Dharma mother of ashoka biography of mahatma

Kalinga had several ports and a skilled navy. It was one of the deadliest battles fought between Ashoka and the state of Kalinga. One of the important wars in the history of mankind is the Kalinga war. This war changed Asoka from a fierce and cruel ruler to a follower of Buddhism. During the Nanda period Kalinga was under the Magadh Empire and later on became an independent state.

Kalinga state was very powerful with huge army power and soldiers. Chandragupta and Bindusara tried to conquer but could not because of its huge material prosperity due to trade relations with Malay and Ceylon. Ashoka conquered Kalinga 8 years after ascending the throne. A fierce war was fought between Ashoka and the ruler of Kalinga for many days.

More thanpeople were killed andpeople were taken as prisoners. The next morning Ashoka went to see the aftermath of the war. He saw burnt houses, carcasses, wounded people and dead bodies everywhere. There was blood shed everywhere. Many wounded people were crying in pain. There were many horses, elephants lying on the ground. Many people who had lost their beloved were crying and mourning.

Even though Asoka won the Kalinga war, the bloodshed changed Ashoka. He returned to Pataliputra with a heavy heart. Ashoka was grief stricken, he could not sleep at night as scenes of pain, bloodshed, and cries haunted him. Even his wife Devi who was a follower of Buddhism left him. Ashoka built various stupas and viharas after embracing Buddhism.

He also erected pillars at many places. Ashoka is given the credit of developing the stone architecture in India. It is believed that Ashoka ordered construction of 84,00, viharas. The 33 inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka are the edicts of Ashoka. These inscriptions are also found in some of the caves, boulders during his period.

The inscriptions give us some information about the spread of Buddhism during his period. One can see the inscriptions near the important routes and religious places. However, the inscriptions are not found in major cities like Pataliputra, Ujjain, Taxila where Ashoka worked more prominently. It is believed that Ashoka passed the message to his provincial governors who passed these messages to other officials in their territory.

Ashoka, who was a conqueror, embraced Buddhism and started preaching Ahimsa. He devoted the rest of his life to preaching Buddhism. He preached Dhamma Vijaya. The word Dhamma is the Prakrit version of the Sanskrit word Dharma. Ashoka's Dhamma is a philosophical entity that emphasizes on high ideals in order to lead a successful life. The principles of Ashoka Dhamma are present in the form of various rock edicts in Brahmi language.

Ashoka appointed Dharma Mahamatra who were basically officers to spread the principles and ideologies of Buddhism worldwide like SriLankan, Burma, Southeast Asia. Asoka traveled intensely worldwide preaching the principles of Buddhism. The Buddhist emperor built many Stupas and Viharas for people. The most famous among them are the great Sanchi Stupa, Asoka pillar at Sarnath has a four-lion capital.

After embracing Buddhism, Ashoka abolished the slaughter of animals and became a vegetarian. He treated everyone equally and with love. Ashoka sent his missionaries to various places. Few among them are:. After ruling for 40 years with harmony, humanity, love, non-violence, Ashoka died in B. The mother of Ashoka has many names in various sources.

She is known as Subhadrangi as per Ashokavadana. She is known as Dharma as per Mahavamsa-tika. As per Divyavadana a sanskrit anthology of Buddhist textsshe is known by the characterisation of Janapada Kalyani. Strongp. Bibliography [ edit ]. Ananda W. Guruge Central Cultural Fund. ISBN Joel Tatelman John S. Strong Motilal Banarsidass.

Retrieved 30 October Nayanjot Lahiri Ashoka in Ancient India. Harvard University Press. Radhakumud Mookerji Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Romila Thapar Oxford University Press. OCLC He consciously tried to adopt it as a matter of state policy; he declared that "all men and my children" and "whatever exertion I make, I strive only to discharge debt that I owe to all living creatures.

In the Arthashastrathe dharma mother of ashoka biography of mahatma owed nothing to anyone. His only job was to rule the state efficiently. Since he wanted to conquer the world through love and faith, he sent many missions to propagate Dhamma. Such missions were sent to far off places like Egypt, Greece and Sri Lanka. The propagation of Dhamma included many measures of people's welfare.

Centers of the treatment of men and beasts founded inside and outside of empire. Shady groves, wells, orchards and rest houses were laid out. This kind of charity work was a radically different attitude from the king of the Arthashastra, who would not incur any expenses unless they brought more revenues in return. Ashoka also prohibited useless sacrifices and certain forms of gatherings which led to waste, indiscipline and superstition.

Dharma mother of ashoka biography of mahatma

Part of this group's duties was to see that people of various sects were treated fairly. They were especially asked to look after the welfare of prisoners. Many convicts—who were kept in fetters after their sentence had expired—were to be released. Those sentenced to death were to given grace for three days. Ashoka also started Dhamma yatras.

He and his high officials were to tour the country propagating Dhamma and establishing direct contact with his subjects. Because of such attitudes and policies, modern writers like Kern called him "a monk in a king's garb. The Ashokan policy of Dhamma has been the subject of controversy and debate amongst scholars; Some have said that Ashoka was a partisan Buddhist and have equated Dhamma with Buddhism.

This kind of thinking is based on some Buddhist chronicles. It is believed [ by whom? The Buddhist records credit him with the propagation of Buddhism in India and abroad. As an emperor, Ashoka did not favour Buddhism at the expenses of other religions. According to Ramesh Chandra MajumdarDhamma was not the policy of a heretic but a system of beliefs created out of different religious faiths.

Some historians [ who? Others [ who? According to Romila ThaparAshoka's Dhamma is a superb document of his essential humanity and an answer to the socio-political needs of the contemporaneous situation. It was not anti-Brahmanical because respect for the Brahmans and Sarmanas is an integral part of his Dhamma. His emphasis on non-violence did not blind him to the needs of the state.

In fact, he envisioned bureaucrats as doing the work of ensuring ethical progress on the part of his subjects. By the time Ashoka stopped war, the entire Indian sub-continent was under his control. In the south he was on friendly terms with the Cholas and Pandyas. Sri Lanka was an admiring ally. Thus, Ashoka's decline of war came when his empire had reached its natural boundaries.

The plea for tolerance was a wise course of action in an ethnically diverse, religiously varied, and class divided society. Ashoka's empire was a conglomerate of diverse groups; farmers, pastoral nomads and hunter-gatherers, there were Greeks, Kambojas, and Bhojas and hundreds of groups with different traditions. In this situation a plea for tolerance was needed.

Ashoka tried to transcend the parochial cultural traditions with a board set of ethical principles. Ashoka's Dhamma could not survive him; as such it was a failure. However, he was not establishing a new religion but was trying to impress upon the society the need for ethical and moral principles. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk.

Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikidata item. Set of edicts that formed the policy of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka. Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati. Preserved at the Musee Guimet. Ashes immersed in the Ganges River, possibly at Varanasi. Definition [ edit ]. Historical background [ edit ].

Socio-economic conditions [ edit ]. Religious conditions of the Mauryan empire [ edit ]. Polity [ edit ]. Distribution of inscriptions [ edit ]. Main article: Edicts of Ashoka.