History makes us, we are our history. When you learn about world history you understand a lot of things, a new world is opened to you. We are going to see how one of the most bloodthirsty Mauryans emperors from India converted himself into a loyal follower of Buddhism and thanks to it he conquered through peace and respect.
Ashoka was born in 304 b.c in India , his grandfather Chandragupta who built the Mauryan empire with the help of his tutor and advisor Chanakya. His successor was Bindusara , Ashoka´s father. Bindusara had a lot of children and Ashoka wasn´t one of his favourites, he disliked him because of his appearance and his strange skin due to a disease. Normally the next emperor was going to be his brother Sushima but Ashoka took his place after his father's death and burned him alive.For instance, to succeed to the throne he killed 99 of his brothers , sparing only one. He ruled almost all Indian subcontinent from 268 B.C.E to 234 B.C.E through a non violence edict. But he wasn't always the pacifist emperator we know nowadays, as you could notice. Initially he was very cruel and took part in massive killings according to the Ashokavadana (sanskrit text that narrates Ashoka's life and reign ). For example is told he was very interested in tortures techniques and even built the “ Ashoka hell” a prison that seemed very elegant and beautiful from the exterior but inside was a torture chamber.He converted to Buddhism after witnessing massive deaths (100,000 people), he deported around of 150,000 and leaving thousands die of famine and diseases. in their conquest of the Kalinga´s state. It's not very clear how he got in touch with buddhism, it's possible that he had already heard about it before Kalinga or maybe after his war he learnt more about Buddha´s learnings and combined them with other religions beliefs that in that time in India embraced peace, respect and spirituality. At this time buddhism was a minor philosophical religion and thanks to him the buddhism was expanded through India and the Occident.
He implemented a tolerance and respect policy,he helped the diffusion of buddhism teachings. He reigned with “ dharma” wich in hinduism means “ the purpose of your life” but in his context was also understood as to be the energetic practice of the sociomoral virtues of honesty, truthfulness, compassion, mercifulness, benevolence, nonviolence, considerate behaviour toward all. He even became vegetarian because of the “noninjury to animals” buddhism belief. His aim was to spread “nirvana” which can be translated as “ a non pain state” , and happiness.
How did he exactly manage to spread buddhism? First he went to numerous pelerinages, learnt more about “ dharma”, sent buddhist monks on missions all around Indi, Asia and even Europe.Ashoka ordered the constructions of enormous stone pillars ( between 15 and 20 km) and slab where it will be witten dits. These ones showed the emperor a new outlook of life and spread the message of peace, respect and tolerance.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.
Quoting him :
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.
Of all Ashoka's stone works, probably the most famous one is the Lion Capital at Sarnath, who later became the nation's symbol at Indian independence.
After his conversion he performed social welfare activities such as the construction of medical treatments , he constructed special botanic gardens, roads were built, veterinary establishments were constructed.
Even if probably Ashoka's history is too good to be true and maybe some details are not that reliable( for example he continued to use military forces after his conversion) this emperor is a great example of good values such as tolerance, caring for the common good and how finding internal peace and follow the path of happiness can change us.
