#taxila #ashoka #mauryanempire
The Blind Prince of Taxila I Kunala Stupa I Victim of Ashoka's Queen's Jealousy I Ruins of Sirkap
Videography: Amin Rajput
/ aminrajput
Music: Binu Kumar, Kerala, India [Sound SFX]
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Kunala Stupa
Kunala Stupa is a Kushan-era Buddhist stupa and monastery complex to the south-east of Taxila, on a hill about 650 feet just south of Sirkap, Punjab, Pakistan, thought to date to the 2nd century CE. It is located on a hill overlooking the ancient Indo-Greek city of Sirkap.
Its name come from Kunala, a son of Ashoka. Kunala, the legitimate heir to the throne had been blinded by one of Ashoka's queens, Tishyaksha, due to jealousy for his beautiful eyes. After years of wandering, Kunala reunited with his father Ashoka, and was treated by a doctor from Taxila.
Buddhist pilgrims with eye impairment came to the stupa with the hope of being cured.
Kunal’s Tale
Kunala was a son of Emperor Ashoka and Queen Padmavati and the presumptive heir to Ashoka, thus the heir to the Mauryan Empire which once ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent. After the departure of Mahendra, Ashoka's eldest son, he was supposed to be the heir to the empire, but was blinded by his step-mother, Tishyaraksha, at a young age in jealousy. While he was not able to take the throne, his son, Samprati, became his heir.
Kunala also means "bird with beautiful eyes", "someone who sees beauty in everything" or "one with beautiful eyes".
Due to the death of his birth mother, Padmavati, within a few months of his birth, he was raised by Ashoka's chief queen consort Asandhimitra, who loved him like her own son. Due to this, Asandhimitra is often mistaken to be his birth mother. At the age of eight, Ashoka sent his son to Ujjain, to be brought up and carry out his princely education, to become the heir to the throne of the Mauryan Empire.
When the prince was eight years old, the king wrote (in Prakrit) to the tutors and mentioned the word: Adheetaam - Meaning "He(Kunala) must study"(Context: Kunala should begin his studies). One of Ashoka's wives who wanted to secure the succession to her own son, being then present, took up the letter to read it. She secretly put a dot over the letter 'a', which changed the word to Andheetaam - Meaning "He (Kunala) must be blinded". Without rereading the letter, the king sealed and dispatched it. The clerk in Ujjayini was so shocked by the contents of this letter that he was unable to read it aloud to the prince. Kunala, therefore, seized the letter and read the cruel sentence of his father. Considering that as yet no Maurya prince had disobeyed the chief of the house, and unwilling to set a bad example, he stoutly put out his eyesight with a hot iron".
Alternatively, some stories explain that Kunala had been sent to Taxila to put down a rebellion, which he managed to do peacefully. But he was similarly blinded through the treacherousness of Ashoka's wife Tishyaraksha.
It is said by some scholars that the letter was sent to Kunal; not believing it, Kunal went to his father. This made King Ashoka angry, finding out that his wife had changed the letter, he sentenced her to death. Kunal then became heir to the throne of Mauryan Empire. It is uncertain whether this is true.
Years later Kunala came to Ashoka's court dressed as a minstrel accompanied by his favorite wife Kanchanmala. When he greatly pleased the king by his music, the king wanted to reward him. At this, the minstrel revealed himself as prince Kunala and demanded his inheritance. Ashoka sadly objected that being blind, Kunala never could ascend the throne. Thereupon the latter said that he claimed the kingdom not for himself but for his son. "When," cried the king, "has a son been born to you?" "Samprati" (meaning "Just now") was the answer. Samprati accordingly was the name given to Kunala's son, and though a baby, he was appointed Ashoka's successor. However, when Ashoka died, Samprati was too young to rule. Therefore, Ashoka was succeeded by another, older grandson, Dasharatha. After the demise of Dasharatha, Samprati did indeed become Emperor.
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