Transcript File - Year 11-12 Studies of Religion 2Unit 2013-4

300 BCE – 232 BCE
Presentation by:Sameer Agrawal
 ASHOKA BELONGS
TO MAURYAN DYNASTY
 HE IS THE THIRD KING
OF MAURYAN DYNASTY
Birth of
Asoka
Reign
begins
300
BCE
272 BCE
Marriage
284 BCE
Conversion
to
Buddhism
263 BCE
Death in
232 BCE
 CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA
 (Founder & grand father of Ashoka)
 BINDUSARA
(Second king & father of Ashoka)
 ASHOKA THE EMPEROR
(Third king)
 Founded Mauryan Dynasty
in 322 BC
 Gained power shortly after
Alexander ‘s death.
 Was crowned King at Taxila
 Had capital at Pataliputra
 His minister Chanakya
wrote Arthashastra
 BEFORE
THE KALINGA WAR
 AFTER
THE KALINGA WAR
 LEGACY
OF
ASHOKA
BEFORE THE KALINGA WAR
 Ashoka's reign as emperor
began with a series of wars .
 He conquered more lands
and added them to his
empire.
 The Kalinga War of 260 BC
was the worst of all.
 The huge loss of life and
suffering witnessed on
the battlefield made him
turn away from war.
 So he was deeply
influenced by Buddhism,
and adopted the dharma
principles
AFTER THE KALINGA WAR
 A. Dharma Principles
 B. Spread of Buddhism
 C. Ashoka the Administrator
The main principles of dharma (dhamma)
 nonviolence,
 tolerance of all sects,
 obedience to parents,
 respect for Brahmans , teachers & priests
 liberality towards friends,
 humane treatment of servants,
 Ashoka built shrines and
monasteries and inscribed
Buddhist teachings on
rocks and pillars in many
places.
 He sent missionaries to
countries.
 His own son Kunal became a
monk & carried Buddhism
to Sri Lanka
 Ashoka taught and convinced people to love and respect
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all living things.
He insisted on the recognition of the sanctity of all human
life.
He abolished the unnecessary slaughter or mutilation of
animals.
Ashoka banned sport hunting & thus protected wildlife.
He became vegetarian & most people chose to become
vegetarians on their own.
He allowed one day leave to prisoners to go outside for a
day of the year.
LEGACIES OF ASHOKA
 SYMBOLIC LEGACY
 BOLLYWOOD LEGACY
 Indian government has
adopted the famous lion
capital from his pillar at
Sarnath as official
national emblem.
After Asoka’s death in 232
BCE the people of India
decided to commemorate
Ashoka by using his personal
chakra. It can still be seen
today on the Indian flag.
The word chakra is sandskrit
and it means cycle or a
repeating process.
 Asoka’s chakra is also know as the wheel of the
dharma (way) and it symbolizes the 24 virtues in
Buddhism. Some of these 24 virtues include: love,
patience, peacefulness, courage, justice and mercy.
 The film-ASHOKA- was
directed by Santosh Sivan
and stars Shahrukh Khan
as Ashoka and Kareena
Kapoor
as Kaurwaki, a princess
of Kalinga
 After the death of Asoka's father, Binder Sar, Ashoka
and his older brother competed for the throne. The
prime minister and other important ministers at the
time though Asoka to be more discreet, capable and
efficient ruler.
 The next three years Ashoka focused on reestablishing
peace.
 During Asoka's rule theft declined and science,
medicine and technology all flourished.
 Buddhism received a significant boost of popularity
when Ashoka converted to Buddhism.
 Asoka married a commoner called Karuwaki, she was a
fisher.
 He met her before his reign when he was sent to
Taxshila to subdue an uprising as a general of the
Mauryan empire.
 Due to Ashoka’s success in the quelling of the uprising
and his growing popularity, his step-brothers forced
him into exile to prevent him from obtaining the
throne.
 Asoka however returned two years later being
summoned by the emperor to quell another uprising.
 Before Ashoka’s conquest of Kalinga he was known as
Chandashok ( Chanda-cruel, shok-associated with
Hindu goddess of eternal energy) Asoka was
considered a bloodthirsty and power greedy
individual. It was not until later, after the conquest of
Kalinga, where Asoka received his revelation that he
was considered great.
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