Ashoka - Perhaps one of the most prominent names that may arise while we discuss about the topic of how a person can change his true self, sacrificing his kingdom, family and taking the path of non-violence and peace, is the name of the great king Ashoka. Often known as Ahoka the great, his empire was of an immense size starting from Magadh, which is presently the state of Bihar and stretching far in the east to Assam and Bangladesh. In the north and North West, his empire even covered the present nation of Pakistan and Afghanistan. He even had his dominance in the south and his kingdom included Kerela and even the nation of Lanka, presently known as Sri Lanka. The name of Ashoka had a definite meaning which meant “with out sorrow” in Sanskrit. An extremely brave and courageous boy, right from his child hood, Ashoka grew up intense care of the Maurya dynasty to which the great king Chandra Gupta Maurya belonged. After he was crowned to be the king, he immediately started to capture several provinces and began to spread his kingdom far and wide. Ashoka had been dominant as a king and ruled the Indian sub continent from 260B.C to 232B.C. During his reign, a legendary battle which changed his outlook of life and that transformed him into the sage he was perhaps the battle of Kalinga. Presently known as Orrissa, Kalinga had an extremely powerful army and none of the kings of the Maurya dynasty ever dared to launch a full fledged attack on Kalinga and conquer the kingdom. The great king Ashoka achieved the unbelievable but in this process he experienced the death and loss of many near and dear ones and he could not resist the pain, disgust and pathos that destroyed the sinful and cruel soul he possessed. After the battle of Kalinga, Ashoka turned into a saint who started preaching Buddhism and peacefulness. He, at a later stage in his life, dedicated his life towards preaching of Buddhism all across the Asian sub continents. Ashoka was the follower of nonviolence, love, tolerance and truth. The name of the emperor Ashoka has gone down the pages of history as the philanthropic administrator.
another interesting fact about king asoka is that our national amblem...with four lions sitting together with satyamev jayate written under it is taken from the asoka pillar built at sarnath temple in 250 bc. right now it is preserved in the sarnath museum. asoka pillar was built where gautam buddha first taught the concept of dharma.
