Changes

The conversion of the Mauryan Indian King Ashoka (ruled 272-231 BC) to Buddhism is rightfully viewed as a major significant turning point in world history. Ashoka promoted the fairly new philosophy of Buddhism throughout his realm and allowed it to flourish, which eventually led to its dissemination throughout east Asia. Among the most visible ways in which the king promoted Buddhism was by erecting numerous pillar and rock edicts that detailed his version of Buddhist theology and by constructing numerous Buddhist monasteries, known as <i>sutpas</i>. Throughout India, they were used to house religious texts and relics.

Before Ashoka converted to Buddhism, though, he was known to be a particularly brutal king who had thousands of people killed with impunity. The difference between Ashoka’s early and later life are striking and leads to the very obvious self-evident question – why did Ashoka convert to Buddhism?

The answer to that question can be found in the primary source material. All sources indicate that Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism was legitimate, but the edicts and other inscriptions the king commissioned seem to indicate suggest that it was part of a gradual process that was influenced by the older Indic religions but was ultimately the result of guilt over the lives he took early in his life.

Sometime after the bloody war with Kalinga was over, Ashoka made his historic conversion to Buddhism. Essentially, there are two interpretations concerning how it took place, although they are not necessarily exclusive nor in opposition to each other. Ashoka never directly stated how or why he converted in any inscriptions, but a number of his so-called rock and pillar edicts and inscriptions seem to indicate that the conversion was somewhat gradual. The inscriptions, which were usually written in the Prakrit language using a number of some different scripts, exhort the readers to follow Buddhist practices by abstaining from meat consumption, being charitable, and by generally following Buddhist theology. In what is known today as “Minor Rock Edict #1,” Ashoka seems to indicate that he only became a pious Buddhist after a period of familiarity with the religion:

“From Suvarnagiri, by the order of the Prince and high officers, the high officers of Isila are to be wished well and addressed as follows: (The Rupnath Version has Devanampiya commands thus) For more than two and one-half years since I have been a lay-devotee I have not been exerting myself energetically. But for over a year since I approached the Order , I have been exerting myself strenuously. . . And for this purpose , this must be written on rocks (or pillars). This must be spread all over your jurisdiction. This proclamation I have made while on a tour of 256 nights.” <ref> Gokhale, Balkrishna. <i>Asoka Maurya.</i> (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1966), p. 161</ref>