A Belated Introduction

Greetings,

I am Ashoka Maurya, but I have been known by many names: Chandaashoka, Dharmaashoka, Devanampriya, Priyarsin, and many others. I am a man who has fallen into the depths of darkness and ascended to the pinnacle virtue. In my timeI have been destroyer and savior. I am the grandson of the great Chandragupta Maurya, and one of the many sons of the emperor Bindusara. As a prince I fought many battles, bringing death with me like a shadow. I was so powerful a reaper that my father grew to fear me, and I was exiled to Kalinga. When my father eventually died I did a monstrous thing, I killed my 99 brothers to seize the throne.   I was at the time a cruel man like no other, I kept a Harem of 500 women and when they spurned me I had them all killed. I built a torture chamber called the Paradisal Hell, A palace so beautiful that many were lured inside. No one came out alive. Then came the event that wrenched me away from the darkness I had been immersed in. There was insurrection in Kalinga. Naturally, I came down upon the village that nurtured  me with the force of a wrathful typhoon. Hundreds of thousands died that night. Upon a whim, I decided to examine the desolation. I was horrified to see the faces of my loyal soldiers and those who cared for me in my exile, dead and rotting. Finally I saw what I was. I saw the world clearly for the first time. Then I saw truth, ahimsa. Since then I made it the purpose of my life to spread my realization, and to foster peace however I could. Although I will never be able to undo what I have done, I hope to outdo what I have done with a lasting legacy of peace and kindness.

Bless you all,

Ashoka Maurya