ADITYA SINGH

2016130
BA. HONS. HISTORY
History of India
Assignment-1, sem-2

Q. Describe the features of Ashoka’s policy of Dhamma and evaluate its impact on the downfall
of the Mauryan Dynasty.

Beginning of the Empire

Ans. The history of Mauryan Dynasty is of greatness though they ruled for just 150 years that is

like a drop of water in the oceanic history of India but still they were able to trace their name

deep into history. The empire was established by Chandragupta Maurya in 321 BCE by defeating

DhanaNanda of the Nanda dynasty. Chandragupta was succeeded by his son Bindusara who was

able to expand and at the same time consolidate the empire further. Bindusara was succeeded by

the ruler who according to some is the greatest ruler to ever rule India though my view is in

contradiction to this as I firmly believe that Chandragupta was the greatest ruler of the Indian

History, the Ruler was Ashoka.

There is lack of data about the year of birth of Ashoka but what we do know is the exact date of

his ascension of throne i.e. in the year 269/268 BCE after the death of his Father. According to

some texts Ashoka ascended the throne after mercilessly killing 99 of his siblings but there is no

conclusive evidence on whether such event occurred or not. There are some instances were some

texts do mention Ashoka as a cruel ruler. Ashokavadana which is a part of a collection of large

legends called Divyavadana portrays Ashoka as a cruel ruler who unleashed violence once he
ascended the throne, using the term “Chandashoka or Ashoka the fierce”. The text also

mentions Samudra who was sentenced death by Ashoka and was thrown into a cauldron but he

didn’t die and Ashoka asked him to reveal the teaching of his doctrine which led to the

enlightenment of Ashoka and Chandashoka ultimately became Dharmashoka.

What is Dhamma?

As Romila Thapar states in her book “Ashoka and the decline of the Mauryas” Ashoka was not a

visionary in his ideas nor was he a prophet who had received special enlightenment nor were his

ideas too advanced for his time but the idea served a paramount purpose for him and his empire.

The idea of Dhamma wasn’t a new one in the Indian sub- continent. In simple terms Ashoka’s

Dhamma was a conduct of life to be followed by all the people. According to Thapar Dhamma

was Ashoka's own invention. It indeed borrowed some ideas from Buddhist and Hindu thought

but it was an attempt on the part of the king to suggest a way of life which was both practical and

convenient and highly moral.

The word Dhamma has different names in different regions and sects. The Jains call it the

Dharma; the Greeks use the word eusebeia (piety) while the Aramaic inscriptions use the words

qsyt (truth) and data (law) and King Ashoka called it Dhamma.

It is next to impossible that we discuss Ashoka’s Dhamma and don’t talk about the major and

minor rocks and pillar edicts as they are the main source of our information about Ashoka’s idea

of Dhamma. These rocks and pillars were situated at important routes or which Upinder Singh

calls highways and were probably read aloud by appointed officials to the public on specific

occasions thus spread the idea of Dhamma further.

As Thapar states, “It is sometimes said that personal idiosyncrasies are often responsible for the

policy of a man in power and these are unrelated to the larger society and age to which he

belongs” is a view that’s connected to the question whether Ashoka’s policy of Dhamma was

influence by his personal beliefs or not. Ashoka indeed adopted Buddhism after the Kalinga War;

the inscriptions did have a Buddhist element in them as there are some texts attributed to the

Buddhist and also their presence could be seen in the motifs and sculptures like the white

elephant that brings happiness in the world. Ashoka’s goals and activities correspond in many

ways to the image of the ideal king—the Chakkavatti Dhammiko Dhammaraja of the Buddhist

tradition but is this enough to prove that Ashoka’s policy of Dhamma was completely a Buddhist

blueprint? Historians have differing views- some like R.S Sharma believe that Ashoka’s

Dhamma was influenced by Buddhism while Romila Thapar argues against it.

The policies of Dhamma

We would now try to learn about Ashoka’s Dhamma using the rock and pillar edicts.

The Ashoka’s Dhamma was against animal sacrifices and violence against humans as mentioned

in the rock edict 1. The theme of Ahimsa (non – violence) is an important aspects of his

Dhamma and is frequently mentioned and emphasized. Ashoka in the edict mentioned an entire

list of animals that were not to be sacrificed. Animal sacrifice against the law was a punishable

offence. The edict also mentioned the reduction in the killing of animals for food in the royal

kitchen. Later these ideas were reinforced even more but it would have been impossible to

implement such prohibitions over the vast Mauryan Empire. His Dhamma arranged for the
medical treatment of animals and humans alike as mentioned in the minor rock edict 2 thus

placing both at equal importance. Thapar has a different argument to place on the topic of animal

sacrifice. According to her the ban was on sacrifice of animals not on the killing of animals for

food. The pillar edict 5 also mentions certain animals that are not to be killed at all on certain

days and others that are not to be killed at all.

The Dhamma paid importance to natural resources. Rock edict 2 mentions that Ashoka made

arrangements for the planting of medicinal herbs, roots and fruit yielding trees. Ashoka’s edicts

mention that plants and trees should not be cut down for new settlement. These measures are

taken for the benefit of the entire living population. Ashoka’s Dhamma requested the fishing

folks to give up fishing and the forest people to not cut forest and change the way of their living-

more towards sedentary lifestyle.

Ashoka’s Dhamma opposed festive gathering as they only had evil manifold in them as

mentioned in rock edict 1. It opposed the practice of certain auspicious rites, believing that their

results were meagre and their merit restricted to this world alone. The rock edict 9 criticizes the

ceremonies performed by people especially women on occasions such as illness, marriage and

other such occasions. This opposition is contrary to his sincere insistence on toleration. Ashoka

contrasted these festive gatherings and ceremonies with the ceremony of Dhamma that was to

yield result in this world as well in the next.

Religious tolerance is another important policy of Dhamma. Rock edict 3 states that liberality to

Brahmana and shramana is a virtue. There was a need of peaceful co- existence of the Brahmana

and the Shramana group and also among various sects. Respecting each other’s beliefs and

practices was an important aspect of Dhamma. Rock edict 7 calls for tolerance amongst all the

sects. Ashoka was well aware that every sect desired for self- control and this could further lead
to sectarian conflicts which would undermine the influence of Dhamma since people may regard

the Dhamma as the dogma of another sect. To solve the problem the communities and sects were

asked to mingle at the place of habitation thus serving the dual purpose of assisting religious

tolerance and preventing conflicts.

The rock edict 4 is an important document in the development of Dhamma. According to the

inscription for a long while a lack of morality prevailed in the land due to killings of animal and

living beings and discourtesy towards Brahmans and Shramans. It mentions that the sound of

drum for which the term “bherigosha” has been used which according to some historians means

a war drum but according to many others including Romila Thapar the word “bheri” does not

specifically means war for it was used to make general announcement in town as well has been

replaced by “Dhammaghosha”-(the sound of Dhamma) which implied that the general condition

of the people since the moral advance has been tremendous. The Dhammaghosha is associated

with edifying spectacles, these spectacles are of such a character as to generate and develop

righteousness- the quality of being morally right.

Generosity or charity is an important component of Dhamma. In pillar edict 4 Ashoka argues that

one should bestow gifts in order to secure happiness, himself distributing gifts among men of all

religious communities, households and ascetics alike. There was a stress on the importance of

family units. According to Ashoka, in the absence of self control, purity of though and firm

devotion, Dana by itself was worthless thus stressing upon the need for gifting without any greed

of future returns. According to rock edict 11 Ashoka refers to the gift of Dhamma as the best of

all gifts

Dhamma-mahamatas was a concept introduced by Ashoka in the 5th rock edict. These officials

were appointed by Ashoka in his 13th year to throne. These officials were directly responsible for
the practical working of Dhamma. The major work of Dhamma-mahamatas was the general

welfare of the people with emphasis on spreading the teachings and practices of Dhamma.

Ashoka believed that much more has been achieved in the fields of Dhamma by persuasion and

that laws and regulations have been of little consequence. They were permitted entry to homes of

all groups of people, and also they were active not only in the major cities of the empire but also

in the marginal regions and the surrounding lands, thus spreading the message of Dhamma far

and wide. The officials promoted the welfare and happiness of all the sections of society

including servants, masters, traders, farmers, brahmanas, the aged etc- working even among

religious communities and secular groups. This institution of Dhamma-mahamatas is the

strongest argument in support of Ashoka’s Dhamma not being a religious policy but in fact

covered a more extensive field. The Dhamma of Ashoka was apart from all the religious groups.

As major pillar edict 4 states The Dhamma-mahamatas were given extensive control and the

power to punish and reward with complete confidence from the king over the high and the low,

the religious and the secular that served his purpose of spreading the policy of Dhamma into all

the sections.

Dhamma-guna are the virtues that make a righteous life. Ashoka stressed upon self- examination,

asking people to scrutinize their actions, sinful and virtuous and rid themselves of violence,

cruelty, vanity and jealousy. An individual was directed to respect his parents and elder, honor

was to be offered to teachers, liberality to Brahmanas and shramanas and proper courtesy to

servants and slaves. As the theragatha mentions- “by no means are Dhamma and adhamma of

equal recompense, adhamma leads to hell; Dhamma causes the attainment of good Bourne.”

Dhamma lead to attainment of sukkha in this world and the next. The 1st separate rock edict at

Tosali has the line “All men are my children” inscribed on it which meant that all the people
were equal in front of Dhamma. . In pillar edict 2 Ashoka describes Dhamma as a minimum of

sins, more virtues, compassion and purity. According to him through the practice of Dhamma

social and personal relationships become clarified within themselves and this leads to better

understanding of social life.

The vihara- yatras (pleasure tours) were replaced by the Dhamma yatras during the 10th year of

Ashoka’s reign mentioned in rock edict 8. This change occurred when Ashoka went to visit

Bodh-Gaya to see the Bodhi tree. Earlier beside the military expeditions the only tours taken by

king were the hunting executions and pleasure trips but these were replaced by Dhamma yatras

in which the king travelled from place to place to spread the message of Dhamma. This action

against hunting executions can be seen in connection with Ashoka’s policy of non-violence. As

Charles Allen points out these tours was a means of getting aquatinted with the subjects, “‘To

any intelligent statesman of the period it must have been evident that some kind of binding factor

was necessary in order to keep the empire intact” and thus the binding factor was the Dhamma

yatras. Ashoka instructed the officials such as Rujukas and yuvaraja to take journeys every 5

years to teach the meaning of Dhamma. Dhamma pays stress on sin and actions that are sinful.

Rock edict 13 that mentions about the Kalinga war is one of the most important edicts. The edict

tells us about the grief that Ashoka had after seeing the sufferings caused in the course of

annexing Kalinga. Ashoka gave the idea of Dhamma-Vijay which was different from the idea of

dharma-Vijay as mentioned in Arthashastra. The idea talked about a new idea of conquest by

Dhamma instead of war and violence. The word conquest, according to Thapar does not mean

actual conquest over the territory but instead implied to the adoption of the principles of

Dhamma by the rival state. The concept of Dhamma-Vijay has been described as the best kind of

conquest and claimed that Ashoka achieved it over various foreign rulers. This concept should
not be considered as total disbandment of the army as Ashoka did maintain his army but we

don’t hear of any new conquest, also Ashoka mentions in his edicts that if war may be carried

out if it’s the only option but the armies should show mercy and be less punishing.

Ashoka’s policy of Dhamma aimed at the all-round development of the society and the

upliftment of the entire society but some historians have argued that this policy did lead to the

decline of the Mauryan Empire.

Did Dhamma led to decline of the dynasty?

One of the major historians who has put his beliefs firmly that it was the policy of Dhamma that

led to the decline of the empire is Pandit Hari Prasad Shastri. Hemchandra Raychaudhuri was

another historian who agreed that some of the policies of Dhamma might have lead to the

downfall of the state.

According to Pandit Hari Prasad the revolt of Pusyamitra was a result of Ashoka’s pro-Buddhist

policy in his Dhamma which played a lead role in the fall of the dynasty but we do have positive

evidence from rock edict 3, 4 and 5 that included liberty for brahmanas, the disapproval of bad

behavior towards them and also ordered the Dhamma-mahamatas to promote the interest of the

brahmanas. According to the Buddhist Bharhut edict Pusyamitra do not represent them as the

leader of a militant Brahmanism group.

The ban on animal sacrifice was a direct attack on the Brahmanas as they alone had the power to

perform sacrifice which lead to decline in their prestige but Raychaudhuri believed that this does

not imply hostility towards Brahmanas since the brahmanical literature itself stressed upon

ahimsa.
Shastri also believed that Dhamma-mahamatas destroyed the prestige of the Brahmanas as they

were now more close to the king and had major powers with them to spread the message of

Dhamma thus undermining the power of Brahmanas but according to historians such as Thapar

and Hemchandra, some of the mahamatas were concerned with safeguarding the rights of the

Brahmanas and also there are no such information that the Dhamma-mahamatas were recruited

completely from non-brahmanical class.

Charles Allen believes that the power of legal procedure and punishment was given to the

Dhamma-mahamatas- a privilege that was only enjoyed by the brahmanas earlier. Shastri too

talks about the danda- samata and vyavahara-samata which was offensive to the privileges of the

brahmanas that included immunity from capital punishment. Raychaudhuri says against it calling

it the ‘uniformity of law and punishment’ and also brahmanas didn’t enjoy such a high privileges

in such matters as Charles Allen and Shastri believed. It is possible that Dhamma-mahamatas

became unpopular during the later reign of Ashoka that might have led to him being distanced

from the public opinion. People who proclaimed themselves followers of Dhamma might have

benefitted or were treated better than the rest that lead to unrest in public.

Hemchandra Raychaudhuri states that the Ashoka’s policy of non-violence was followed by such

vigor that it completely impacted the nation from military point of view that was unable to save

the empire from the Greek invasion.

Even if Dhamma had a role to play in the decline of the Mauryan dynasty, it couldn’t be the only

reason for decline. There were various factors that together led to the decline of the vest empire.

According to the writings of Romila Thapar and Upinder singh one of the major reason for the

decline of the empire were the weak rulers that succeeded Ashoka and also the division of the

empire into 2 parts by the sons of Ashoka that gave the Greeks an opportunity to attack the
region. Poor administrative control in the periphery regions is also considered a reason.

Economic crisis has also been cited as a reason but Hemchandra Raychaudhuri takes a stand

against it. Thapar believes that the reason for the decline was anachronistic- it includes the

absence of nationalism, the idea of loyalty to the state rather than to a particular king, and the

lack of popular representative institutions.

Thus Dhamma can’t be considered as the only reason for the decline of the Mauryan dynasty as

there were many other reasons that weakened the empire to the very point of its downfall.

Some might believe that Ashoka’s Dhamma reflected Buddhist ideas but it should be kept in

mind that Ashoka’s policy lacked key elements of Buddhism. Romila Thapar minimized the

Buddhist element and asserted that there needs to be no connection between the personal beliefs

of a statesman and his public policies that I too believe but partially as it’s tough to not get

affected by one’s beliefs. The policy lacked the ideas like Dukkha, the eight-fold path and the

goal of Nibbana that constituted the idea of Buddhism, Upinder Singh firmly believed that

Ashoka’s Dhamma was clearly inspired by Buddhist upasaka Dhamma but was not identical to it.

Conclusion

“No society can prosper if it aims at making things easier-instead it should aim at making people

stronger” is a great statement to be seen in context of Ashoka’s Dhamma as it aimed at making

the people stronger and live a life of pride and good conduct. According to my understanding

Ashoka’s Dhamma might have had a small role in the fall of the mighty empire but the main

cause might have been the other political unrest prevalent in the state and the partition of the

kingdom.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Singh, Upinder. 2009. ‘A history of Ancient and Early medieval India: from Stone Age to

the 12th century’. Pearson India.

 Lahiri, Nayanjot. 2015. ‘Ashoka in ancient India’. Harvard press.

 Raychaudhuri, Hemchandra. 1953. ‘Political history of ancient India: From the

accession of Parikshit to the extinction of gupta dynasty’. University of Calcutta.

 Sharma, R.S. 2005. ‘India’s ancient past’. Oxford University.

 Thapar, Romila. 1961. ‘Ashoka and the decline of the Mauryas’. Oxford university press.

 Allen, Charles. 2012. ‘Ashoka: The search for India’s lost Emperor’. Hachette Digital.

 Carter, John Ross. 1976. ‘Traditional definition of the term Dhamma’. Hachette Digital.

 Thapar, Romila. 2009. ‘Ashoka- a retrospective’. Economic and political weekly.