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I Surendra Nath Dube (b. 1941) has a brilliant d The Mauryan Age is a seminal period in the e academic background – B.A. Allahabad a political and socio-cultural life of the University and M.A. first class first, s people of India. It was characterised by the Gorakhpur University. He earned his Ph.D. a rise of imperial power to an unprecedented n and d Ideas on “Doctrinal Controversies in Early level, the blossoming of culture and arts, Buddhism” from the University of Rajasthan, M the growth of economy and brisk contacts Jaipur in 1968 where he taught for 35 years, o with lands and peoples beyond its v beginning his teaching career as Assistant e geographical frontiers. It is to this age Professor in History and Indian Culture in m Movements that the term ‘Classical’ is appropriately the year 1967. He was appointed Associate e applicable, and with sufficient good reason, Professor in 1985 and Tagore Professor in n in so far as it has served India as an t 1989. Apart from numerous research papers s exemplar of political integration and moral in the Age of in Indian and foreign journals his i regeneration. A study of the Age presents n publications include Cross Currents in Early t the students of History a variety of h Buddhism (Delhi 1980), History of Indian e problems which are as complex as they are Civilization and Culture (Jaipur 1985) and A important. With a view to understanding g e the Religious Movements in Rajasthan (ed. Jaipur Mauryas the dynamics of its vitality, this monograph o 1996). Twenty four candidates have f seeks to examine as to how the intellectual t completed their Ph.D. under his supervision. h With Special Reference to and cultural movements of the Age were e Pāli and Ardhamāgadhī Sources mutually interconnected as also with the Professor Dube was a Fellow of the Indian M development of a specific imperial Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (2002- a structure. 2005). He is also a recipient of UGC National u Associateship in History (1976-77). He r y visited Germany in 1978 under the Cultural a S.N. Dube Exchange Programme of Academics and s delivered lectures at several universities there: Humboldt University (Berlin), Martin Luther University (Halle-Wittenberg), Leipzig University, etc. He participated and chaired a session in the International S . Seminar on Buddhism and Leadership for N Peace held at East West International Centre, . Honolulu, Hawaii (June 1995). He visited D France on an invitation from Maison Des u b Sciences Des L'Homme Paris (July 1995). e Professor Dube has visited several Indological centres of Central Europe and ISBN: 978-81-7986-092-2 North America. He visited USA again in INDIAN INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDY January-February 2005. Rashtrapati Nivas, Shimla - 171 005 Tel: 0177-2830006, 2831375 E-mail: [email protected] 9 7 8 8 1 7 9 8 6 0 9 2 2 JACKET DESIGN: KAMAL PURNA JAMMUAL www. iias.org ISBN: 978-81-7986-092-2 RS. 650 IDEAS AND MOVEMENTS IN THE AGE OF THE MAURYAS (With Special Reference to Påli & Ardhamågadh∂ Sources) IDEAS AND MOVEMENTS IN THE AGE OF THE MAURYAS (With Special Reference to Påli & Ardhamågadh∂ Sources) S.N.DUBE Indian Institute of Advanced Study Rashtrapati Nivas, Shimla First published 2012 © Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission of the publisher ISBN 978-81-7986-092-2 Published by The Secretary Indian Institute of Advanced Study Rashtrapati Nivas, Shimla Typeset by 3A Graphics New Delhi 110 005 Printed at Pearl Offset Press Pvt. Ltd. 5/33, Kirti Nagar New Delhi Contents Preface 9 1. Introduction 13 2. Study of the Sources 23 3. Intellectual and Social Background 45 4. Imperial Unification and Wider Horizons 87 5. Benign Autocracy and Its Legacies 125 6. Rise and Ramifications of Early Buddhist Sects 159 7. Critical Transition in Buddhist Ideas 179 8. Consolidation of Other Ascetic Orders 223 9. Theistic Movements 267 10. Conclusion 307 General Bibliography 327 Encyclopaedias, Dictionaries, Journals, Periodicals 340 Index 342 Dedicated to the sacred memory of my beloved mother Smt. Shyama Dube and to that of my revered father Shri Uma Shanker Dube B.A., LL.B (S.P.P., U.P. Police Lucknow) Abbreviations BB Bibliotheca Buddhica BI Bibliotheca Indica BST Buddhist Sanskrit Text Series CHI Cambridge History of India CII Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum DPPN Dictionary of the Pali Proper Names EI Epigraphia Indica EMB Early Monastic Buddhism ERE Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics IHQ Indian Historical Quarterly IA Indian Antiquary JA Journal Asiatique JBBRAS Journal of the Bombay Branch of Royal Asiatic Society JBORS Journal of Bihar and Orissa Research Society JBRS Journal of Bihar Research Society JPTS Journal of Pali Text Society JRAS Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland PE Pillar Edict PHAI Political History of Ancient India PTS Pali Text Society RE Rock Edict SBB Sacred Books of the Buddhists SBE Sacred Books of the East ZDMG Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandichen Gesellschaft PREFACE The age of the Mauryas is a seminal period of Indian history characterised by changes of far-reaching significance in the political as well as socio-cultural life of the people of India. It witnessed the rise of imperial power to an unprecedented level, enabling the unification of India under the auspices of a single common authority. The unified state, the first in Indiaís history, incorporated a greater part of Bhåratavar¶a as also some adjacent regions. The political unification under the Mauryas makes the chronology of Indian history precise. Political unity leads to historical unity. A uniform and efficient system of administration under Chandragupta and his successors brought in its train the cultural unity of the country. A study of the age presents the students of history a variety of problems, which are as complex for a satisfactory explanation as they are important. Numerous questions, interesting in themselves and more interesting by reason of their general significance, unfold before us as the age progresses. With a view to understanding the vitality and continuity of Indian tradition, as well as its ability to adapt to alien ideas, harmonise contradictions and mould new thought patterns, it is interesting to examine as to how the intellectual and cultural movements of the age were mutually inter-connected as also with the development of a specific imperial structure. The present study is a modest attempt to proceed in that direction. Generally known facts of the Mauryan history have been put in a perspective to give an idea of Indiaís historical evolution. The study consits of ten chapters. The first chapter, entitled Introduction, underlines the importance of Mauryan 10 IDEAS AND MOVEMENTS IN THE AGE OF MAURYAS age in terms of political unity leading to historical and cultural unity and all important question of chronology being made precise. The second chapter, entitled Study of the Sources, surveys relevant sources, highlighting those which are of our direct concern, i.e., Påli and Ardhamågadh∂ texts. The third chapter, entitled Intellectual and Social Background, traces the backdrop of spiritual unrest and intellectual ferment opening the vista of heterodox ascetic movements, the foremost being Buddhism and Jainism. Each one of them was based on a distinctive set of doctrines and distinctive rules of monastic and social conduct. Their genesis and nature, as well as the extent of their spread and expansion in the society have also been delineated. Imperial Unification and Wider Horizons, which forms the fourth chapter, discusses in detail as to how the Mauryan age ushers in a unique period of unification and consolidation. The accomplishments of the great soldier and founder of the empire Chandragupta, in the aftermath of the disruptive invasion of Alexander the Great in 326 BC, placed India on the political map of the world. The conscientious administrative system of the Mauryas owes as much to him as to his renowned chancellor Chåƒakya or Kau¢ilya. An important consequence of Alexanderís campaigns in India was that India and Greek world were brought closer to each other than before and the way was opened up for active contact between them, leading to the growth of trade and cultural intercourse. The fifth chapter, entitled Benign Autocracy and Its Legacies, discusses the forty years of A‹okaís reign which forms a great epoch not only in the history of India, but in the anals of mankind. The baffling problem of A‹okaís religious conviction has been analysed in detail and hitherto unutilised sources have been highlighted on the issue. Asokaís Buddhist missions are claimed to have operated in West Asia, Egypt and Macedonia and the rise of Essenes sect, to which Jesus belonged, may, probably, owe something to the Buddhist influence. PREFACE 11 Rise and Ramifications of Early Buddhist Sects, which is the caption of the sixth chapter, traces the background, evolution and ramifications of the early Buddhist sects which seem to have proliferated in the age of A‹oka. The seventh chapter, entitled Critical Transition in Buddhist Ideas, presents a broad cross-section of Buddhist thought in the age of the Mauryas when some of the conflicts and obscurities latent in the earlier doctrines emerged openly and when in the course of their discussion ground was prepared for future development. The Påli text Kathåvatthu, a leading document of the age of A‹oka, is a kind of magnum opus for a reconstruction of early Buddhism and for understanding the figurative transition from the earlier historical forms to the later developed systems.

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