INCREDIBLE QUOTE ABOUT RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE:

Two thousand three hundred years ago, the great king, Ashoka, united
most of the Indian subcontinent and embraced the ethics of Buddha
Shakyamuni in order to pacify both himself and his empire. Ashoka left
his decrees in the form of inscriptions in granite slabs and pillars
all over the empire that have survived to the present day. In one of
them he wrote: “The king honors both the ascetics and the householders
of all religions and he honors them with gifts and honors of various
kinds. But the King does not value gifts and honors as much as he
values this: that there should be growth in the essentials of all
religions. Growth in essentials can be done in different ways, but all
of them have as their root restraint in speech, that is, not praising
one’s own religion or condemning the religion of others without good
cause. And if there is cause for criticism, it should be done in a
mild way. …Therefore contact [between religions] is good. One should
listen to and respect the doctrines professed by others. The king
desires that all should be well-learned in the good doctrines of other
religions.”


For more information: See Romila Tharpar, Asoka and the Decline of the
Mauryas, Oxford U. Press, 1997. Twelfth Major Rock Edict pg. 255

Also: Naresh Prasad Rastogi. Inscriptions of Asoka. Chowkhamba
Sanskrit Series, Varanasi 1990; pp. 137-149 (English transl. p. 148-9;
the rest is in the original Prakrit in several versions).

posted by johnthompson at 20:51 | link | comments (1)