History of Jaina Monachism

Author(s): S B Deo
Publisher: Deccan College Research Institute

Page 94

Aśoka:
HISTORY OF JAINA MONACHISM
Asoka, the first sovereign ruler of India, succeeded Bindusära. He distinguished himself by not only consolidating the empire but also by exhibiting a superb piety which may be said to rest on ethical principles common both to Jainism and Buddhism.
The broad-based liberalism so evident in his edicts has led some scholars187 to believe that he was a Jaina, while there are others who say that he was a Buddhist.188
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From the edicts themselves, scholars like KERN opine that "His inscriptions with a few exceptions, contain nothing particularly Buddhistic",180 For the emperor says that "whosoever praises his own sect or blames other sects-all (this) out of devotion to his own sect-if he is acting thus, he rather injures his own sect very severely" 190 "All sects must on all occasions be honoured" 181 That he was benevolent to all is proved by his instructions which are applicable to the samaņas, niganthas, ājīvikas and others.
Taking into consideration his broadmindedness and his insistence on Ahimsă, SHAH192 opines, "What we venture to suggest is this, that as years went on Aśoka came more and more under the influence of the teaching of Buddha, became less and less sectarian, and tried to inculcate in his subjects the Dharma which embraced the moral precepts and dogmatic tenets common to other religions, though, as Rev. HERAS rightly observes, he was 'especially influenced by the Jaina doctrines as regards sacredness and inviolability of life"".
Some scholars go to the other extreme and accuse Aśoka of being a bigot. According to Haraprasad SASTRI,193 Aśoka's stoppage of animal sacrifices and his appointing of the Superintendents of morals (Dharma Mahamatya), "was a direct invasion on the right and privileges of the Brahmanas", who getting restless due to this trespass paved the way for the entry of the staunch Brähmanical Sungas.
BULL. DCRI.-12
187. K. P. JAINA, JA., Vol. V, No. 3, p. 81; Vol. VI, No. 1, pp. 9-16; No. 2, pp. 53-60; Vol. VI, No. II, pp. 43-50; Vol. VII, No. 1, pp. 20-25; FLEET, JRAS., 1908, pp. 491-92.
188. HULTZSCH, CII, Intr., p. xlix.
189. KERN, Manual of Buddhism, p. 112.
190. HULTZSCH, CII, p. 21.
191. Junagadh Ed., Bhavnagar Inscr., Edict 12.
192. Op. cit., p. 140.
193. JPASB, 1910, pp. 259-60.