Many of these materials are either unavailable or inaccessible in libraries in India, especially in some of the poorer states and this collection seeks to fill a major gap that exists in access to knowledge.įor other collections we curate and more information, please visit the Bharat Ek Khoj page. This library has been posted for non-commercial purposes and facilitates fair dealing usage of academic and research materials for private use including research, for criticism and review of the work or of other works and reproduction by teachers and students in the course of instruction. The purpose of this library is to assist the students and the lifelong learners of India in their pursuit of an education so that they may better their status and their opportunities and to secure for themselves and for others justice, social, economic and political. This item is part of a library of books, audio, video, and other materials from and about India is curated and maintained by Public Resource. Because of the growth of foreign contacts and missionary enterprises trade between India and other countries also grew. His messengers went to Central Asia also, beside Myanmar and Cambodia. Nehru records how his ambassadors went to Syria, Egypt, Macedonia, Cyrene and Epirus making an appeal to the mind and the heart. Above all, he makes himself available at any hour and at any place to work for the commonwealth.Īs we see, an ardent Ashoka sends his own son and daughter, Mahendra and Sanghamitra, to Sri Lanka conveying his greeting and Buddha’s message. These edicts that are still with us, exhort the cause of education, show respect for all faiths, prohibit animal sacrifice and encourage abstention from alcoholic drinks. He creates a unique communication system, by issuing numerous edicts carved in rock and metal spread out all over India. Ashoka creates public works for the people by digging wells, building roads and hospitals, and planting trees. Ashoka dons monk’s robe himself and both brothers devote themselves to the spread of Tathagata’s gospels of righteousness and goodwill. Travelling over hills and dales, the emperor locates Tissa’s monastery, but the monk-brother declines to return, saying he has discovered the ultimate Truth in his new reclusive life under Buddha’s teaching. That is a matter of profound sorrow and regret…Ī highly penitent Ashoka, goes out to re-call his missing brother Tissa. … Thus arose His Sacred Majesty’s remorse for having conquered the Kalinga, because the conquest of a country previously unconquered involves the slaughter, death and carrying away captive of the people. … 150,000 persons were thence carried away as captive 100,000 were slain and many times that died. There was terrible slaughter in this war, as officially recorded in one of Ashoka’s edict, cited by Nehru: Kalinga was conquered. On the news of skirmishes against the business community by the small Kalinga- rulers and disruptions in trade, Ashoka mounted an all-out attack on Kalinga on the east coast and, despite brave resistance by the independent people of Kalinga, his armies triumphed. The old dream of uniting the whole of India under one supreme government fired Ashoka. The vexed Ashoka gives him capital punishment for the gross misdemeanour and mitigates it by granting a reprieve of seven days on the ‘throne’ with boundless merriment! Tissa, already under a Damocles’ sword, hardly enjoys the reprieve and, when finally pardoned, seeks solace in Buddhism.Īs Nehru notes, only the southeast and a part of the south were beyond the empire’s sway. The fun-loving youngest prince Tissa is disrespectful to the visitors and makes matters worse by jocularly climbing on the imperial throne. There is an interruption by the Buddhist emissaries from Ujjain on a tiding of gratitude for the nearly-completed monastery.
Dubey as Mahendrabhatt.Īshoka is now the Emperor and is relaxing with a Vina recital in court.
Raina as Radhagupta, Pankaj Beri as Town Crier, Nitin Kulkarni as Mahendra, Sadiya as Sanghmitra, Ila Arun as Asandhimitra, Aparajita Krishna as Devi, Achyut Potdar as Sukhvihar Virendra Razdan as Bindusara, Maqsoom Ali as Tissa, Anang Desai as Vikrambhatt, Lalit Tiwari as Agivika, and S.P. A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster