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eternal, of universal scope, and could be taught and promoted successfully to
Buddhists and non-Buddhists both inside and outside the boundaries of his empire.
While apparently personally committed to Buddhism he did not regard it as having a
monopoly on the truth. Indeed, he warns against privileging one’s own faith over that
th
of others. In his 12 Rock Edict he writes ‘Whoever praises his own religion, due to
excessive devotion, and condemns others with the thought “Let me glorify my own
religion,” only harms his own religion. Therefore contact (between religions) is good.’
For their part, those Westerners living on the borders of Ashoka’s empire were clearly
receptive enough to his ideas to arrange for paraphrases of the edicts to be made in
Greek. 6

But in what did Ashoka’s Dhamma consist? He himself answers this question in
his 2 Pillar Edict. ‘Dhamma,’ he tells us, (involves) little evil, much good, kindness,
nd
generosity, truthfulness and purity.’ He expands on this in Rock Edict 11, adding that
Dhamma consists in ‘proper behavior towards servants and employees, respect for
mother and father, generosity to friends, companions, relations, Brahmans and
ascetics, and not killing living beings.’ The edicts contain many references to social
policies such as on the welfare of prisoners, the treatment of animals, assistance to
the poor, and care for the sick and elderly. Ashoka speaks of his ‘Dhamma
regulations’ and ‘Dhamma proclamations’, and one has the sense that his edicts are
an attempt to articulate a universal code setting out the basic standards for a civilized
society. He even employed civil servants known as Dhamma-mahamatras to proclaim
and enforce his principles of good government throughout the empire.

Ashokan
values
in
the
modern
age

Coming forward in time, I see a connection here with our present location in the
UN conference centre in Bangkok, for a similar exercise was undertaken by the
United Nations when it formulated the Universal Declaration on Human Rights in
1948. This, and the many conventions that have since followed it, while more
extensive and precisely formulated, express the same values of tolerance and respect
for human dignity that we find in Ashoka’s edicts. There we see specific concern for
freedom of religion, peaceful coexistence among faiths, healthcare and social welfare,
prison reform, and social justice, and I believe we find similar values enshrined in the
UN Declaration. If I am correct in seeing a continuity between the concerns of
Ashoka’s Dhamma and the UN Declaration on Human Rights, it seems we have a way
of making a link between the policies of an ancient and revered Dhammaraja and the
principles that should underlie the governance of contemporary Western societies and, International panel discussion
indeed, of all member states of the United Nations.

6 David Sick. “When Socrates Met the Buddha: Greek and Indian Dialectic in Hellenistic Bactria
and India.” Journal
of
the
Royal
Asiatic
Society
17, no. 3 (2007): 253–278.