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There are Asokan edicts in more than 30 places in India, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan, in Brahmi script. The language is Magadhi and Sanskrit, though one bilingual edict in Afghanistan is in Aramaic and Greek. There are 14 big rock edicts, seven big pillar edicts, minor pillar and rock edicts and the Kalinga rock edicts. Amulyachandra Sen, C.D. Sircar and D.R. Bhandarkar did the major Indian translations. In 1837, James Prinsep deciphered a stone pillar in Delhi. He identified a king who called himself 8216;Devanampiya Piyadassi8217;, the beloved of the gods. This name was found on several other rocks and pillars.

In the decades that followed, more edicts by the same king were discovered. Scholars began to wonder if this was the famous Mauryan king Asoka praised in Buddhist literature. Not until 1915, when another edict was discovered, actually naming Asoka but matching the rest in content, could they confirm it. Asoka, say many, was born around 304 BC and became the third ruler of his dynasty after his father Bindusara. In 262 BC, Asoka, after a fratricidal war, invaded Kalinga Orissa with a huge army. He had been a token Buddhist for two years before that, for political reasons. But the shock of the carnage he caused made him re-assess his commitment to dharma/dhamma: Dhamma sadhu, kiyam chu dhamme iti?/ Apasinave, bahu kayane, daya, dane, sache, suchaye. Dhamma is good, but what is dhamma?/ A bit of evil, a lot of good; kindness, generosity, truth and purity.

The intimate tone of the words makes it clear that these were his own, love letters to his people. The person who emerges is anxious to be thought good and overly puritanical in places he frowns on harmless festivals and merrymaking: the zeal of a new reformist?. But his intentions and practices are fantastic: Rock Edict 2: Everywhere within Devanampiya Piyadassi8217;s realm and among the people beyond the borders, the Cholas, Pandyas, Satyaputras Konkan, Keralaputras, as far as Tamraparani Lanka and where the Greek king Antiochus rules, and among his neighbours too Northwest Frontier, Piyadasi has arranged for two kinds of medical treatment: for humans and for animals. Wherever suitable herbs are not available, I have imported and grown them.

Rock Edict 11: Dhamma consists of proper behaviour to servants and employees, respect for mother and father, generosity to friends, companions, relatives, Brahmins, ascetics, and not killing living beings.

Rock Edict 12: Whoever praises his own religion, due to excessive devotion, and condemns others with the thought, 8220;let me glorify my own religion8221; only harms his own religion. Therefore contact between religions is good. One should listen to and respect the doctrines professed by others. Piyadassi desires that all should be well-versed in the good doctrines of other religions.