Ashoka\'s Dhamma Policy

Sahaj Parikh

Ashoka’s Dhamma Policy The term ‘dhamma’ is popularly considered as the religious conviction of the Mauryan king Ashoka. Ashoka after the battle of Kalinga, which was fought in his 9th regnal year, resorted to Buddhism and dhamma policy, which played a key role in generating a new kind of pacifism and non-military victory. Ashoka considered the victory by ‘dhamma’ as the foremost victory. Scholars like R.C.Majumdar and Hariprasad Shastri equated dhamma with Buddhism and argued that after the war of Kalinga, Ashoka was deeply moved by the massacre in the war and converted to Buddhism. Furthermore, the pacifist policy adopted under the influence of Buddhism ultimately weakened the military strength and led to decline of the Mauryan Empire. However, recent writings of scholars like Romila Thapar, Upinder Singh, Ranabir Chakravarti and others have come out with a more nuanced explanation of Ashoka’s policy of Dhamma. ‘Dhamma’ is the Prakrit form of Sanskrit word ‘dharma’. It has been numerously mentioned in the Ashokan inscriptions as piety, moral life, righteousness etc. The Ashokan edicts clearly show Ashoka’s leaning towards Buddhism, as one of the Minor Rock edicts at Maski call him a lay Buddhist worshipper (Buddhaupasaka). Although Dhamma propagated by Ashoka had no doubt Buddhist influences but it was not at all identical with it. Ashoka made a clear distinction between his personal belief for the ‘Buddhist dhamma’ and the ‘dhamma’ which, as a king, he propagated through the medium of inscriptions. The achievement of Ashoka lay in his exposition of this idea that he did not perceive ‘dhamma’ only as piety, resulting from good deeds as inspired by formal religious beliefs, but as conformity to a social ethic. Thus, Ashoka’s policy of ‘dhamma’ must not be translated as a particular religious practice, as the Ashokan edicts clearly nowhere mention about the essential teachings of Buddhism such as four noble truths, eightfold path, and so forth. In his edicts, he has talked about attainment of heaven instead of salvation (nirvana), one of the central aims of Buddhism. Besides, Ashoka’s policy of ‘dhamma’ must be understood as a careful synthesis of the contemporary norms to adjust to the then prevailing social situation. In fact, Ashoka’s dhamma was not synonymous to Buddhism which is evidently established by B.N.Mukherjee, as he argues that the term dhamma was not translated in the Aramaic and Greek edicts of Ashoka as Buddhism or Religion. Whereas H.C.Raychaudhuri suggested that dhamma policy represented the moral and ethical principles common to all religions. Furthermore, Romila Thapar argues that the Dhamma was an invention of Ashoka based on the teachings borrowed from both Buddhism and Brahmanism. Hence, Dhamma in essence was an attempt on the part of Ashoka for suggesting a way of life that was moral, practical and convenient for his subject population. Moreover, the then heterodox sects questioned brahmanical ideas and suggested alternative ways of life and thought. Also, there were other tensions like the status of newly emerging communities, strain of the administrative system as it became more complex etc. All such divergent aspects necessitated a common perspective either by force or persuasion. Ashoka chose the latter. Ashoka sought the medium of inscriptions to spread ‘dhamma’ which may broadly be categorized into Major Rock Edicts, Minor Rock Edicts, Pillar Edicts and Separate Rock Edicts. These inscriptions are referred to as ‘dhammalipi’, which cover not only religion and morality but also social and administrative matters.

Sahaj Parikh

These inscriptions on ‘dhamma’ were meant to be read by people belonging to any religious sect and they were erected in places which were easily accessible.     

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Rock edict 1 frequently mentions about the theme of ‘ahimsa’ which is an important aspect of Ashoka’s ‘dhamma’. Also, the pillar edict 5 prohibits animal sacrifices. Rock Edict 2 mentions about the ‘dhamma’ of the king i.e. the duties of social welfare which Ashoka himself has to perform (construction of roads, wells, medical treatments, etc.). Rock Edict 3 declares the liberality to the Brahmans and the Sharmanas which might have been a consolation against their deteriorated situation. Rock edict 5 is important as it mentions Ashoka’s greatest step of appointing ‘dhammamahamattas’ to look after the interests of people and to spread the message of 'dhamma'. Rock Edict 8 mentions that Ashoka initiated to undertake the dhammayatas in the place of viharayatas which involved visiting Brahmans and Sharmanas and giving them gifts as well as preaching 'dhamma' to various people. Rock Edict 9 mentions about the important measures that Ashoka took to criticize various religious ceremonies performed during several occasions. Rock edict 12 mentions about the most outstanding aspect of Ashoka’s ‘dhamma’. Ashoka appealed for the generation of mutual respect and concord among people belonging to different sects or religious communities.

Despite the fact that historians hold different views about the nature of the Ashoka’s ‘dhamma’, it has been seen as a sort of ‘universal religion’, containing certain common elements of many religious traditions. Romila Thapar, by minimizing the Buddhist element in the Ashoka’s ‘dhamma’, clearly states that there need not be any connection between the personal beliefs of the statesman and his public proclamations. As a fact, Hariprasad Shastri has argued that Ashoka’s ban on animal sacrifices deprived Brahmans from their source of livelihood, which was through sacrificial ceremonies. Moreover, the appointment of the ‘dhammamahamattas’ destroyed the position of Brahmans of being custodians of social morality. Such steps might have annoyed Brahmans and so it was likely that they favoured the Pushyamitra Sunga’s coup as it represented the Brahmanical revolution as a response to the anti-Brahmanical policies of Ashoka. As mentioned earlier, some scholars also have held Ashoka’s policy of Dhamma responsible for decline of the Mauryan Empire. Ashoka is depicted as a pacifist who renounced war and made non-violence his state policy under the influence of Buddhism. Recent writings have rejected this view and no longer see the policy of Dhamma as being responsible for the decline of the Mauryan Empire. However, Ashoka's pragmatism is reflected in the fact that he did not disband the army and still continued the capital punishment. But a long reign marked by only one military campaign may have adversely affected the preparedness of the army. However, Ashoka’s ‘dhamma’ policy was a way of life based on the moral and ethical principles expected to be followed by people belonging to different sects, cultures, and traditions in order to reinforce the political unity of the vast Mauryan Empire. Moreover, Ashoka’s purpose of adopting the policy of dhamma was also, perhaps, to establish a common ideology across different socio-economic and religious boundaries and his subject population. However, it had various implications.