Priyadasi

{{short description|Ancient Indian ruler}}

{{other uses|Piyadasi (disambiguation)}}

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| image1 = Piyadasi in Brahmi script (name of king Ashoka in his inscriptions).jpg

| caption1 = "Piyadasi", honorific epithet of Ashoka, in Brahmi script, in the Barabar Caves.

| image2 = Piyadasi in the Lumbini Edict of Ashoka.jpg

| caption2 = Piyadasi in the Lumbini Minor Pillar Edict of Ashoka.

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File:Major Rock Edicts and Major Pillar Edicts by Devanampiya Piyadasi.jpg Piyadasi ("King Piyadasi"):
8px: Major Rock Edicts
3px: Major Pillar Edicts}}]]

Priyadasi, also Piyadasi or Priyadarshi (Brahmi: 𑀧𑀺𑀬𑀤𑀲𑀺 piyadasi, {{langx|arc|𐡐𐡓𐡉𐡃𐡓𐡔|translit=Prydrš}}), was the name of a ruler in ancient India, namely Ashoka Maurya (3rd century BCE); literally an honorific epithet which means "He who regards others with kindness", "Humane", "He who glances amiably".

The title "Priyadasi" appears repeatedly in the ancient inscriptions of Ashoka known as the Major Rock Edicts or the Major Pillar Edicts, where it is generally used in conjunction with the title "Devanampriya" ("Beloved of the Gods") in the formula "Devanampriya Priyadasi".{{cite book |last1=Beckwith |first1=Christopher I. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=53GYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA235 |title=Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia |date=2017 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-17632-1 |pages=235–240 |language=en}} Some of the inscriptions rather use the title "Rajan Priyadasi" ("King Priyadarsi"). It also appears in Greek in the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription (c. 260 BCE), when naming the author of the proclamation as βασι[λ]εὺς Πιοδασσης ("Basileus Piodassēs"), and in Aramaic in the same inscription as "our lord, king Priyadasin" ({{langx|arc|𐡐𐡓𐡉𐡃𐡓𐡔}}, Modern Hebrew: {{Script/Hebrew|פרידארש}} pryd’rš).{{cite book |last1=Sircar |first1=D. C. |title=Asokan studies |date=1979 |page=113 |url=https://archive.org/stream/in.gov.ignca.67068/67068#page/n125/mode/2up}}

Prinsep, who deciphered the Brahmi script had originally identified Priyadasi with the King of Ceylon Devanampiya Tissa. However, in 1837, George Turnour discovered a Siamese version of the Sri Lankan manuscript Dipavamsa, or "Island Chronicle", associating Piyadasi with the early Maurya dynasty:

{{quote|"Two hundred and eighteen years after the beatitude of the Buddha, was the inauguration of Piyadassi, .... who, the grandson of [[Chandragupta Maurya|

Chandragupta]], and the son of Bindusara, was at the time Governor of Ujjayani."|Dīpavaṃsa.{{cite book |last1=Allen |first1=Charles |title=Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor |date=2012 |publisher=Little, Brown Book Group |isbn=9781408703885 |page=79 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K4vHjbUtf_4C&pg=PT79 |language=en}}{{cite book |title=The Dîpavaṃsa: An Ancient Buddhist Historical Record |date=1879 |publisher=Williams and Norgate |pages=[https://archive.org/details/dpavasaanancien00oldegoog/page/n156 147]–148 |url=https://archive.org/details/dpavasaanancien00oldegoog |language=English}}}}

It was then supposed that this Priyadasi, being a Mauryan, was probably the Ashoka of Buddhist accounts. Because of the association in the Dipavamsa, the title "Priyadasi" is thought to have been used by the Indian Emperor Ashoka (r.269-233 BCE) in his inscriptions (the Edicts of Ashoka).

File:Devanampriyasa Asoka.jpg: 𑀤𑁂𑀯𑀸𑀦𑀁𑀧𑀺𑀬𑀲𑀅𑀲𑁄𑀓, "Beloved of the God", in the adjectival form -sa) and name of Ashoka, in Brahmi script, in the Maski Edict of Ashoka]]

File:Gujarra Devanampiyasa Piyadasino Asokaraja.jpg Piyadasino Asokaraja ({{Script|Brah|𑀤𑁂𑀯𑀸𑀦𑀁𑀧𑀺𑀬𑀲 𑀧𑀺𑀬𑀤𑀲𑀺𑀦𑁄 𑀅𑀲𑁄𑀓𑀭𑀸𑀚}}) in the Gujarra inscription.{{cite book |last1=Sircar |first1=D. C. |title=Asokan studies |date=1979 |url=https://archive.org/stream/in.gov.ignca.67068/67068#page/n103/mode/2up}}]]

In inscriptions, the title "Priyadarsin" is often associated with the title "Devanampriya" ("Beloved of the Gods"). Separately, the title also appears in "Devanampriya" in conjunction with the name "Ashoka" as in the Minor Rock Edict inscription discovered in Maski, associating Ashoka with Devanampriya:{{cite book |title=The Cambridge Shorter History of India |publisher=CUP Archive |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_48AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA42 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Gupta |first1=Subhadra Sen |title=Ashoka |date=2009 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=9788184758078 |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5ru08et_ZAC&pg=PT13 |language=en}}

{{quote|

[A proclamation] of Devanampriya Asoka.

Two and a half years [and somewhat more] (have passed) since I am a Buddha-Sakya.

[A year and] somewhat more (has passed) [since] I have visited the Samgha and have shown zeal.

Those gods who formerly had been unmingled (with men) in Jambudvipa, have how become mingled (with them).

This object can be reached even by a lowly (person) who is devoted to morality.

One must not think thus, — (viz.) that only an exalted (person) may reach this.

Both the lowly and the exalted must be told : "If you act thus, this matter (will be) prosperous and of long duration, and will thus progress to one and a half.

|Maski inscription of Ashoka.{{cite book |title=Inscriptions of Asoka. New Edition by E. Hultzsch |date=1925 |pages=174–175 |url=https://archive.org/stream/InscriptionsOfAsoka.NewEditionByE.Hultzsch/HultzschCorpusAsokaSearchable#page/n353/mode/2up |language=Sanskrit}}}}

More recently this interpretation has been questioned by Christopher Beckwith — whose theories are not accepted by mainstream scholarship. He argues that "Priyadasi" could simply be the proper name of an early Indian king, not necessarily Ashoka, who was the author of the Major Rock Edicts or the Major Pillar Edicts inscriptions but not the rest, and who can be identified as probably the son of Chandragupta Maurya (otherwise known in Greek source as Amitocrates, i.e. Bindusara){{undue inline|date=March 2025}} However, this interpretation has been questioned on methodological grounds by several other historians, who have criticized many of Beckwith's interpretations concerning early Buddhism, inscriptions, and archaeological sites.{{Cite journal |title=Review of: Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia |url=https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2016/2016.02.32/#_ftnref6 |journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review |issn=1055-7660}}{{Cite journal |last=Bopearachchi |first=Osmund |date=2016 |title=Review of C.I. Beckwith, Greek Buddha.pdf |url=https://www.academia.edu/30812686 |journal=Ancient West & East |volume=15 |pages=341–2}} According to Patrick Olivelle, Beckwith's theory is "an outlier and no mainstream Ashokan scholar would subscribe to that view."{{cite book | last=Olivelle | first=Patrick | title=Ashoka: Portrait of a Philosopher King | publisher=Yale University Press | date=2024 | page=xxviii | isbn=978-0-300-27000-6 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TE3gEAAAQBAJ}}