Siddhartha Gautama, the prince of Kapilavastu, renounced his throne and went on to create a monastic order during the Mahajanapada era. His teachings, critical of the Vedic traditions and rituals, gained popularity in and around the areas he lived in – modern-day Bihar and Uttar Pradesh – and he came to be known as the Buddha, meaning the one who attained Bodhi (wisdom).
However, the Buddha and his teachings were hardly known beyond the eastern part of India. It was Ashoka, the emperor, who spread Buddha’s teachings across India and Asia. Through his patronage and efforts, in effect, Ashoka created the world’s third largest religion, Buddhism. Yet, Ashoka’s story is largely forgotten. Why was knowledge of his achievements lost for over 1000 years?
The first cause was the resurgence of Brahminism. Ashoka did not persecute the Brahmins. But as Buddhism gained prominence during his reign, the Brahmins lost their power; Ashoka is said to have built 84,000 stupas, most with edicts inspired by Buddhist teachings. As the Brahmins recovered their influence under King Pushyamitra Sunga (a Brahmin), they started destroying the stupas and monasteries. As E J Rapson writes:
Pushyamitra figures as a great persecutor of Buddhists bent on acquiring fame as the annihilator of Buddhist doctrine. He meditated the destruction of the Kukkutamaras, the great monastery which Ashoka has built for one thousand monks to the south east of Pataliputra…he then went to Sakala (Sialkot) in the eastern Punjab and attempted to exterminate the Buddhist community there offering a reward of 100 dinaras for the head of every monk.
-30-
Copyright©Madras Courier, All Rights Reserved. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from madrascourier.com and redistribute by email, post to the web, mobile phone or social media.Please send in your feed back and comments to editor@madrascourier.com
