Ashoka was Buddhist even before the Kalinga War.
Often Buddha's ahimsa is blamed for loss of virility of masses in India. It is a wrong malicious propaganda. That Ashoka converted himself to Buddhism after he got aggrieved by the loss of life during the war, and then he adopted Buddhism is the common belief. There is no proof to support this view. He was married to Vidisha Devi, when he was Governor of Vidisha. She was a Buddhist. This proves that he was Buddhist even before he became the Emperor.
No doubt, he mentioned in his edict XIII that he was grief stricken due loss of life, but it is note worthy that he did not put down the arms. He did not say war must not be resorted to. As a matter of fact, in the same edict, he warns people to stick to the "dhamma", or else face the consequences. The same edict mentions the regions under his control and concludes with a remark that this edict is written so that his heirs would not resort to war to annex more territories. And if it becomes necessary to resort to war, the restraint should be observed and punishment should be minimum, and to remember that victory by "dhamma" is the real victory. [Meshram:1998:55]
So the "ahimsa", taught by Buddha or by Ashoka was only against violence against animals in Vedic sacrifices. Neither Buddha was against war, nor Ashoka was against war in case it was necessary. But the fact remains, that the Brahmins made a strong propaganda that Ashoka laid down the arms. Perhaps Kallahana was responsible for it, in 12th century A.D. [Mahajan:1972:277]
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