The Battle of Kalinga | सम्राट अशोक : महान ? कलिंगा युद्ध

 

Ashoka : Great ? Part 4: The Battle of Kalinga | सम्राट अशोक : महान ? कलिंगा युद्ध

Ashoka, the famous Mauryan emperor, ruled a major part of the Indian sub-continent in the third century before the Common Era. His conquests were only rivalled much later by those of the imperial Mughals and the British Indian Empire. However, the nature of his rule, as reflected in the orders issued by him, surviving as Ashoka’s Edicts all over India, paint him as an unusually humane ruler who strived for peace and equality amongst his subjects.

Though Ashoka’s earlier trysts with power were full of violence and hatred against his opponents, his later trajectory of self-reformation from a blood-thirsty tyrant to a compassionate ruler is studded with inspiration for modern Indians. Certain new age truths find resonance in Ashoka’s life defying the double score of centuries lying between him and us.

Self-reformation

The first truth emerging from Ashoka’s tale is the ability to transform one’s self from bad to good, and good to better, by self-introspection. Had Ashoka not introspected on his past doings, he would have never thought of reforming his nature. The introspection included meditating on his faults and mending his ways with drastic changes in his reaction to the same circumstances. Thus, while he earlier preached war, the reformed Ashoka believed in peaceful communication.

Effective communication

The second major learning from Ashoka’s life is the use of latest communication tools to express one’s thoughts, forcefully and effectively, an idea which would certainly appeal to a generation hooked to social media. Ashoka’s Edicts were etched not only in Brahmi, the chief script of his empire, but also in Aramaic (an ancient Persian script), in Greek and in Kharosthi, the local script of North-West India. By translating his message of peace in these many scripts and languages, Ashoka managed to reach out to as many people as possible not only from his own empire but also the foreign emissaries of Greek and Persian Empires.

Foreign policy

One cannot dismiss Ashoka’s smart use of foreign policy to ensure peace on borders as he named five contemporary Greek rulers with whom he maintained contact after his conquest of Kalinga. Ashoka seems to be the first Indian ruler to make such international treaties to ensure peace through negotiation. Ashoka’s peaceful relations with neighbours were most certainly an inspiration for India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, also the country’s first External Affairs Minister, in formulating peaceful ties based on negotiation with our neighbouring countries.