Question

What does the Edict of Kalinga convey?

Answer 1

1. There are 33 edicts, including 14 major rock edicts, 7 pillar edicts and 2 Kalinga edicts apart from minor rock edicts and minor pillar inscriptions.
2. They form the reliable sources to know about the Mauryan Empire in particular the dharmic rule of Asoka.
3. In one of the Kalinga edicts, he tells us his horror and sorrow over the deaths which the war and conquest caused.
4. Yet in another edict, he makes it known that Ashoka would not tolerate any longer the death or captivity of even hundredth or thousandth part of the number killed and made captive in Kalinga.