The Sovereign Mind: Integrating Ashokan Dhamma-Ethics and Meditative Knowledge Systems for Holistic Mental Wellbeing
Journal of Advances and Scholarly Researches in Allied Education June 1, 2026 Mansi Shrikant Khati
Emperor Ashoka's governance model, articulated through his Edicts, established an external ethical framework (Dhamma) that enabled meditative practices like Dhyana to function at a societal scale. Drawing on epigraphic evidence and Yogic and Buddhist traditions, the paper argues that Ashoka's rule constituted a form of state-supported psychological infrastructure. Interpreted through Post-Traumatic Growth and environmental psychology, the Mauryan state cultivated conditions for individual and collective mental wellbeing, offering a historical model for integrating ethical governance with mental health policy. Ashoka's Dhamma is characterized not as religious conversion but as a sophisticated public health intervention and a top-down cognitive behavioral framework.