Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c43.48

c43.48

² Divyāvadāna, p. 430. *et. seq.* I regard the detail of the first gift of Aśoka as given in the *Divyāvadāna* to be substantially true, for it was in the nature of a *Viśvajit Sarvamedha*-(सर्वमेध) fee which a Sārvabhauma Emperor which Aśoka was, was expected to make, as the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa* describes (§ 209). The ruler gave away all that belonged to him except the land, *i.e.*, the State as Mīmāṁsā says (See § 345). In other words, he gave away the surplus revenue which he had in his treasury. To an occasional gift like this the ministers would not have objected as that was the right of the Emperor to make. But a repeated procedure of this nature would be objectionable as the Ministers of Aśoka found it to be.