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0 KPI Congress 15 th

The just rule and historical legacy of Emperor A oka have resulted him being
identified by many as an eminent royal lay Buddhist follower. In the Buddhist
traditions of South and Southeast Asia, Emperor A oka is considered as a righteous
Buddhist king. After his exposure to Buddhism, Emperor A oka was able to change
his way of life as well as the way he ruled his vast empire. Committing himself to
non-violence, he created a vast kingdom in which righteousness was a key feature of
statecraft.

Most attribute this transformation in Emperor A oka’s life—from violence to
non-violence—to the influence of Buddhist teachings. During his lifetime, Emperor
A oka left many inscriptions throughout his kingdom in communicating to the public
his vision of the state, its policies and principles of righteous government. Emperor
A oka’s inscriptions provide hard evidence to support instances of royal renunciation
of violence well establishment of law and order to secure social well-being of the
subjects.

Ironically, even Emperor A oka, established his authority and secured political
power first directly involving in fierce military conquest. His abandonment of warfare
and renunciation of violence occurred much later only after well consolidating the
temporal authority.

According to Emperor A oka’s own testimony, in the eighth year of his reign
(260 BCE), he waged war against Kãli ga causing immense human casualties.
His inscriptions record staggering numbers of those who lost their lives. According to
them 150,000 were made captives, 100,000 were slain and “many times that number
died” (Nikam and McKeon 1978: 27).

The carnage in Kãli ga, however, was an important turning point in Emperor
A oka’s life causing him to be deeply distressed and discover creative ways of good
governance:

The Beloved of the Gods, conqueror of the Kãli gas, is moved to remorse
now. For he has felt profound sorrow and regret because the conquest of a
people previously unconquered involves slaughter, death, and deportation (Nikam
International panel discussion for dharma.
and McKeon 1978: 27).

His inscriptions explain this transformation as a result of Emperor A oka’s search

“Immediately after the Kãli gas had been conquered, King Priyadar ĩ
became intensely devoted to the study of Dharma, to the love of Dharma, and
to the inclusion of Dharma (Nikam and McKeon 1978: 27).

In The Edicts of A oka, it is stated: