Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c15.s2.96

c15.s2.96

The royal hunt and jousts of arms in *Samājas* were abolished. The army seems to have been practically inactive during the last 29 years of Aśoka's reign as the emperor himself declares with a feeling of exultation that 'the sound of the bheri had become the sound of the True Law, *Dharma*.' The Chinese *Hou Hanshu* (quoted by S. Konow, CII, Vol. II, p. lxvii) testifies to the fact that people of India "practise the religion of the Buddha; it has become a habit with them not to kill and to fight." The ease with which general Pushyamitra overthrew his king, in the very sight of the army, shows that unlike the earlier kings of the dynasty who took the field in person, the last of the Mauryas lost touch with his fighting forces, and ceased to command their affection. The largesses of gold lavished on the religieux must also have crippled the financial resources of the empire. The system of autonomous Rājūkas instituted by Aśoka must have let loose centrifugal forces that his successors were unable to check.