Samprati

Samrat Samprati was the son of Ashoka's blind son, Kunal. He succeeded Dasaratha Maurya as emperor of the Mauryan Empire and ruled almost the entire Indian subcontinent.

Claim to throne

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

Early life

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

Meeting with Ashok

Years after being denied the throne, Kunal and Samprati approached Ashok's court in an attempt to claim the throne. Ashok 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 Dashrath Maurya. After Dashrath's death, Samprati inherited the throne of the Mauryan empire.

Chakravarti king Samprati Maurya

The great Chakravarti King 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.

Emperor Samprati, the grandson and successor of Ashok, is poorly highlighted in history. He is regarded as the "Jain Ashok" for his patronage and efforts to spreading Jainism in east India. Samprati, according to Jain historians, is considered more powerful and famous than Ashok 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 A.D. 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. 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.

King Samprati had no children. He considered it the consequence of earlier Karma and observed the religious customs more scrupulously. After ruling over his large dominion for 53 years, he died in 179 BCE.

1.Jain History Books