Who is Samrat Ashoka?

After the Kalinga War, Ashoka announced Buddhism to be the state religion. His first son and first daughter – Mahindra and Sanghamitra were sent to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) for spreading and preaching Buddhism.

Before Samrat Ashoka converted to Buddhism, he was actually a devotee of Lord Shiva. The Mauryan clan were actually Shaivites.

Despite the fact that Ashoka turned into a Buddhist, he still maintained a standing army, which is clearly mentioned in Kalinga edict. According the the edict, the emperor still held the right to crush all rebellion and punish the guilty with death sentence.

Ashoka’s rule lasted for 40 years. The first 10 years were that of violence and the next 30 years were of peace. During these 30 years, the Maurya Kingdom did not face any kind of external invasion because Samrat Ashoka maintained very high diplomatic relations with the neighboring kingdoms.

The meaning of Ashoka in Sanskrit is ‘without sorrow’. He was also called Samraat Chakravartin (emperor of emperors), Devānāmpriya (the beloved of god), Priyadarśin (He who regards everyone with affection).

He was born around 304 BCE in Patliputra, Patna.

He was the son of king Bindusara and Maharani Dharma. His grandfather was the founder of Maurya Dynasty, Chandragupta Maurya.

Ashoka had many brothers ready to take the throne after the death of Bindusara. But Ashoka becomes the king with the help of a minister Radhagupta. There is a story that Ashoka killed his 99 brothers leaving only one brother Tissa to become the king.

In the early life as an emperor he engaged in war with different states. He was very short tempered person. At that time he was called ‘Chandaashoka’, which means "Ashoka the Fierce".

The war of Kalinga (BC 261) was the turning point of his life. The mass death of the war changed his mind and he became a follower of Buddhism.

He made Buddhism his state religion. Later he was appointed as ‘Dharma Mahapatro’ to propagate Buddhism all over Asia. He sent his son Mahinda and daughter Sanghamitra to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) for spreading Buddhism.

He build lion stambh’s to spread Buddhism, these stambh’s are now called Ashok Stambh. Ashok Stambh of sarnath was adopted as national emblem of India.

Besides ashok stambh, Ashoka had build many constructions-Dhamek Stupa ( Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh), Bharhut stupa ( Madhya Pradesh), Mahabodhi Temple (Bihar).

He died in the year 232 BCE.