Today, there are an estimated four hundred million Buddhists, spread over Southeast and East Asia, with smaller communities elsewhere. It all began nearly 2,500 years ago, when Siddhartha Gautama went in search of truth and enlightenment. Towards this end, on a full moon day in the month of May, Siddhartha sat under a bodhi tree in meditation and announced “I will not leave this spot until I find an end to suffering”. After intense meditation, he finally achieved “enlightenment” and came to be called Buddha.
Having been enlightened, he went to the deer park near present day Varanasi and shared his understanding with five holy men, who immediately became his disciples. He spent the remaining four and a half decades of his life, spreading his teachings.
But how did Buddhism come to spread over much of Asia five centuries before Christ? The answer lies in the life and works of the man ranked among the greatest kings, the world has ever known. And his greatness, does not flow from the vast kingdom he had built up, through war. His lasting greatness is due to the fact that after a violent victory over the Kalingas, he had a change of heart and gave up war altogether. He then renounced his faith and converted to Buddhism and to spread his new faith sent missionaries throughout the world. (See table).
It is these missionaries who spread the message of Buddha consequent upon which today Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Kampuchea, Vietnam and Mongolia are largely Buddhists. Buddhism also has a large following in China, Japan and Korea.
And this great King is Emperor Ashoka who has given our country two of its enduring symbols. The lion capital of Ashoka is a sculpture of four Asian lions standing back to back on a base. It was adopted as the national emblem in the year 1950 and evokes great patriotic fervour. Another symbol of the Emperor is the Ashoka chakra, a depiction of the dharma chakra, a wheel represented with 24 spokes. It appears at the centre in the white stripe of our National Flag. It was the great wisdom of the framers of our constitution, that these are our national symbols.
Sadly, Buddhism which evolved in India and spread the world over, has very limited following in the country. As we can see the countries, which accepted Buddhism like China, Japan and Korea are far more advanced than us. Why then did Buddhism disappear from India? The only reason I can think of is what, we can see even today. We produce two qualities of products and the better one is branded as export quality. I am left wondering whether it is our historical trait to export the best and retain the rest.
Following in the footsteps of Buddha and Emperor Ashoka, one of the makers of modern India, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar renounced his faith and along with lakhs of followers converted to Buddhism at Nagpur on October 14, 1956. He had earlier explained the reasons for conversion as follows:
“After giving deep thought to the problem, everybody will have to admit that conversion is necessary to the Untouchables as self-government is to India. The ultimate object of both is the same. There is not the slightest difference in their ultimate goal. This ultimate aim is to attain freedom. And if the freedom is necessary for the life of mankind, conversion of Untouchables which brings them complete freedom cannot be called worthless by any stretch of imagination.”
As we can thus see, the great leaders of ancient and modern India renounced their faith and converted to Buddhism after personal experiences and deep thought. So conversion as a concept is very much part of our national ethos.
We always take pride in the fact that we Indians invented chess and the concept of zero. And to this pantheon must be added, the concept of conversion and missionaries which was first practiced and perfected in ancient India. Scores of countries accepted Indian missionaries and the dharma preached by them. Among the early converts was Menander I the Greek King of Bactria converted by Nagasena (author of Milinda Panna the main source of ancient Indian history) in second century BC. So can it be disputed that India is the pioneer in conversions and missionary work?
It is time we set the record straight and tell the west and in particular the Christian world, that conversion and the concept of missionary did not emerge in the west. That 500 years before the birth of Christ, Indians had converted large number of nations to the Buddhist faith, through missionary effort. And this, despite the fact that Buddha was not even an Indian, but a foreigner being Nepali. It is time, that we correct history and place the Indian contribution to conversion and missionary work where it belongs. Why must the West take credit for something that is quintessentially Indian? Is it not our duty to convey the authentic missionary position to the world?
(Radharao F. Gracias is a senior Trial Court Advocate and a political activist)
