Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c15.s1.t9: Character of Aśoka. His Success and Failure
Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c15.s1.t9
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Character of Aśoka. His Success and Failure
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Aśoka is one of the most interesting personalities in the history of India. He had the energy of a Chandragupta, the versatility of a Samudragupta and the catholicity of an Akbar. He was tireless in his exertion and unflagging in his zeal—all directed to the promotion of the spiritual and material welfare of his people whom he looked upon as his children. His illustrious grandfather was accustomed to dispose of cases even when indulging in the luxury of a massage of the limbs. Similarly, Aśoka used to listen to reports about the affairs of his people even while 'he was eating, in the harem, in the inner apartment, at the cowpen, in the palanquin and in the parks'. The great soldier who had brought under subjection a huge territory unconquered even by his ever victorious grandfather, could, at the same time, argue points of doctrine and discipline with a fraternity of erudite monks. The statesman who could pilot an empire through the storm and stress of a war that involved the death and deportation of hundreds of thousands of men was, at the same time, capable of organizing religious missions the sphere of whose activities embraced three continents, and transforming a local sect in the Ganges Valley into one of the great religions of the world. The man who penetrated into the jungles of the Nepalese Tarai to pay homage to the birth-place of the Buddhas, bore no ill-will towards the descendants of their Brāhmaṇa and Jaina opponents, and granted cavedwellings to the adherents of a rival sect. The king who undertook tours with the object of granting largesses of gold to Brāhmaṇas and Śramaṇas, admitted to office Yavanas in whose country there were neither Brāhmaṇas nor Śramaṇas. He preached the virtues of concord and toleration in an age when religious feeling ran high and disruptive influences were at work within the fold of the Jaina and Buddhist churches. He preached nonviolence when violence in war, religious ritual, royal pastime and festive gatherings was the order of the day. He eschewed military conquest not after defeat but after victory and pursued a policy of patience and gentleness while still possessed of the resources of a mighty empire. The forbearance of this strong man was only matched by his truthfulness, and he describes in burning words which no Kaliṅga patriot could have improved upon, the terrible misery that he had inflicted on a hapless province. The example of Dharmāśoka, the pious king, exercised an ennobling influence on posterity. In the second century A.D. Queen Gautamī Balaśrī takes pride in the fact that her son was “alien to hurting life even towards an offending enemy” (*Kitāparādhe pi satujane apānahisāruchi*). Even in the fifth century A.D., the rest-houses and free hospitals of Magadha excited the wonder and admiration of foreigners. The benefactions of Dharmāśoka were a source of inspiration to royal personages as late as the time of Govindachandra of the Gāhaḍavāla dynasty.
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We have already seen that the political record of the great Maurya’s early years was brilliant. His reign saw the final triumph of those centripetal forces that had been at work since the days of Bimbisāra. The conquest of Kaliṅga completed the unification of non-Tamil India under the hegemony of Magadha. The dream of a United Jambudvīpa was nearly realised.
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But the policy of *Dhamma-vijaya* which he formulated after the Kaliṅga War was not likely to promote the cause for which a long line of able sovereigns from Bimbisāra to Bindusāra had lived and struggled. The statesman who turned civil administrators into religious propagandists, abolished hunting and jousts of arms, entrusted the fierce tribesmen on the North-West Frontier and in the wilds of the Deccan to the tender care of “superintendents of piety” and did not rest till the sound of the kettle-drum was completely hushed and the only sound that was heard was that of moral teaching, certainly pursued a policy at which Chandragupta Maurya would have looked askance. Dark clouds were looming in the north-western horizon. India needed men of the calibre of Puru and Chandragupta to ensure her protection against the Yavana menace. She got a dreamer. Magadha after the Kaliṅga War frittered away her conquering energy in attempting a religious revolution, as Egypt did under the guidance of Ikhnaton. The result was politically disastrous as will be shown in the next section. Aśoka's attempt to end war met with the same fate as the similar endeavour of President Wilson.
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According to Dr. Smith's chronology Aśoka died in 232 B.C., after a reign of about 40 years. A Tibetan tradition is said to affirm that the great Emperor breathed his last at Taxila.¹
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¹ *The Oxford History of India*, p. 116. I cannot vouch for the authenticity of this tradition.