Chapter 6 Religions of South Asia 213dha’s followers to gather together during the three months of the rainy season,
often in a place provided by a lay follower of Buddha in a grove or forest clear-
ing. These became months of building community, rereading the Sutras, prac-
ticing meditation, and instructing new followers of the Buddhist path.
Living in the community raised many of the same kinds of problems facing
people who did not renounce society. Individuals do not always get along. Spir-
itual aspiration can turn competitive. Pride can creep in. Above all, sexual
urges are difficult to control. Therefore, soon after Buddha’s death a set of rules
for the spiritual community, called the vinaya, developed and consisted of 227
prohibitions listed in order of seriousness; the first four required abstention
from sex, from theft, from destruction of life even down to a worm or ant, and
from claiming any superhuman powers. Offenses against these rules resulted in
expulsion. Other rules forbade handling gold and silver, engaging in trade,
drinking alcoholic beverages, sitting or sleeping more than eight inches from
the ground, and eating any meals after noon.
The Four Periods of Buddhism
Buddhism has persisted for 2,500 years, undergoing profound changes dur-
ing that time. Each of its phases resulted in the production of new sacred texts,
theological elaborations, additions to the pantheon of Buddhist sacred figures,
and new iconographies. Often these transformations occurred in new settings,
as Buddhism was carried into Southeast and East Asia. Accommodations were
made for laypeople who could not abandon secular life for monastic life, mak-
ing it easier to achieve spiritual goals laid out by the Buddha’s original insights.
Following Conze (1988), we identify four periods.
The First 500 Years: “Old Buddhism,” Theravada or Hinayana Buddhism
(500–1 B.C.E.). The period begins with the life of Buddha (he probably died
around 487 B.C.E.) and encompasses the Mauryan Empire. By the time of his
death at age 80, his followers numbered in the thousands. Buddha’s simple psy-
chological teachings became elaborated, as the monastic tradition of his imme-
diate followers came to be supported by lay society and its rulers.
A key point came a century and a half later, when Emperor Ashoka (304–
232 B.C.E.) converted to Buddhism. We know about this event from the series
of inscriptions on rocks and pillars put up by Ashoka across his empire and
from several pious texts about his life, most importantly the Ashokavadana
(“The Legend of King Ashoka”). His conversion to Buddhism is attested to by
the Thirteenth Rock Edict where he regrets the suffering of Kalinga caused by
his conquest, declares his devotion to dharma, and urges that dharma be
accepted throughout his empire and proclaimed beyond it.
In “The Legend of King Ashoka” we learn of the prophecy of a wandering
ascetic that he would be a cakravartin, a “wheel-turning” monarch, that is, a
great king who rules the whole world according to Buddhist dharma. However,
his reign did not begin well; he was a cruel king known as Ashoka the Fierce
(Chandashoka) after beheading 500 of his ministers and burning alive 500