154 ASOKA MAURYA AND HIS SUCCESSORS ture, is that of the edicts, and was based upon the belief that all living creatures, including men, animals, gods, and demons, form links in an endless chain of existence, or rather of " becoming." The being that is now a god in heaven may be re- born in the course of aeons as an insect, and the insect, BUDDHIST WHEEL OF THE LAW OF PIETY, DHARMA-CHAKRA. From the Bliarabat Sculpture. (After Cunningham.) in its turn, may work up to the rank of a god. This belief, associated with the faith that the mode of rebirth is conditioned by the karma, the net ethical result; or balance of good or evil of the life of each creature at the moment of its termination, lies deep down at the roots of Indian thought, and is inseparably bound up with almost every form of Indian religion. Sometimes it is combined with theories which recognize the ex- istence of a personal soul, but it is also firmly held
