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ESTIMATE OF KHĀRAVELA
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was destined to set for ever. The warrior-like spirit of Khāravela and his bold undertaking of military campaigns all over India clearly prove that militarism was in full vigour in the country inspite of Asoka's advocacy of the ideal of conquest through Dhamma. But what has been the final result of the wars and warfares that served to keep Khāra vela ever busy and the people of Kalinga always in excitement ? The final result has been that Mahāvijaya Klāravela disappeared completely out of sight after the fourteenth year of his reign and the Mahāmeghavāhana dynasty came to an end within a few years after his death. The fateful career of Khāravela is enough to prove, wrote Dr. Barua,' that the arms that hurl missiles may strike terror, but the arms that embrace conquer for good. It was Asoka who set up the ideal of conquest by the Dhamma. Khāravela upset that ideal only to be forgotten even in the literature of the Jainas, while the memory of Asoka has all along been adored by the entire Buddhist and non-Buddhist world.
Khāravela was wise enough, however, to beware of his royal state betimes and to take steps, when opportunity occured, to built thic costly works of art and architecture, in glorification of his religion. And, it is the lingering rock-cut caves on the Khaņdagiri.Udayagiri which have immortalised him and raised up the people of Kalinga in the estimation of civilized humanity.
1. OBI, pp. 286-7.
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