 | Greco-Buddhist monasticism: Encyclopedia II - Greco-Buddhist monasticism - Greeks monks under Ashoka
Greco-Buddhist monasticism - Greeks monks under Ashoka
According to Edicts of Ashoka, Greek populations (generally described in ancient times throughout the Classical world as Yona, Yojanas or Yavanas, lit. “Ionians” [1]) were under his rule in northwestern India.
"Here in the king's domain among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Nabhakas, the Nabhapamkits, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras and the Palidas, everywhere people are following Beloved-of-the-Gods' instructions in Dhamma." Rock Edict Nb13 (S. Dhammika)
Far from just being on the receiving end of conversion to Buddhism, the Mahavamsa indicates that Greeks took an active role in spreading the Buddhist faith as emissaries of Ashoka.
These Greek missionaries appear in the list of the “elders” (Pali: “thera”) sent far and wide by Emperor Ashoka:
"When the thera Moggaliputta, the illuminator of the religion of the Conqueror, had brought the (third) council to an end (…) he sent forth theras, one here and one there:
- The thera Mahyantika he sent to Kasmira and Gandhara,
- The thera, MaMdeva he sent to Mahisamandala.
- To Vanavasa be sent the thera named Rakkhita,
- and to Aparantaka (he sent) the Yona named Dhammarakkhita;
- to Maharattha (he sent) the thera named Mahadhammarakkhita,
- but the thera Maharakkhita he sent into the country of the Yona.
- He sent the thera Majjhima to the Himalaya country,
- and to Suvambhurni he sent the two theras Sona and Uttara.
- The great thera Mahinda, the theras Utthiya, Uttiya, Sambala and Bhaddasala his disciples, these five theras he sent forth with the charge: `Ye shall found in the lovely island of Lanka the lovely religion of the Conqueror.'" (Mahavamsa, XII)
Greco-Buddhist monasticism - Dharmaraksita
Dhammarakkhita (Dharmaraksita in Sanskrit), was the Yona (Lit. "Ionian" or "Greek") leader of the mission to Aparantaka.
The country of Aparantaka has been identified as the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, and comprises Northern Gujarat, Kathiawar, Kachch, and Sindh, the area where Greek communities were probably concentrated. To this day, a city in Gujarat is named Junagadh, originally "Yonagadh", lit. "City of the Greeks".
Dharmarashita is said to have preached the Aggikkhandopama Sutra, so that 37,000 people were converted in Aparantaka and that thousands of men and women entered the Order (Mahavimsa XII).
According to the Milinda Panha (I 32-35), the monk Nagasena, who famously dialogued with the Greek king Menander I to convert him to Buddhism, was a student of Dharmaraksita, and he reached enlightenment as an arhat under his guidance.
Greco-Buddhist monasticism - Mahyantika
The thera (“elder”) Mahyantika was sent to Kashmir and Gandhara, also areas with strong Hellenic presence. Although he is not identified as Greek in the Mahavamsa, his name probably means Maha (great) + Antika (Antiochos), a common Greek first name.
Greco-Buddhist monasticism - Maharaksita
The thera (“elder”) Maharakkhita (Maharaksita in Sanskrit) is said to have been sent to the country of the Greeks. He would probably have been Greek as well due to the nature of his mission, but this is unconfirmed.
Other related archives135 BCE, 160, 185, 250 BCE, 260 BCE, 2nd century BCE, 4th century CE, 6th century BCE, 6th century CE, 73 BCE, Abhidharma, Alexander the Great, Anuradhapura, Ashoka, Buddhism, Buddhist, Central Asia, Dharmaraksita, Dipavamsa, Edicts of Ashoka, Gandhara, Greco-Bactrians, Greco-Buddhism, Gujarat, History of Buddhism, India, Indo-Greek, Indo-Greek Kingdom, Ionians, Junagadh, Kabul, Kambojas, Kashmir, Kathiawar, Mahadharmaraksita, Mahavamsa, Mauryan empire, Mediterranean, Menander, Menander I, Milinda Panha, Nagasena, Pali, Pataliputra, Patna, Punjab, Rock Edict Nb13, Sagala, Sanskrit, Sindh, Sri Lanka, Sungas, Sutra, Tipitaka, Tripitaka, Vinaya, arhat, bhikkhus, stupa
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Greeks monks under Ashoka", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
