Monday 28 March 2016

The King of Kalinga??? !!!

              Name of King of Kalinga who fought Kalinga War is always obscure because there were multiple kings of equal power, not a single king of higher power. They were of a joint family. So, Kalinga is called as a feudal republic with no single king/ruler.
When there are multiple rulers of equal power in the same land, then there is chance that one single king will not be in picture. But some points can be taken into account.

Magadh kings as Dhananand, Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusar have good recorded history.But history of Ashoka is still obscure.
Devanampriya Priyadarsi's inscription tells that he fought against Kalinga and conquered Kalinga. But he has not mentioned any specific name of King of Kalinga.

Who is Devanampriya Priyadarsi?
Throughout India, Pak, Afganistan, the so-called Ashoka's inscription does not  mention "Ashoka" but it tells about "Devanampriya Priyadarsi". Only in Karnataka,  the inscription speaks the name "Ashoka".
Then how the historians confirmed that "Devanampriya Priyadarsi = Ashoka"?!
When Ashoka's name is not confirmed as part history, then very difficult to find the  names of Kings of Kalinga because when war happened, then only history was re-written or the proof of Kalinga King was removed after Kalinga war!
More details of Kalinga can be found only if multiple Buddist and Jain sites are properly reaserached, like Sisupalgarh(Bhubaneswar), Langudi Lalitagiri Udayagiri Ratnagiri (Jajpur), Asurgarh(Kalahandi), Rangei Deula are(Balangir) etc etc.

And Kalinga War and Ashoka's conversion to Buddhism is always a mistery!
Ashoka's grandfather Chandragupta Maurya followed FolkCult(Kaali-Sakta)/Hindu and later converted to Jain.
Ashoka's father Bindusar followed FolkCult(Kaali-Sakta)/Hindu.
Then, which religion Ashoka belonged to or followed, either Jain or FolkCult(Kaali-Sakta)/Hindu or Aethism or something else?
The religion which prevailed in Kalinga was FolkCult(Kaali-Sakta), Buddhism, FolkCult(Kartika - For Sadhabas).
When a king gets victory over other land, he propagates his religion, he does not convert to other's religion. But in Ashoka's case, the reverse happened!!!
Might be that there was serious damage to both sides Kalinga as well Magadh(Ashoka) and Ashoka was not is position to continue with the help of power and so took the help of religion.
Did he really accepted Buddhism?
In his (Devanampriya Priyadarsi or Ashoka whichever is ok) inscription, he never wrote what Buddha says. Instead he wrote "King says, Devanampriya Priyadarsi says or Ashoka says".
Some people say, he had already accepted Buddhism before Kalinga war. Then why he attacked Kalinga after accepting Buddhism & being a peace messenger?

Coming to the question on exact name of King of Kalinga:-
While talking about religions, we leave or tend to hide due to ignorance the name "Kartika(Kartik)" who is known as the son of Lord Siba/Siva. 
Did Saiba/Shaiva cult entered Kalinga that time? Most probably NO. 
Then how "Kartika"?
As the time of sea voyage coincides with Kartika Purnima, so the Sadhabas used to worship Kartika. Was Kartika a King and fighter of that time or a God only?!
Why the ancient name of Cuttack/Kataka is "Kartika ra Dhama"? Was Kartika a King of Kataka or he was a God of Kataka like Jagannatha based on whose name Puri is Jagannatha Dhama?
When the purpose of Kalinga war (if really happened) was the control of Kalingas of KalingaGoda/KalingaSagar/BayOfBengal, why Ashoka did not choose to name the God Kartika in his inscriptions?
Was it a desperate attempt to remove the name Kartika from history so that people will forget and abandon sea voyage as the warrior's name or warrior God's name is erased?
So, when God's name is erased, it is very difficult to find the name of Kings of that time!

In some new documents written few years back, it is stated that king of Kalinga was "Raja Anantha Padmanabhan", but this name might be for representational purpose.
Might be, after next 1000 years, this representational name will be part of history. :)

Cheers
            Ashish


2 comments:

  1. Beautiful interpretation. But, Can you provide me some proofs in support of your facts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Mrityunjay.
      Regarding the names "Ashoka" and "Devanampriya Priyadarsi", just search in google whether they were same of different people, you will find many articles but all with ambiguity "may be/might be" :).

      Regarding the dharma (as said "religion"), there are live examples in Odisha that Sakta and Boudha are much older than Saiva Vaishnava etc.
      Check this - 64Jogini temple Hirapur, near Bhubaneswar
      http://www.bcmtouring.com/forums/threads/odisha-orissa-hirapur-chausathi-64-jogini-yogini-temple-hypaethral-structure.62568/
      It is very old temple. At this time, when Bhubaneswar had many Buddha temples which were later converted.e.g.Bhaskareswar
      Check this-http://odisha.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2013/oct/engpdf/16-20.pdf
      When Saivism spread, a new temple was created near 64Jogini temple much later.

      Check this - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304011060_A_Possible_Ancient_City_of_Stars_TARAKA_India
      It speaks about some Buddha temples and Siva temples.

      Regarding Kartika, very less proofs are there. But our Sadhabas/seafaring businessmen belong to a much older time. The Boita Bandana festival is on Kartika Purnima day. So, Kartika has links to the sea voyage. On land, Kali/Shakti worship was dominating. So, land dwellers had Kartika temples or not, very difficult to find. If you are in Odisha, try visiting Langudi,Lalitagiri,Udayagiri,Ratnagiri in Japur, Ajodhya in Baleswar/Bhadrak, Bhabakundaleswar near Satapada etc. I have not much been to western Odisha. Many details must have been hidden in the timeline.

      Delete