Conquest of Kalinga proved to be a
turning point in the life of King Ashoka.
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We know much about his kingdom and rein from his rock edicts and pillar inscriptions spread all over the country. The Kalinga war, which he waged to acquire and annexed the country of that name, was a very terrible war in which thousands of people died and many more were wounded and maimed.
It proved a turning point in his life. Filled with great remorse and repentance, he renounced war and violence forever and became a devout Buddhist. Earlier he was a Hindu and worshipper of Shiva. The Kalinga war made him realize that true conquest was in the conquest of the hearts of the people. Haunted by remorse, pity and repentance he sought refuge in Buddhism and engaged himself in the well being and happiness of his subjects. He used to say, “All people are my children.”
Ashoka He was initiated into Buddhism by a great Buddhist monk called Upagupta. Since then he always made himself busy in bringing about peace, culture, dignity, true morality and prosperity in his kingdom. He was the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya (293-268 BC) the mighty king and founder of the Mauryan Empire.
Patliputra (modern Patna) was his capital city. He further enlarged and consolidated his empire which spread to the Hindu Kush, Afghanistan in the north-west to Nepal in the north-east and from Kashmir in the north to Mysore and Madras in the south.
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Baluchistan, Makran, Sindh, Cutch, Swat, including Kashmir and Nepal were parts of his huge empire. There were many small autonomous States as well which owed obedience to the Emperor and paid regular homage to him. The vast territory of the empire was ruled by 5-6 Viceroys. Takshila, Toshali, Ujjain and Suvarngiri were the chief centres of administration and governance.
After his initiation into Buddhism, Ashoka made a pilgrimage to the principal holy places and centres of Buddhism which included Lumbini Park, the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautam, Kushinagar where Buddha entered into final nirvana and Bodh Gaya were Buddha attained enlightenment.
He also became a monk temporarily and assumed the holy garb of a bhikku. He also raised grand holy monuments at centres of Buddhist pilgrimage. He gave up hunting, meat-eating and violence in their all forms and manifestations. The promotion of religion and the teaching of morals became his life’s mission. He prohibited the slaughter of animals and birds and urged and ordained his subjects to follow ahimsa or non-injury.
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To spread Buddhism and the message of love, peace and non-violence he sent missions to various places outside his kingdom. One such mission to Ceylon was led by his son Mahindra. He also called the Great Buddhist council at Patliputra.
Ashoka ruled over his vast empire according to the Buddhist dharma and law. He has been called a great and the just king because of his piety, compassion and his mission to spread Buddhism. He was tolerant of other religions and religious sects.
In a pillar edict he had proclaimed that he had “Bunyan trees planted for shade to beasts and well dug and rest houses built-every nine miles.” Buddha wanted that kings should be protective and generous and Ashoka confirmed to this injunction both in letter and spirit.
Most of his inscriptions are in Prakrit dialects which were spoken in northern India, but in the far eastern regions in Afghanistan etc. they were in Greek. Ashoka’s column has four lion capital which symbolize both his imperial rule and the kingship of Buddha.
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The famous Ashokan column’s famous lion capital is now preserved at Sarnath, near Varanasi. Ashokan column with four lions is the emblem of modern Indian State. A tradition would have us believe that Ashoka died at Takhshila but it is not known how he died.
He was succeeded by his two grandsons named Dasharatha in the eastern and Samprati in the western region. Perhaps Brihadratha was the last Mauryan king who was slain in 185 BC by his own commander-in-chief Pushpamitra Sung who established a new dynasty known as the Sunga Dynasty.
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