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ASOKA , a famous Buddhist See also:emperor of See also:India who reigned from 264 to 228 or 227 B.C. See also:Thirty-five of his See also:inscriptions on rocks or pillars or in caves still exist (see INSCRIPTIONS: See also:Indian), and they are among the most remarkable and interesting of Buddhist monuments (see See also:BUDDHISM). Asoka was the See also:grandson of Chandragupta, the founder of the Maurya (See also:Peacock) See also:dynasty, who had wrested the Indian provinces of See also:Alexander the See also:Great from the hands of Seleucus, and he was the son of Bindusara, who succeeded his See also:father Chandragupta, by a See also:lady from Champs. The Greeks do not mention him and the Brahmin books ignore him, but the Buddhist See also:chronicles and legends tell us much about him. The inscriptions, which contain altogether about five thousand words, are entirely of religious import, and their references to worldly affairs are incidental. They begin in the thirteenth See also:year of his reign, and tell us that in the ninth year he had invaded See also:Kalinga, and had been so deeply impressed by the horrors involved in warfare that he had then given up the See also:desire for See also:conquest, and devoted himself to conquest by " See also:religion." What the religion was is explained in the edicts. It is purely ethical, See also:independent alike of See also:theology and See also:ritual, and is the See also:code of morals as laid down in the Buddhist sacred books for laymen. He further tells us that in the ninth year of his reign he formally joined the Buddhist community as a layman, in the See also:eleventh year he became a member of the See also:- ORDER
- ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
- ORDER, HOLY
order, and in the thirteenth he " set out for the Great See also:Wisdom " (the Sambodhi), which is the Buddhist technical See also:term for entering upon the well-known, eight-See also:fold path to See also:Nirvana. One of the edicts is addressed to the order, and urges upon its members and the laity alike the learning and See also:- REHEARSAL (from " rehearse," to say over again, repeat, recount, O.Fr. rehercer, from re, again, and hercer, to harrow, cf. " hearse," the original meaning being to rake or go over the same ground again as with a harrow)
rehearsal of passages from the Buddhist scriptures. Two others are proclamations commemorating visits paid by the See also:- KING
- KING (O. Eng. cyning, abbreviated into cyng, cing; cf. O. H. G. chun- kuning, chun- kunig, M.H.G. kiinic, kiinec, kiinc, Mod. Ger. Konig, O. Norse konungr, kongr, Swed. konung, kung)
- KING [OF OCKHAM], PETER KING, 1ST BARON (1669-1734)
- KING, CHARLES WILLIAM (1818-1888)
- KING, CLARENCE (1842–1901)
- KING, EDWARD (1612–1637)
- KING, EDWARD (1829–1910)
- KING, HENRY (1591-1669)
- KING, RUFUS (1755–1827)
- KING, THOMAS (1730–1805)
- KING, WILLIAM (1650-1729)
- KING, WILLIAM (1663–1712)
king, one to the See also:dome erected over the ashes of Konagamana, the See also:Buddha, another to the birthplace of Gotama, the Buddha (q.v.). Three very See also:short ones are dedications of caves to the use of an order of recluses. The See also:rest either enunciate the religion as explained above, or describe the means adopted by the king for propagating it, or acting in accordance with it.
These means are such as the digging of See also:wells, planting medicinal herbs, and trees for shade, sending out of missionaries, See also:appointment of See also:special See also:officers to supervise charities, and so on. The missionaries were sent to See also:Kashmir, to the Himalayas, to the border lands on the See also:Indus, to the See also:coast of See also:Burma, to See also:south India and to See also:Ceylon. And the king claims that See also:missions sent by him to certain See also:Greek kingdoms that he names had resulted in the folk there conforming themselves to his religion. The extent of Asoka's dominion included all India from the thirteenth degree of See also:latitude up to the Himalayas, See also:Nepal, Kashmir, the See also:Swat valley, See also:Afghanistan as far as the See also:Hindu Kush, See also:Sind and See also:Baluchistan. It was thus as large as, or perhaps somewhat larger than, See also:British India before the conquest of Burma. He was undoubtedly the most powerful See also:sovereign of his See also:- TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
- TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
- TIME, STANDARD
time and the most remarkable and imposing of the native rulers of India. " If a See also:man's fame," says Koppen, " can be measured by the number of See also:hearts who See also:revere his memory, by the number of lips who have mentioned, and still mention him with See also:honour, Asoka is more famous than See also:Charlemagne or See also:Caesar." At the same time it is probable that,
See also:ASPARAGINE
like See also:Constantine's patronage of See also:Christianity, his patronage of Buddhism, then the most rising and influential faith in India, was not unalloyed with See also:political motives, and it is certain that his vast benefactions to the Buddhist cause were at least one of the causes that led to its decline.
See also Asoka, by See also:Vincent See also:- SMITH
- SMITH, ADAM (1723–1790)
- SMITH, ALEXANDER (183o-1867)
- SMITH, ANDREW JACKSON (1815-1897)
- SMITH, CHARLES EMORY (1842–1908)
- SMITH, CHARLES FERGUSON (1807–1862)
- SMITH, CHARLOTTE (1749-1806)
- SMITH, COLVIN (1795—1875)
- SMITH, EDMUND KIRBY (1824-1893)
- SMITH, G
- SMITH, GEORGE (1789-1846)
- SMITH, GEORGE (184o-1876)
- SMITH, GEORGE ADAM (1856- )
- SMITH, GERRIT (1797–1874)
- SMITH, GOLDWIN (1823-191o)
- SMITH, HENRY BOYNTON (1815-1877)
- SMITH, HENRY JOHN STEPHEN (1826-1883)
- SMITH, HENRY PRESERVED (1847– )
- SMITH, JAMES (1775–1839)
- SMITH, JOHN (1579-1631)
- SMITH, JOHN RAPHAEL (1752–1812)
- SMITH, JOSEPH, JR
- SMITH, MORGAN LEWIS (1822–1874)
- SMITH, RICHARD BAIRD (1818-1861)
- SMITH, ROBERT (1689-1768)
- SMITH, SIR HENRY GEORGE WAKELYN
- SMITH, SIR THOMAS (1513-1577)
- SMITH, SIR WILLIAM (1813-1893)
- SMITH, SIR WILLIAM SIDNEY (1764-1840)
- SMITH, SYDNEY (1771-1845)
- SMITH, THOMAS SOUTHWOOD (1788-1861)
- SMITH, WILLIAM (1769-1839)
- SMITH, WILLIAM (c. 1730-1819)
- SMITH, WILLIAM (fl. 1596)
- SMITH, WILLIAM FARRAR (1824—1903)
- SMITH, WILLIAM HENRY (1808—1872)
- SMITH, WILLIAM HENRY (1825—1891)
- SMITH, WILLIAM ROBERTSON (1846-'894)
Smith (See also:- OXFORD
- OXFORD, EARLS OF
- OXFORD, EDWARD DE VERE, 17TH EARL
- OXFORD, JOHN DE VERE, 13TH EARL OF (1443-1513)
- OXFORD, PROVISIONS OF
- OXFORD, ROBERT DE VERE, 9TH EARL OF (1362-1392)
- OXFORD, ROBERT HARLEY, 1ST
Oxford, 19o1); Inscriptions de Piyadasi, by E. Senart (See also:Paris, 1891); chapters on Asoka in T. W. Rhys Davids's Buddhism(2oth ed.,See also:London, 1903), and Buddhist India (London, 1903); V. A.
Smith, Edicts of Asoka (1909). (T. W. R.
End of Article: ASOKA
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