Question

name four important ways in which buddhism spread under the royal patronage during the mauryan times

Answer 1

Royal Patronage greatly helped in the rapid spread of Buddhism. The rulers like Prasenjit, Bimbisara, Ajatasatru, Asoka, Kaniska and Harshavardhan championed the cause of Buddhism and adopted several measures for its spread throughout India and outside India. Asoka deputed his sone Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra to Srilanka for the spread of Buddhism. With the efforts of the rulers, Buddhism crossed the long road of progress and reached Tibet, China, Indonesia, Ceylon, Japan and Korea. Ashoka followed a policy of religious toleration and gave due respect to other religions. This deeply impacted people's mind adn helped in elevating BUddhism to rise from a local sect to world religion.

Answer 2

Ashoka Maurya was the last major emperor of the Mauryan dynasty in India. After the War of Kalinga, he renounced the armed victories. During this time that he came into contact with Buddhism. He adopted several measures to spread his Dhamma. The four most important ways to spread Buddhism under royal patronage are: Ashoka practiced what he preached, the appointment of a new class of officials called Dharmamahamatras to explain the message of Dhamma, the engraving of the principles of Dhamma on rocks and pillars in the language of common people, Prakrit, He sent missionaries to spread Dhamma, and he gave funds to Buddhist monasteries in his empire. With all these measures he became able to spread Buddhism to outside the territory of his empire such as Shri Lanka.