Asoka the great

Chandra Guptha Maurya had a son called Bindu Sara (Bimbi Sara?) who ruled the country effectively. He had several sons. One of them was Chanda Asoka (The cruel Asoka) who was extremely, intelligent brave and cruel. After Bindu Sara’s death Chanda Asoka, killed all his cousins and became the King of Magadha. By nature he was very cruel. He waged wars often and won lot of lands. The people of Kalinga (modern day Orissa) were not bothered to obey and respect him. This made him wage a war against Kalinga. In the war, the people of Kalinga fought bravely and most of them were killed. When he was entering Kalinga after his success, Chanda asokha felt very guilty for having done the cruel act. He then and there, decided not to fight any more and become the disciple of Gautama Buddha. His religion of mercy gave him lot of solace. He was there afterwards called Dharma Asoka. He then started sending his people all over the world to propagate the teachings of Buddha. It is these people who converted the people of the then China, Japan and Sri Lanka in to Buddhists. There are also records to show that his representatives reached Egypt. Due to his merciful rule as well as the largeness of his kingdom, Asoka was called as Asoka the great.

Another story of his conversion to Buddhism is slightly crueler. It seems he had a palace of Execution in his capital city of Patali Puthra. This was under the control of one Chandagarika. Chandagarika killed any body who entered this palace first, after the day break. One day a saint called Samudhra entered in to the palace first. When Chandagarika was about to execute him, he begged for mercy and wanted to live for a few more days. Chandagarika agreed. During this time Chandagarika killed a young servant and his wife in front of the sage. The sage suddenly realized the teachings of Buddha and became very calm. After four days, when the sage was thrown in boiling water, a lotus flower rose from the water and sage Samudhra was sitting on the lotus peacefully. Asoka was informed of this miracle. When he saw the sage he repented for his mistakes and became his disciple