in collaboration with Ashoka University
The Edict Project reimagines Ashoka’s remarkable conversation with people across the subcontinent, expressed in the form of engraved monoliths and rock-faces. Many have been rediscovered in the last 2 centuries, and form a refreshing approach to governance, surprising for those bygone days.
The Edict project recreates Ashoka’s edicts today in musical form, in order to create vibrant academic, socio-political and aesthetic conversations.
Ashoka’s Edicts: The inscriptions, in the central and eastern parts of the subcontinent, are written in Prakrit using the Brahmi script, and in the north-west, In Kharoshthi, Greek and Aramaic. The edicts are addressed to his subjects, to whom he felt as close as his own children, as he wrote in the Kalingan edict. While couched in a simple, brief, and personal style, the content is profound, abiding and universal.
Ashoka, Emperor of the Mauryan empire, reigned from 268 BCE to 232 BCE, beginning his rule in the traditional warrior-conqueror mode. But, following the horrific bloodshed of the battle of Kalinga, he redefined his role, expressing a personal belief in ‘dharma’ as the pivot of his royal policy. The edicts are widely translated and published, and are often quoted.
In the First Edition of this 4 part series, shared on October 14th, 2021, commemorating the day Babasaheb Ambedkar embraced Buddhism, 4 edicts taken from different locations have been set to music.
Credits:
Voice – TM Krishna
Research – Shravasti Dhammika
Research and Translation – Dr. Naresh Keerthi
Introductory Text – Gopalkrishna Gandhi
Sound and Visual – Rithvik Raja
Concept, Composition, Production: TM Krishna
Composition: Raga-Tala Malika