The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c29.46

v1.c29.46

It was, as we have seen, the events of the Kaliṅga war that awoke the humanitarian and missionary spirit in Aṣoka. He was impressed both by the actual horrors of the campaign and by the interference with the peaceful and moral influence of the religious teachers. The chords which were struck have in Indian life a dominant note: Aṣoka attached himself to the Buddhist religion, the most important of those which upheld the doctrines of *ahiṃsā* and *maitrī*, abstinence from doing hurt to, and benevolent feeling towards, living creatures. Two and a half years later he awoke to the possibilities of his position, joined the order of monks, and entered upon a course of 'activity.'