The Legend of King Asoka - A Srudy and Translation of the Asokavadana

The Legend of King Asoka - A Srudy and Translation of the Asokavadana

Product ID: 17327

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Author: John S Strong
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 336
ISBN/UPC (if available): 81-208-0616-6

Description

This is the first English translation of the Asokavadana text, the Sanskrit version of the legend of King Asoka, first written in the second century AD. Asoka was the Emperor of India during the third century BC and one of the most important rulers in the history of Buddhism.

Asoka has hitherto been studied in the West primarily from his edicts and rock inscriptions in many of the Indian subcontinent. Through an extensive critical essay and a fulid translation, John Strong examines the importance of the Asoka of the legends for our overall understanding of Buddhism.

Professor Strong contreasts the text with the Pali tradition about King Asoka and discusses the Buddhist view of kingship, the relationship of the state and the Buddhistcommunity, the king's role in relating his kingdom to the person of the Buddha, and the connections between merit making, cosmology, and Buddhist doctrine. An appendix provides summaries of other stories about Asoka.

REVIEW:
Commentary and legend are presented in a lucid and attractive writing style, spiced with humor, embroidered with apt ilustrations, and likely to apeal not only to scholar but to a wider reading public.
- Stanely Tambiah, Harvard University

Contents

Foreword by Alex Wayman
Preface

PART ONE:





Foreword by Alex Wayman
Preface

PART ONE-
ASOKA AND HIS LEGEND

The Leg3end and Its background
Dirt and Dharma: Kingship in the Asokavadana
King and Layman: Asoka's Relationship to the Buddhist Community
Asoka and the Buddha
Asoka: Master of Good Means and Merit Maker
Conspectus

PART TWO
The Legend of Asoka: A Translation of
the Asokavadana

Appendix. Sanskrit Legends about Asoka Not appearing
in the Asokavadana
Glossary
Bibliography
Index