After 2 years of warfare due to politics and intrigue by ministers of Taxila, during which an elder half-brother died, King Ashoka succeeded to the throne. After eight years of relative peace, during which time he was a harsh ruler, he made war on Kalinga.
Having seen all the horrors of that war, with sons and daughters made orphans, wives widow, and people suffering from the losses of war, Ashoka firmly resolved to renounce war and performed merit in the name of the Buddha. This included breaking apart old stupas containing the relics of the Buddha and redistributing them in new stupas throughout his kingdom. Throughout his kingdom. he also had royal proclamations written in stone for his subjects to read.
Eventually he begged for alms (food), and gifted the widow who gave the clothes off her back. Again, Ashoka gifted the poor elderly couple who sought to become slaves of a rich man for seven pieces of gold if they could not repay him in seven days.
Once called Ashoka the Fierce, King Ashoka became Ashoka the Righteous.
Links
In Asoka - gives a brief history of Ashoka and retells the popular tale about Ashoka making his pilgrimage to all the Buddhist holy sites.
The author, a Dutch Buddhist nun who joined a temple in Thailand, then mentions her pilgrimage to those same sites accompanied by her fellow Buddhist monks.
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