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GEORGEA. KEYWORTHPOLITICS AND BUDDHISM
Siddhartha Gautama was himself a prince, who
nonetheless rejected political power, abandoning his
royal inheritance along with his family and material
comforts. In the biographies of the Buddha there is thus
a strong sense of dichotomous contrast: The “world”
(of family, wealth, and politics) must be renounced in
the pursuit of enlightenment. MONKSand NUNSwere
instructed to refuse or minimize involvement with the
political leadership. Nonetheless, ORDINATIONwas a
political statement with political consequences, since
the ordinand claimed to be opting out of the power
structures of the (lay) world. Indeed one measure of the
holiness of a Buddhist saint has been a distance from
the centers of political power. Even monks who were
intimately involved in political lobbying and who lived
lives of urban comfort nonetheless retained some of the
symbolism of the poor mountain or forest renunciant.
There are scriptural cases of the Buddha’s dealings
with rulers, generally in the contexts of teaching them
the dharma and receiving donations. Bimbisara, king
of Magadha during the Buddha’s lifetime, is remem-
bered as a pious disciple and generous donor who gave
land for the SAN ̇GHAand sponsored the creation of the
first Buddha image.
More influential was the example of King AS ́OKA
(third century B.C.E.), ruler of the Mauryan dynasty,
who converted to Buddhism and promoted its spread
throughout much of India. His conversion came after
a famously bloody war campaign, and the violence of
his earlier military career is often thought to lie behind
his religious fervor. His policy of conquest by force
(digvijaya) was replaced by an idea of conquest by
righteousness (dharmavijaya). Much of the image of
As ́oka as personally pious dates from later sources,
which blend into hagiographic idealization. As ́oka’s of-
ficial pronouncements are known from the extant
edicts carved in rocks and distributed throughout his
empire, often on display in Buddhist monasteries. He
also sponsored religious sects other than Buddhism,
and the dharma teachings that the edicts emphasize are
fairly nonspecific exhortations to law-abiding social
conduct. As ́oka did recommend sutras to read, and he
seems to have intervened in a schism, forcing schis-
matic monks to wear white robes and be removed from
the orthodox san ̇gha. According to traditional Sin-
halese accounts, he took a role in the Council of
Pataliputra (250 B.C.E.), which formalized a schism be-
tween the Sthaviras (elders) and the MAHASAMGHIKAS
(Great Assembly). As ́oka became a model of the right-
eous Buddhist king, and temples to King As ́oka were
founded throughout East Asia.
Some kings have chosen to be ordained as monks.
Some of the Japanese emperors lived as monk-recluses
(in their palaces). As another example, King Mongkut
of Siam (1804–1868) was hurriedly ordained a monk
a week before his father’s death, and was thereby shel-
tered from succession struggles. Instead, Mongkut’s
half-brother reigned for twenty-seven years, and upon
his death, Mongkut disrobed and ascended the throne
for a further seventeen-year reign. During his time as
a monk, Mongkut founded a reform sect of Thai Bud-
dhism, which has continued to enjoy royal favor.The ideal ruler
The ideal ruler was described as cakravartin (wheel-
turning king or universal ruler) and dharmaraja,or as
a bodhisattva. Cakravartins have the thirty-two marksPOLITICS ANDBUDDHISMA monk participating in a Mother’s Day protest against nuclear
weapons testing prays at the entrance to the Nevada test site in- AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.