WORLD RELIGIONS

Detailed explanation-1: -Kalinga war and conversion to Buddhism Ashoka’s inscriptions mention that he conquered the Kalinga region during his 8th regnal year: the destruction caused during the war made him repent violence, and in the subsequent years, he was drawn towards Buddhism.

Detailed explanation-2: -According to his own accounts, Ashoka conquered the Kalinga country (modern Orissa state) in the eighth year of his reign. The sufferings that the war inflicted on the defeated people moved him to such remorse that he renounced armed conquests. It was at this time that he came in touch with Buddhism and adopted it.

Detailed explanation-3: -According to a contemporary text, the Edicts of Ashoka, Ashoka converted to Buddhism because he “felt remorse on account of the conquest of Kalinga because, during the subjugation of a previously unconquered country, slaughter, death, and taking away captive of the people necessarily occur.”