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ancient texts like the Bahudhatuka-sutta a woman cannot be a Cakkavatti, and
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assuming this limitation also applies to a Dhammaraja it seemed less controversial for
our present purposes to select a man for our comparison.

A second reason is that President Obama seems particularly at home in Buddhist
countries. On his visit to Southeast Asia in November 2012 he received a welcome
befitting a Dhammaraja in all of the countries he visited. Seeing him in the context of
famous Buddhist sites, such as Wat Pho in Bangkok and the Shwe Dagon pagoda in
Yangon, made him appear a bit like a modern Ashoka on one of his periodic Dharma-
yatras or tours of religious sites. In Bangkok, he even welcomed the offer of Buddhist
prayers to help prevent America from falling off the ‘fiscal cliff’ on his return to the
USA.

A comparison of the kind I am proposing presents certain methodological
challenges, and to address them would require more time and space than I have at
my disposal. Instead I will simply suggest some possible bridgeheads which will
indicate ways we can move between past and present and East and West without
being caught in too many methodological traps. I would also add that my intention
here is not to propose definitive or conclusive arguments but to pose hopefully
thought-provoking questions about the meaning and relevance of the notion of the
Dhammaraja in today’s world.

Ashoka
as
Dhammaraja

In attempting to open up the question in the way proposed, I am adopting a
less literal understanding of the traditional meaning of the term Dhamma as denoting
not exclusively Buddhist teachings but as pointing to a set of core moral values that
transcend the dogma of any one religion. Some justification for this would seem to be
that this is how Ashoka used the term in his edicts, which record the proclamations
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he made to the subjects of his own multifaith empire. He tells us in his 5 Rock
Edict that his officers of Dhamma ‘are busy in all sects, establishing Dhamma ...
among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Gandharans ... and other peoples on the
International panel discussion Dhamma as ‘timeless’ (RE 9). From this we see that Ashoka, perhaps the most
Western frontier.’ He goes on to add ‘They work among soldiers, chiefs, Brahmans,
householders, the poor, the aged and those devoted to Dhamma’. He also describes

famous Dhammaraja in the history of Buddhism, clearly believed that Dhamma was

MN iii.65. Cf. AN.i.15; AN.i.28.

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For present purposes I am treating the concept of the Cakkavatti as largely synonymous with
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that of the Dhammaraja since as far as I am aware that the ancient do not make a very clear
distinction between the two. Whatever difference there is seems to be one of scope rather than moral
principles. Thus, the Dhammaraja seems to be conceived of as a local or national ruler, whereas the
Cakkavatti is more like an emperor. To give a modern example, we could say that Queen Victoria (had
she not been female) might have been considered a Dhammaraja in respect of Great Britain, but a
Cakkavatti with regard to her colonial domains and in her capacity as ‘Empress of India’.