Ashoka was the third Mauryan Emperor ( 304 – 232 BCE) in the Indian subcontinent, who is considered a major patron of Buddhism responsible for spreading it across Asia and the known world then. He started his imperial career as an aggressive young conqueror seeking to expand his empire and invaded the state of Kalinga , an independent feudal kingdom. While Ashoka emerged victorious in the hard fought war, the heavy casualties he witnessed depressed him and he experienced a bout of unhappiness and mental anguish instead. This was instrumental in his conversion to Buddhism and pacifism later on. Aśokāvadāna is a book that is about Ashoka and is part of the Divyavadana which are some of the oldest Buddhist writings. His remorse after the bloodshed of the Kalinga war is poignantly expressed thus : "What have I done? If this is a victory, what's a defeat then? Is this a victory or a defeat? Is this justice or injustice? Is it gallantry or a rout? Is it valor to kill innocent children and women? Did I do it to widen the empire and for prosperity or to destroy the other's kingdom and splendor? One has lost her husband, someone a child, someone an unborn infant.... What's this debris of the corpses? Are these marks of victory or defeat? Are these vultures, crows, eagles the messengers of death or evil?"
