Peace is the highest religion.” Explain the statement with reference to the lesson Ashoka with not more that 150-200 words
Answers
Answer:
Dhamma (a Prakrit form of the Sanskrit word dharma) is a set of edicts that formed a policy of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, who succeeded to the Mauryan throne in modern-day India around 269 B.C.E. Ashoka is considered one of the greatest kings of ancient India for his policies of public welfare.
Explanation:
The word dhamma is the Prakrit form of the Sanskrit word dharma. There have been attempts to define and find equivalent English words for it, such as "piety", "moral life" and "righteousness" or "duty" but scholars could not translate it into English because it was coined and used in a specific context. The word Dharma has multiple meanings in the literature and thought of ancient India. The best way to understand what Ashoka the great means by Dharma is to read his edicts, which were written to explain the principles of Dharma to the people of that time throughout the empire.
Dharma was not a particular religious faith or practice, or an arbitrary formulated royal policy. Dharma related to generalized norms of social behavior and activities; Ashoka the great tried to synthesize various social norms which were current in his time. It cannot be understood by assuming it is one of the various religions that existed at that time. To understand why and how Ashoka the great formulated Dharma and its meaning, one must understand the characteristics of the time in which he lived and to refer to Buddhist, Brahmanical and other texts where norms of social behavior are explained.
Some historians link Ashoka’s policy of Dhamma with Buddhism. According to V.A. Smith, Ashoka the great actually became a Buddhist monk for a short span of his life. V.A Smith believes that he was both a monk and a monarch at the same time. D.R. Bhandarkar. claims that Ashoka the great was a Buddhist and his policy of dhamma was actually original Buddhism as preached by the Buddha. Radha Kumud Mookerji also formulates that as far as the personal religion of Ashoka is concerned, it may be taken as Buddhism. In recent decades, scholars such as Nayanjot Lahiri and Romila Thapar has argued that Ashoka's Dhamma stands apart from Buddhist ideas, even while being informed by them.
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