What caused Ashoka to embrace Buddhism How did his actions reflect his new beliefs In what ways did he contribute to the spread of Buddhism through India?
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it was his reflections on the war he fought against the neighboring country of Kalinga, where there was mass casualties and suffering, brought him to Buddhism.
He then began a campaign to bring about a moral, spiritual and social renewal within his empire. The administrative and judicial systems were reformed, useful public works were initiated, and the previously aggressive foreign policy was replaced by one of peaceful co-existence. As a part of this change all religions were protected and promoted, especially Buddhism. The third Buddhist Council was convened and Buddhist missionaries were sent throughout India to Sri Lanka and South-East Asia and to as far west as Cyrene, Egypt, Syria, and Macedonia.
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it was his reflections on the war he fought against the neighboring country of Kalinga, where there was mass casualties and suffering, brought him to Buddhism.
He then began a campaign to bring about a moral, spiritual and social renewal within his empire. The administrative and judicial systems were reformed, useful public works were initiated, and the previously aggressive foreign policy was replaced by one of peaceful co-existence. As a part of this change all religions were protected and promoted, especially Buddhism. The third Buddhist Council was convened and Buddhist missionaries were sent throughout India to Sri Lanka and South-East Asia and to as far west as Cyrene, Egypt, Syria, and Macedonia.
hope helps you ❤️❤️❤️❤️
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The second Mauryan emperor, Bindusara, ruled for twenty-five years. He warred occasionally, reinforcing his nominal authority within India, and acquiring the title "Slayer of Enemies." Then in the year 273 BCE, he was succeeded by his son Ashoka, who in his first eight years of rule did what was expected of him: he looked after the affairs of state and extended his rule where he could.
Around the year 260 BCE, Ashoka fought great battles and imposed his rule on people southward along the eastern coast of India – an area called Kalinga. The sufferings created by the war disturbed Ashoka. He found relief in Buddhism and became an emperor with values that differed from those of his grandfather. He was a Buddhist lay member and went on a 256-day pilgrimage to Buddhist holy places in northern India. Buddhism benefited from the association with state power that Hinduism had enjoyed – and that Christianity would enjoy under Constantine the Great.
Like the Hebrew Jeroboam and other devout kings, Ashoka was no revolutionary. But there were changes. In the years to come, Ashoka mixed his Buddhism with material concerns that served the Buddha's original desire to see suffering among people mitigated: Ashoka had wells dug, irrigation canals and roads constructed. He had rest houses built along roads, hospitals built, public gardens planted and medicinal herbs grown. But Ashoka maintained his army, and he maintained the secret police and network of spies that he had inherited as a part of his extensive and powerful bureaucracy.
As was common among kings, Ashoka announced his intention to "look kindly" upon all his subjects. He kept his hold over Kalinga, and he did not allow the thousands of people abducted from Kalinga to return there. He offered the people of Kalinga a victor's conciliation, erecting a monument in Kalinga which read:
All men are my children, and I, the king, forgive what can be forgiven.
Ashoka converted his foreign policy from expansionism to that of coexistence and peace with his neighbors – the avoidance of additional conquests making his empire easier to administer. In keeping with his Buddhism he announced that he was determined to ensure the safety, peace of mind and happiness of all "animate beings" in his realm. He announced that he would now strive for conquest only in matters of the human spirit and the spread of "right conduct" among people. And he warned other powers that he was not only compassionate but also powerful.
Around the year 260 BCE, Ashoka fought great battles and imposed his rule on people southward along the eastern coast of India – an area called Kalinga. The sufferings created by the war disturbed Ashoka. He found relief in Buddhism and became an emperor with values that differed from those of his grandfather. He was a Buddhist lay member and went on a 256-day pilgrimage to Buddhist holy places in northern India. Buddhism benefited from the association with state power that Hinduism had enjoyed – and that Christianity would enjoy under Constantine the Great.
Like the Hebrew Jeroboam and other devout kings, Ashoka was no revolutionary. But there were changes. In the years to come, Ashoka mixed his Buddhism with material concerns that served the Buddha's original desire to see suffering among people mitigated: Ashoka had wells dug, irrigation canals and roads constructed. He had rest houses built along roads, hospitals built, public gardens planted and medicinal herbs grown. But Ashoka maintained his army, and he maintained the secret police and network of spies that he had inherited as a part of his extensive and powerful bureaucracy.
As was common among kings, Ashoka announced his intention to "look kindly" upon all his subjects. He kept his hold over Kalinga, and he did not allow the thousands of people abducted from Kalinga to return there. He offered the people of Kalinga a victor's conciliation, erecting a monument in Kalinga which read:
All men are my children, and I, the king, forgive what can be forgiven.
Ashoka converted his foreign policy from expansionism to that of coexistence and peace with his neighbors – the avoidance of additional conquests making his empire easier to administer. In keeping with his Buddhism he announced that he was determined to ensure the safety, peace of mind and happiness of all "animate beings" in his realm. He announced that he would now strive for conquest only in matters of the human spirit and the spread of "right conduct" among people. And he warned other powers that he was not only compassionate but also powerful.
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