helpful, by way of summary, to outline a comparative frame which indicates
how Buddhist communities and brahmanic communities were reflecting
the period.
Kingship
In the brahmanic or vaidikaview, kingship was sacralized as in maha ̄ra ̄ja,
devaputra(son of the gods), and other terms. The king was to practice artha
(statecraft) and was rhetorically legitimated for the people by brahmans.
In the Buddhist context, the emperor, especially As ́oka, was cakravartin
(wheel-turner); he exemplified the lay bodhisattva, and maintained stability
in the social order, legitimated and advised by monks.
Ethics
Invaidikasettings, there was emphasis on artha(statecraft),dharma(respon-
sible living in the world), and varn.as ́ra ̄mas(stages of life, now emphasizing
the role of householder). Ethics was a form of sacrifice and ritual.
In Buddhism, the emphasis of laypersons was on karma(appropriate
action), including donations and morality. For monks, rules (vinaya) for the
monastic setting were articulated and the doctrine of the six perfections
developed by the third century after Buddha.
Attitude toward city-state
In brahmanic discourse, the city-state was where dharmawas to be enacted;
the world was increasingly seen as the playground (lı ̄la ̄) of the gods;
renunciation was to be of “fruits” not of action.
In Buddhist contexts, the city-state had become the arena for working out
enlightenment; dialectic interaction existed between monk and laity; the
role of the bodhisattva(the wise one who had “dispassionate compassion”
for all sentient beings) took precedence in Maha ̄ya ̄naschools. By the third
centuryCE, the distinction between nirva ̄n.aandsamsa ̄rawas collapsed in
Na ̄ga ̄rjuna’s doctrine of emptiness (s ́ u ̄ nyata ̄).
Pantheon
Invaidikasettings, there was the mythologization of “high deities” (e.g., S ́iva,
Vis.n.u, Skanda) as well as personification of the once impersonal brahman;
deities incorporated Buddhist, “folk,” and vaidikamotifs.
In Buddhism, by the second century CE, under the Kus.a ̄n.as, the Buddha
had become like a king atop the cosmos, enhanced by Iranian notions of
The Urban Period 79