Agam aur Tripitak Ek Anushilan Part 1

SR No.: 002621
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Nagrajmuni
Publisher: Concept Publishing Company
Publication Year: 1987
Total Pages: 744
Language: Hindi
Classification: Book_Devnagari, Agam, Canon, & History
File Size: 15 MB

Page 166

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आगम और त्रिपिटक : एक अनुशीलन
[खण्ड : १
प्रशोक क्या कहना चाहता है, समझना कठिन है। इसका अनुवाद ऊपर जिस प्रकार से किया गया है उसका अर्थ होता है कि वह संघ के साथ रहा, या संघ में प्रविष्ट हुआ या संघ के दर्शनार्थ गया, किन्तु इस बात को लेकर विद्वानों में बहुत बड़ा मतभेद है । कुछ विद्वानों का मत है कि अशोक सचमुच ही बौद्ध भिक्षु बन गया था । अन्य कुछ विद्वान् उक्त शब्दों का अर्थ करते हैं कि अशोक राजकीय तौर पर संघ के दर्शनार्थ गया और जैसे सिंहली गाथायें हमें सूचित करती हैं, उसने सार्वजनिक रूप से अपने धर्म की घोषणा की। इनमें से पहले अभिमत की पुष्टि चीनी यात्री इ-त्सिंग के इस कथन से होती है कि मैंने अशोक की एक मूर्ति देखी थी, जिसमें वह साधु के वेश में था । एक तीसरी सम्भावना यह भी है कि अशोक बिना साधुत्व स्वीकार किये ही एक वर्ष से अधिक साधु संघ के साथ रहा ।
"जो विद्वान् मानते हैं कि अशोक साधु बन गया था, उनमें भी फिर भिन्न-भिन्न मत
mean that he lived with, entered, or visited the Sangha, and the opinion of the scholars is sharply divided on this point. Some scholars hold that Asoka actually became a Buddhist monk (bhikku ). Others, however, take the expression simply to mean that Asoka made a state-visit to the Sangha and publicly proclaimed his faith, as the Sinhalese Chronicle informs us. The former view is, however, supported by the statement of I-tsing that he actually saw a statue of Asoka dressed as a monk. A third possibility is that Asoka lived with the Sangha for more than a year, without taking orders.
Among those who assume that Asoka became a monk, there is, again, a difference of opinion. Some hold that during the period Asoka was a monk, he must have ceased to be a monarch, for monastic life is hardly compatible with royal duties. Others, however, point out actually examples of kings who were monks at the same time, and find no reason for the assumption that Asoka, even temporarily, addicated the throne.
Whatever may be the right interpretation of his association with the Sangna, there is no doubt that since this event Asoka exerted himself with unflagging zeal for the propagation of Buddhism, or at least that part of it which he accepted as his Dharma. He not only set up a net-work of missions to preach the doctrine both in and outside India, but himself undertook tours for this purpose, and took various other steps to the same end.
-The Age of Imperial Unity: History and Culture of the Indian people, vol. II, pp. 75-76