(A) King Devānaṁpriya Priyadarśin speaks thus. (B) (When I had been) anointed twelve years, the following was ordered by me. (C) [Everywhere] in my dominions the Yuktas, the Lajuka, and the Prādelśika shall set out on a complete tour (throughout their charges) every five years, j…
Location
A first reading of some initial words was published by Prinsep 1837a: 471. Kittoe gave his report in 1838a: 435: “I had the good fortune to discover by the merest accident: a byragí priest, native of Mirzapoor near Benares having described it to me; such, however, is the aversion…, Odisha, India
Date
c. 260–250 BCE
Script
Brahmi
Language
Prakrit
Type
Major Rock Edict
Coordinates
20.1833° N, 85.8333° E
Overview
Discovery of Dhauli
1. Asokan Sites and Artefacts - Harry Falk
Page-113-114
Discovery:
A first reading of some initial words was published by Prinsep 1837a: 471. Kittoe gave his report in 1838a: 435: “I had the good fortune to discover by the merest accident: a byragí priest, native of Mirzapoor near Benares having described it to me; such, however, is the aversion the Ooriyahs have, to our going near their places of worship, that I was actually decoyed away from the spot, when within a few yards of it, being assured that there was no such place,and had returned for a mile or more, when I met with a man who led me back to the spot by torch-light. I set fire to the jangal and perceived the inscription which was completely hidden by it.” Later, Kittoe went to the rock “before day-break and had to wait till it was light; for the two bear cubs which escaped me there last year,when I killed the old bear, were now full grown and disputed the ground” (1838b: 684). Today, all memory of bears once living in this area is gone.
Kittoe (1838a: 451) reported an old name asvastama for the rocks with the inscriptions, but today nothing similar to asvastama has any meaning to the local population…
(A) King Devānaṁpriya Priyadarśin speaks thus.
(B) (When I had been) anointed twelve years, the following was ordered by me.
(C) [Everywhere] in my dominions the Yuktas, the Lajuka, and the Prādelśika shall set out on a complete tour (throughout their charges) every five years, just as for other business, even so for the following instruction in morality.
(D) ‘Meritorious is obedience to mother and father, to friends and acquaintances, and to relatives. Liberality to Brāhmaṇas and Śramaṇas is meritorious. Abstention from killing animals is meritorious. Moderation in expenditure (and) moderation in possessions are meritorious.’
(E) And the council (of Mahāmātras) also shall order the Yuktas to register (these rules) both with (the addition of) reasons and according to the letter.
Jaugada