Kavyanushasana Part 2

Author(s): Hemchandracharya, Rasiklal C Parikh, Ramchandra B Athvale
Publisher: Mahavir Jain Vidyalay

Page 50

introduction"
XXIX: After Chandragupta Maurya" comes the Great Aşoka. In his time also Gujarat was a province of the Maurya empire, and Girinagara continued to be the capital. On behalf of Asoka, the inscription of Rudradāman tells us, his governor Yavanarāja Tushasfa, who in spite of the title Yavanarāja is regarded as a Persian by scholars on account of his name, 'adorned the lake with the supplementary channels in a right royal style.'
The most important event of Gujarāt history of this period, however, is the inscribing of the 'Dhammalipi of Asoka, on the rock of the mountain Urjayat or Girnāra referred to in the beginning of this section. The civilizing influence of this royal edict cannot be exaggerated. It inculcated the very essence of Aryadharma - of Aryan civilization as it developed in India - a fusion, no doubt, of many influences.
The first edict gives the injunction to abstain from taking life either for sacrificial offerings or for sport. And the emperor himself sets an example by cutting down the slaughter of thousands of animals for the royal kitchen to three animals, and in future even stopping this.
The second edict describes the provision for medical treatment of human beings and animals, planting of medicinal plants, and the building of wells and planting of trees on roads for the benefit of human beings and animals. The third refers to the appointment of officers who will travel in the different parts of the empire to see that the people practice the 'dharma', and that the people regard it as good to attend to their parents properly, to treat hospitably