Ashoka Rock Edict of Kalsi, Uttarakhand

From the archive record

The site of Asoka's inscriptions at Kalsi the only place in north India where the great Mauryan emperor has inscribed the set of the fourteen rock edicts (res). The language of these edicts is Pali and the script Brahmi which reflect Asoka's humane approach in his internal administration, his fatherly concern for the moral and spiritual welfare of his subjects, and his commitment to non-violence and abandonment of warfare. For this Asoka proclaimed certain restrictive and prescriptive policies. The essence of the restrictive policies are restraint in worldly amusement, in gratuitous slaughter or non destruction of animals, in participating in despicable and useless beliefs and practices, and in glorification of one's own faith. That of prescriptive ones: self-control, purity of mind, grati