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BUDDHIST INDIA
the people we now call Buddhists (they did not call themselves so) were concerned so exclusively with the Dhamma, apart from ritual or theology, that their doctrine was called the Dhamma. It fell, naturally, for them into three divisions, quite distinct one froin the other,-the theory of what it was right (good forin) for the layman (the upăsaka) to do and to be, of what it was right for the Wanderer (the Pab. bajita) to do and to be; and, thirdly, what the men or women, whether laity or Wanderers, who had entered the Path to Arahatship, should do, and be, and know. On each of these three points their views, amidst much that was identical with those generally held, contained also, in many details, things peculiar to themselves alone. Now the Dhamma promulgated by Asoka was the first, only, of these three divisions. It was the Dha m m a for la v in en, as generally held in India, but in the form, and with the modifications, adopted by the Buddhists.
The curious thing about this Dhamma, as a description of the whole duty of man, of the good layman, is-especially when we consider its date—its extraordinary simplicity. This is, historically, so very interesting, that it will be worth while to set it out in full.
ASOKA'S DHAMMA.
1. No animal may be slaughtered
for sacrifice. Rock Edict, No. 1. {.
to 2. Tribal feasts in high places are
not to be celebrated.
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
