Devi and Ashoka - Page 4

Originally posted by: maheshbedant

I know there is a book "Ashoka: the Search for India's Lost Emperor"
by Charles Allen.
But all author and historian only can depend on previous sources like Ashokavadana,Divyavadana,Mahavamsa,Dipavamsa,Tibetan legend,Mahavamsatika and Ashoka's rock edicts.
There is brief description about Devi in Asokavandana, Divyavandana, Dipvasna, Mahavasna.
Now, let us take a look at the edict issued by Asoka himself around 256 BC, that is 13 years after ascending the throne of Magadha.
There are 14 major rock edicts, two separate edicts at sites of Dhauli in Kalinga,the Minor Rock Edict, the Queen's Edict, Barabar Cave Inscriptions, Kandahar bilingual Inscriptions and 7 pillar edicts.





(Allahabad Pillar edict)


Kaurwaki is mentioned in the "Queen's edict" inscribed on pillar at Allahabad.The text of the inscription is as follows-

The Queen's Edict
"On the order of the Beloved of the Gods, the officers everywhere are to be instructed that whatever may be the gift of the second queen, whether a mango-grove, a monastery, an institution for dispensing charity or any other donation, it is to be counted to the credit of that queen,the second queen,Karuvaki the mother of Tivala"

This Queen edict is also mentioned in the text book of history grad student and UPSC exams preparation.

Ashoka before attacking kalinga also said he had old relationship with that state i read it somewhere need to get reference but surely i will post it.

Chanakya Death Mystery

Chanakya's death is clouded with mystery and is not revealed exactly so far despite several efforts by scholars. However, there are two standpoints to it with the one stating that he starved himself to death and the other stating that he was killed through a clever plot woven around him. However, both these stand points stem from the story that is connected to his miserable fate.
Chanakya made Chandragupta the ruler of a great empire in order to avenge the humility he suffered in the court of Nandas. Chandragupta Maurya proved to be a great emperor and nation builder under the able guidance of Chanakya. Chandragupta's son Bindusara succeeded Chandragupta in the throne and Chandragupta took to ascetic life during his last days.
Chanakya continued to be the chief advisor for Bindusara. Unable to tolerate the rapport that Chanakya enjoyed with Bindusara, a terrible plot was constructed to create enmity between him and the ruler. The master mind behind this plot was Subandhu, the minister of Bindusara. Subandhu made Bindusara believe that it was Chanakya who killed his mother in a treacherous manner. This created a severe contempt in Bindusara for Chanakya.
Chanakya was unable to put up with the behaviour of Bindusara whom he loved the most. Therefore, he left the palace and sat starving until death. During this time, a nurse who was with Bindusara's mother Dhurdha, revealed the mystery behind the queen's death relieving Chanakya from the guilt.
The story went this way. When Chandragupta, Bindusara's father was on the throne, Chanakya was adding poison to his food day by day to make him strong and immune even to the worst poison so that he shall not be poisoned by his enemies or conspirators. Not knowing this, the queen partook the food reserved for Chandragupta when she was pregnant.
Learning this, Chanakya wanted to save the heir to the throne and therefore cut open the womb of the mother to save the baby who was rescued from poison and named as Bindusara. In this process the queen succumbed to death. Ultimately, this act of Chanakya followed his duty towards the empire and as a measure to save Bindusara, who was to be the king of the empire.
Once Bindusara learnt this story from the nurse, he realised the grave mistake he committed by misunderstanding Chanakya. However, despite his efforts to pacify him and bring him back to the court, Chanakya refused to do so and continued to starve until death. Yet another version of the story states that Subandhu later cleverly burnt him alive.When he visited Chanakya's fasting spot he slipped a burning charcoal ember inside the heap of dung,with wind as its aid the fire caught.
It appears that Bindusara killed Subandhu in utter disgust due to his evil plan. However, the mysterious death of Chanakya is not fully resolved yet.

well i am a silent member of this forum and commenting for the first time... Well I am not hear to say who is great or who held the most precious place in Ashoka's life... Indian history is a complicated thing and I'm not a historian or history student at all... so have no more than school level knowledge... Well even in school level we got to know almost nothing about Ashok's queens... text books solely focuses on Ashoka's contribution to the nation and his charitable works mostly... Probably before watching the movie Ashoka people hardly came to know about Devi or Kaurvaki rather than peopls with own interests... As far the show started i came to know some little information about ashoka's queens it was amazing that how many sources and debates r there on this matter.. each and every source have some key element and new thing to know which is really interesting...

Originally posted by: BabyHimavari

well i am a silent member of this forum and commenting for the first time... Well I am not hear to say who is great or who held the most precious place in Ashoka's life... Indian history is a complicated thing and I'm not a historian or history student at all... so have no more than school level knowledge... Well even in school level we got to know almost nothing about Ashok's queens... text books solely focuses on Ashoka's contribution to the nation and his charitable works mostly... Probably before watching the movie Ashoka people hardly came to know about Devi or Kaurvaki rather than peopls with own interests... As far the show started i came to know some little information about ashoka's queens it was amazing that how many sources and debates r there on this matter.. each and every source have some key element and new thing to know which is really interesting...

well as far as i can consider than his queens say it kaurvaki, devi, asandhi or anyone else all of them have some contribution in ashoka's life... some of them may coem in2 limelight, some of them remained as folklore, some of their names got place in edicts due to their contribution... i don't think there was nothing about who was the better and who held the most part in ashoka's life ... u know like glorifying things... Well i don't have any through study on ashoka's characteristics but from the little logic i have i can say that he respected and admired all of his queens... be it Devi. Kaurvaki or Asandhimitra, Padmavati or any1 else...The king who was known for his greatness wouldn't surely be partial to her queens thats what i can guess.. The ending thing i can get that his all queens held some contribution in his life in their own way so there was nothing about whose better..

and now coming to the CAS... well its all known that serial's key factor is entertainment...so follwing the history per is not at all possible for the producers.. they have to keep the popularity factor in head and i think as ashoka nd KVK r in popular culture they r promoting them but i don't feel they r demeaning or defaming Devi anyway... And Well i am actually happy that at last they showed Devi cause looking at the past records of serial i doubted that they would even show his any other queen..😆(the serial was good no doubt and watch worthy due to the awsm performance of the pre leap casts)... but still there is a doubt in mind that how the characters will be shaped out in last... it totally depends on the popularity factor and upcoming time...

and lastly people have their own favs... someone prefers Devi with ashoka and soem people will go with Ashoka-KVK... someone will find KVK historically correct or someone will find Devi appropriate...its a big debate continuing in large scale from the very initial days of serial and it will go on... so chill... 😛... there's nothing to fight about it.. debates are always welcomed but when it goes out of hands it turns in2 nasty fights and people must be beaware of that... but in the end it depends on CVs that how much history and how much fiction they r going to show (keeping high hopes of correct history is not at all perfectible for me spcialy when the subject is so vast and lerger than life.)... just enjoy ur own favs performance and i hope the upcoming future satisfies all the fandoms with their favs character and couple... only if prod house manages to bring out a watch worthy story and depends on the performance of pre leap casts...😛

and finally... sorry for thr long rant...😆... if someone gets bored with it then they can ignore it preciously...

U r absolutely right😛

LOL I love the fights here over which queen was real and which wasn't. 🤣

I wish they'd give equal time and importance to Ashok's relationship with all his queens.(That way we get 5 romances in a single show.Who doesn't love a bargain?).They must all have been pretty special ladies-Devi,Kaurwaki,Ashantimitra,Padmavati (not includingTikshya Rakshita👎🏼). Otherwise he'd just have taken them (the non-royal women at least) as his concubines and moved on.One or more of them might have been the Emperor's favorite at different points in his life.And they must have had a huge influence on his policies-politically and otherwise.For eg: What would Kaurwaki have to say about attacking her homeland? I can't think she'd have been fine with his decision.However I always find it amusing when a polygamist is portrayed as being in love with one and only one woman.😆

Anyway I sincerely hope they wouldn't make the romance the axis around which the show revolves.It made sense in SKR to introduce Siya in the beginning since Ram is a monogamist.Our Ashok is anything but.Much as I love the fiery queen Kaurwaki I hope they won't introduce her from the beginning itself.Mohit needs time to get in to the skin of Ashok.I'm here to see the life and times of Emperor Ashok not the legendary lover Ashok.

guys ashoka loves kaurwaki and she is the one who turned bad ashoka to good with love.devi doesnot love ashoka much because of his bad deeds.i also read this in ashoka history.

So the another fight about devi and kaurwaki began .cv are showing kaurwaki as ashoka love interest and devi as his first wife.for me both of them are equally important.when kaurwaki is not in ashoka life devi help him with his sorrows and when devi left him kaurwaki brought a light in his life.but i think kaurwaki has played an important role in turning ashoka from chand to dharm because devi left him before kalinga war due to his cruelness and kaurwaki instead being ashoka attacked her homeland stand with him and help him to transform.

So the another fight about devi and kaurwaki began .cv are showing kaurwaki as ashoka love interest and devi as his first wife.for me both of them are equally important.when kaurwaki is not in ashoka life devi help him with his sorrows and when devi left him kaurwaki brought a light in his life.but i think kaurwaki has played an important role in turning ashoka from chand to dharm because devi left him before kalinga war due to his cruelness and kaurwaki instead being ashoka attacked her homeland stand with him and help him to transform.hope they will not turn warrior ashoka fully into lover ashoka though love is important in life but hope they will also show some politics.

Dunno much about Ashoka's queens & their importance in his life. All I want to say is that none of these informations about historical events are 100% accurate irrespective of its sources. Different historians & researchers have their own different versions of those incidents & events. Today serial & film makers twist & present them for the sake of entertainment & commercial success.
So I would just like to go with the version they're gonna show in CAS 'cause I'm here for entertainment tbh 😆 & ofcourse, Mohit 😳