Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/60

58 amount of tyranny. Regard for the sanctity of animal life, even that of the meanest vermin, is not peculiar to Buddhism, being practised even more strictly by the Jains, and esteemed more or less highly by most Brahmanical Hindus. It rests on the theory of re-birth, which underlies nearly all forms of Indian religion, and binds together in one chain all classes of living creatures, whether gods or demi-gods, angels or demons, men or animals. But, although that doctrine had been familiar to the mind of India for ages, its strict enforcement to a certain extent as part of the civic duty of every loyal subject, irrespective of his personal religious belief, was a new thing, and imposed a novel burden on the lieges. The regulations must have had permanent influence in obtaining the general acceptance of ideas formerly restricted to sections of the population. It is noteworthy that Asoka's rules do not forbid the slaughter of cows, which, apparently, continued to be lawful. The problem of the origin of the intense feeling of reverence for the cow, now felt by all Hindus, is a very curious one, imperfectly solved. The early Brahmans did not share the sentiment.

The doctrine of the duty of reverence to parents, seniors, and teachers seems to have held in Asoka's eyes a place second only to that of the sanctity of animal life. It is reiterated over and over again in the Edicts, but no development of the principle is traceable.

The sanctity attaching to the life of the most