The Offering
A story about Ashoka the Great
Retold by Rohini Chowdhury
Ashoka was one of the greatest kings of ancient times. His empire consisted of most of present-day India, and extended as far west as Afghanistan, and included parts of Persia as well. In later life, he became a Buddhist and he is remembered for his just and wise rule. Ashoka inscribed his ‘dhamma’, his code, on rocks and pillars. These can still be seen in India today. Ashoka inscribed his edicts in Pali, the language spoken by the common people, so that everyone could understand his words. Ashoka ruled from 269 to 232 BC.
The following story about Ashoka is related in the Ashokavadana, a work about the life and reign of Ashoka; this was written sometime in the 2nd century CE.
The Offering
Long ago, in a little village in India, there lived a child called Jaya. One day Gautam Buddha came to his village.
The villagers gathered round the Buddha, welcoming him into their village. They made a comfortable seat for him in the cool shade of a leafy peepul tree. The women washed the dust of travel from his feet, and offered him fruit to eat and cool water to drink.
The child watched fascinated. He could not take his eyes off the face of the Buddha, the quiet calm countenance, the deep dark eyes, the air of contentment. He couldn’t understand much of what the Buddha said, but marveled instead at the sound of his voice, soft, serene, and full of conviction. The men and women listened enthralled. The Buddha spoke all day and through the night. The child sat there – among the grown ups, all hunger and thirst forgotten. Some time during the night, he fell asleep, and when he awoke, he saw that the Buddha was getting ready to leave.
‘Don’t go,’ cried the child in his heart, but he knew that that was not what the Buddha would want of him. He was desperate – he didn’t want the Buddha to go. The child felt an emotion he hadn’t felt before – he felt love. How could he tell the Buddha that he loved him? That he would follow him to the ends of the earth?
The child saw the grown-ups gather round the Buddha. Some were offering him more fruit to carry with him, some were offering him grain. The child had nothing to give the Buddha, nothing at all in the world. So he gathered the dust from the earth, and holding it out in his two little hands ran to the Buddha with his offering.
The Buddha was touched by the faith he saw in the child’s eyes. He smiled and accepted the child’s offering, and blessed him.
The child never saw the Buddha again, but carried his image in his spirit forever.
It is said that this child was reborn as Ashok, one of the greatest of the emperors of ancient India. Ashok fought many wars of conquest, but after one particularly bloody war in Kalinga, where thousands lay hurt or dead, Ashok gave up war forever. He embraced the teachings of Buddha, and spent his long reign in improving the life of his subjects. Ashok also sent missionaries to spread the teachings of the Buddha far and wide.
