[Buddha-l] Aśoka, the realist

[Dan Lusthaus]

> Artur makes a very good point.  In a grad seminar we once plotted out 
> Aśoka's inscriptions to see what got said where.  By the end it was pretty 
> clear that the messages at the frontier areas, far from imperial power, 
> contained more threatening content.  The messages closer to home, where 
> the imperial grip was strong, were more like hallmark cards.
>
> best,
> Tim

Tim,
That Asoka would project a firmer persona in problem areas in order NOT to 
have to inflict violence is common sense, but that was not the issue. The 
issue was whether this is a Buddhist correlate to later Muslim iconoclasm. 
Edict 13, in which this caution to the "forest dwellers" to behave or else 
occurs, is preceded by a long account of the various violent exploits he had 
engaged in, killing, exiling, etc., until he discovered the dharma -- so 
that now he is ashamed of that and wants to avoid doing that anymore, how 
much more effective forgiveness is -- when possible. Comparing this to 
Attar's account -- in which destroying idols and vanquishing infidels is a 
divine mission from which one must not shirk, ordered by God. which is not 
only for one's own glory and the glory of Islam, but for the good of the 
infidels themselves. Making them wretched will bring them closer to God --  
reveals the attitudes, impulses, and actions are quite different.

Dan