Who among the following rulers advised his subjects through this inscription? “Whosoever praises his religious sect or blames other sects out of excessive devotion to his own sect, with the view of glorifying his own sect, he rather injures his own sect very severely.”

Answer: A. ASHOKA is the ruler who advised his subjects through this inscription. The quoted statement is a direct paraphrase from ASHOKA'S MAJOR ROCK EDICT XII (Twelfth Major Rock Edict), inscribed at multiple sites across the Mauryan empire including Girnar (Gujarat), Kalsi (Uttarakhand), Shahbazgarhi (Pakistan), Mansehra (Pakistan), Erragudi (Andhra Pradesh) and others. ROCK EDICT XII is one of the most celebrated of Ashoka's inscriptions because it articulates a SUSTAINED ETHICAL DOCTRINE OF INTER-RELIGIOUS RESPECT, mutual learning across sects, and restraint in religious polemic. Key passages of the edict include: 1. Honour all sects (samaya), whether of ascetics or of householders. 2. Restraint of speech: do not condemn other sects or extol one's own out of attachment. 3. One who reveres one's own sect while disparaging others injures one's own sect. 4. Concord (samavaya), or coming together to learn each other's dhamma, is good. The quotation in the question is almost a direct rendering of point 3 from Rock Edict XII. ASHOKA (r. c. 268 to 232 BCE), the third Mauryan emperor, had embraced Buddhism after the Kalinga War (c. 261 BCE) but his inscriptions are not narrowly Buddhist proselytism. They articulate a state ethic of 'DHAMMA': social ethics, non-violence, respect for elders and teachers, kindness to slaves and servants, and tolerance among religious sects. The ethical doctrine in Rock Edict XII makes Ashoka a singular figure in ancient world history for state-promoted religious pluralism. Why other options are WRONG: (B) SAMUDRAGUPTA (c. 335 to 380 CE), the Gupta emperor, left the Allahabad Pillar (Prayag Prashasti) inscription composed by Harisena, celebrating his conquests, not advising religious tolerance. (C) HARSHAVARDHANA (r. c. 606 to 647 CE) was a Buddhist patron and Xuanzang's host; he left no inscriptions paralleling Rock Edict XII. (D) KRISHNADEVA RAYA (r. c. 1509 to 1529 CE) of Vijayanagara left the literary work 'Amuktamalyada' and several inscriptions but not this passage. Source: NCERT Class 12 Themes in Indian History Part I 'Kings Farmers and Towns'; Romila Thapar 'Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas'; D. C. Sircar 'Inscriptions of Asoka'.