Rock Edict Research Articles

Brief Overview of Fourteen Major Rock Edicts of King Ashoka

–The fourteen major rock edicts are of great use to study the historiography of Ashokas Empire. These major rock edicts contain engraved information about the nature of his patronage given to Buddhism and his interpretation of Dhamma. These edicts also throw the light upon the Asoka’s administration, international relations, and law and order systems of his empire. The major rock edicts of the Ashoka are like the identity cards of his empire. These major rock edicts are distributed all over Indian subcontinent and can also be found in Afghanistan & Pakistan. Arguably these major rock edicts encapsulate the boundaries of ancient Mauryan Empire and found at those locations which are specifically chosen by King Ashoka for their construction. The location for the construction of these major rock edicts is arguably chosen on the basis of importance of the area, trade & population of that area. Every Major rock edict has a specific message engraved upon it and there is uniformity in the content of these rock edicts with addition of minor separate edicts which are found at Dhauli and Jaugada & there is little deviation which can be observed at Sannati where rock edict number 13 is replaced by a separate rock edict. Ashoka was the first king who has initiated a dialogue with his subjects by means of engraving such edicts on mighty rocks. By studying this paper you can understand why it is important to have brief knowledge about the contents of these major rock edicts of Ashoka while studying about the King Ashoka in particular & about the Mauryan Empire in general. This paper throws light upon the script and locations of these major rock edicts. This paper also argues about the nature of the patronage given to the buddhism by king Ashoka and insists upon forming conclusions about the Ashokas policy of Dhamma solely on the basis of the engraved texts of major rock edicts.

Ashwamedha Yagya: Gupta Dynasty

The Ashwamedh Yagya, an ancient Vedic ritual extensively documented in Indian epics and Vedic texts, holds significant historical importance. This ritual, detailed in texts such as the Rig Veda and Yajur Veda, is also elaborated upon in the Mahabharata’s Ashwamedha Parva. Despite its ancient prominence, the frequency and depth of the Ashwamedh Yagya declined over time after the Gupta dynasty. Archaeological evidence, including inscriptions and rock edicts, provides substantial insights into the practice of the Ashwamedh Yagya. The Gupta dynasty's inscriptions, particularly those issued by rulers like Samudragupta and Chandragupta II, provide critical genealogical and historical data regarding the Ashwamedh Yagya. These inscriptions mention the performance of the ritual and highlight its significance during their reigns. Samudragupta, in particular, revived the Ashwamedh Yagya and issued commemorative Ashwamedha coins, which serve as crucial historical artifacts. These coins depict the ritual’s elements and were used to honor the Ashwamedh Yagya, showcasing the advanced metallurgical technology of the Gupta period. Furthermore, archaeological discoveries, including inscriptions and rock edicts, illuminate the extensive practice of Ashwamedh Yagya among the Gupta rulers to build the nation and culture against foreign attackers of the time. Overall, the Ashwamedh Yagya's practice and its documentation through archaeological findings, inscriptions, and coins reveal its extensive significance in ancient Indian history, particularly within the Gupta dynasty, for reviving Vedic culture through Ashwamedh Yagya. \\

Fragmentary Stone reliefs in the vicinity of the Kālsi Rock Edict of Aśoka.

Fragmentary Stone reliefs in the vicinity of the Kālsi Rock Edict of Aśoka.

Prehistoric settlement developments in the multi-period sites of south India, Brahmagiri Hill

This paper is focused on the multi-period sites in the core southern Neolithic region of south India to highlight their potential archaeological features and resources to assess land use and settlement patterns adopted by the mid-Holocene societies. Systematic archaeological reworks at the multi-period sites require particular attention to identify the resource locations and non-occupation sites for developing a comprehensive picture of the demographic and social models for explaining how people managed and shared resources within the site environs that continued to exist and operated for more than three thousand years spanning from Neolithic (3000-1200 BCE), Iron Age (1200-300 BCE) and Early History (300 BCE- 500 CE). Published archaeological data on major multi-period sites of south India is reviewed, compiled and attested with exploration findings from the Brahmagiri Hill. Here a fresh approach is made to assess the impact of Ashokan rock edicts on the social fabric and any landscape changes it brought to Isila (Isila is believed to be an early historic townsite at Brahmagiri ).

The immobilised elephant at Dhauli

The elephant at Dhauli, site of Aśoka Maurya's inscriptions, is the earliest Indian monumental sculpture. Aśoka reigned between 270–235 BC and the Dhauli elephant is dated c. 257 BC. Only the elephant's forefront is sculpted; about half of the animal's bulk remains within the rock (Figure 1). One art historian claims that Emperor Aśoka is in the vanguard presenting himself to the people of Kaliṅga. Usually, however, the Dhauli elephant is considered symbolic of the Buddha. The well-known story that Māyā dreamt that Siddhārtha entered her womb as a white elephant motivates this view; to wit śeto (i.e. śveta), ʻthe white one’, is inscribed at the end of the 6th Rock Edict.

The Ashokan Minor Rock Edict in Bahapur, Delhi

The major purpose of writing this research paper is to analyse why the Minor Rock Edict of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka has been engraved on a small hillock of Bahapur only, near Srinivaspuri in Kalkaji, Delhi. Initially this site came to the notice of a contractor of Delhi, Shri Jung Bahadur, who came to the inscribed rock which was planned to be blasted for the development of a residential colony nearby. Later, this contractor informed about this site to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Cutting down the hiatus of the time, Shri M.C. Joshi and Shri B.M. Pande of the Archaeological. Survey of India (ASI) visited that spot along with Shri Jang Bahadur Singh on 23rd March 1966. The inscription was identified as an Ashokan epigraph by Joshi and Pande soon after conducting a survey on this site. In 2021, the site was visited by me so that I could shed some light over the significance of this isolated rock inscription of Ashoka, as to why this inscription was engraved by the artisan at this specific site only. For this, the site was carefully analysed and the links of the same with the Mauryan age hearth and well, that were unearthed in the series of excavations in Purana Qila, were also established. Conclusions were also drawn to answer the above-mentioned question that arose. The ASI has mentioned in their information board that this place was once the trade route in Mauryan Age. In this regard I have tried to hunt up for the answers. So, have a look for the answers that I came up with in this research paper.

Protection of Places of Worship during Armed Conflicts: The Enrichment of International Humanitarian Law through Buddhism

Places of worship having deep spiritual attachments with people are highly protected as cultural property under International Humanitarian Law (IHL). While these places are given full respect, recognition, and protection, armed groups are prohibited from attacking or destroying them. The protection is included in the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of Armed Conflicts, Additional Protocol I and II to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and the Statute of the International Criminal Court. Further, it is highlighted under the Customary International Humanitarian Law as well. However, there are several significant instances around the globe where the protection of places of worship has been threatened during armed conflicts. In this context, this paper aims to evaluate the correspondence between IHL and Buddhism in relation to the protection of places of worship during armed conflicts. Therefore, this research employs desk research methodology in terms of ascertaining the correspondence between Buddhism and IHL. Accordingly, this research relies on secondary data in the areas of Buddhism and IHL. Thus, special references will be made to key IHL instruments, including Geneva Conventions, Customary International Humanitarian Rules, and case precedents. On the other hand, this paper refers to Buddhist literature on the protection of places of worship, including seven factors leading to welfare taught by the Buddha to the Vajjians, the verdict regarding the four places associated with the life of the Buddha, the 12th Rock Edict of Emperor Aśoka on respecting all religions and Bodhisattva vows mentioned in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. This paper believes that, although the key objectives of the two bodies are not identically same, the philosophical underpinnings of Buddhism can be used progressively for the enrichment of IHL relating to the protection of places of worship.

The Development of Labial Clusters in the Aśokan Rock Edicts

The original range of consonant clusters in Indo-Aryan reduced significantly over time, developing into geminates, homorganic nasal-stop clusters, and sonorant-h clusters in Middle Indo-Aryan. Early Middle Indo-Aryan, as represented in the Aśokan inscriptions, however, still maintained the original clusters, or what appear to be transitional stages of the extensive changes. Salient among those cluster changes that are observed in the Aśokan inscriptions are the changes tm, tv> tp and dv > db in Girnār in the west; sm, sv > sp in Shāhbāzgaṛhī and Mānsehrā in the north-west; and mh > mbh in Kālsī in the north and in Dhaulī and Jaugaḍa in the east. The idiosyncratic nature of these changes lies in the development of a stop from m or v, where the more usual changes would be loss or assimilation of m after a stop and of v after a stop or a sibilant, while sm and hm would normally change to mh. This paper examines the manner assimilation of the “labial” clusters (that is, the clusters with m or v that normally do not incur assimilation of the adjacent consonant) in the Aśokan Rock Edicts. It discusses the conditions, the motivation, the course of the change of m/v to a labial stop, and the dialectal differences associated with this change.

Some “Major” trends in Aśoka’s Minor Rock Edicts

It is commonly held among scholars that Aśoka’s Minor Rock Edicts were the king’s first attempts at engraving his messages on stone, and as such, they represent the earliest evidence for writing in India. While this may be true, it has not been duly emphasised that the text of the Minor Rock Edicts, in several versions as we have it, shows considerable traces of influence by the Major Rock Edicts and Pillar Edicts. Particular instances for such an influence in the text are the intrusion of the key term dhaṃma or the use of a general formulaic language characteristic of the later edicts. In our discussion, we wish to bring out some of these “Major” trends in the Minor Rock Edicts, making proposals for new interpretations and reading in Minor Rock Edicts I and II. On a similar basis, we will propose placing the Greco-Aramaic edict from Kandahar in the context of the Minor Rock Edicts, and try to account for the elements which may be derived from the Major Rock Edicts by the same scribal procedure as can be supposed to have been at work in formulating the text of the Minor Rock Edicts.

Aśoka’s Disparagement of Domestic Ritual and Its Validation by the Brahmins

In his edicts, the emperor Aśoka Maurya extols brāhmaṇas, usually alongside ascetics (śramaṇas), as deserving honor and generosity, though he never alludes to their connection with ritual, the central theme of early Brahmanical literature. On the other hand, in Rock Edicts I and IX, he disparages sacrifices, and ceremonies performed by women, advocating instead the practice of ethical virtues. Close attention to the wording of Rock Edict IX shows that Aśoka and the Brahmanical Gṛhyasūtras talk about domestic rites in very similar terms, even describing them with the same adjective (uccāvaca). Both of them note the special role of women as a source of knowledge of such ceremonies, and differ only in how they evalute the value of such ceremonial: Aśoka disparages women’s rites, while some Gṛhyasūtras explicitly validate women as authorities in such matters. A comparison of these sources highlights the distinctive role of the term dhamma in Aśoka’s usage (in contrast to maṅgala (auspicious folk rites), and may provide some guidance for dating the Gṛhyasūtras. The fact that Aśoka does not explicitly connect such rites with the brāhmaṇas suggests that in his experience at least (i.e., in Magadha) Brahmins’ religious authority had nothing to do with domestic ritual. We may conclude that the Vedic canonization of Gṛhya ritual norms was not yet recognized outside of priestly circles, if it had developed yet at all.

Buddhist Inclusivism: Attitudes towards Religious Others (review)

Reviewed by: Buddhist Inclusivism: Attitudes Towards Religious Others Terry C. Muck Buddhist Inclusivism: Attitudes Towards Religious Others. By Kristin Beise Kiblinger. Hants, England: Ashgate, 2005. 145 pp. Kristen Beise Kiblinger, who teaches in the religion department at Thiel College, has written a provocative and imaginative book. It is provocative in that [End Page 168] she appears to be doing buddhology even though she resists calling it that. She says she doesn't want to take the voice of a buddhologian. She does not describe what is as a phenomenologist might or what was as an historian of religion might, or what should be as a buddhologian might. She describes what might be, as a—well, as a participant-philosopher might. She writes as an outsider taking the voice of an insider. Kiblinger chooses as her topic the relationship of Buddhists to people of other religions. She begins by noting that Buddhists themselves have not explicitly addressed this topic in their religious philosophizing, at least not to the extent Christians have. But, she suggests, implicitly they behave as if they do have a favored response to this issue. Citing a wide variety of Buddhist sources across the Buddhist spectrum, she concludes that inclusivism is the most natural position for Buddhists to take vis-à-vis the other religions. She describes that position in some detail, all the while persisting in her refusal to be considered a spokesperson in the insider sense. Kiblinger draws her examples from the way two historical figures related to people of non-Buddhist ideologies and from historical contacts Buddhism as a movement had with other religions or sects. The first historical figure is Siddhartha Gautama himself. The Buddha, Kiblinger notes, was not shy about identifying what made any religion (not just his dhamma) useful—the noble eightfold path. This path is the core of Gautama's dhamma, but it also appears in other religions in other forms. The Buddha put forth the presence of this content as the measure of a religion's usefulness (see the Mahaparinibbana Sutta). And of course the parable of the raft relativizes all religious teachings, making them true only to the extent that they enable humans to "cross the stream" of temporal existence, a common tenet of the inclusivist position in all its forms. Asoka represents a second example of Buddhist inclusivism for Kiblinger. In the seventh and twelfth of his Rock Edicts, Asoka makes clear that all members of all religious traditions are welcome to practice in his kingdom, even though he thinks Buddhism is the best position. He makes clear that both exclusivism and intolerance of other religious ideas are not acceptable positions in his way of looking at the spiritual dimension of the world. Existentially, Asoka's life story is a model of a reformed "exclusivist" finally embracing the all-truth-no-matter-where-you-find-it-is-still-truth position. Not just these giant figures model inclusivism. Buddhism as a movement has consistently, Kiblinger argues, behaved toward other movements as inclusivists would. She uses as a first example the Buddhist attitude toward Vedic sacrifice, the religious practice most liable to be cast aside by the new teaching of Gautama. We see in this example, Kiblinger says, "the technique of significant reinterpretation and new application rather than subordination" (p. 41). She also notes that a technique she calls "reinterpretation by ethicization" that does not throw out Vedic teaching altogether but claims at its root a teaching that was originally Buddhist. Evidence for the inclusivist position can also be found in the way Mahayanists treated Theravadins, or Hinayanists as Kiblinger refers to them. Scholars of Buddhism [End Page 169] have for the most part recognized that the term "hinayana," perhaps best translated as "lesser vehicle," is a pejorative term given to Theravadins by the Mahayanists, the "great vehicle" folks. Kiblinger argues that even though Mahayanists consider their tradition superior (a common trait of all inclusivists, Buddhist or not), they do so with an openness to the value of the way Theravadins approach the problem of enlightenment. Their way may not be the best, but it is a way, and in some contexts it may be an effective way. Mahayanists are able...

Context, Content, and Composition: Questions of Intended Meaning and the Asokan Edicts

The Asokan edicts are a familiar and common form of archaeological and textual evidence frequently cited in discussions of the Mauryan polity. This paper is an attempt to move toward a more nuanced understanding of these inscriptions by examining earlier interpretations and previously held assumptions. One of the major assumptions questioned here is the way in which the edicts are frequently viewed as boundary markers of a uniformly administered empire. The focus here is on the edicts found in the southern Deccan; a region whose actual relationship with the northern-based Mauryas is little understood but an area that is often assumed to have been incorporated into their empire. This interpretation is primarily supported by the presence of eleven rock edicts in the modern-day states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. However, a closer look at the context, content, and composition of the edicts suggests that the relationship of this region to the Mauryan polity is not necessarily as clear-cut as previously believed. A structural loosening of the epistemological definition of empire has re-opened questions of what this relationship might have looked like and how it can be studied. A critically refined analysis of the edicts is useful in providing a starting point to this inquiry, particularly by examining the question of meaning. By adopting the use of multidisciplinary perspectives, this paper argues that a simultaneous analysis of archaeological context, historical content, and linguistic composition is a useful strategy for examining issues of intended meaning and audience through the more specific problems of visibility, address, and comprehension.

The Dissemination of Aśoka’s Rock and Pillar Edicts

The corpus of inscriptions attributed to the Maurya emperor Aśoka1 includes two sets of inscriptions which each appear as a series. The Rock Edict (RE) series consists of fourteen consecutive proclamations carved on large boulders at nine widely scattered sites (including the fragments of Sōpārā and Sannathi); the Pillar Edict (PE) series consists of seven proclamations found on free-standing pillars at six different places.2 With one exception (in Eṟṟaguḍi),3 the edicts occur everywhere in exactly the same order. This would suggest that the texts of both the Rock and Pillar Edicts were received at those places as existing and complete series. However, as far as I know this conclusion has never been explicitly drawn. Instead, all options regarding this matter seem to have been kept open. Thus, Norman, for instance, writes: “the fact that at all sites ... PEs 1-6 were inscribed while the pillars were lying horizontally on the ground implies either that all six edicts were received at the same time, or that the scribes were informed that more edicts were on their way and the pillars should not be raised until they

Aśoka's 256-night campaign

The two recent discussions of the chronology of Aśoka's early missionary activities, as described in his first Minor Rock Edict, came to different conclusions. For the idea of a 256-day pilgrimage, which stems ultimately from mistranslation, Falk had sought to substitute a calculation involving 256 non-consecutive Uposatha nights. Without detailed refutation of Falk's arguments, Norman rejected this result and retained the assumption of a date counted in days from the beginning of a regnal year. Falk's Vedic and Arthaśāstra material points, however, in the right direction. A description of Aśoka as 256-rātra-vyuṣṭo “having spent a 256-day season” would date his proclamation to the close of an eight-month campaigning season, corresponding closely with varṣā-rātra-uṣita Rāma (R 4.19.1), literally ‘having spent the rains season’, but dating the activity in question to the first day of autumn. Late Vedic and epic use of vyuṣṭa and instances of calculation by binary, apparently solar, weeks of 8 days and months of 32 days (of which eight would yield 256), suggest that Aśoka was seeking to give his proselytizing campaign the status of a religious observance defined in Kṣatriya terms. Arthaśāstra includes the proposition that a 32-day military month was used for administrative purposes in the field.Just as in rock edicts the phrase [devānaṃpiyena] … abhisitena lekhite dates events to a regnal year, so [devānaṃpiyena] … vivuṭhena sāvane dates Aśoka's MRE proclamation, but with reference to his years of religious seniority. The additive chronology, more than two years plus more than one year, suggested by Norman and upheld by Falk, is supported by the syntax of the passage. It would tend to associate the MRE with Aśoka's 13th regnal year. Aśoka's epigraphs imply that, inspired perhaps by early residence in Ujjain, he was at first drawing on late Vedic and epic calendrical motifs, before starting to display a knowledge of Vinaya calendrical material in the pillar edicts.

Aśoka and the BuddhistSamgha: a study of Aśoka's Schism Edict and Minor Rock Edict I

In the legendary accounts of the Buddhist canon concerning the growth and development of Theravaāa Buddhism (Norman, 1987) Aśoka plays an important role. In support of these legends modern scholars have quoted Aśoka's own so-called Schism Edict from Allahabad (Kauśāmbī), Sanchi and Sarnath, in which the emperor would claim to have acted against schisms in the Buddhist Church (e.g. Alsdorf, 1959). However, Bechert has convincingly shown that in this edict Aśoka is not concerned with schisms in the Buddhist Church but with divisions within local, individualsaṃghas (Bechert, 1961; 1982). It should immediately be added that this does not imply a denigration of Aśoka's importance for Buddhism but merely brings his role into line with contemporary realities. At the time the level of organization in Buddhism did not go beyond that of the individualsaṃgha. It is all the more important to identify exactly the details of Aśoka's interference in thesaṃgha. However, it is precisely here that problems start, as several passages in the text of the Schism Edict, an important source on this topic, are still unclear. By way of example I refer toposathāyein the Sarnath version, which has been variously interpreted as a dative of direction and a dative of time. The difference would be whether Aśoka's official should gototheuposathaceremony or should go to thesaṃgha on the uposathaday.

Notes on the engraving procedures for the erragudi version of A?oka's Minor Rock Edict

Notes on the engraving procedures for the erragudi version of A?oka's Minor Rock Edict

Notes on the engraving procedures for the erragui version of Aśoka's Minor Rock Edict

Notes on the engraving procedures for the erragui version of Aśoka's Minor Rock Edict

Notes on the Ahraur? version of A?oka's first minor rock edict

Notes on the Ahraur? version of A?oka's first minor rock edict

Notes on the Ahraurā version of Aśoka's first minor rock edict

AbstractI therefore conclude that the sentence amaca budhasa salīle ālohe at the end of the Ahraurā version of Aśoka's MRE I arises from the misreading by the scribe83 of a carelessly written exemplar,84 and from his subsequent conjecture of words to make sense of the apparent nonsense which he had received. Although this may perhaps seem unlikely to some readers, the examples of miswritten akaras and the attempts of scribes to make sense of them which I have discussed elsewhere85 make it quite clear that may suggestion is well within the range of possibility.

Pali Phāsu- and Dātta-

Madame C. Caillat in a magistral article in Journal Asiatique, CCXLVIII, 1, 1960, 41–64, followed by a note in JA, CCXLIX, 4, 1961, 497–502, has in establishing the meaning of Pa.1 phāsu- confirmed its connexion with sprś. I question Mme. Caillat's exposition on one point only, namely the exact form of the original derivative of sprś lying behind Pa. phāsu-. Like the previous scholars whom she quotes—Kern, Hoernle, Pischel, and Schwarzwald—she assumes the original form to have been *sparśu-, the resultant *phassu- becoming phāsu-, although recognizing that examples of such a change in Pali are rare; and for most of these an alternative explanation will be offered below. Nevertheless in Prakrit and, according to Pischel (Gr. Pk., § 62), with special frequency in Ardhamāgadhi the first geminate to be shortened with lengthening of a previous vowel was -ss- (Turner, BSOAS, XXXIII, 1,1970,171). The Jaina texts in Ardhamāgadhī have both phāsaī ∽ Pa. phassati < *sparśati and phāsuya- ∽ Pa. phāsu(ka)-; and it is tempting to see the saffle origin for ā in both Ardhamāgadhī words phāsai and phāsuya-. But the existence of Pa. phāsu(ka)- invites the assumption of another origin than spass- both for it and Pk.amg. phāsuya-, for according to Mme. Caillat (JA, 1960,47) the antiquity of Pa. phāsu- is assured by the occurrence of aphāsu- in the Pātimokkha as well as by phāsu- in the Aśokan Calcutta-Bairāt Minor Rock Edict.