King Asoka and Buddhism - Urban Dharma

ecame infinitely more spiritual. But that must have createdsome apathy to militarism, political greatness and materialwell-being…. Aśoka’s new angle of vision, however, soundeda death-knell to the Indian aspiration of a centralized nationalstate and world-wide empire. The effects of his policy weremanifest soon after his death…. We know how very afraid theGreeks were of the Magadha army even when they were ledby Alexander. What is worse is that the Greek inroads, soonafter the demise of Aśoka, for which the change of foreign policyappears to be responsible, opened a passage for the variouswild hordes, such as the Śakas, Pahlavas, Kushāṇas, Hūnas,Gurjaras and so forth, whom we now find pouring unceasinglyinto the country till the sixth century A.D. and eclipsing thesovereignty of indigenous rulers, with such exceptions only asthe Śungas and Guptas. 94Jayaswal was even more emphatic on the assumed long-rangeimpact of Aśoka’s policy:The accident of the presence on the throne, at a particular juncturein history, of a man who was designed by nature to fillthe chair of an abbot, put back events not by centuries but bymillenniums. 95Raychaudhuri also argued on similar lines:Aśoka had given up the aggressive militarism of his forefathersand had evolved a policy of Dharma-vijaya which must haveseriously impaired the military efficiency of his empire. Hehad called upon his sons and even greatgrandsons to eschewnew conquests, avoid shedding the blood and take pleasure inpatience and gentleness. These latter had heard more of Dharmaghoshathan Bherighosha. It is, therefore, not at all surprisingthat the rois faineants who succeeded to the imperial throne ofPāṭaliputra proved unequal to the task of maintaining the integrityof the mighty fabric reared by the genius of Candraguptaand Chānakya. 96219