Which of the following was NOT one of the basic attributes of Ashokas' Dhamma?

Correct — C. Celibacy is a monastic vow, kept by monks inside the sangha. Ashoka's Dhamma was addressed to householders across the empire — soldiers, farmers, officials — and asks nothing of the sort from them.

What the edicts do enjoin is non-violence, obedience to elders, generosity towards sramanas and brahmanas, and restraint in speaking of other sects. A vow that only a renouncer could keep is not on that list, which is why option (c) is the odd one out.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Ahimsa — Ahimsa is the centre of the Dhamma. Ashoka restricted animal slaughter and replaced the royal pleasure tours with dhamma tours, making non-violence a matter of policy.
• (b)
  Secularism — Secularism, in the loose sense of even-handedness between sects, is in the edicts. Major Rock Edict XII asks subjects to honour other sects rather than praise their own by disparaging them.
• (d)
  Political unification — Political unification is the purpose standardly attached to the Dhamma — a shared ethic to hold a diverse empire together. It is listed as an attribute, not excluded from the list.

Ashoka's Dhamma is not Buddhism as a creed. He was a Buddhist himself, but what the edicts publicise is a code of conduct any subject of any sect could keep.

It asks for ahimsa, respect for elders and teachers, kindness to servants and slaves, charity, truthfulness and tolerance between sects. Officials called dhamma-mahamattas were appointed to spread and supervise it.

That distinction is the entire question. Anything belonging to monastic discipline — celibacy, begging, renunciation — sits outside the Dhamma, while anything a soldier or a shopkeeper could practise sits inside it.

Key facts

• Ashoka's Dhamma was a code of social ethics addressed to subjects of every sect, not the doctrine of the Buddhist sangha.
• Major Rock Edict XIII records the Kalinga war and the remorse that followed it.
• Major Rock Edict XII asks for restraint in praising one's own sect and in disparaging others.
• Ashoka calls himself Devanampiya Piyadassi in his inscriptions, and the Maski edict is one of the few that gives his personal name.

Common traps

• Reading Ashoka's personal Buddhism into the Dhamma, and so admitting monastic vows into it.
• Rejecting secularism as an anachronism, when the edicts do preach concord between sects.
• Confusing the Dhamma edicts with the Buddhist canon, which is where celibacy belongs.

No directly related past PYQ was found.