Why Emperor Ashoka still matters: Historian Nayanjot Lahiri and vocalist TM Krishna in conversation https://scroll.in/article/1032229/why-emperor-ashoka-still-matters-historian-nayanjot-lahiri-and-vocalist-tm-krishna-in-conversation video at: https://www.youtube.com/embed/l6cMA1JTT_w?start=1307&end=1848 . Reflections on the nature of remembering and perpetuating the ruler from the third century BCE and the link between the past and the present. the interpretation of Ashoka by this exemplary vocalist that is relevant in the current political context of our nation. Krishna’s invocation of the emperor is an extension of Nehruvian secularism into a domain that is obliterating the Ashoka-Mahatma Gandhi-Jawaharlal Nehru genealogy of compassionate and humane governance. Why are fellow feeling and empathy – so integral to the trinity mentioned above – at such a discount is a question that comes up in Krishna’s music and in his activism.
No Buddhist ruler after Ashoka recalled the emperor in India. In fact, there was a fitting memorialisation of Ashoka the ruler by an Indian ruler only in the 20th century with the erudite Nehru.
TM Krishna: I think in a democratic world we are asking these questions of ourselves: what does governance mean? What does it mean to be participate in a conversation about people, about empathy, care, ultimately all living together, all very different people, with our own baggage, our own difficulties, our own environments. But what does it mean to live together? What does it mean for a government or for a governor, so to say, to rule? What is the sensibility? These were some things I was thinking about. And honestly, it was Gopal Gandhi who, suddenly, called me one day said: “You know, just read Ashoka’s edicts.” That’s when I went back to the translations of the edicts.
From Ahimsa Conversations: https://youtube/embed/70sr8rDfuYA?start=204&end=385 In what ways was nonviolence evident in ancient India and what is the significance of Emperor Ashoka’s response to the violence he himself had unleashed? Historian Nayanjot Lahiri reflects on such questions based on her extensive knowledge of ancient Indian history and archaeology. Drawing on her famous book about Ashoka she explains how and why he was a ruler with rare qualities. Responding to the contemporary claims that nonviolence made India weak, Nayanjot argues that on the contrary it is Buddha and Gandhi who are the most universal figures to emerge from India and this has been the greatest feature of the Indic civilization. Also on-- complications of governance..pushing non-violence? https://youtube.com/embed/sW1FiKBkCSA?start=1922&end=2319
Musical rendition by T.M. Krishna https://www.youtube.com/embed/l6cMA1JTT_w?start=107&end=1305 Ashoka Devanampriya declares –
Over two years are past since I became a believer. One year went by -- I did not reflect.
It has been another year since I joined the Order Now I have been thinking -- quite a bit.
In all this while I realized truth is found amidst humans in India and falsehood among the gods. This is what I think.
Taken from The Edict Project by TM Krishna, in collaboration with Ashoka University.
The project creates vibrant academic, socio-political and aesthetic conversations around the edicts of Ashoka.