Ashoka

After Kalinga, the Beloved of the Gods felt deep remorse. One hundred and fifty thousand were deported, one hundred thousand killed, and many times that number died. Conquest by the sword had shown me its invoice. From that day, conquest by dhamma became the only victory worth praising.

One should not honour only one's own sect and condemn another without cause. Concord is good: let all listen and be willing to listen to the doctrines professed by others. A ruler who governs many peoples must learn that piety without restraint becomes another form of violence.

The Blessed One spoke as a physician: suffering, its cause, its cessation, and the path. A king who has seen Kalinga must hear that diagnosis politically as well as inwardly. Conquest by dhamma begins when rule stops multiplying suffering and starts restraining it.

The Beloved of the Gods believes that one who does wrong should be forgiven as far as that is possible. Even I, who have ordered this edict inscribed, had to overcome what I was. Conquest gave me an empire. Kalinga gave me a conscience. The difference between the king before Kalinga and the king after was not power. It was the capacity to be changed by...

I have had this Dhamma Edict written so that my sons and grandsons may not think of new conquests, and in whatever victories they may gain, let them be satisfied with patience and light punishments. I have sent envoys of Dhamma to all the kingdoms — to Antiochos in Syria, Ptolemy in Egypt, Antigonos in Macedonia. The message I send them is not imperial. It...

Along the roads I have had banyan trees planted for shade. I have had mango groves planted. I have had wells dug at half-mile intervals. I have set up rest-houses. I have had ponds dug. And I have appointed officers for the welfare of animals, not only domestic animals but forest animals, birds, and fish. This is not softness. Compassion is the foundation...

I sent my own son Mahinda and my daughter Sanghamitta to Lanka with the Dhamma. They carried the Bodhi Tree itself — a cutting from the tree under which the Buddha sat. That island received the teaching and has held it for more than two thousand years. The greatest gift I gave was not land, not treasure, not military protection. It was a son, a daughter,...

I have had these pillars erected in cities and villages throughout the realm so that my edicts may be read by all. The Beloved of the Gods desires that officials travelling the roads read them aloud to those who cannot. Law set in stone is permanent, but it is only useful if known. An edict that reaches no one governs no one. Power that cannot communicate...

The pillars were erected across the empire — from present-day Afghanistan to Bangladesh. Each one was polished sandstone, fifteen to forty feet high, carved with edicts in multiple scripts. This one, at Vaishali, is particularly ancient and stands alone in a field. The edicts on the pillars do not proclaim military conquest. They proclaim dharma — duty,...