Ashoka's dhamma

Also called: Asoka's dhamma, Dhamma, Ashokan dhamma · Topic: The Mauryan Empire · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 5 "The Rise of Empires"; Class 9, Ch 5 "State and Society up to 1000 CE"; Class 12, Ch 2 "Kings, Farmers and Towns"

Meaning

Ashoka's dhamma was a set of moral rules that the Mauryan king Ashoka spread through his inscriptions. It was meant for everyone in the empire, whatever their religion: respect elders, be generous to Brahmanas and renouncers, treat slaves and servants kindly, and respect other people's religions. It matters because Ashoka used it to hold a huge empire of many peoples together. He promised that following it would bring well-being in this world and the next.

Explanation

Background: the Kalinga war and the change of heart

• Kalinga was present-day coastal Odisha. Ashoka conquered it in his eighth regnal year (the eighth year of his rule) [3]. According to Britannica, the campaign took place in 260 BCE [3].
• In his own edict, Ashoka recorded the cost of the war: "One hundred and fifty thousand men were deported, a hundred thousand were killed, and many more died."
• "Deported" means forced to leave home and move somewhere else.

• He called the killing and deportation "very painful and deplorable", meaning deeply wrong and regrettable.

• After the war he turned to intense study of, love of and instruction in dhamma. He also followed the Buddha's path of non-violence.

• Why did he confess in public to a war he had won? Class 7 asks this question. There are two answers:
• The remorse is the message. His public regret proves that the new policy of dhamma is serious.
• A warning along with mercy. He tells the forest peoples who were still unconquered that he is sorry, but also that he is still powerful.

What dhamma contained

• Dhamma is not the same as Buddhism. Ashoka was personally drawn to the Buddha's teaching, but dhamma was a public code of conduct for all his subjects.
• The four core rules (Class 12):
• Respect towards elders.
• Generosity towards Brahmanas and renouncers (people who left family life to seek the truth).
• Kind treatment of slaves and servants.

• Respect for religions and traditions other than one's own.

• Britannica's fuller list matches this and adds detail: non-violence, tolerance of all sects and opinions, obedience to parents, respect for Brahmins and other religious teachers, liberality towards friends, humane treatment of servants, and generosity towards all [3].

• Ashoka also urged every sect to study the best teachings of the others.
• The rules were simple and almost universal, and that was deliberate. People of any faith could accept them.

How it was spread and run

• Dhamma mahamattas. These were special officers whose only job was to spread dhamma.

• Ashoka's edict says they worked among all sects: the Buddhist Sangha (order of monks), brahmans, Ajivikas, Jains and others.

• Pativedakas. These were reporters who brought the people's affairs to the king at any time and in any place, even while he was eating, in the cow pen or in his palanquin (a covered seat carried on poles).

• Instructions to officials. Ashoka told them that "All men are my children" and ordered them to be impartial, meaning they had to treat everyone the same.
• Inspections every five years. Officials went on tours to check for wrongful imprisonment and torture.
• Edicts on rocks and pillars. Ashoka had his message carved across the subcontinent, mostly in Prakrit (the people's spoken language) and in the Brahmi script.

Results: welfare and "victory through dhamma"

• Welfare work that Ashoka claimed to have done:
• Medical care for people and animals, even beyond his borders. This reached the southern kingdoms of the Cholas, Pandyas, Keralaputras and Satiyaputras, which were outside the empire.
• A ban on hunting and on cruelty to animals.

• Rest houses, wells, and fruit and shade trees along the main roads.

• Dhamma-vijaya (victory through dhamma). After Kalinga, Ashoka tried to win influence through dhamma instead of war.

• He sent emissaries (messengers) to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Central Asia and beyond.

• These were places his army never entered.

• NCERT's caution (Class 7, Ch 5): we need not take every one of Ashoka's claims literally, because the edicts are the king's own publicity. But he clearly worked hard to reach his subjects. This fits the Kautilyan welfare idea of the Arthashastra: the king's happiness lies in the happiness of his people.

Time, place and evidence

• Period and ruler: Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty. Class 7 dates his reign to 268–232 BCE. Class 12 gives c. 272/268–231 BCE. Quote the book you are asked about.
• Family line: Chandragupta Maurya → Bindusara → Ashoka (Ashoka was Chandragupta's grandson).

• According to Britannica, Ashoka began issuing edicts twelve years after his coronation (269 BCE) [3][2].

• Extent: almost the whole subcontinent except the far south, including land in today's Bangladesh, Pakistan and parts of Afghanistan.

• The main evidence is Ashoka's own edicts:
• There are 14 major rock edicts and 7 pillar edicts, found in many versions and copies across the empire [3].
• Most are in Prakrit in Brahmi script. In the north-west, some use Kharoshthi (a script based on Aramaic). Greek and Aramaic inscriptions are found only in Afghanistan and the trans-Indus region [3].
• They were first deciphered by James Prinsep in the 1830s [2].

• Titles: most edicts call the king Devanampiya ("Beloved of the Gods") and Piyadassi ("pleasant to behold"). The name Asoka appears in only some inscriptions, so scholars had to work out that the king of the edicts was the Ashoka of the texts.

• Named sites:

• Dhauli (Odisha): the edicts are carved on a boulder. Above them is a rock-cut front part of an elephant, about four feet high, among the finest Ashokan sculpture known [4].
• Jaugada: a duplicate set of the Dhauli edicts, on the bank of the Rushikulya river, north-west of Ganjam town, Ganjam district, Odisha [4].
• Junagadh (Gujarat): Ashokan Rock Edicts [4].
• Mansehra (Pakistan): rock edicts on UNESCO's Tentative List [3].
• Ashokan Edict sites along the Mauryan Routes: a serial nomination, also on UNESCO's Tentative List [3].
• Sarnath: fragments of an Ashokan pillar, reported as 15.25 m high, with his edict and two later inscriptions. The Sarnath remains date from the 3rd century BCE to the 12th century CE [2].

Don't confuse with

• Buddhism: Buddhism is a religion with its own Sangha. Ashoka's dhamma was a moral code for all sects, and his officers worked among Buddhists, brahmans, Ajivikas and Jains alike.
• Dhamma mahamattas vs pativedakas: dhamma mahamattas spread dhamma among the people. Pativedakas were reporters who carried the people's affairs to the king at any time.
• Devanampiya vs Piyadassi: Devanampiya means "Beloved of the Gods". Piyadassi means "pleasant to behold". Neither is his personal name, which appears in only some inscriptions.
• Brahmi vs Kharoshthi: Brahmi was the script of most edicts. Kharoshthi, based on Aramaic, was used for some edicts in the north-west [3].

Prelims Hooks

• The four core rules of dhamma (Class 12): respect elders; be generous to Brahmanas and renouncers; treat slaves and servants kindly; respect other religions. Trap: dhamma ≠ Buddhism.
• Kalinga (coastal Odisha) was conquered in Ashoka's eighth regnal year, dated by Britannica to 260 BCE [3]. The edict says 150,000 deported and 100,000 killed.
• Dhamma mahamattas = officers who spread dhamma. Pativedakas = reporters to the king. Touring inspections took place every five years.
• Edicts: 14 major rock edicts + 7 pillar edicts, mostly Prakrit in Brahmi [3], first deciphered by James Prinsep in the 1830s [2].
• Dhauli has a rock-cut elephant. Jaugada is on the Rushikulya river in Ganjam district. Both are in Odisha [4].
• Cholas, Pandyas, Keralaputras and Satiyaputras are named in the edicts but were outside the empire.

Mains Points

• Dhamma was a tool for running the state, not just a personal faith.
• Its four rules were deliberately non-sectarian, meaning they belonged to no single religion.
• Ashoka's empire stretched from Afghanistan to Odisha and had many languages and beliefs. A shared basic code of conduct was cheaper and safer than ruling by force alone.

• Dhamma mahamattas worked among Buddhists, brahmans, Ajivikas and Jains alike. Writing in Prakrit, and in Greek, Aramaic and Kharoshthi at the frontiers, shows the message was meant to be read, not just displayed [3].

• Kalinga brought a change from conquest by war to dhamma-vijaya.

• The public confession made the new policy believable, but it also reminded unconquered peoples of his strength.

• Medical aid went to the southern kingdoms, and emissaries went to Sri Lanka, Thailand and Central Asia, spreading his influence without war.

• The edicts as a source, with their strengths and limits.

• They are contemporary, dated and in the king's own voice, so they are more reliable than later legends.
• But they are also royal self-praise, and NCERT warns against taking the welfare claims literally. A strong answer checks them against archaeology at Dhauli, Jaugada, Junagadh and Sarnath [2][4].

Related concepts

• Bindusara
• Ashoka
• Kalinga war
• Rock Edict XIII
• Kalinga edicts
• Dhauli
• Dhamma mahamatta
• Pativedaka
• Devanampiya
• Ashoka's religious tolerance

Read more

• Ashoka: Kalinga, dhamma and the edicts