King Asok Not More Than A Myth Essay

Finally, Asoka repented for the mistakes he made. For example, he was feeling burdened after the brutal conquering of Kalinga, and even went as far as converting to Buddhism. Historian Michael Wood describes Asoka’s conversion as “A rejection of the path of violence and a whole new way of understanding history”. Asoka even engraves on a rock edict that he has done all this goodwill to discharge his debts.

He goes out seeking a teacher to help him be more enlightened. According to, Asoka: Ruthless Conqueror, or Enlightened Ruler?, it says, “(Doc C) By the riverbank he met a Buddhist monk who told him to sit beneath the Bodhi tree, where the Buddha found enlightenment. And there, the power of ideas, and the power of the state came together in a uniquely Indian way. It was the rejection of the path of violence and a whole way of understanding history.” When he was there, Asoka started thinking about his people. Buddhism is a spiritual practice, which caused this. He gave gifts to the poor, and started ruling in a more political manner, which had never been done

Hawaii is now known as a tropical paradise, but it wasn’t always so simple. Thousands of years ago the islands were constantly fought over. Until one day, Kamehameha the Great conquered all of the islands becoming Hawaii’s first king. As Hawaii's first king, Kamehameha led his own path. Kamehameha was an effective leader because he was intelligent, was an effective communicator, and adapted to new ideas.

To begin with, Asoka was kind and concerned about people. He became peaceful, enlightened, and more open-minded after finding enlightenment. Asoka’s ideas changed after his conquering of Kalinga because he felt sorry for them. According to historian Michael Wood, “[It was] a rejection of a whole way of understanding history.” ( Doc C). By this, Wood means that Asoka rejected the way rulers in the past felt after conquering land. Regardless of who they were, they enjoyed being victorious. But instead of abandoning the Kalingans, who had lost so much, Asoka’s reaction to the

Asoka: a founder or a murderer? I believe that Asoka changed India he was or played a very big role in what India is today. Asoka was born in circa 268 B.C and ruled in 256 -246 BCE, we really do not know much about the times in which he ruled. He later became a great ruler, at first he was a killer, and loved himself then later, he found enlightenment under a bodhi tree like Buddha. He changed all his wrongdoings, and people started to love him. Asoka was an enlightened ruler for these three reasons: He rejected the path of violence, he felt remorse and gave to the poor he did not want violence anymore. He also spread Buddhist teachings, he believed so much and wanted people to find enlightenment just like he had, he

Being a hero can be defined many different ways. Several qualities like courage, respect, and strength can define heroism. A hero is noted for his or her actions for being brave, powerful, and acting with honor. In the epic poem, Beowulf, the main character Beowulf shows all of these characteristics by defending the Danish king, Hrothgar, and his people. He is a true hero by honoring his country and exerting his power and strength to protect others. Beowulf embodies the qualities of bravery, being powerful, and demonstrating his honor; therefore, he can be considered a true hero.

For my report, I chose to summarize how Brian Helgeland’s movie “A Knight’s Tale” (2001) draws its medieval themes and story from Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales: The Knight’s Tale”. Besides the nearly identical titles of these works and the moderately similar storyline, it can be further proven that “A Knight’s Tale” is an adaption of “The Knight’s Tale” because Geoffrey Chaucer appears as a character himself—and a vital one at that—in the movie. Furthermore, just to make certain that there is no mistake among the viewers about who they are dealing with, Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany) even refers to himself as a writer in the movie and points out his very first own work “The Book of the Duchess” in disbelief when some peasants don’t

William I became known as William the Conqueror through his will and determination. William gained power through his father and soon he climbed high enough to conquer England and become its new king.

King Arthur is an outstanding British leader of the 5th and the 6th centuries, son of Uther Pendragon and the Lady Igraine. Arthur is one of the greatest mythical heroes that the world has ever known. Arthur has had a great influence on other people and many of them looked up to him. The coming of Arthur was prophesied years before he was even born. Arthur was born into a world of chaos and disorder, full of love and tragedy. Nowadays, many of the scholars continue to argue whether or not King Arthur was a real person or just a mythological figure. Based on facts however, many believe that Arthur was not a real person; just a legendary British leader in the 5th and 6th centuries. According to history, there wasn't anyone named King Arthur

Many readers of the poem Beowulf may find it difficult to distinguish the 'good' kings from the rest – indeed, almost every man who holds a throne in the epic is named at one point or another to be 'good'. By examining the ideals of the time period as identified by the 'heroic code', it becomes clearer that a truly 'good' king is one who generously distributes treasure and weaponry to deserving retainers to honour courage and strength displayed in battle and to encourage the defense of the kingdom (Intro). When Beowulf ascends the throne of the Geats, the heroic traits of courage and strength for which he was so highly praised as a warrior do not serve well in making him a good king. Indeed, by exhibiting the traits of a thane, that is, by

Robert Penn Warren, in his novel All The King’s Men, examines the modern man’s quest to live a simple existence—a life, void of sin, in which man endeavors to discover truth. Jack Burden, the novel’s protagonist and narrator, is thrust onto the political scene when his managing editor instructs him to travel up to Mason City to “see who the hell that fellow Stark is who thinks he is Jesus Christ” (51). The comparison between Willie Stark, the governor of Louisiana, and Jesus Christ emerges as an important association because, even though Jack knows of Willie’s corruption and sin, he reveres Willie as a father figure; Jack’s search for the truth, the identity of his father, is one of the main crises in the

Asoka was interested in power and peace. Did this make him an Enlightened Ruler or a Ruthless Conqueror? I believe Asoka was an Enlightened Ruler for many reasons.

Shaping kingdoms based off ideas and virtue Aśoka (ruled 269-231 BCE) was the king of Mauryan dynasty. He ruled during the peak of the empire and his territories covered most of South Asia. During his reign Aśoka was known as Aśoka the cruel because of how he treated his people and punished them, but later he converted to Buddhism and became a devoted follower of the religion. Not only did he convert to Buddhism, but his virtues and his ideas on how a ruler should rule changed as well. Based off his ideas he was able to help shape India into what it is today.

Imperial support played a major part in facilitation and localisation of the spread of Buddhism into Southeast Asia. Asoka, as mentioned, was a big supporter of Theravada Buddhism and was deemed an exemplar for future Buddhist emperor to establish Buddhism as a part of the country’s traditions and lifestyle (Swearer 2010, 71). He believed that true conquest of a country was “by the force of the teachings of religion” (Swearer 1997, 89). Through his persistent method of conquest, he influenced several Theravada Buddhist rulers like King Kyanzittha of Pagan, Burma and King Tilokaraja of Chiang Mai, Thailand during 11th and 15th century respectively to position Buddhism as a part of their reign, conquest and authority (Swearer 2010, 71). This significantly enabled the localization of Buddhism into Southeast Asia especially in countries like Thailand who remains supportive of Buddhism as declared by the Chakri dynasty from the end of 18th century onwards (Bowker 2007, 150). It was through the support of imperial power that led the countries’ citizens to gain interest in and

When reading a Record of Buddhist Kingdoms, by Fa-hsien I recognized a recurring theme. Fa-hsiens travels, through different kingdoms provides the reader with insight on the life and teachings of Buddha, and the tenets of the religion he founded. Although I recognized many themes, I will reflect on three that I found insightful, and inspiring. They are self-denial, Kindness to strangers, and sacrifice.