[Buddha-l] Aged people or senior monks?

[Artur Karp]

Dear All,

While reading Aśoka's Rock Edict VIII, I was struck by the way one of
its fragments is routinely translated.

Here it is (Girnar version, the ruler describes his dharma-yātra; line
E, Hultzsch 1925 Edition):

Etayaṁ hoti bāmhaṇasamaṇānaṁ dasaṇe ca dāne ca thairānaṁ dasaṇe ca
hiraṁṇapaṭividhāno ca jānapadasa ca janasa daspanaṁ dhaṁmānusasṭī
dhamaparipucchā ca

[Girnar version has thaira- (Skt. sthavira, Pali thera), the remaining
five versions show continuations of Skt. vṛddha - 'old'.]

Hultzsch, p. 15: "On these (tours) the following takes place, (viz.)
visiting Brāhmaṇas and Śramaṇas and making gifts (to them), visiting
the aged and supporting (them) with gold, visiting the people of the
country, instructing (them) in morality, and questioning (them) about
morality, as suitable for this (occasion)."

Jules Bloch 1950, p. 112: "audience et distribution d'or aux vieillards"

Amulyachandra Sen 1956, p. 84: "visit to and provision of gold for
(the support of) the aged"

D.C. Sircar 1957, p. 45: "meeting the aged and making provision of
money for them"


Who in fact are those 'vieillards' and 'the aged'? Where and how could
they be visited - in person, in order to obtain their darśan, and
blessings? Why should specifically they obtain gold - and not
unspecified 'gifts' (as brahmanas-śramanas) or just oral instruction
in morality (as the people of the country)?

Or did they form a specific target group deserving exceptional royal
care expressed by provision of gold/money?

In Pali vuḍḍha- means 'old', but also 'venerable'.

Would Aśoka deem it necessary to have the darśan of the 'venerable
ones' - or, as in Girnar version, the theras, senior Buddhist monks?


Thank you in advance for your learned comments,

and greetings from Warsaw,


Artur Karp