The Story Of India:The Power of Ideas

The second episode of the legendary documentary by Michael Woods depicts the time in India when ideas started generating in the minds of people and they begin to question the standards. This was the phase in history when philosophers started questioning the old order all over the world; In china Confucius; Old testament in Israel and Greek Philosophers in Europe, but nowhere the questioning was as intense as in India. It was a revoltuionary time for humanity. It depicts the story of various religions which evolved in India especially Buddhism and its effect on Indian civilization and as well as on the world. This story also explains the invasion of Alexander the Great on India and the rule of Mighty kings thereafter like Chandragupta Maurya and his grandson Ashoka which heavily influenced the culture of India. Wood traverses various places throughout the India related to Buddha and unravels the story of how Buddha discovered enlightenment and shares some of his philosophy. 

Then Wood describes the rule of Chandragupta Maurya who ruled all over India from Afghanistan to Assam  and from Kashmir to parts of Tamil Nadu. The Greek ambassadors who visited the capital city of Patna (known as Patliputra as that time) described it as the best city of its time with the city expanding around 9 miles along the banks of the mighty Ganges with palaces lining the riverside. In the end Chandragupta adopted Jainism and lived such a ascetic life that he died of starvation. After him, Bindusara ruled the Mauryan empire. After him came the great ruler Ashoka who expanded the limits of his rule further. Ashoka was a fierce ruler and was involved in lot of violence. His attack on Kalinga(present day Orissa) is said to be one of the most brutal wars in the history of India. 

But the war changed Ashok, he was so moved by the horror of war that he adopted the path of non-violence and for the rest of his life followed the philosophy of Buddha and maintained good relations with neighboring states. Ashoka created a lot of  monuments all over India to preach Buddhism. When India got independent in 1947, the symbol of Ashoka became our national emblem. Ashoka even started various forms of governance to improve the lives of people.