Passage Title – King’s Pain
Passage Paragraph –
When Devanampiya Piyadasi or Devanampriya Priyadasi completed eight years of his rule, he conquered Kalinga (Modern Coastal Odisha). Half a million men were expelled; 100,000 killed and many more die. After establishing the rule of Kalinga, Devanampiya Piyadasi immersed himself in deep study of Dhamma, affection for Dhamma and preaching of Dhamma. This is the repentance of the victory of Kalinga for Devanampiya. It is very painful and reprehensible for Devanampiya Piyadasi that whenever someone conquers a state, the defeated state is brutally violated, people getting killed, or worst they expelled.
Q&A based on Passage
The term “Devanampiya Piyadassi” was used for the Emperor Asoka (Ashoka). He conquered Kalinga (Modern Coastal Odisha).
The imporatance and limitation of Inscription are as follows –
Importance –
(a) Most of the inscriptions are located in the marginal areas. With the help of Inscription, we can easily determine the boundaries of Ashoka’s kingdom.
(b) It shows the means adopted by Ashoka for the spread of Buddhism.
(c) It is known from the kingdoms mentioned in the inscriptions that Ashoka had done many things for the welfare of the subjects.
(d) The inscriptions of Ashoka are beautiful specimens of Mauryan art. They are carved by special method.
Limitations –
(a) Sometimes the letters are engraved very lightly which is difficult to read
(b) The records may also be destroyed due to which the letters get lost.
(c) It is also not always easy to have a complete knowledge about the real meaning of the words in the inscriptions because some of the meanings are related to a particular place or time.
(d) Inscriptions have been received in thousands, but all have neither been interpreted nor translated.
The Kalinga War had the following effects on Ashoka –
(a) He gave up wars forever.
(b) He immersed himself in the study of Dhamma, affection for Dhamma and preaching of Dhamma.
(c) He became a people-beneficial ruler.
It is because, one lakh people died in the Kalinga war and many more died. In addition, 1.5 lakh people were expelled. That is why Ashoka repented after the Kalinga war.