Samprati

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Samrat Samprati was an emperor of Maurya dynasty who reigned from c.224-215 BCE. He was the son of Ashoka's blind son, Kunala. He succeeded his cousin, Dasharatha as emperor of the Mauryan Empire and ruled almost the entire present-day Indian subcontinent.

Contents 1 Claim to throne 2 Early life 3 Meeting with Ashoka 4 Reign 5 Samprati and Jainism 6 Notes

[edit] Claim to throne

Kunala was the son of Ashoka's first queen, Padmavati (who was Jain), but was blinded in a conspiracy to remove his claim to the throne. Thus Kunal was replaced by Dasharatha as the heir to the throne. Ashoka had many wives: his premier wife was Jain and the others were Buddhist.

[edit] Early life

Kunala lived in Ujjain with his "Dhai Maa". Samprati was brought up there.

[edit] Meeting with Ashoka

Years after being denied the throne, Kunala and Samprati approached Ashok's court in an attempt to claim the throne. Ashoka could not deliver the throne to his blind son, but was impressed by Samprati's skills as a warrior and administrator and declared Samprati the successor to Dasharatha. After Dasharatha's death, Samprati inherited the throne of the Mauryan empire.

[edit] Reign

According to the Puranas, Samprati reigned for nine years.^[1] The Jaina text, Pariśiṣṭaparvan mentions that he ruled both from Pataliputra and Ujjain, but unfortunately, we have no inscriptional or other evidences to support these accounts.^[2] According to the Jaina tradition he ruled for 53 years. Samprati was influenced by the teachings of a Jain monk, Suhastin. He also sent Jain scholars abroad to spread Jainist teachings. But research is needed to learn where those scholars went and their influence. Until now, this has not been accomplished. According to the Puranas, he was succeeded by Śāliśuka,^[1] who according to the Yuga Purana was a cruel, wicked and unrighteous ruler.^[3]

[edit] Samprati and Jainism

Emperor Samprati is poorly highlighted in history. He is regarded as the "Jain Ashoka" for his patronage and efforts to spreading Jainism in east India. Samprati, according to Jain historians, is considered more powerful and famous than Ashoka himself. The historical authenticity of Samprati is proved because Samprati Vihär, after the name of Samprati, existed at Vadamänu in the Krishna Valley during the second century CE. Under the influence of Suhastin (the disciple of Acharya Sthulibhadra, the leading saint of the Jain community under Mahagiri, Samprati was again converted to Jainism, the Mauryas' ancestral religion. He spread Jainism by every means, working hard for Jainism as scriptures. He had decided to rinse his mouth in the morning, only after hearing that another new temple had been built. Besides, he got all the old and existing temples repaired and set up in all of them holy statues made of gold, stone, silver, brass and of a mixture of fine metals and performed their Anjankala ceremony: i.e., declared them fit for worship. It is said that Samprati built thousands of Jain Temples in India, many of which are still in use, such as the Jain temples at Viramgam and Palitana (Gujarat), Agar Malwa (Ujjain). Within three and a half years, he got one hundred and twenty-five thousand new temples built, thirty-six thousand repaired, twelve and a half million murtis, holy statues, consecrated and ninety-five thousand metal murtis prepared.^{[citation needed]} Samprati is said to have erected Jain temples throughout his empire. He founded Jain monasteries even in non-Aryan territory, and almost all ancient Jain temples or monuments of unknown origin are popularly attributed to him. It may be noted that all the Jain monuments of Rajasthan and Gujarat, with unknown builders are also attributed to Emperor Samprati.

According to Jaina tradition, King Samprati had no children. He considered it the consequence of earlier Karma and observed the religious customs more scrupulously.

[edit] Notes

Samprati Mauryan Dynasty
Preceded by Dasaratha Maurya	Mauryan Emperor 224–215 BCE	Succeeded by Salisuka