Chandragupta Maurya rose from a simple cowherd to Samrat of the Maurya Empire, which held a very large part of Bharat. His guru was Chanakya. After ruling for 24 years he adopted Jainism, left the kingdom to his son Bindusara, and walked from Pataliputra to Shravanabelagola to take sanyas.
He meditated in a cave there and reached such a level that he chose the day of his own death, attaining maha nirvana on that date. The rock cave and its surroundings on the hill still carry his name. This 2,325-year-old story is rarely taught in our schools.
