Saving Animals and Winning a War: Buddhist way of dealing with conflict

Abstract

Johannes Bronkhorst in his recent publication, Buddhism in the Shadow of Brahmanism, has argued that Buddhism offered ‘very little’ in terms of practical and sensible advice to royal court on issues related to statecraft. One of the examples given in the book is the letter sent to young King Kaniṣika of Kushana dynasty from a Buddhist monk Mātṛceṭa known to be the intellectual grandchild of Nāgārjuna. In this letter he, as a Buddhist counselor to the King, talks only about saving the life of animals and not even mentioning of the killing of humans. It looks as if this advice cannot help the King busy at intense statecraft and at bloody warfare. Although it can be regarded neither as practical nor as sensible, it in fact conveys the core Buddhist ethical value of universal morality. If one should value high on the life of animals, there is no need to mention the life of human beings including enemy troops. Indeed, there is one charming Jātaka story in which the future Buddha, born as Śakra Indra, the Lord of devas, wins over asuras by saving the life of animals in a war. It is preserved both in Pali Jātaka and in ĀryaŚūra’s Jātakamāla in slightly different setting. Nowadays religion has been condemned as a divisive force powered by in-group/out-group enmity and vendetta. Buddhism seems to be a step aside from those religious conflict and violence. Indeed Buddhists, based on non-violence as well as loving kindness and compassion, wish for the happiness and well being of all living creatures. In this there is no such distinction as oneself and others, our side and other side and in-group and out-group. The spirit of Buddhist universal morality seems to be embedded in diverse Buddhist stories, such as the Kulāvakajātaka, and they could offer the key for Buddhists to deal with multi-religious and multi-cultural society we live in.