ASHOKA THE GREAT CHRONICLES THE LIFE OF EMPEROR ASHOKA. IT IS FICTIONAL BIOGRAPHY AND MORE ACCURATELY CAN BE CALLED HISTORICAL FICTION.
P P RAMACHANDRAN
Jawaharlal Nehru in his alt39 Glimpses of World Historyalt39 pa
ys an eloquent tribute to Ashoka: ” Ashoka, in spite of being a king and emperor, was great and worthy of admiration.” Speaking of him in his alt39 Outline of Historyalt39, H G Wells says: ” Amidst the tens of thousands of names of monarchs that crowd the columns of history, their majesties and graciousnesses and serenities and royal highnesses and the like, the name of Ashoka shines almost alone, a star. From the Volga to Japan his name is still honoured.
China, Tibet, and even India, though it has left his doctrine, preserve the tradition of his greatness.
More living men cherish his memory today than have ever heard the names of Constantine or Charlemagne.” A modern writer Abraham Eraly, wrote, ” Ashoka was fulfilling his duty as king as his Enlightened vision perceived it… He hoped that compassion, liberality, truthfulness, purity, gentleness and virtue would spread among mankind… He would not tolerate crime but would be humane towards criminals… His compassion was counterbalanced with sternness.” The author of the book under review Wytze Keuning was a school teacher in the Netherlands who dedicated the best part of his career to preparing a historical biography of Ashoka. His threevolume biography was published between 1941 and 1948. He died in 1957.
The volumes are translated by Elisabeth Steur who was a Child Psychologist attracted by Keunings book and her experiences in the surroundings of one of Indias great spiritual masters. She deserves our special thanks for making available to us this masterly work.
The original Dutch version was a trilogy, published separately in three volumes.
These three volumes – Ashoka: The Wild Prince, Book I, Ashoka: The Wise Ruler, Book II and Ashoka: The Worlds Great Teacher, Book III – are now brought together and presented in this single volume Ashoka The Great.
Ashoka, who was the third King of the Mauryan empire expanded his kingdom to include virtually the whole of India. It is not an easy task to write the biography of a king of the past about whom legends flourish as much as truth. A biography cannot meet the strict standards set by Lytton Strachey.
Deep research was required to capture the life and times of the Mauryan era. The author has employed the form of a fictional biography as it affords him some leeway in negotiating such an absorbing and charismatic hero.
Ashoka is absolutely aware of his ugly visage, as is evident from his first encounter with his prospective wife. He asks her – ” How ugly does the Princess Devi find the Wild Prince of Pataliputra?” The King in this biography is surrounded by scheming, wily Brahmins who regularly plot to bring his downfall. These are liberties a fictional account can afford. The book is a complete account of the King from his youth till the Kalinga war and his transformation to Buddhism. There is no doubt that this account is a labour of love. It is a fictional biography and more accurately can be called historical fiction.
The book recreates the life and times of the Mauryas with impressive authenticity. Their customs and mores are delineated through the vision of Ashoka and his preceptors.
Ashokas quest and moral dilemmas are as alive today as they were in his days. This fictionalised biography is an impressive account of one of the great heroes of History.
