply because their ruler had, or they felt pressured to turn to Buddhism as it was rapidly becoming the largest religion in India.
Ashoka also developed the social side of Buddhism and made it a ‘religion for the people’. He appointed governors who would serve the happiness and welfare of the people and insisted on justice and consistent punishments. To protect people and beasts Ashoka had trees planted and shelters built at regular intervals along the roads, wells were also dug and hospitals were founded along major roads.
Edicts helped Buddhism to spread throughout his empire, but Ashoka sent missionaries to nearby countries in the hope that the religion would spread even further. His missionaries are probably the main reason that the faith was spread into Southeast Asia and his own son, Mahinda, travelled to what is now Sri Lanka and developed the religion there. Ashoka not only spread the religion but also spread its reputation and made it known to be a peaceful and accepting religion. He encouraged people to accept other’s religions and also promoted non-violence. However the spread of the policies of peace may be responsible for the collapse of the Mauryan Dynasty. Ashoka was no longer interested in conquering to develop his kingdom, but was only concerned with the spread of Buddhism and others may have taken advantage of his peaceful nature, leading to the downfall of the empire his father and grandfather had built.
Ashoka made great contributions to the early development relating to the Sangha. He saw it as his duty to support the Sangha, while also nurturing all religious traditions in his realm. He strengthened the monastic community by giving land, food and money to the Buddhist Sangha; the pillar edicts also mention gifts to the Sangha. Legend maintains that there was a third Buddhist council while Ashoka was king and that he worked hard to preserve the unity of the Sangha, in vain, but we cannot rely wholly on the sources of this information.
Ashoka also built Stupas, containing relics of the Buddha, around his kingdom. These encouraged worship and provided people with a gathering place where they could join together to practice their faith.
Although not all of Ashoka’s contributions to early Buddhism were positive, for example many of his missionaries failed, it cannot be denied that without Ashoka the spread of Buddhism across India and neighbouring counties would not have been as rapid and extensive.
(b) Evaluate the claim that Ashoka’s influence on Buddhism was wholly positive.
There is no doubt that King Ashoka greatly influenced Buddhism during his reign, it is questionable whether his influence was fundamentally good. Before Ashoka, Buddhism was seen as a religion for monks as the Buddha’s teachings were hard to digest. This prevented it from spreading widely as many people just did not understand the complex doctrines such as The Eightfold Path. Ashoka gave the lay people easier access to the Dharma by inscribing the teachings in an accessible manner on his edicts. This caused Buddhism to spread throughout his empire.
Ashoka also caused the spread of Buddhism into other countries, such as Sri Lanka, through his missionaries. Although not all of these were successful, his missionary activity meant that Buddhism spread to other parts of the world. Ashoka has been compared to Constantine who was responsible for the spread of Christianity within the Roman Empire.
Ashoka also attempted to demonstrate that Buddhism is a practical religion and showed how to apply it to every day life. He emphasised the way people should be acting, for example not harming living things. He led by example, a few of the many things he did include not eating meat, not committing animal sacrifices and replacing the royal hunt with the royal pilgrimage.
As well as pilgrimages, worship was also encouraged by Ashoka by the building of many Stupas containing relics of the Buddha. These became local centres of worship and encouraged devotion to the Buddha. People could also use these centres as places where they can meditate while using statues of the Buddha to guide them.
Ashoka promoted Buddhism as a peaceful religion. He emphasised the fact that it accepts all other religions which led to Buddhism being known as a tolerant and non-violent religion. This probably increased people’s desire to join the faith.
Although many positive things came out of Ashoka’s promotion of Buddhism, there are also some negative points which must be taken into consideration. Ashoka interpreted the Dharma broadly in order to make it accessible to everyone. This meant that some distinct teachings were ‘watered down’. His main emphasis was on maintaining good ethics in order to ensure that you will have a good rebirth, meditation was not stressed as a means of gaining higher states of consciousness to eventually attain enlightenment.
