پادشاه آشوکا و بودیسم

King A艣oka and Buddhism Historical & Literary Studies BuddhaNet Title Page for King Aśoka & Buddhism 1 King Aśoka and Buddhism — Historical & Literary Studies 2 The Contributors 6 Editor’s Preface 11 Editor’s Note 12 Acknowledgements 13 1 Aśoka — The Great Upāsaka 14 Richard Gombrich 14 1. Aśoka’s Inscriptions 15 2. Aśoka in Buddhist Tradition 19 3. The Missions: Interpreting the Evidence 23 Notes 26 2 Aśoka and Buddhism as Reflected in the Aśokan Edicts 28 Romila Thapar 28 3 Emperor Aśoka and Buddhism: Unresolved Discrepancies between Buddhist Tradition & Aśokan Inscriptions 50 Ananda W.P. Guruge 50 1. Introduction 50 2. Conversion of Aśoka to Buddhism 55 3. When, How and by Whom? 59 4. Major Discrepancies in Events and Dates 62 5. Historical Reliability of Rock Edict XIII 67 6. Aśoka’s Role in the Propagation of Buddhism in his Empire 76 7. Foreign Missions of Aśoka 83 8. Conclusions 92 Notes 97 4 Aśoka’s Edicts and the Third Buddhist Council 105 N.A. Jayawickrama 105 Notes 119 5 Aśoka and the Emergence of a Sinhala Buddhist State in Sri Lanka 124 Anuradha Seneviratna 124 1. Introduction 124 2. Sources 125 3. The Mission to Sri Lanka: Brief Account 128 4. The Political Background 131 5. The Sri Lanka-Kalinga Tie 135 6. Aśoka and Tissa 138 7. The Advent of Mahinda 143 8. Sanghamittā and the Bodhi Tree 145 9. Conclusion 148 Notes 150 6 Images of Aśoka: Some Indian and Sri Lankan Legends and their Development 154 John S. Strong 154 A. The Early Traditions 159 1. The Gift of Honey and the Gift of Dirt 159 2. The Fate of the Bodhi Tree 165 3. The Gathering of the Relics 167 4. The 84,000 Stūpas or Vihāras 170 B. Later Developments 175 1. The Gift of Dirt Reconsidered 175 2. The Legends of the Queens 178 3. The Collection of Relics: A New Story 181 4. The 84,000 Stūpas Once More 183 Conclusion 186 Notes 187 7 Emperor Aśoka’s Place in History: A Review of Prevalent Opinions 195 Ananda W.P. Guruge 195 1. Introduction 195 2. Aśoka in the Mainstream Indian Tradition and Literature 197 3. Aśoka of the Northern Buddhist Sources 201 4. Aśoka of the Sri Lankan Pali Sources 208 5. Aśoka of Edicts and Inscriptions 214 6. Aśoka in the Eyes of Recent Writers & Scholars 216 7. Aśoka and the Decline and Fall of the Mauryan Empire 230 8. Conclusion 234 Notes 237 Maps 248 Aśoka’s Indian Empire 248 Areas to which Buddhist Missions were sent 249