Greek Toga and Buddhist Robe — Links and

Cultural Significance

The cultural synthesis, particularly, in the sphere of philosophy had been more
marked during this period. For example, the Indian concepts of ‘Karma’ and
‘Rebirth’ are said to have influenced the world outlooks of Plato and Pythagoras
and the practice of monasticism had influenced the philosophy and lifestyle of
the monks in Greece.

by Lionel Bopage - Dec 28, 2017

Greek invasion of India
( December 28, 2017, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) In the 4th century BC, the
Greek invasion of India led by Alexander the Great opened a new dimension to
the trade, commercial and cultural links in the Indian sub-continent.[1] He was
said to be “unusually open to foreign religious influences”, “embraced many non-
Greek deities and practices” and promoted “cross-cultural integration aimed at
preventing and pacifying ethnic tensions in his settlements.”[2] Long before his
arrival on India’s north-western border, there are references in early Indian
literature calling the Greeks “Yavanas”.[3] This word appears in the
Mahabaharata. For seventy-five years after Alexander the Great’s death, Greek
immigrants poured into the East. The new Hellenistic culture spread as far east as
India. Throughout the Hellenistic period, Greeks and Easterners became familiar
with and adapted themselves to each other’s customs, religions, and ways of life.
Cultural synthesis
In India, the Pali word “Yona” and an equivalent word “Yavana” were used to
designate Greek speaking people. This is thought to be a transliteration of the
Greek word for “Ionians”, the first Greeks probably known to be in the East. For
example, “Alexandria” is referred to as “the city of the Yonas” in the Mahavamsa,
Chapter 29 (4th century CE). The debatable concept of Hellenization[4] denotes
the spread of Greek language, culture, and population into the former Persian
Empire after the conquest by Alexander. When the rich Greek (Hellenic) culture
met with the rich Indian culture, the occurrence of a cultural synthesis would
have been obvious.
The presence of Indo-Greek kings has been known through analysis of coins and
study of ancient inscriptions. The Indo-Greek Kingdoms in the northern frontiers
of India were partly Greek, ruled consecutively by more than thirty kings and
would have covered various parts of the Indian Subcontinent.[5] Indo-Greeks
would have been involved with many local faiths such as Hinduism and
Zoroastrianism and particularly with Buddhism. The Hellenic cultural influence on
early Buddhist culture is well known, apparently influencing the first images of the
Buddha. The early representation of the Buddha wearing robes in the Hellenistic
style is said to have originated in India. So, it is reasonable to assume that under
Greco Buddhism, the Greek toga would have influenced the monks’ dress code.
The Greek conquest of parts of India led Maurya King Chandraguptha to fight back
and liberate the parts of India Greeks had captured. Yet, he married the daughter
of a Greek King. King Ashoka was the third successor of the Maurya dynasty. In
fact, King Ashoka had referred to five Greek kingdoms where Buddhist missionary
activities had been undertaken. As illustrated by the Greek King Menander,
known also as Milinda, who converted to Buddhism and became a great
benefactor of the religion.[6]
Imperial action and activities of Buddhist monks spread Buddhism beyond the
Indian sub-continent, into areas where the Greeks were “politically, culturally and
economically prominent”. Buddhists had defended their religious views while in
contact with other faiths. The Yonas had laid the foundations for “a cultural
market” that not only reflected a fusion of cultures, but a celebration of their
newly acquired faith. King Asoka is said to have sent “dhamma missionaries” to
“the Greek rulers in Syria, Egypt, Macedonia, Cyrene and Epirus”.[7]
Images of the Buddha
The Buddha passed away at the age of eighty, sometime between the years 486
and 473 BCE. He would not have intended to set up a new religion, but his
followers raised him to divinity while conducting rituals and worshipping symbols
he himself rejected in principle. In the third century BCE, King Ashoka uncovered
his ashes and dispersed them, creating stupas all over India. All the Buddhist
sculpture of that period do not show the image of Buddha, but was depicted in
the form of an emblem such as a Dharma Chakra (Wheel of the Dharma)[8], a
throne, a pair of footprints or a Bo (or bodhi or papal) tree.
For example, the wheel symbol on some of King Menander’s coins is thought to
be depictive of Buddhism. The Coin of Menander II (90–85 BCE) had “King
Menander, follower of the Dharma” in Kharoshthi script. In addition, some rare
Buddhist coins (only six are known) show the great Kushan King Kanishka (128–
151 CE) on the obverse and the standing Buddha on the reverse with the words
“Boddo” in Greek script, holding the left corner of his cloak in his hand and
forming the Abhaya Mudra[9].
The first Hellenistic Buddha statues may be representative of the Greek king
Demetrius, who is said to have been the prototype for the image of the Buddha.
The earliest statues portrayed the Buddha in a style reminiscent of a king. In
Gandharan art, Demetrius and images of the Buddha are shown to share the
Greek god Herakles, as the symbol of Vajrapani, the protector of the Buddha. The
figure of the Buddha was incorporated within architectural designs and the
Buddha’s life was typically depicted in a Greek architectural and cultural
environment.
Cultural confluence
The cultural synthesis, particularly, in the sphere of philosophy had been more
marked during this period. For example, the Indian concepts of ‘Karma’ and
‘Rebirth’ are said to have influenced the world outlooks of Plato and Pythagoras
and the practice of monasticism had influenced the philosophy and lifestyle of the
monks in Greece. Yet, the impact of the Indo-Greeks on Indian thought and
religion is relatively unknown. Mahāyāna Buddhism is believed to have started
around the first century BC in the North-western Indian subcontinent, during a
period when Indo-Greek influence was flourishing.
Pyrrho of Elis, a Greek philosopher credited as being the first Greek sceptic
philosopher with his mentor Anaxarchus had been in the entourage of King
Alexander. Pyrrho’s ethical doctrines had resonated with the Buddha’s concept of
Anathama, of suspecting beliefs and dogmas concerning the self “as a source of
true knowledge”. Both Pyrrho and Buddhists employed tetralemma (‘catuskoti’ in
Sanskrit), a concept of four-fold negation, to the effect that any logical
proposition has the four possibilities of affirmation (it is), negation (it is not), both
(it is and is not) and neither it neither is nor is not).[10]
Hinduism and Persian and Greco-Roman theologies that filtered into India from
the northwest also appear to have influenced Mahayana Buddhism. Certain
Mahayana concepts such as reality and knowledge seem to relate to Greek
philosophical schools of thought.[11] Mahayana Buddhism itself is said to have
originated in the Greco-Buddhist communities of India. Indian texts refer to King
Menander building a stupa in Pataliputra. These stupas had added Hellenistic
architectural decorations of that period. Several Indo-Greek kings have apparently
used the title “Dharmikasa”, meaning “Follower of the Dharma” in the Kharoshthi
script[12].
Schools of Art – Gandhara and Mathurā
The Hellenic impact on Indian art and architecture, philosophy, coinage, drama
and science was significant. Gandhara and Mathurā flourished under the Kushan
kings. Both are famous as centres of production for images of the Buddha. The
Gandhara Schools of art and sculpture (also known as the Greco Buddhist School
of Art in Afghanistan) was based in the lower Kabul Valley and the upper Indus
around Peshawar in Pakistan. Yet, the Buddha image is believed to have
originated at Mathurā, south of Delhi. The influence of the Gandhara School of
Art later spread also over to Thakshila and Sārnath.
Indian artists started building Buddhist images, employing Greek techniques but
with an Indian spirit and style. One of the main characteristics of this style of art
was the anthropomorphic[13] representation of Buddha and Bodhisattvas
especially in its sculptural manifestations. In both Gandhara and Mathurā, human
images of the Buddha began to appear at about the same time, but can be
distinguished from one another. The Gandharan images are “very clearly Greco-
Roman in inspiration with the Buddha wearing wavy locks tucked up into a
chignon and heavier toga-like robes”. The Mathura images “closely resemble
some of the older Indian male fertility gods and have shorter, curlier hair and
lighter, more translucent robes”[14].
In the 1830s CE coins of the post-Ashoka period were discovered and in 1838 CE,
the Kharosthi script was deciphered. Chinese records provided locations and site
plans of Buddhists shrines. The discovery of coins and these records provided
necessary clues to piece together the history of Gandhara. In 1848 CE Gandhara
sculptures were found in north of Peshawar and the site of Taxila was identified in
the 1860s CE. Since then, a large number of Buddhist statues have been
discovered in the Peshawar valley.
The Buddhist robe
Essentially Buddhist monks did not have any possessions. The robe they had was
easy to clean and mend and usable as a blanket, a groundsheet, a seat-spread, a
head-cover or even a windbreak.[15] The robe also symbolised their renunciation
of “Samsara”[16] and moral discipline. I recollect learning in the Daham
Pasala[17], that during the time of the Buddha, of the practice of gathering rags
from charnel grounds to sew into robes. The monks removed, washed and wore
them as robes. With natural plant dyes (called ‘kahata’[18]) being used to treat
the clothing, the colour varied from grey, brown to yellow.
The Buddhist robe called “cheevaraya” (cīvara) had no particular design.
Reflecting the path of detachment, the robe symbolised modesty, humility,
simplicity and non-elaboration. The best robe material was that which had no
value to others. The precepts urged monks to wear robes taken from rubbish
dumps. The original robe made of discarded clothing was simply stitched together
to form three rectangular pieces that could be wrapped around the body and
draped over the shoulder to prevent it from becoming undone. The “ticīvara” or
‘triple robe’[19] is the code found in Theravada Buddhism, of which the way of
wearing is quite similar to the way the mantle or wrap ancient Greeks had worn,
as can be seen in the Greco Buddhist art of Gandhāra.

The Buddhist robe called “cheevaraya” (cīvara) had no particular design.

Reflecting the path of detachment, the robe symbolised modesty, humility,
simplicity and non-elaboration. The best robe material was that which had no
value to others.

A symbol of renunciation
The robe, the shaved head and the bowl denoted renunciation of the world and
its objects. But then, this simplicity of clothing would have been the reason why at
that time, it appeared all over the world, not only in Greece and Asia, but also in
ancient Norse and Celtic cultures, throughout the Pacific Islands, and even in
South America. The reason for draping the robe over the left shoulder is thought
to be due to with the fact that most humans are right handed. When dressing one
self, one uses the right hand as it is natural to roll it across the body over the left
shoulder.
Among the Abrahamic religions and the ancient Greek traditions dress simplicity
had been prevalent. Catholic priests traditionally wore a cassock usually with a
clerical collar. The Jewish Orthodox community wore black garments to show a
lack of concern for colour and fashion. Dress simplicity was a feature of ancient
Hinduism, Jainism and the naga religious. Some of them even went to the
extreme of remaining nude. The Buddhist monastic codes[20] allowed using three
rectangular pieces of cloth as religious robes. These would have resembled the
clothing of the commoners. Hence, colours and materials would have been used
to distinguish those who had discarded worldly possessions to embark upon the
path to the enlightenment – the Nibbana[21].
Modern society and the Buddhist robe
To digress: A monk’s appearance projects the view that s/he has chosen to
remove choices from their lives, adhering to the policy of “no preferences”. Yet,
would Buddhism as envisaged by its founders thrive in our modern consumer
obsessed society, if monks kept the ancient traditions of using former burial
cloths as their robes? On the one hand, if the importance of Buddhism comes
down to the kind of clothing monks wear, then something appears to be wrong
with its contemporary application. In a neo-liberal individualist and consumerist
society, laypeople’s attitudes may have influenced the behaviour of Buddhist
monks.[22] Commitment to simplicity and detachment then becomes problematic
when faced with the expectations of the mores of society.
If the Buddha was among the living today, instead of teaching the disciples to
dress as renunciates, would he have risked offending others by not adopting royal
dress codes. According to this school of thought the clothes monks wear are not
for themselves, but for their disciples and laymen. At the same time, royal dress
codes could become a too expensive habit, which has become in too many
instances a status symbol. This can be a distraction as it emphasises an
attachment to the material world, rather than renunciation. Does not this also
reflect upon the wearers religious understanding and priorities?[23]
The robes, bowl and other few items a monk uses were intended to represent the
“Middle Path”[24] and symbolise the practice of simplicity in life. With splits
occurring due to diverse interpretations of the Dhamma, many changes have
taken place.[25] With increasing elaboration of the Buddhist robe, many people in
Sri Lanka that I know, find it difficult to accommodate buying “Ata-Pirikara” as
offerings to monks on religious occasions. In modern robes, for example, the
patched panels of robes are bordered with a dark material, forming a robe of
striking contrasts. The colder climate and dress customs in the East Asian
countries like China, Japan and Korea would have led to the use of tailored
garments being worn beneath the robe, ultimately paving the way for a single
kimono-like garment.
Robes as Symbols of power
Nevertheless, the robe became a symbol of power; subsequently many monks
became attached to many material possessions despite Buddha’s teaching against
it. Nowadays, the robe symbolises wealth, power and strength. The colours of the
robe vary by country, region, sect, position and occasion, they have become
symbols to control human culture. Monks of different sects wear clothes of a
particular colour, quality and design; in a particular fashion. For example, there is
movement from white to saffron in Thailand and from black to deep purple in
Japan.
As the above discussion indicates, there are many similarities found between the
Roman or Greek “toga” and the Buddhist robe. However, there is no definite
evidence to substantiate the statement that the “Ancient Greek Robe has
influenced the Robes worn by Buddhist Monks today”. The process of evolution of
the Buddhist robe from a humble three piece clothe to the more modern dress
codes such as the use of suits by certain Tibetan lamas in the US[26] or wearing
robes only during “work hours” in the temple by Mongolian nuns[27], indicates
that many factors would have contributed to this evolution. During the time of
the Indo-Greek kings and in the process of “Hellenisation” of the Indian culture, it
would be reasonable to believe that the ancient Roman or Greek “toga” would
have influenced the dress code of Buddhist monks during the ancient times.
Would one be able to find a response to the query whether the Greek toga has
influenced the Buddhist robe, based on tetralemma: the concept of four-fold
negation?
[1] Bondada, G 2015, The Role of Monetary Networks in the Trade between India
and the Roman Empire, In Südasien-Chronik/South Asia Chronicle, Michael M
2015, 5, 402
[2] Halkias G 2014, When the Greeks Converted the Buddha: Asymmetrical
Transfers of Knowledge in Indo-Greek Cultures, In Wick P and Rabens V
2014, Religions and Trade: Religious Formation, Transformation and Cross-
Cultural Exchange between East and West, 73-74, Brill.
[3] Andrade N J 2017, Drops of Greek in a Multilingual Sea: The Egyptian Network
and its Residential Presences in the Indian Ocean, In The Journal of Hellenic
Studies Cairns D, 2017
[4] Hysi, L 2014, The Hellenic Axel: The Greek Hellenization of Central Asia and its
Impact of the Development of Buddhism, University of Central Florida, 55
[5] Tyagi M 2017, A Commercial Dialogue between North India and Sri Lanka in
Ancient Period, In Innovation The Research Concept, October 2017, 2(9), 133-135.
[6] Thomas G & Kumari N 2010, Buddhism and Social Work, In Thomas G
2010, Origin and Development of Social Work in India, Indira Gandhi Open
University, New Delhi, 227
[7] Halkias G 2014, When the Greeks Converted the Buddha: Asymmetrical
Transfers of Knowledge in Indo-Greek Cultures, In Wick P and Rabens V 2014,
Religions and Trade: Religious Formation, Transformation and Cross-Cultural
Exchange between East and West, 90, Brill
[8] The wheel symbolises the endless cycle of samsara, or rebirth and the eight
spokes the Noble Eightfold Path set out in the Buddha’s teachings.
[9] The gesture of reassurance.
[10] Halkias G 2014, Ibid, 75.
[11] Zhang J 2012, Buddhist Diplomacy: History and Status Quo, In CPD
Perspectives on Public Diplomacy 2012, 7, 15, Figueroa Press, Los Angeles
[12] An ancient script used in ancient Gandhara and ancient India (primarily
modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan) to write the Gandhari Prakrit and Sanskrit.
[13] Attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behaviour to inanimate
entities.
[14] Sanujit 2011, Cultural links between India & the Greco-Roman world,
In Ancient History Encyclopedia, Accessible
at: https://www.ancient.eu/article/208/cultural-links-between-india–the-greco-
roman-worl/
[15] Buddha Dharma Education Association & BuddhaNet 2008, The Monastic
Robes, Accessible at: https://www.buddhanet.net/e-
learning/buddhistworld/robe_txt.htm
[16] The endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth
[17] A school of Learning Buddhism at Jinendraramaya in Weligama, Sri Lanka
[18] Literally meaning impure referring to a reddish or brownish-yellow saffron or
ocher colour.
[19] Griswold A B 1960, Five Chieng Sèn Bronzes: Of the Eighteenth Century,
In Arts Asiatiques 7(1), 15, École française d’Extrême-Orient.
[20] Graumans R 2016, Stories, Symbols and Selves: Female Conversion
Experiences in Contemporary Tibetan Buddhist Monasticism, Doctoral Thesis,
University of Saskatchewan, 115.
[21] Release from the cycle of rebirth and the extinction of all desires and
aversions with the attainment of enlightenment.
[22] Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive 2005, Sangha Dress Code, Accessible
at: https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/sangha-dress-code
[23] Kirichenko A 2012, Atula Hsayadaw Shin Yasa: A Critical Biography of an
Eighteenth-Century Burmese Monk, 3-4. See the reference to the robe wearing
controversy of Atula in the “one shoulder” vs. the “two shoulder” debate, and the
identity markers in the nineteenth century between the Burmese Sulagandi and
Dwaya monastic groups and the Rāmañña Nikāya in Sri Lanka.
[24] The eightfold path of Buddhism: a golden mean between self-indulgence and
self-mortification.
[25] Zhang J 2012, Ibid, 8.
[26] Midal F 2004, Chogyam Trungpa: His Life and Vision, 308-309, Shambala, USA
[27] Havnevik H et al 2017, Buddhist Modernities: Re-inventing Tradition in the
Globalizing Modern World, 123-127
Posted by Thavam