Ashoka

The Wheel which adorns the flag of free India has kept his memory green. Lord of a vast empire, after a great victory sick of violence and took an oath never to fight again.He was an Ideal ruler.

"All men are my children. I am like a father to them. As every father desires the good and the happiness of his children, I wish that all men should be happy always." These are the words of an emperor who lived two thousand and three hundred years ago. We see in history how even mere chieftains grew arrogant and used their powers selfishly and unjustly. But the emperor who said the above words ruled over the greater part of India. He had the power of life and death over millions of his subjects. Is it surprising that free India remembers him with admiration? This emperor was Ashoka (also called ‘Devanampriya Priyadarshi’). The wheel in the abacus of the pillar which he erected as a memorial at Saranath now adorns the national flag of free India. --- Ashoka