Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/195

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THE ROCK EDICTS
193

on its borders, as they still dwell. These two edicts take the place of R. E. XI, XII, XIII, not published in Kalinga. The composition which I call the Borderers' Edict comes first upon the rock, following R.E. XIV. The text at Jaugada in the Ganjâm District, Madras, is substantially in perfect condition. That at Dhauli, in the Puri District, Orissa, is much mutilated. The texts agree in almost every detail, except that the Dhauli proclamation is addressed to the Prince and High Officers at Tosali, the capital of the newly-annexed province, whereas that at Jaugaḍa. is addressed to the High Officers of Samâpâ. Dhauli, according to M. M. Haraparshad Śâstrî, is a phonetic equivalent of Tosali. The ancient ruins surrounding the inscription rock at J augada evidently are to be identified with Samâpâ. The Prince (Kumâra) at Tosalî, presumably was one of Asoka’s sons, the offspring of one of the lawful Queens; see P. E. VII, sec. 7.

Both of the Kalinga Edicts were intended solely for the guidance of the officials of high rank entrusted with the administration of a country lately hostile and continually troubled by the presence on its borders of wild, half-savage tribes, who needed firm, though kindly, paternal government. The principles inculcated are admirable, and it is curious to find the leading propositions repeated in a proclamation issued in 1848 by an English oflicer who is not likely to have been acquainted with the Kalinga Edicts. Mr. Cust's proclamation at Hoshyârpur in the Panjab includes the following passages: 'What is your injury,I consider mine; what is gain to you, I consider my gain . . . Tell those who have joined in the rebellion to return to me, as children who have committed a fault return to their fathers, and their faults will be forgiven them ' (Aitchison, John Lawrence, p. 46, Rulers of India series).

A few points of detail require brief notice.

'Views'—literally, 'whatever I see' (dakhâmi).

'All men are my children;' an echo of the saying 'All beings are my children,' ascribed to Buddha, and found both in the Lotus de la bonne Loi, Burnouf, p. 89, and in the Dharma-saṅgraha, II, as quoted by Kern, Manual of Indian Buddhism (Strassburg, 1896), p. 61.