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

The correct answer is A) Ashoka. This is Rock Edict XII, one of the major rock edicts, inscribed in Prakrit and Brahmi at sites like Girnar, Shahbazgarhi and Kalsi. Its message is samavaya, or mutual respect among sects. Praising your own sect while condemning others only injures your own sect.

• Samudragupta (B): His record is the Allahabad pillar prasasti composed by Harishena, which glorifies his military conquests and Ashvamedha. It is not a sectarian-tolerance edict.
• Harshavardhana (C): Known from Banabhatta's Harshacharita and Xuanzang's accounts. He patronised Buddhism and held the Kanauj and Prayag assemblies, but no such edict is attributed to him.
• Krishnadeva Raya (D): A sixteenth-century Vijayanagara ruler, known for Telugu literature such as Amuktamalyada and patronage of temples. He belongs to a much later period than this inscription.

Core concept: Dhamma as a moral code of tolerance. It is a useful base for Mains answers on the ancient roots of religious harmony and secularism in GS1 and Ethics.

Trap: Candidates pick Harsha because of his Buddhist patronage and tolerance, but the inscription's wording and the Dhamma tradition point clearly to Ashoka.