Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/209

207 animals, which agrees with that of Asoka in exempting from slaughter the 'Brahmany duck,' parrot, starling, and goose, among the creatures specified.

The same chapter enacts that 'cattle such as a calf, a bull, or a milch cow shall not be slaughtered.' But other cows might be killed and eaten. Book ii, chap. 29 (transl., p. 160) expressly mentions cattle that are fit only for the supply of flesh.' The reader will hardly fail to observe that horned cattle, cows included, are not included in Asoka's list of protected animals. There is, as is well known, abundant evidence that the meat of such beasts was largely used in ancient India. In 326 the king of Taxila gave Alexander '3,000 oxen fatted for the shambles.' See the valuable paper by W. Crooke, 'The Veneration of the Cow in India' (Folk-Lore, Sept. 1912. pp. 275-306). The Maurya documents are of special interest as marking at a definite period a transitional stage in the cult of the cow.

The ﬁnal paragraph of the edict shows that Asoka was in the habit of releasing prisoners once a year, presumably on his birthday; i. e. 'the day to which his birth—star is assigned,' as phrased in Arthaśâstra, Bk. ii, chap. 36 (transl., p. 185). That text enumerates nine occasions or reasons which would justify the release of prisoners, the ﬁrst being the king's birthday.

The whole document, except for the failure to identify some of the animals named, is now completely understood, and the translation may be accepted as correct.

EDICT VI THE NECESSITY FOR A DEFINITE CREED

Thus saith His Sacred and Gracious Majesty the King:—

'When I had been consecrated twelve years I caused a scripture of the Law of Piety to be written for the welfare and happiness of mankind, with the intent that they, giving up their old courses, might attain growth in piety, one way or another.