Asoka
(d. c. 232 BCE), Maurya emperor. Asoka, or Ashoka (in full, Asokavardhana), third emperor of the Maurya empire (c. 325–180 BCE), ruled in India from about 269 to 232 BCE. He was also the king of Magada. There is much fable about his life, in both Sanskrit and Pali sources, and the Buddhist texts in particular paint his life in glowing images. He was the grandson of the founder of the Mauryan empire, Chandragupta, and only came to the throne himself, it was told in Sri Lankan sources, by first killing offninety-nine of his brothers and half-brothers in war. He had two or more queens and several sons.
A worshiper before the Asoka Stupa in Patan, Nepal in 1996. (MACDUFF EVERTON/CORBIS)His empire covered most of the Indian subcontinent, except the far south, and was marked archaeologically by the creation of several dozen edicts, written in Brahmi script, on rocks and pillars located all over the country, many of which still exist. Two found in Afghanistan are in another local script. These inscriptions give a picture of a caring ruler who wanted to extend the law and the sense of dharma to all his subjects. Although hundreds of thousands had been killed in his early wars with the Kalingas of eastern India, in later life he either became a Buddhist or at least supported their missionary efforts. He did so even to the extent, it is believed, of sending his daughter Sanghamitra and his son Mahendra to introduce Buddhism to Sri Lanka.
Asoka's edicts show much concern for his people, calling for religious tolerance and for respect toward parents, elders, priests, and monks. He established rest houses for travelers and clinics for sick people and animals and had roadways planted with shade trees. He is said to have gone on tours of his realm and to have sent missionaries to foreign lands, even to Syria and Egypt. He made donations not only to Buddhist sects but also to their religious rivals. Asoka is also said to have established the main features of Buddhist pilgrimage by having set up throughout his realm 84,000 stupas (reliquary mounds) in which relics of the Buddha were preserved, and by formulating the basic itinerary of pilgrimage sites.
Further Reading
Gokhale, B. G. (1966) Asoka Maurya. New York: Twayne.
Strong, John S. (1983) The Legend of King Asoka: A Study and Translation of the Asokavadana. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
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