Originally posted by basha khan:
Asoka was a cruel king of ancient india.
deceptive skills of 'asoka' made budhism populer.
so an 'intelligent' man will select what?,LIVING BY DECEPTION or LIVING BY VALUES?.
basha
Wrong, Wrong and Wrong!
Okay, let me contribute my two cents in here.
Basha, IMHO, your idea of Emperor Asoka winning by 'only deception' is not entirely accurate. He was a warrior prince, Grandson of Chandraguptha Mourya (321 B.C. - 298 B.C.), founder of the Mourya dynasty.
The period of Mourya dynasty was the golden ages of ancient India. Any Indian would know about SrirangaPattanam, and such great cities of Ancient India, where art and culture thrived ages before humans settled down in many other parts of this planet. For all that great art and culture, we are directly debted to Mourya dynastly.
Now, Prince Asoka was just as ambitious as his predecessors, and was very keen on spreading his empire to all corners of the South Asian subcontinent, which he did eventually. But, I am yet to come across any references about him being particularly deceptive, cunning or cruel. He was a great King, a scholar and a brave warrior. He lead and won many wars and the most bloodiest of which was the war against Kalinga - where his forces had to face not only the army of Kalinga, but the armed people of Kalinga, who were loyal to the rulers of Kalinga.
A bloody battle it was, but when the war was over, Emperor Asoka visited the battlefield and he was shocked by the loss and damage the war had caused to ordinary people. Important thing to notice at this point is that, he had already won the war, and there was no one to question him, but his own morality. All he did so far was exactly what a powerful, ambitious King would have done, YET the suffering of the normal people moved him, and he felt responsible for the pain and sorrow that is on the victims of the war.
He then starts practicing Budhism, uses rest of his life, power and influence to spread Budhism, which teaches the followers that greed is the reason for all the misery ? give up your needs and you will be more satisfied. He trains his son(s) and daughter Budhism and sends them to different parts of ancient India to spread peace and tranquillity. He did not leave behind a price when he gave up his crown ? he became a saint I suppose.
We in India respect Emperor Asoka a lot - for being a brave and ambitious prince, King and later an Emperor, and then for being a wise man to identity the evils of war, for spending his energy and resources on spreading a great religion which was about to end the class/caste distiction and such social evils, for spreading art, culture and for leading ancient India by example.
Okay, I checked many resources of the web as well, and never saw any particular remark about him being cruel or vicious - but all reads he was kind and did a lot to spread Budhism. So, to answer your last question, I think an intelligent person would live by his values,
for example, Emperor Asoka.
Heck, my parents named me after Emperor Asoka, I should know!! [ May 11, 2003: Message edited by: Ashok Krishnan ]