Ashoka and Alexander the Great

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mojobadshah

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In the past scholars have put forth that Ashoka and Alexander the Great were the same personages. What are the chances that they are right? They lived around the same time. Ashoka means "without lamentation" Alexander means "savior or man." Some of the Ashoka edicts were written in Greek. Are there any other reasons to believe that he may have been Alexander the Great?
 
mojobadshah said:
In the past scholars have put forth that Ashoka and Alexander the Great were the same personages. What are the chances that they are right? They lived around the same time. Ashoka means "without lamentation" Alexander means "savior or man." Some of the Ashoka edicts were written in Greek. Are there any other reasons to believe that he may have been Alexander the Great?
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No, the Edicts of Ashkola mention Alexander the Great's successors as rulers. He was later than Alexander the Great.
Now it is conquest by Dhamma [(which conquest means peaceful conversion, not military conquest)] that Beloved-of-the-Gods considers to be the best conquest. And it (conquest by Dhamma) has been won here, on the borders, even six hundred yojanas away, where the Greek king Antiochos rules, beyond there where the four kings named Ptolemy, Antigonos, Magas and Alexander rule, likewise in the south among the Cholas, the Pandyas, and as far as Tamraparni. Here in the king's domain among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Nabhakas, the Nabhapamkits, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras and the Palidas, everywhere people are following Beloved-of-the-Gods' instructions in Dhamma. Even where Beloved-of-the-Gods' envoys have not been, these people too, having heard of the practice of Dhamma and the ordinances and instructions in Dhamma given by Beloved-of-the-Gods, are following it and will continue to do so.
—Edicts of Ashoka, Rock Edict (S. Dhammika)[8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka
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seattlegal said:
No, the Edicts of Ashkola mention Alexander the Great's successors as rulers. He was later than Alexander the Great.
Now it is conquest by Dhamma [(which conquest means peaceful conversion, not military conquest)] that Beloved-of-the-Gods considers to be the best conquest. And it (conquest by Dhamma) has been won here, on the borders, even six hundred yojanas away, where the Greek king Antiochos rules, beyond there where the four kings named Ptolemy, Antigonos, Magas and Alexander rule, likewise in the south among the Cholas, the Pandyas, and as far as Tamraparni. Here in the king's domain among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Nabhakas, the Nabhapamkits, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras and the Palidas, everywhere people are following Beloved-of-the-Gods' instructions in Dhamma. Even where Beloved-of-the-Gods' envoys have not been, these people too, having heard of the practice of Dhamma and the ordinances and instructions in Dhamma given by Beloved-of-the-Gods, are following it and will continue to do so.
—Edicts of Ashoka, Rock Edict (S. Dhammika)[8]

Ashoka - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Now you've sparked my curiosity. Where are you getting this pronunciation"Ashkola" from?
 
Asoka was a conqueror in his own right..then he converted to Buddhism and India fourished after that awhile.. He lamented his conquests. Thus the wikipedia:

He embraced Buddhism from the prevalent Hindu tradition after witnessing the mass deaths of the war of Kalinga, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia and established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha. Ashoka was a devotee of ahimsa (nonviolence), love, truth, tolerance and vegetarianism. Ashoka is remembered in history as a philanthropic administrator.

In the history of India, Ashoka is referred to as Samraat Chakravartin Ashoka - the Emperor of Emperors Ashoka.
His name "aśoka" means "painless, without sorrow" in Sanskrit (the a privativum and śoka "pain, distress"). In his edicts, he is referred to as Devānāmpriya (Pali Devānaṃpiya or "The Beloved Of The Gods"), and Priyadarśin (Pali Piyadasī or "He who regards everyone with affection").
 
arthra said:
Asoka was a conqueror in his own right..then he converted to Buddhism and India fourished after that awhile.. He lamented his conquests. Thus the wikipedia:

He embraced Buddhism from the prevalent Hindu tradition after witnessing the mass deaths of the war of Kalinga, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia and established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha. Ashoka was a devotee of ahimsa (nonviolence), love, truth, tolerance and vegetarianism. Ashoka is remembered in history as a philanthropic administrator.

In the history of India, Ashoka is referred to as Samraat Chakravartin Ashoka - the Emperor of Emperors Ashoka.
His name "aśoka" means "painless, without sorrow" in Sanskrit (the a privativum and śoka "pain, distress"). In his edicts, he is referred to as Devānāmpriya (Pali Devānaṃpiya or "The Beloved Of The Gods"), and Priyadarśin (Pali Piyadasī or "He who regards everyone with affection").
Click to expand...

Asoka's famous consiegliere, 'mantri', court-councilor was Canakya Pandita:

Canakya Pandita—the brahmana advisor to King Candragupta responsible for checking Alexander the Great’s invasion of India. He is a famous author of books containing aphorisms on politics and morality.
 
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