By Jit Majumdar
- the essence of the bindu; the essence of truth
- the subtle essence; born out of drops
- the second emperor of the Maurya Dynasty (320 BC — 272 BC), also known as Amitraghāta, who was the son and successor of Candragupta Maurya and the father and predecessor of Emperor Aśoka. His name was intended to mean “born out of blood drops” and he was so named because the stomach of his mother Durdharā (who was in death bed) had to cut open by Cāņakya, the preceptor and minister of Candragupta, to enable his safe birth.