4.7 Maurya dynasty of Magadha
The rise of Mauryas was a political phenomenon of great significance in the
history of India. It is as remarkable and as captivating as its founder
Chandragupta Maurya, who ushered in a new era of unity and imperial rule.
History of Kshatriyas as the ruling class is incomplete and insignificant
without Mauryas as independent India took the ‘Chakra with 24 spokes’ on its
national flag and the ‘Lion capital of Sarnath, also Known as Ashoka Lion
Capital’ as its National Emblem from this dynasty only.
4.7.1 Chandragupta Maurya (322 – 298 BC)
In the next 100-150 years after the Buddha’s parinirvana, republican states
as independent powers were completely vanished. In the period of the Nandas,
the Kshatriyas of the republics were killed in masses and the female Kshatriyas
were made royal servants. Buddhist literatures like the Digha Nikaya, Mahavamsa
and Divyavadana suggest that in a war with the neighboring Kingdom, the Maurya
chief of Pipphalivana village died leaving his family destitute. He died while
serving as loyal troops of Shishunagas who fought with the armies of Mahapadma
Nanda. His helpless widow Mura was escorted by her brothers. She escaped to the
city called Pushpapura (also known as Kusumapura or Patiliputra) where she gave
birth to Chandragupta in 340 BC [3]. The families of displaced Kshatriyas were living in hiding
from the fear of Nanda kings and their financial condition was miserable. In
such environment, Chandragupta was making his livelihood as shepherd.
One day, the famous Brahmin teacher Chanakya saw the young Chandragupta. He
took him to Takshila for learning martial arts. The same Chandragupta later
founded the Mauryan Empire and ruled from the age of 20 years till 42 years. He
succeeded in conquering most of the Indian subcontinent. He defeated Dhana
Nanda of Magadha in 322 BC and married his daughter Durdhara with who he was
already in love with. In the later years of his life, he defeated Greek ruler
Seleucus in 304 BC and his bravery is well mentioned in Greek and Latin
literature often referring him as Sandrokyptos, Sandrokottos or Androcottus.
After the defeat, Seleucus entered into alliance with him by marrying his
daughter Helen to him. As a result Chandragupta got hold of the vast
territories of the west of the Indus that included Hindu Kush, present day
Afghanistan and Baluchistan province of Pakistan. After Chandragupta's
conquests, the Mauryan Empire extended from Bengal and Assam in the east to
Afghanistan and Baluchistan in the west and Kashmir and Nepal in the north to
the Deccan Plateau in the south. At the age of 42 years, he gave up his throne
and became an ascetic under the Jain saint Bhadrabahu. He shifted towards
present day Karnataka in southern India where he is said to have died by
fasting in Bhadrabahu cave [4]. As a respect to the first real emperor of
India, a statue of young Chandragupta is kept in the courtyard of Indian
Parliament with inscription ‘Shepherd boy Chandragupta Maurya dreaming of
India he was to create’.
4.7.2 Bindusara Maurya (298 – 273 BC)
The son of Chandragupta was Bindusara whose name means ‘the one who born
out of poisonous blood drops’. Before the birth of Bindusara, Chanakya was
feeding poisonous food to Chandragupta so as to make him immune from the
poison. Chandragupta, unaware of it, one day shared his food with his pregnant
wife Durdhara who was near to her delivery period. When Chanakya came to know
this, he took the decision to cut the stomach of queen to remove the baby as
death was certain for her. This way Bindusara was born in 320 BC. He was
crowned as ‘King of Magadha’ at the age of 22 years. He ruled from 298-273 BC
and got the Sanskrit titles of A-mitra-ghata (slayer of enemies) and Ajatshatru
(with no enemies) due to his aggressive nature. He has been referred as
Amitrochates or Allitrochades in the Greek accounts on the basis of his
Sanskrit titles. Initially Chanakya helped him in managing the administration
but one day under the influence of one minister Subandhu, who was jealous of
Chanakya, Bindusara hurt him. Subandhu narrated the story, how Chanakya fed her
mother a poisonous food and how he was born. Bindusara confirmed it from the
royal nurses and they too authenticated the story of his birth. Meanwhile
Chanakya came to know about these developments. Knowing that he was near to end
of his life, he donated all his wealth to the poors and sat for starvation till
death. Meanwhile Bindusara knew the reason behind giving the poisonous food to
his father and rushed to beg pardon from Chanakya but he refused it. Bindusara
returned to the royal palace and killed Subandhu but in the entire process he
lost one of the best teachers of the world. On the spiritual front, Bindusara
was follower of Brahmanism but later adopted anti-Vedic Ajivika faith and died
at the age of 48 years.
4.7.3 Ashoka Maurya (269 – 232 BC)
Ashoka, also known as Devanampriya, Priyadasi and Chakravarti Samrat, was
born in 304 BC to Bindusara, the same year when his grandfather Chandragupta
defeated Greek ruler Seleucus. Some Buddhist sources put his mother as Brahmin
Shubhadrangi of Campa (present day Bhagalpur in Bihar) while other sources put
his mother as princess Dharma belonging to Maurya Kshatriyas of Pipphalivana [5]. Traditions say that Ashoka’s mother was treated unwell in the
royal palace of Patliputra from the other Kshatriya queens of Bindusara.
Therefore when a son was born to her, she was relaxed and kept her name
‘A-shoka’ means the one who is without or takes away sorrow. Based on this
tradition, it can be said that his mother was of Brahmin origin and thus of
lower status than other Kshatriya queens of Bindusara. Similarly, the Maurya
origin of his mother might be an attempt of later period to link Ashoka
directly with the Buddha of Shakya clan as it is well recorded that some
Shakyas merged with the Mauryas of Pipphalivana after massacre done by King
Vidudabha of Kosala. The Buddhist sources record that from the childhood only
Ashoka was very aggressive in nature and therefore also called as
Chanda-Ashoka, meaning fierce Ashoka. He rebelled against his older brothers
and after long fighting of nearly four years, succeeded in his bloody bid for
the throne of Magadha. He married to Asandhimitra who became chief queen at
Patliputra. Amongst other wives, he got married to fisherwoman Kaurwaki of
Kalinga after falling in love with her. He also fell in love with beautiful
nurse Devi while quelling the rebellion in Ujjain. Devi was the daughter of a
businessman of Vidisha (in Madhya Pradesh). Ashoka married to her and from the
relation he had son Mahindra and daughter Sanghamitra. After he became the King
of Magadha, the two children went to Magadha while Devi remained in Vidisha.
Another queen of Ashoka was Padmavati and from her he had son Dharmavivardhana,
also known as Kunala. Sanghamitra at the age of 14 years got married to
Agnibrahma who was bhagineyyo (sister’s son**) of Ashoka. From the
relation, Sanghamitra had son Suman.
(** The marriage of Sanghamitra with the son of Ashoka’s sister reflects the
same tradition of cross-cousin marriage that is widely practiced in southern
India starting from Maharashtra but now completely absent in northern India.
This indicates that the much disliked tradition got abolished in north-Indian
subcontinent only in the post Mauryan period and possibly after composition of
the Manusmiriti when social laws were shaped and implemented.)
In spiritual life, Ashoka initially
followed Brahmanism just like his father and grandfather. He was also a worshipper
of Shiva. However after the Kalinga war of 261 BC, his mind changed fully. He
adopted Buddhism only to know that how cruel and wrong he was. He was so much
impressed with the new religion that he declared it as the state religion in
260 BC. He used the state machinery to spread it across the Indian
subcontinent. His son Mahindra, daughter Sanghamitra, son-in-law Agni Brahma
and grandson Suman, all joined Buddhist sanghas. He ruled for almost 37 years
(269 BC to 232 BC) and devoted most of it for the service of mankind and other
living things. He completely banned hunting done as sport activity but allowed
limited hunting for eating purposes. He started promoting the concept of
non-violence and vegetarianism. He started implementing many practices that
were against the prevalent faith Brahmanism. Some of these steps included [6] -
- Stopping of animal sacrifice done in the Vedic yajnas.
- Appointment of Dharma-mahamatras which was a direct attack on the rights and
privileges of Brahmins.
- Insisting officers to strictly observe the principles of ‘equality of
punishment’ and ‘equality of justice.’ This was again a direct attack on
orthodox Brahmins who enjoyed freedom from any type of punishment for their
wrong deeds.
- Changing the slogan from Dig Vijaya to Dharma Vijaya.
His spending on various farewell schemes of the society increased considerably.
He started donating generously to the monks. He inspired them to compose the
sacred religious texts and for that gave all types of help. That resulted in
flood of fake monks in the Buddhist Sanghas. To get rid of such monks, he
organized the Third Buddhist Council at Patiliputra in 250 BC. The council was
conducted by monk Moggaliputta-Tissa who used to be also his spiritual teacher.
Ashoka did great contributions towards development of viharas (intellectual
hubs) in form of Nalanda and Takshila and construction of Sanchi and Mahabodhi
temples. In his continued scheme, he built 84000 stupas, sangharama, chaitya
and residences for Buddhist monks all over south and central Asia. The famous
amongst them is ‘Sanchi Stupa’ of Madhyapradesh that contains the relics of
Buddha in a hemispherical brick structure kept at its center. He also built
‘Wheel of Dharma’ famously known as Dharmachakra or Dhammachakka (Pali) or
Ashoka Chakra. He erected many pillars, famously known as the pillars of
Ashoka, though in present time only nineteen of such exists. The most famous
pillar is that of Sarnath near Varanasi. It is famously known as the Lion
capital of Sarnath. It was erected in commemoration of the Buddha’s first
sermon at Sarnath. In the pillar, four lions are seated back to back with
Ashoka Chakra on a lotus. The Chakra appears in the center of the abacus with a
bull on the right and a horse on the left. The lion is a symbol of majesty and
disciplined strength, the bull of steadfastness and hard work and the horse of
energy, loyalty and speed. The depiction of four lions facing four directions
indicates the supremacy of Buddha in all corners of the world. Ashoka also
inscribed edicts on those pillars, also known as Ashoka’s Edicts. One important
edict is – ‘All men are my children. I am like a father to them. As every
father desires the good and the happiness of his children, I wish that all men
should be happy always.
In the religion of Buddhism, Ashoka is just considered after Gautam Buddha. In
Independent India, ‘Ashoka Chakra’ has been given place at the center of the
Indian national flag in a navy blue color on white background. It replaced the
symbol of Charkha (spinning wheel) from the version of the flag used before
independence. ‘Lion capital of Sarnath without lotus’ has been adopted as the
National Emblem of India along with the words Satyameva Jayate. The words
Satyameva Jayate, inscribed below the base plate of emblem in the Devanagiri
script have been taken from the Mundaka Upanishada which means ‘truth alone
triumphs’. In ‘The list of the most influential figures in History’ by Micheal
H. Hart’s in year 1992, Ashoka was ranked 53rd across the world. The British
historian H.G. Wells has written: ‘In the history of the world there have been
thousand of kings and emperors who called themselves ‘their highness’, ‘their
majesties’ and ‘their exalted majesties’ and so on. They shone for a brief
moment and as quickly disappeared. But Ashoka shines and shines brightly like a
bright star, even unto this day [7].
4.7.4 Global Spread of Buddhism during Ashoka’s reign
During the lifetime of the Buddha, his teachings were concentrated in a
very small area. Later the same were spread orally by Buddhist monks who moved
eight months of the year and stayed inside only during the rainy season. The
spread of Buddha’s (as well as Mahavira’s) teaching was fuelled further due to
its acceptance by trading communities who came into existence after increased
trade-commerce and onset of new industries as a consequence of rise in the
permanent human settlements. The trading communities found Buddhist (as well
Jain) moral and ethical teachings an attractive alternate to the mysterious
rituals of the traditional Brahmin priesthood that was looking in the interests
of only Brahmin class while ignoring those of the emerging new social classes.
The rise of single monarchical state under the Mauryas boosted trade and
commerce further and it indirectly boosted the spread of both nastika traditions
over big geography. Other than the monks and trading communities, the spread of
Buddhism in and outside India was greatly aided by Mauryan King Ashoka who
believed that Buddhism is beneficial for all human beings as well as animals
and plants. He sent his daughter Sanghamitra and son Mahindra to spread
Buddhism in Tamraparni (Sri Lanka). He sent many prominent sthaviras like
Mahadhhamarakhhita to Maharattha (Maharashtra state); Maharakhhit and
Yavandhammarakhhita to South India; Madhyamik to present Kashmir and
Afghanistan; Maharaskshit to Syria, Persia / Iran, Egypt, Greece, Italy and
Turkey; Massim to Nepal, Bhutan, China and Mongolia; Sohn Uttar to present
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. While doing so, he never tried
to harm or destroy non-Buddhist religions. He indeed gave donations to
non-Buddhists and many times invited both Buddhists and non-Buddhists for
religious conferences. This way, Buddhism as a religion crossed the boundary of
India and reached in the areas far away from its land of origin.
4.7.5 End of Mauryan Dynasty
Mauryan Empire ended after 50 years of the death of Ashoka when King
Brihadratha Maurya was murdered by his military commander Pusyamitra Sunga. The
Puranas mention that Brihadratha succeeded Satadhanvan Maurya and ruled for
nearly 7 years from 187 BC to 180 BC.
4.8 Sunga dynasty - click here to read
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References:
[3] Mookerji, R. (1966). Chandragupta Maurya and His
Times, p. 16. (4th ed.). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
[4] The Sacred Sravana – Belagola, pp 32, 1981 – By Vilas A. Sangav
[5] Muni, N. (2003). Agma and Tripitaka: A Comparative
Study of Lord Mahavira and Lord Buddha, Vol 2, Language and Literature, p.
189. New Delhi: Concept.
[6] Pratiyogita Darpan. Indian History: Ancient India, p.
99. New Delhi: Upkar.
[7] Mishra, A. P. & Singh, N. K. (2007). Encyclopaedia
of Oriental Philosophy and Religion: A continuing Series, Vol. 8. Buddhism. p.
58. New Delhi: Global Vision.
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Index Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10
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