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Samprati () was the fifth emperor of the Maurya Empire. He was the grandson of the third Mauryan emperor,
Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...
, and the son of Kunala. He succeeded his cousin, Dasharatha Maurya. According to Jain tradition, he built 1,50,000 Jain derasars and made 1,50,00,000 Jain idols. He is also believed to have taken an oath to dig the foundation of a new Jinalaya every day, and would not take his ''navakrashi'' (breakfast) until it was completed.


Claim to throne

Samprati was the grandson of
Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...
. Kunala was the son of one of Ashoka's third queen, Padmavati (who was Jain), but was blinded in a conspiracy to remove his claim to the throne. Thus, Kunala was replaced by Dasharatha as the heir to the throne. Kunala lived in Ujjain with his "Dhai Maa" (wet nurse). Samprati was raised there. Years after being denied the throne, Kunala and Samprati approached Ashoka's court in an attempt to claim the throne. Ashoka could not deliver the throne to his blind son but promised Samprati would be heir apparent after Dasharatha. After Dasharatha's death, Samprati inherited the throne of the Maurya Empire.


Reign

The Jaina text mentions that he ruled both from Pataliputra and Ujjain. According to a Jain text, the provinces of Saurashtra,
Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
, Andhra and
Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...
broke away from the empire shortly after Ashoka's death (i.e., during Dasharatha's reign), but were reconquered by Samprati, who later deployed soldiers disguised as Jain monks.


Samprati and Jainism

Samprati is regarded for his patronage and efforts to spread
Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...
in east India. While in one source, he is described as nominally a Jain from birth (''Sthaviravali'' 9.53), most accounts emphasize his conversion at the hands of the Jain monk Suhastisuri, the eighth leader of the congregation established by
Mahavira Mahavira (Devanagari: महावीर, ), also known as Vardhamana (Devanagari: वर्धमान, ), was the 24th ''Tirthankara'' (Supreme Preacher and Ford Maker) of Jainism. Although the dates and most historical details of his lif ...
. After his conversion he was credited with actively spreading Jainism to many parts of India and beyond, both by making it possible for monks to travel to barbarian lands and by building and renovating thousands of temples and establishing millions of idols. He was a disciple of Suhastisuri. Kalpa-sutra-bhashya mentions Samprati making regions of Andhra, Dravida, Maharashtra and Coorg safe for Jain monks. He sent Jain missionaries to other countries for propagation of Jainism and southern part of India. He is popularly known as the "Jain Ashoka".


In literature

Around 1100 CE ''Devachandrasuri'' of the ''Purnatalla Gaccha'' told the story of Samprati in his commentary on the ''Textbook on Fundamental Purity (Mulashuddhi Prakarana)'', in a chapter on the virtues of building temples. A century later, ''Amradevasuri'' of the ''Brihad Gaccha'' included the story of Samprati in his commentary to the ''Treasury of Stories (Akhyana Manikosha)''. In 1204, ''Malayaprabhasuri'', a disciple of ''Manatungasuri'' of the ''Purnima Gaccha'', wrote an extensive
Prakrit Prakrit ( ) is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 5th century BCE to the 12th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Ind ...
commentary on his teacher's ''Deeds of Jayanti (Jayanti Carita)'', in which he included the story of Samprati as an example of the virtue of compassion (Caudhari 1973: 201-2). There are also some anonymous and undated medieval texts devoted solely to the story of Samprati, such as the 461-verse
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
''Deeds of King Samprati (Samprati Nripa Charitra)''.


See also

* Bindusara * Kharvela


Notes


Citations


Sources

* * * * {{s-end Emperors of Magadha Mauryan dynasty 3rd-century BC Indian Jains 3rd-century BC Indian monarchs Jain monarchs Year of birth missing Year of death missing