Dear Matthew,

>> Asoka after embracing Buddhism discontinued this practice and removed the idols of such deities.

The meanig of the sentence is clear. According to Dr. Ambedkar Aśoka 'removed the idols of such deities'.

Removed - gently?

The problem is that no edict mentions Aśoka stating: "As I venerate the Buddha, the Enlightened One, there is no need to worship any other deity".

The question of 'the emergence of images and idols in India" apart what can be seen here is an example of falsification of historical record, done purposefully, with political agenda in mind.

Artur

2017-05-26 18:21 GMT+02:00 Matthew Kapstein <mkapstei@uchicago.edu>:

I have no idea about just what Dr. Ambedkar may have had in mind in regard to Asoka,
but I do think that the question of the emergence of images and idols in India should be empirically focused.

See, for instance, Michael Willis,
The Archeology of Hindu Ritual: Temples and the Establishment of the Gods (Cambridge 2009).

Although Willis prudently avoids the question of beginnings, some interesting suggestions may be gleaned
from section 2.7 "From Private Sacrifice to Public Spectacle," pp. 113-122.

One may also wish to consult, for evidence of deity-worship in early Buddhism, Robert DeCaroli,
Haunting the Buddha: Indian Popular Religion and the Formation of Buddhism (OUP 2004).

Matthew

Matthew Kapstein
Directeur d'études,
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes

Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies,
The University of Chicago