Ashoka's Dhamma: A Practical Approach of Life

<p><span>This paper attempts to explain the main theme of Ashoka’s Dhamma in a great detail. </span><span>Ashoka was a patron of Buddha’s doctrine and was responsible for raising Buddhism from the status of a local sectarian creed of eastern India to that of one of the principal religions of the world.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span>This paper examines Ashoka’s virtues to constitute his Dhamma. The following are some of the virtues strongly recommended by Ashoka on various occasions:-obeidance to parents. high personages, elders and the aged; liberality to friends, acquaintances and relatives as well as to the Brahmanas and Sramanas. His declared policy, which was fully in accord with the Dhamma he preached, was to see to the welfare and happiness not only of his subjects, but also of the peoples of other lands beyond the borders of his empire, as if all men wren his children. In this matter, he did not make many differences among men and animals.</span></p> <p><span>This paper signifies Ashoka’s zeal in the propagation of Buddhism throughout the other neighbouring countries. About the year 246 BC. Emperor Ashoka sent his son Mahindra as the head of a mission Sri Lanka . There he converted&nbsp; the king to Buddhism. The king supported these Buddhist missionaries and provides facilities for them in his capital. From there, they were able to carry on their work of spreading the teaching of the Buddha. According to the Sri Lankan tradition (Dipavamasa XI) the Sri Lankar ruler at that time should have been Mutasiva, whose son Devanampiya Tissa succeeded him in Asoka`s Regnal year 17. The title of Devenampiya prefixed to Tissa`s name already suggests the influence of the style of Mauryan royalty. Later Ashoka dispatched certain relics of the Buddha and than a branch of ‘Bodhi tree’ escorted by his daughter Sanghamitta, a nun. Buddhism had by now secured firm patronage from royalty, which henceforth it rarely lost until colonial times. As a whole, it is justified that Ashoka had a practical approach of life.</span></p> <div> <div> <p><a rel="nofollow"></a>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <p><a rel="nofollow"></a>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <p><a rel="nofollow"></a>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <p><a rel="nofollow"></a>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> </div>