Ashoka pillar
- •
Who was Ashoka?
Ashoka shared his new outlook on life through edicts carved into stones and pillars located around the country at pilgrimage sites and along busy trade routes. The edicts are considered among the first examples of writing in Indian history. They were not carved in Sanskrit—the official state language—but in local dialects, so that the messages could be widely understood. For example, an edict near modern-day Kandahar in Afghanistan, an area that had been under Alexander the Great’s control for a period of time, is written in Greek and Aramaic.
Much like Cyrus in Persia, Ashoka adopted and promoted a policy of respect and tolerance for people of different faiths. One edict declared, “All men are my children. As for my own children, I desire that they may be provided with all the welfare and happiness of this world and of the next, so do I desire for all men as well.”
Other edicts exhorted citizens to generosity, piety, justice, and mercy. Ashoka and his high ministers took occasional tours through the kingdom to check on the welfare of the people and see how
- •
Patrick Olivelle—
Few kings or emperors—or even people in power today—have been sufficiently self-aware and self-reflective to express regret or remorse for anything they may have done. When the king does it, it cannot be wrong, seems to have been the mantra. Ashoka, who ruled over much of the Indian subcontinent during the middle of the third century BCE, was a different sort of ruler. He acknowledged the common propensity: “One sees only what is good, thinking: ‘I have done this good thing.’ One does not see as well what is bad, thinking: ‘I have done this bad thing.’” Ashoka was also a person who had the inner strength to be able to say: “I am sorry.” The context of his apology was his conquest of the country of Kalinga in the northeast of India, a war that resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of people. Ashoka expressed remorse at the bloodshed and hoped that his sons and grandsons would renounce war. He became devoted to the ethical principle of non-injury, ahimsa.
Ashoka was also unique in being a philosopher king who developed his own moral philosophy. Based
- •
Ashoka
Ashoka was a famous emperor of the Mauryan Dynasty of Magadh ruling South Asia[5][6] who ruled from 268-232 BC. His name means "Without Sorrow".[7]
Ashoka is often cited as one of India's greatest emperors. After a number of military conquests, he fought a war with the kingdom of Kalinga in which there was said to be 200,000+ casualties. He conquered Kalinga (present-day Odisha) around 261 BCE.
Afterwards, shaken by his brutal victory, he decided to leave weapons and lead with peace, not war. To do this, he set up hospitals for animals and humans, created shaded and rested areas along roads for weary travellers to rest, and dug wells in villages. We know these things about his life through various inscriptions (writing) on rocks and pillars. Ashoka also convinced people to follow Dharma. The national emblem of India and the "Ashok Chakra" are created by Ashoka. It is in the flag to keep a remembrance of him.
References
[change | change source]- ↑Strong, John S. (2002–2003). Faure, Bernard (ed.). "Aśoka's Wives and the Ambiguities
Copyright ©peacafe.pages.dev 2025