Samrat Ashoka ,

Did Ashoka’s Mother Stay Away From the Palace for Long?

While the exact story is not known, legend illustrates that Ashoka’s mother was away from the Palace of Pataliaputra because of the scheming that was going in and around the Palace. However, her wait ended after which she gave birth to a son. The moment her son was born she said now I’m shoka mukt (devoid of any sorrow now) – This is how her son was named as Ashoka. Ashoka was born in the palace unlike shown in the serial.

What is the Various Names of Ashoka’s Mother?

Different text and chronicles call Ashoka’s mother by various names. While, she is mainly known by her name Subhadrangi as per Avadana text, the Divyavadana call her by nameJanapadakalyani. In the serial Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat, Bindusar is seen addressing her as Dharma which is also one of her names. In addition, she is also known as Queen Aggamahesi.

How Did Ashoka’s Mother Die?

In the serial Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat, it is shown that Devi Dharma died in a brutal attack. Though, everybody knows that she died, Ashoka is not ready to believe. This incident in the serial makes us wonder – when and how did Ashoka’s mother die? However, there is no written or oral record that can give us a brief description of her death.

But since Vitashoka, Ashoka’s younger brother is highly assumed to be Subhadrangi’s son; one can only assume that the death of Dharma was not as early as this. So, you can expect a twist in the tale that it was Nirjala (Chanakya’s most trusted spy) who died in the attack, and not Ashoka’s mother Dharma.

There is no record of Dharma’s death as such. So, this gives creatives (of novel, TV Serial, Bollywood movie) enough independence to decide her death sequence…

By: Deepti Verma