Author – Awadhesh Sharma
Chandragupta Maurya established the Maurya dynasty, and ruled the vast empire of Indian subcontinent for twenty-four years from its capital Pataliputra, now known as Patna. His son Bindusar became king after Chandragupta retired from kingship, and reigned for the next twenty-eight years. During his rule, Bindusar maintained his hold over the empire established by his father. Bindusar’s son Ashok was born in 304BCE. He became king after his father and expanded the empire initially by conquest through war and violence, and later by Dharma-Vijay, moral conquest.
Inscriptions on rocks, pillars and cave surfaces etched during Ashok’s reign are the original sources of information about his administration. They were edicts issued by Ashok as a means of direct communications to his subjects and mostly referred to his later life activities.
Sri Lankan texts the Mahavamsa, Dipavamsa and Divyavadana, which comprised Ashokavadana, and Indian Puranas, are another ancient sources of information relating to Ashok that have become a part of Buddhists and Hindu religious traditions respectively. They contain information relating to Ashok’s early life too.
Travel diaries of Chinese travellers Fa-Hien and Yuan Chwang also referred to monuments and structures that were ascribed to Ashok. In addition, now numerous books on Ashok are available including a well-regarded one by Radhakumud Mookerji that contains the details of rock, pillar and cave inscriptions.
Bindusar had sixteen wives including the queen Subhadrangi and one hundred and one sons; only three of them are named in texts. Subhadrangi was a daughter of a Brahmin from Champa, a region east of Patna around Munger. A fortune-teller had told her father in her childhood that she was destined to become a queen. When she grew up, her father brought Subhadrangi to king Bindusar, who married her and made her the queen. Subhadrangi gave birth to Ashok and another son Tisya. Susima was Bindusar’s eldest son born to another wife.
Bindusar disliked Ashok from his childhood and preferred Susima to become his heir. Ashok was bold in personality and was liked by ministers, preceptors and elders of the community. He was educated along with other princes. After their formal training, a competition was organised to select a suitable heir to the throne based on merit. An Ajivika saint was appointed to evaluate the participants’ performance and consequently to declare the winner. Ajivika was a religious offshoot of traditional Vedic religion like Jainism and Buddhism at that time. The saint agreed on the condition that he would not explicitly name the person but would describe the attributes that related to the successful candidate.
All princes were invited to participate in the contest. Ashok was walking along a road on the way to the venue of contest. A minister named Radhagupta was also travelling to the same venue on elephant. The minister offered a lift to Ashok and both arrived at the venue together. When the contest was over, the evaluator informed the king his decision in code words, without naming a person, but otherwise clearly indicating Ashok as the most deserving candidate. Bindusar was not happy with this outcome and wished to keep Ashok away from the capital to deny him any chance of becoming the heir.
Sometime later, a rebellion took place in Taxila against the central rule. Bindusar sent Ashok to Taxila to suppress the revolt. After his success in quelling the uprising, Ashok was transferred to Ujjain as a governor of the region. Again the rebels revolted in Taxila and Susima was sent to suppress the insurgents.
While both Susima and Ashok were away, Bindusar fell ill and his condition deteriorated beyond recovery. He asked his ministers to recall Susima to Pataliputra and send Ashok to Taxila, where insurgency was still continuing. However, when Ashok heard of the condition of his father, he came to the capital and claimed the throne before Bindusar left his mortal body.
Ashok’s accession to the throne was followed by a war between Susima and Ashok that continued for four years. In the end, Susima was killed and Ashok emerged victorious.
Ashok’s coronation took place in 270BCE. Ministers, especially Radhagupta, played a significant supporting role in Ashok’s success. Radhagupta was a grandson of Chanakya, the preceptor and adviser of Chandragupta Maurya, Ashok’s grandfather. Upon coronation, Ashok assumed two titles: Devanampriya and Priyadarshi, which signified ‘the beloved of the gods’ and ‘of pleasing countenance’ respectively. These titles were signature marks of Ashok on his edicts.
Once, while sitting in his court, Ashok saw a young Buddhist monk passing by in the street. He called the boy and asked him to sit on a seat suitable for him. The monk sat on the royal throne. On further enquiry, the monk told him that he was seven years old and a son of Susima, his elder brother. The monk also enlightened him with doctrines of Buddhism that impressed Ashok who became a lay Buddhist.
After coronation, Ashok became the ruler of the area expanding from Afghanistan and eastern part of Iran in the northwest to Karnataka in the South. Remaining kingdoms of the southern India that included Cholas, Pandyas, Satiyaputra and Keralaputra were all within the sphere of Ashok’s influence and were friendly states. Only the kingdom of Kaling did not accept his authority. Ashok attacked Kaling to subjugate it. A fierce war ensued that led to utter destruction. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed and many were injured and displaced. Ashok won the war but its’ aftermath had an everlasting effect on him.
According to a legend, Ashok was camping in the battlefield littered with dead and injured bodies. He heard a weeping woman cursing him. On enquiring her reason for anger and grief, the woman challenged him to return a single dead person to life if he considered himself all-powerful. Ashok understood it as a call from the Divine to change his mode of action.
He was already familiar with the teachings of Buddhism. After his victory over Kaling, he started following the precepts of Buddhism deeply. He proclaimed his objective for Dharma Vijay, moral victory replacing victory through violence. He worked on disseminating the teachings of Buddha and thus helped transform a local religious sect to an international religion.
Ashok, like his predecessors was tolerant to all religions. Originally, Maurya kings belonged to the Vedic religious tradition, but later they adopted new religions that were becoming popular during their time. Ashok’s grandfather Chandragupta had become a Jain monk in his old age. Bindusar had followed Ajivika tradition. Ashok converted to Buddhism.
During his early reign, sixty thousand Brahmins were regularly offered food from Ashok’s royal kitchen. After his conversion to Buddhism, a similar number of monks started receiving their meals from him. He built cave accommodations for Ajivika saints in Barabar Hills near Gaya in Bihar.
Ancient texts describe Ashok as a great builder. He is ascribed to found two cities. The first is Srinagar, the modern capital of Jammu and Kashmir. He had built in Srinagar five hundred Buddhist monasteries and other edifices, some of which were sanctified for Vedic religion. Srinagar acted as a centre for dissemination of Buddhist teachings in the north and northwest of Indian subcontinent and beyond.
The other city that Ashok established was named Devapatan in Nepal. His daughter Charumati and her husband Devapala chose to settle there, and for them Ashok built nunnery and monastery.
Ashok is believed to have built 84,000 Stupas all over India. There are differing tales about construction of these Stupas. According to one, Ashok asked his Buddhist preceptor, “How great is the content of Dharma preached by Buddha?” The preceptor replied, “There are 84,000 sections of the Dharma.” Then Ashok said, “I will honour each one of them with a Stupa.” Stupas contained relics of Buddha’s body, which were retrieved from the original eight Stupas built after his death.
Edicts issued by Ashok and inscribed on rocks and pillars are identified as minor rock edicts, Kalinga rock edicts, rock edicts, pillar edicts, minor pillar edicts, commemorative pillar inscriptions and cave inscriptions. Animal such as lion, elephant, ox and horse, topped the pillar edicts. Stupas and edicts were spread all over his vast empire. Only few of them are now available as displays in museums.
Ashok’s edicts contained proclamations such as abolition of sacrificial slaughter of animals, arranging animal fights for entertainment, feasting on meat, tours of pleasure accompanied by hunting, and war and conquest. Edicts also included provision of public works such as construction of hospitals for human and animals, wells and trees along the roads, botanical gardens for medicinal plants, arrangements for welfare of women, children and handicapped people and many other decrees.
His administration was mainly based on Kautilya Arthashastra and welfare of subjects was the main objective of his administration. As noted in his edicts, ‘the main conquest is the conquest of Right and not of Might’ was the policy of his empire. He propagated and worked for moral victory.
Ashok became interested in visiting sacred sites instead of undertaking pleasure trips for hunting animals. He travelled as a pilgrim to Bodhgaya, where Buddha attained enlightenment, and Lumbini where Buddha was born.
Under the patronage of Ashok, the Third Buddhist Council was convened in Pataliputra. It was considered an important event in Buddhist history, with aim to wean out corruption in Sanghas, the Buddhist monastic order. At the conclusion of the Council, Ashok sent missionaries to various regions of the empire and to foreign countries to promote the correct understanding of Buddhism.
Ashok had a number of wives. While in Ujjain, he married Mahadevi, the daughter of a merchant in Vidisha. Their son was Mahendra and daughter Sanghmitra. Both son and daughter went to Sri Lanka as a monk and nun respectively, to spread Buddha’s precepts. Sanghmitra brought a branch of the Bodhi-tree that was planted in Sri Lanka.
Padmavati was another wife who bore Ashok a son named Kunal. Asandhimitra and Karuvaki were other queens. Tishyarakshita was the last queen. She is believed to have made Kunal blind for refusing to agree to her immoral advances.
Ashok’s final days of life were not pleasant. In his old age, he nominated Samprati, Kunal’s son as his successor. This prince, with collusion of corrupt ministers, seized all power and stopped the benedictions to Buddhist monasteries and Sanghas. He also reduced the services and allowances for Ashok, until at last he sent him half an Amalaka, a variety of myrobalan fruit, on an earthen plate.
On receiving this, Ashok remarked in sadness to his courtiers that from the lordship of entire Jambudwip, he had sunk to that of a half fruit. Jambudwip was the ancient name of India.
Ashok died in 232BCE at the age of 72 years. The extent of his empire and works remain a standard for subsequent kings and ruling dynasties of India. Modern India has adopted many of its symbols and ideals from Ashok’s period. For example, the lion capital facing all four directions, on top of Sarnath pillar edict is the national emblem of modern India. The wheel in the centre of the Indian flag is also taken from the same lion capital. Ashok’s rule continued for thirty-seven years and his legacy remains a guiding post for good governance for India and other countries.