ASHOKA

ASHOKA

Introduction

The Wheel, which adorns the flag of free India, has kept His memory green. Lord of a vast empire,, after a great victory on the battlefield he grew sick of violence and took an oath never to fight again. He was an ideal ruler. He strove to carry to other lands the light he had won in his life. He dedicated himself to the victories of righteousness.



Author - Mohanachand Keeranagi


Ashoka


"All men are my children. I am like a father to them. As every father desires the good and the happiness of his children, I wish that all men should be happy always."



These are the words of an emperor who lived two thousand and three hundred years ago.



We see in history how even mere chieftains grew arrogant and used their powers selfishly and unjustly. But the emperor who said the above words ruled over the greater part of India. He had the power of life and death over millions of his subjects.



Is it surprising that free India remembers him with admiration?

This emperor was Ashoka (also called ‘Devanampriya Priyadarshi’). The wheel in the abacus of the pillar which he erected as a memorial at Saranath now adorns the national flag of free India.

Who was ‘Priyadarshi’?


The rock inscription of Devanampriya Priyadarshi were being discovered all over India for centuries. But for a long time the identity of this ‘Devanampriya Priyadarshi’ remained a puzzie.


One day in the year 1915 near a village called Maski in Raichur District of Karnataka, a rock inscription was discovered on a hill. In this inscription for the first time the name of Ashoka was found with titles like Devanampriya and Priyadarshi. It was then certain that Devanampriya Priyadarshi was no othe than Ashoka.


The Mauryan Emperor, whose name shone like a very bright star in the history of the world, and whom the world honors and lovers ven two thousand years after his death.

The Emperors


Ashoka was the grandson ofChandragupta Maurya. Chandragupta was the first ruler of the Mauryan Empire. He ruled for about twentyfour years, and then, seeking peace of mind, handed over the reigns of his empire to his son, Bindusara. This Bindusara was the father of Ashoka.



Subhadrangi was the mother of Ashoka. She was the daughter of a poor man of Champakanagar.



As a boy Ashoka was not only active also mischievous. He was a skilful hunter. From the time of Chandragupta Maurya the hunting expedition of the Emperor and the royal family was a splendid sight.



Ashoka was not handsome. But no prince excelled him in valour, courage, dignity, love of adventure and ability in administration. Therefore even as a prince Ashoka was loved and respected by his subjects and by his ministers. Bindusara siscovered the ability of his son quire early and, when Ashoka was still young, appointed him Governor of Avanti.

ASHOKA 2

ASHOKA

Spreading the Message of Dharma

Ashoka was not content with visiting holy places. He believed that the message of Dharma should not become stagnant like standing water. He wanted it to spread within India and outside, too. He wanted the people of the world to bathe in its pure steam and purify themselves. Therefore he undertook a great task which could would be enduring. He got the laws of Dharma engraved on rocks and stone pillars both inside and outside the country. These inscriptions related to Dharma, social ethics and moral living. Ashoka himself has proclaimed that his desire was that his message should reach the people of all lands and enable them to follow and propagate the Dharma for the welfare of the world. Such inscriptions can be seen even today both in India and outside. In India they have been discovered in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and at Siddapura of Chitradurga District, Koppala and Maski in Raichur District of Karnataka. Outside India they have been found in Peshawar District in Pakistan as well as near Khadahar in Afghanistan and on the borders of Nepal.

The Seeds of Dharma


We read in history about many kings who put up inscriptions about their invasions, charities, donations and the extension of their territories. But it is only Ashoka who got inscriptions carved on rocks and pillars, which lead people from untruth to truth, from death to immortality and from darkness to light. To this day they are like lights of wisdom. The laws of Dharma are like the seeds of virtue sown in the hearts of the people. They are steps leading to salvation.



In order to foster greater understanding regarding Dharma, Ashoka took a bold and firm step. He wished to show that all religions teach the same path of virtue. In one of his inscriptions Ashoka says, 'We must respect the followers of other religions in every way. By doing so we can help the growth of our religion and we can help other religions also. If we act in a different way it will harm our religion and also other religions. The man who wants his religion to spread rapidly and honors only his religion and speaks ill of other religions will harm the interests of his own religion. The power of all religions should grow. Devanampriya does not consider charity and worship more important than this.' He appointed officers called 'Dharma - Mahamatras' in order to spread these ideas among the people. These officers met people of different religions and lived among them; they helped to remove the mistaken ideas they had about other religions and to know what was good in them. Often the money set apart for religious purposes in spent otherwise. Sometimes though it seems to have been spent for religious purpose, selfish people pocket it. It was the duty of the Dharma - Mahamatras to see that the money meant for religious purposes was spent properly. They toured the empire and visited the courts of justice also. They set right the errors in the conduct of affairs and in the awards of punishments. Such officers do not seem to have been appointed anywhere else in the history of the world. Besides these, other officers also toured the empire once in five years according to the orders of the emperor and spread the Dharma among the people.

VIKRAMDITYA

Who Is 'The Creator Of An Era'?


We must have some way of keeping count of the years, mustn't we? Otherwise, when we think of an incident, how can we explain when it happened?



Swami Vivekananda was born in 1863, Sir C.V. Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930, and India achieved independence in 1947. In this way we indicate when some thing happened (in 1863, in 1930, in 1947 and so on). If we could not do this, how difficult it would have bean to talk about any thing?



Generally we follow the Christian era. 1947 means one thousand and nine hundred and forty seven years after the birth of Christ. (The Christian Era was followed only by the Christians of the West. It came to us with the dawn (British rule in India). This means Jesus Christ was the creator of an era.



The Government of India now follows the Shalivahana Shaka or Era. It started 78 years after the Christian Era. It takes its name from King Shalivahana. He was the creator of an era. If the people of a nation keep count of years from the year of the birth or the coronation of a great man, it is clear that, that man must have been really very great.