Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c15.s2.92

c15.s2.92

The Magadhan successors of Aśoka had neither the strength nor perhaps the will to arrest the process of disruption.¹ The martial ardour of imperial Magadha had vanished with the last cries of agony uttered in the battle-fields of Kaliṅga. Aśoka had given up the aggressive militarism of his forefathers and had evolved a policy of *Dhamma-vijaya* which must have seriously impaired the military efficiency of his empire.² He had called upon his sons and even great-grandsons to eschew new conquests, avoid the shedding of blood and take pleasure in patience and forbearance as far as possible. These latter had heard more of *Dhamma-ghosha* than of *Bheri-ghosha*. It is, therefore, not at all surprising that the *rois faineants* who succeeded to the imperial throne of Pāṭaliputra proved unequal to the task of maintaining the integrity of the mighty fabric reared by the genius of Chandragupta and his Chancellor.