भारतीय इतिहास के ६ स्वर्णिम पृष्ठ (वीर सावरकर - विदेशी आक्रान्ताओं पर विजय गाथा)

theory. Warlike spirit and armed-strength, he said, were the very life-breath not only of the political but also of the civil life of a community. Let that warlike spirit mitigate itself a bit and all religions, all sciences, all arts why the whole life of a nation is doomed! सर्वे धर्मा प्रक्षयेयुर्विवृद्धाः। क्षात्रे त्यक्ते राजधर्मे पुराणे॥ “In the event of the Kshatriyas forsaking their old kingly duty, all the religions are (bound) to perish.” A huge building without a (proper) foundation, as also, an empire without an (adequate) military strength, are bound to topple down even with a stormy wave of wind. Arya Chanakya, who preached all this, first of all began to reorganize a huge powerful army, which was well-commanded and inspired with the ambition to win in order to defend the newly-born empire. This he did with such an amazing speed, that during three or four years, not only his subjects came to have faith in his great powers but also the enemies of India began to fear it. 123. What did this huge army of Chandragupta so well planned and so well organised, amount to? 124. Hardly four years earlier, when Chandragupta-Chanakya vowed secretly to establish an independent Indian empire under a unitary command, their armed might was literally nil! That very Chandragupta who started with this ‘nil’, had now a well-equipped loyal army of 6,00,000 foot soldiers, 30,000 cavalry; 2,000 war-elephants and 4,000 chariots! 125. With this powerful army, Chanakya wiped out the chaos created by the separatist small states, republics and monarchies in north India, which wanted to lead an independent life of their own, and established peace and unitary organization. In the end, all the territory on this side of the Indus up to the Punjab, the Kingdom of the Pauravas and Sindh proper, were annexed to the Mauryan empire. 126. Had any political thinker and administrator or an Indian emperor felt proud to have established for the first time, such a unitary Bharatiya empire, it would have been but natural. India’s Frontier Hindukush not Indus 127. But Chandragupta and Chanakya were not satisfied with extending the boundaries of their empire up to the banks of the Indus only, they had vowed to establish the Bharatiya empire over the whole of India, and to annihilate the unruly Mlenchchas! At that time the (north-western) frontier of India did not rest with the eastern bank of the Indus. But it reached much farther beyond the Indus, so as to include among its fold the regions like the

Gandhar and the rivers now lost to Afghanisthan, but once well-known to Vedic Aryans, like the Kubha (the Kabul of today), the Kramu (the Kurram of today), the Suwastu (the Swat of today), the Gomati (the Gumal of today) and others, right up to the peaks of the Hindukush mountains. To that far end, were spread our republics following the Vedic religion and born of a Bharatiya race! And over these regions had been ruling the traditional royal dynasties of India. As our people in that ice-cold regions were comparatively whiter, it was also called by some “White India”. Naturally the national aspiration, as embodied in Chandragupta-Chanakya scheme of things, fortified its imperial boundaries not only up to the eastern bank of the Indus with a strong army, but it also busied itself with the planning and preparation and execution of the imperial boundaries right up to the natural geographic frontiers of India, the Hindukush mountain and yearned to hoist its flag on the top of that mountain! “These also laboured in the cause espoused by the other sages.” Greek Feuds and the Division of the Empire 128. In the meanwhile, the Greek civil feuds had temporarily ceased by dividing Alexander’s empire, ceding its vast portion from the Indian frontiers up to Babylon to Seleucos Nicator, one of the bravest and most experienced veteran of Alexander’s military officers, who ruled it as an independent sovereign. He was supposed to inherit the claim to the region beyond the Hindukush, which was formely conquered by Alexander. 129. He, therefore, demanded the surrender of that region from Chandragupta, who had appropriated it to himself. Of course, Seleucos did not realize that now the Greeks had to face not an Ambhi of Taxila as before, nor any cowardly minister, but King Chandragupta and his minister, Chanakya! They not only scoffed at this frivolous demand of Seleucos, but demanded in return the surrender of the region from Gandhar to Hindukush beyond the river Indus. Seleucos Attacks India with a Mighty Army 130. Enraged at this rebuff, Seleucos marched against India round about 315 B.C. with a Greek army, trained under Alexander. If we leave aside the little-known invasion of Gandhar by Alexander in B.C. 329, this was the second invasion of India by the Greeks after the famous one, already fully described, by Alexander in B.C. 326. 131. But this time, after he crossed the Indus, Seleucos was amazed to see that the region, instead of being divided into separate Indian republics as at

the time of Alexander, had undergone a complete change, both political and military, because of the brave efforts of Chandragupta and Chanakya. He was confused. Right from the northern most part of Punjab on the bank of the Indus to the waters of the Western Sea (Sindhusagar), he saw erected, as it were, a steel wall of well-organized, centrally controlled fourfold Indian army to check his advance! And at the head of it was Chandragupta himself! 132. As soon as the two armies thirsting to fight met, a bitter war started. The Greeks did their utmost, but at last, the Indian forces on two or three battlefields somewhere on the banks of the Indus (the place or places are unknown yet), put them to such a pitiful rout that hardly four years earlier, when Chandragupta-Chanakya vowed secretly to establish an independent Indian empire under a unitary command, their armed might was literally nil! That very Chandragupta who started with this ‘nil’, had now a well- equipped loyal army of 6,00,000 foot soldiers, 30,000 cavalry, 2,000 war- elephants and 4,000 chariots! Seleucos could not help capitulating to the victorious Chandragupta. Revenge of the Defeat of King Paurav 133. Thus was avenged by this decisive victory of Chandragupta over the vanquished Greeks, the old sore of the defeat of King Paurav and other atrocities and insults meted out to the Indians by Alexander! So... The Vanquished Seleucos Meekly Accepted all the terms of the Victorious Chandragupta 134. According to these terms of the treaty, Seleucos relinquished his right to the Indian region this side of the Indus, which he had so far maintained. But when he was firmly told by Chief Minister Chanakya, that the war would not end unless the whole region from Gandhar to Hindukush, which was till then in the Greek hands, was yielded to the Indian Emperor, he submitted to it meekly and the thousands of Greek warriors, who proudly held their brave chests and their swords drawn up while crossing the Indus on their march against India, now returned crestfallen, with their heads and swords held down. They crossed not only the Indus backwards but retreated to the farthest end of the Hindukush mountain. Love is Impossible Without fear (भय बिन होय न प्रीत) 135. This singular victory of Chandragupta brought the Indian frontiers quite close to those of the Greek empire of Seleucos and the dividing line

between the two empires was the range of the Hindukush mountain! The might of this Indian emperor and the personality of Chandragupta and Chanakya impressed the Greek Emperor, Seleucos, so much that he was fully convinced of the advisability of having friendly relations with such a mighty empire rather than to be on inimical terms with it! Secondly, Seleucos had enemies on the other frontiers, although they too were Greeks. Friendship with Chandragupta, therefore, was calculated to overawe them too! For these reasons, the Greek Emperor Seleucos wholeheartedly signed a treaty of permanent peace with Emperor Chandragupta. 136. Moreover, with a view to cementing this political and international friendship with a wedlock between the two royal families and personal affinities and ties, the Greek emperor celebrated the marriage of his daughter with Chandragupta. 137. This offer of the royal princess in marriage by Seleucos, erected a golden pinnacle bedecked with jewels over the magnificent temple of the success of Emperor Chandragupta! The Glorious Treatise of Mahamatya Chanakya! 138. How very effectively and firmly with full regard to the propriety of the case and yet how very discreetly Chanakya managed the affairs of the state, can be clearly seen from his treatise on body politic named Kautaleeya Arthashastra, and from the far-reaching influence of the invincible Indian Empire, which kept on increasing for at least a hundred years afterwards. The account of Megasthenese, the Greek ambassador at the court of Chandragupta, also testifies to the part this treatise played in maintaining peace and order and affluence in the whole empire. 139. At times a single historical event happening overnight or within a single day, changes the whole current of history for over a thousand years to come. This decisive victory of Chandragupta over the Greeks had also had far-reaching effects. The English historian, Vincent Smith, has this remark to offer: “For almost a hundred years after the failure of Seleucos Nikator, no Greek sovereign presumed to attack India.” 140. “...The first Indian emperor, more than two thousand years ago thus entered into possession of that ‘Scientific frontier’ sighed for in vain by his English successors and never held in its entirety even by the Moghul monarchs of the 16th and 17th centuries. “(Early History of India, 4th ed. 1924 by V.A. Smith p.126). Did Alexander Conquer India? No.

141. In the ancient period throughout the whole of Europe, the Greek civilization was the only one which was far ahead of others. Almost all the modern nations of Europe, therefore, rever it as their source. Naturally, the name of a valiant Greek emperor of that time like Alexander is, therefore, a source of living inspiration to them. The European histories, therefore, call him “Alexander the Great”, and many anecdotes and legends in the mythical manner are colourfully taught to the young pupils through their history textbooks. But the commonly educated European people—not of course the few learned historians—are blissfully ignorant of the then Indian antagonists of Alexander and his Greek empire, Chandragupta, and his minister, Chanakya! Such perversion of history can be overlooked so far as the Europeans are concerned. But after the establishment of the British rule over India in our schools and colleges too, the same disproportionate praises were sung of Alexander in the history textbooks and other types of literature. Because three or four generations of ours have been imparted the same English education, our educated classes are also impressed by the name Alexander the Great. But they too probably never knew who Chandragupta or Chanakya was. This perversion of history, and the misunderstanding it has created in the minds of our people, should no more be tolerated hereafter. We may not mind the other traditional anecdotes about Alexander, but those, at least that are connected with Indian history and that extol Alexander disproportionately to the derogation of the Indian people, must be deleted from our school textbooks and from our literature. Take for example, the one colourfully told in the school and college books of Europe and other types of literature, and which was widely published in our country also by the English.
142. The Greeks and other European people believed that Alexander was a world conqueror and he had conquered the whole of India. When that war-like Emperor returned home after his world conquest, he is said to have burst into tears at the sad thought that no more country remained for him to be conquered. This anecdote about Alexander is, proudly told not only in Europe but even in India! Now it can be very clearly seen how very absurd and ludicrous this belief is from the short account given earlier in these pages. To the great nation of those times, China, he never turned his face. But even if we leave this fact aside, we have already shown how he was baffled and made to retreat, when he came conquering to the Western frontiers of India with the ambitious design to conquer the Empire of

Magadha and the rest of India, and how his aspirations were defeated. Alexander was brave; Alexander was a conqueror. But he was not a world- conqueror! Conqueror of India he never was!! If at all that valiant hero was really moved to tears, it was impossible that his tears should have been caused by the thought that there was no other country left for conquest. For, he himself knew that it was false. His tears then must have been caused by the sad realization that he was not able to defeat India completely, which he longed so much to conquer. On the contrary, he must have been much disturbed by the thought that even the small corner of India he believed he was able to conquer, was also very likely to be wrenched from his hands by the rebellious Indians! 142A. As it is said in the poem “Gomantak”: अन्यकुणाचा असो शिकंदर, परन्तु भारत जेता ना ॥ अंगण ही ना तये देखिले कला ही नाकुणाकुणा ॥ [Of whomsoever else he might be the conqueror, Alexander was never the conqueror of India! He did not even see the courtyard (of the palatial edifice) of India, and to many others, he was never known (even by name)!] Super Alexander! 143. Great men should ordinarily be never compared with one another. They are great in various ways, but if anybody tries to compare any such and extol the one to the derogation of the other, this hoax must be exposed and refuted completely. So long as Europe eulogizes Alexander alone as ‘the Great’ and tries to browbeat his antagonist, Emperor Chandragupta, by evading any reference to him, we Indians must need assert that if at all they are to be compared, Chandragupta was Super Alexander in comparison with Alexander! Alexander ascended the throne of a strong nation, already won by his father and commanded an army that was also formed by King Philip. On the strength of this ancestral inheritance, he bravely built up a strong Greek empire. But Chandragupta enjoyed no such heritage. He had not a single soldier under his command, besides he had been banished from his ancestral empire by his father! Only one man was at his side, it was Arya Chanakya!! Under these circumstances, he had to start anew. Yet he built up a mighty army, conquered the ancestral empire, and wiping out the Greek conquests under Alexander himself and under his general Seleucos Nicator, founded an Indian Empire mightier even than that of Alexander himself!

144. The epoch that starts with the conquest of the Yavanas by Emperor Chandragupta, the Super Shikandar is THE FIRST GLORIOUS EPOCH of Hindu victories over the aggressors. ❑ .

2ND GLORIOUS EPOCH 2. Yavana—Destroyer, Pushy Amitra 145. Emperor Chandragupta expired in 298 B.C. He was succeeded by his son, Bindusar, who was also brave. He took for himself the epithet ‘Amitraghat’ (the annihilator of enemies). Even after the death of Chandragupta, the ministership rested with Chanakya at least for sometime. Naturally, Bindusar took upon himself the task of Chanakya and Chandragupta, which was left half accomplished at the latter’s death (cf: paragraphs 108 to 127). According to the plan, the Yavanas were sorely beaten, the whole of India was once again free, and there was established, as far as north India was concerned, a centrally administered unitary form of strong empire. But there avowed objective was the consolidation of the whole of India under one supreme ruler, for the sake of which, it was his duty to assimilate South India into the Mauryan empire of the north! 146. Although the several states in South India at the time belonged to our own people, they were independent in their own ways and were absolutely free from any kind of foreign domination. It was, however, necessary that they should have merged their separate existence into the north Indian empire, if the whole of India was to be one indivisible nation with a central authority to guide its destiny. To do so was their national duty. 147. Once he started on his southern campaign, Emperor Bindusar made almost all of the southern states and principalities accept his sovereignty either by peace talks, by grants of money or by threats of violence or even by sowing seeds of sedition. It is recorded in history that he annexed seventeen capitals (with their states) between the eastern and western seas to the Maurya empire. It seems that he brought the whole of the northern, southern, eastern and western India under his sole command and accomplished the ideal of the India-wide unitary empire. Besides this, the Maurya empire of Bindusar was unique inasmuch as, even according to the standards of history, India was the mightiest in its military sense, of all the nations of the then known world. 148. It was because of the invincible four-fold armed strength built up according to the precepts of Chanakya. that from Chandragupta’s accasion

to the throne of Magadha to the time when Ashoka courted Buddhism and even his death, i.e. for about a hundred years, no enemy from the outside world could give any kind of offence to this all India Maurya Empire, either by land or sea, or by crossing any frontier whatsoever! Ashoka the Holy! 149. Samrat Bindusar died in 273 B.C. this son, Ashoka ascended the throne after him by putting aside his elder brother. Emperor Ashoka truly deserved to be included in the list of virtuous and holy kings not only of India but of the world. However, according to the criterion laid down in paragraphs 7 to 9 of this book, the Ashokan epoch does not fit in properly in the scope of the glorious epochs. Hence, we cannot do anything more than bypass him with only a slight reference. 150. But after his conversion to Buddhism, Ashoka carried out an excessive propaganda in favour of certain Buddhist principles like Ahimsa and the rest, which have caused so much harm to the Indian political outlook, her political independence, and her empire, that it has become absolutely necessary to discuss at some length here as well as in other chapters, not only the principles of Ashoka but also those of Buddhism and their practices. Hail to Lord Buddha! 151. Before discussing here some of the anti-national Buddhist preachings and practices and their effects, I consider it my duty to state in the beginning—so that there may not be any misunderstanding or perversion of my views—that on the whole, I have a very high regard for Lord Buddha and his religion. In Indian history, there are several lofty Himalayan peaks of world famous personalities and the name of one of those sublime heights is Bhagwan Buddha! As regards this reverence for him, I, too, would gladly join his disciples in bowing down my head before his idol, saying. “Hail to thee, O Lord Buddha!” The Hindu nation too, which gave birth to such a divine, considers him the ninth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Causes of Decline of Buddhism in India 152. The Buddhist cult for that matter was being preached in the vicinity of Magadha, at least three hundred years before Ashoka. It was mostly propagated, till then, by persuasion and conviction on matters of principles. Naturally, its progress was slow. It has already been pointed out in paragraph no. 16 that till the time of Alexander and Seleucos, Buddhist religion was hardly known in Punjab, Sindh, Gandhar and other provinces.

The Greeks knew nothing of it. Good many historians are under the impression that because Buddhism did not regard the authority of the Vedas as the highest and because on the whole, it appeared atheistic, the followers of the Vedic religion at that time opposed it very vehemently and, as such, the Buddhist religion was exterminated from India. But this belief firmly established in the minds of the people throughout the ages till the very present day, is not wholly right; for, the belief that Lord Buddha founded any non-Vedic atheistic cult is in itself wrong. Round about the time Gautam Buddha was born, there were nearly fifty or sixty creeds in vogue, and this, the Buddhist books themselves admit as true. It was customary to hold intellectual debates of the Vedic and non-Vedic philosophies. Whoever was convinced by persuasion and discussion, adopted freely the religion he liked. Although it is true that Buddhism suffered a sort of defeat in this philosophical and intellectual warfare, that went on throughout the long period from the days of the Buddha to those of Shankaracharya, the disgust and hatred the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas and the other Hindu people felt for the Buddhist sect and the corrupt practices they followed, were mainly due not to the philosophical or intellectual, but to the national and political reasons. How all this happened will be explained, so far as the scope of this book will permit. Ashoka Enforces Buddhism 153. After courting the Buddhist cult, Ashoka became such a great zealot of his new religion towards the end of his career, that he was not satisfied with persuasive type of religious conversion so far prevalent in society. He declared penal all those Vedic religious practices, which were taboo from the point of view of the Buddhists, but which were the very foundation of Vedic religion. For want of space, we shall cite not more than two or three instances. He banned all those sacrifices throughout his empire, which admitted of violence. Sacrifice was the main stay of the Vedic religion, round which the Bharatiya civilization had flourished ever since the Vedic period. The discontent, therefore, that must have been caused amongst the eighty per cent of the population, which comprised Brahmins, Kshatriyas and other Vedic people, when those sacrifices were declared penal offences by the government, can best be imagined. Ashoka even banned hunting. The Vedic religion considered hunting one of the essential duties of a Kshatriya. Not only was it forbidden by Ashoka to kill fish and fowl for the food of millions of people, but simply for upholding the extremist principle

of the Buddhistic ‘total Ahimsa’, it was also declared unlawful to hunt wild beasts like lions and tigers, which very often broke upon human habitations and caused great distress by carrying away men and animals. If practised sincerely and without making any exceptions, these principles prove utterly harmful to mankind. While he was, thus, tyrannically overriding the religious practices of the Brahmin-Kshatriya and Vedic people, Ashoka went on erecting great pillars and inscribed thereon his famous edicts, enjoining on his subjects to be tolerant to all religionists, to give respect to the Shramanas (ascetics) and Brahmins alike. It is really strange that an emperor, calm, cool, composed and considerate like Ashoka, should not be able to realize the inconsistency between his precept and practice. 154. Nearly fifty years before Ashoka, Chanakya had already visualized the inevitable, horriblle effect of some of the teachings of the Buddhist cult on the national strength and the foundation of the society as a whole. As such in his famous political treatise, “Arthashastra”, on which was erected the whole edifice of the Maurya empire, he had laid down certain restrictions that were essential from the national point of view on those, who thought of leaving the wordly life and become ‘bhikksu’. For instance, one of the Chanakyan rules forbade a minor girl to enter the Buddha ‘Sangham’ without the express permission of her parents and the government. Another of his rules prohibited every man from becoming a ‘bhikksu’, unless and until he had provided amply for the dependants, his wife and children. But during the reign of Ashoka and later also, these restrictions disappeared, and every man or woman, young or old, became absolutely free to renounce the worldly ways to enter the Buddhistic Sanghas. Thousands of these ‘bhikksus’ in the ‘Sanghas’ were allowed free food, clothing, beddings and abodes as charities, at the cost of the state. Ashoka spent crores of rupees from the imperial treasury on building gigantic viharas and on the maintenance of millions of such bhikksus living in them. The major part of the revenue collection of the imperial treasury was made from the estates of the Vedic Hindus, yet it was spent on the universal propaganda of the Buddhistic sect, which antagonised them. This squandering away of their wealth for the growth of their antagonists, naturally bred great discontent among the Vedic populace. A blow to the Imperial Might!

155. This excessive propaganda for unrestricted 'ahimsa', which Ashoka carried on by the use of his political authority throughout his empire and the countries beyond it, cut at the very root of the Indian empire, and was even more harmful than any other acts of his for the national existence and national independence! Thousands of bhikksus, appointed and maintained by Ashoka, preached everywhere that armed strength of every sort was violent and sinful, and that all those who followed the life of a Kshatriya, were violent and so irreligious! Everyone who vowed to practise 'ahimsa', everyone who renounced the use of weapons and his family life and lived the life of a 'bhikksu' in the viharas according to the Buddhistic principles was greater, holier and so more praiseworthy than the brave Kshatriya soldier, who fought and bled and died in the defence of his nation. Naturally, the common people too came to think that any and every wandering parasite of a 'bhikksu' was more respectable and religious- minded, than the brave armed warrior.
156. Ashoka had precepts, commonly preached by other religions also, inscribed on his 'pillars': "Religious victory is more valuable than the one gained by means of arms." But was this religious victory possible in the earthly life? Was it practical? A draught of nectar is said to make a man immortal, maybe! But can anybody tell the whereabouts of the shop where that nectar is available? 156A. Whoever can satisfy his hunger by eating the rice and curry made of words? बोलाचीच कढी बोलाचाचभात। जेवूनिया तृप्त कोण झाला॥
157. Was not the empire of Ashoka with the unlimited resources, power and wealth, with which he could carry out, throughout the whole of India and abroad, a vigorous propaganda 'that religious victory was superior to victory on the battlefield', itself gained on the strength of the mighty and invincible four-fold army built up by Chandragupta and Chanakya? Had all that army forsworn arms and lived the idle parasitic life of the 'bhikksu' in the 'Viharas' embracing Buddhism, as soon as Ashoka ascended his ancestral throne, would it have been possible for him to sit there securely as an emperor even for a moment? Even at that time, the Greek states beyond the Indian border and farther off than these the more ferocious wild tribes of the Saka-Kushan-Hun type, who recognized 'violence' as the only mean of achieving their objectives were anxiously waiting for an opportunity to pounce, like a lion, on India, but they feared the four-fold

invincible Indian army. Would they all not have taken this golden opportunity to throttle the ‘bhikksu-ridden’ India and Ashoka’s religious triumph without the use of arms, and drawn its blood? 158. But it is hardly necessary to indulge in these ‘ifs’ and ‘whens’. At that very time, India had unfortunately to suffer the grievous consequences of the preaching, not only of Ashoka but of the Buddha himself, as has been shown in my play, ‘Sanyasta Khadga’. The miserable plight of the people and the successful resistance, which the Vedic Hindus offered, will be described hereafter. 159. While describing these sad consequences, I do not, at all, intend to analyse the comparative merits and demerits of all religious principles, practices or rituals of both the Vedic and the Buddhist religions like the sacrifices, penances, sanyas and the like, from the ‘other worldly’ point of view, nor do I wish to examine them thoroughly and comparatively from ‘this worldly’ outlook. To see how many of those principles are trustworthy today, or how many of those rituals are worth following at the present time, is also out of the scope of this book. So these points will not be raised. I, however, wish to discuss in this book, the nation-wide consequence of different religious principles and actions of their followers on political life of India of those days. For without any such historical analysis, the different currents and undercurrents of history of those times cannot be properly shown. After the Death of Ashoka 160. This pious emperor, Ashoka, who till his end, laboured hard according to his own religious faith, for the ultimate good of mankind, died in 232 B.C. 161. His death proved to be the beginning of the end of that magnificent Maurya Empire! 162. During the last 25 years of his life, he had applied himself heart and soul to the propagation of the Buddhistic cult. His descendants, who succeeded him as emperors, were all honest Buddhists, and that is why, they turned out to be nominal rulers, weak in armed strength. Because of the criminal neglect of the imperial military might for these forty years or so by the ‘extremists’ among the followers of the Buddhist principle of ‘non- violence’ and their rulers, the whole military organization of the Maurya empire right up to the frontiers, and espeicially the north-western frontier, gradually went into complete disorder. This was allurement enough for the

foreign foes, who had been so far kept off through the awe of the Maurya empire, to venture a fresh aggression on India hardly within thirty years or so of Ashoka’s death. The Aggression of Bactrian Greeks 163. Samrat Chandragupta had defeated Seleucos Nicator and driven away the Greeks far beyond the Hindukush mountains round about 315 B.C. (of. paragraphs 130 to 140). Seleucos had established his independent Greek kingdom in Bactria adjoining the western side of the Hindukush mountains, which was then the extreme frontier of India. As it was independent, it had lost every contact with the original distant European Greek state. If, at all, there existed any contact between the two, it was that of dire enmity. These Bactrian Greeks, therefore, were called Asian Greeks. Because of the break in the continuity during the intervening hundred years or so, these Bactrian Greeks had fallen off miserably in every respect from the high standards of the original Greeks of Alexander’s time. They had now nothing of the spirit and vigour of their Alexandrian ancestors. Alexandrian ambition of conquering India, however, still goaded them on. As soon as they saw the degeneration of the military strength of the Maurya empire, these Bactrian Greeks were fired with the malicious ambition of Indian conquest, as has already been told above, and Demetreos, their king at that time, crossed the Hindukush and attacked India. As the Indian army offered no resistance worth the name, Demetreos reduced Kamboj, Gandhar and crossed the Indus, and conquering the whole of Panchnad, that Yavanadhip (the Greek King) proceeded with his army to conquer Magadha itself. The whole of the Greek army was inspired with the warlike spirit and they began to declare that they were going to realize the dream of Indian conquest of Alexander. Why this Sudden Degeneration of Indian Bravery? 164. How very strange it is that hardly before a hundred years or so, the provinces like Panchnad (Punjab) and others from the Hindukush to the Indus in which the brave Indian Kshatriyas, their republics, and soldiers and the common populace had all defeated and repulsed, with exceptional valour the aggressive Greeks under Alexander and Seleucos and drove them back, should now be overrun so very easily by the much too weaker and degenerated Bactrian Greeks! Owing to the constant dread of the brave fighting warriors of India, Alexander and Seleucos could not sleep soundly in their military camps, while fighting in these provinces. But these second-

rate Bactrian Greek military leaders could sleep soundly in the royal palace of Ayodhya (Saketa) in the confident safety of their triumph. 165. This Greek invasion of Demetreos took place within thirty to forty years of Ashoka’s adoption of Buddhism. How did the Indian resisting capacity and bravery in the valiant provinces of Gandhar, Panchnad and others deteriorate so suddenly during those intervening years? What particular event in those thirty to forty years necessitated this degeneracy in the high standard of Indian heroism? 166. Was the Bactrian Greek invading army, under the leadership of Demetreos, in any way superior to those of Alexander and Seleucos? Not at all. They themeselves admitted that their forefathers, under the leadership of Alexander and Seleucos were far superior to them, were endowed with almost divine powers. It clearly means that the reason, why these inferior and weaker Greeks should conquer the Indians so very easily, was not that the Greek prowess had increased since the time of Alexander, but that the Indian heroism and the Indian capacity to resist aggression must have deteriorated to a horrible extent. 167. Now, during the hundred-and-twenty-seven years or so that elapsed between the Alexandrian aggression in 327 B.C. and the one by Demetreos about 200 B.C., there occurred only one significant event, which was likely to bring about this grievous falling off in the high standard of Indian material prowess and their ability to repulse the enemy. It must have been the extremist propaganda of the non-resistant, non-violent principles of Buddhism, which condemned the military might throughout these provinces. For, no other event of such magnitude took place at that time. We shall just consider here two points that throw some light on this issue. Indian Mentality at the time of Alexander’s invasion and that at the time of Demetreos! 168. At the time of Alexander, the Buddhist cult was never heard of in the provinces of Kamboj, Gandhar, Panchnad straight to Sind (cf. para: 16). The people there were hero worshippers of Vedic Hindus! States like the Youdheyas were proud of their war-like spirit and bore the attribute ‘Nation-in-arms’ (आयुधजीवी) with evident exultation! (cf: para 38). Not only the Kshatriyas there, but in some of the states, all the citizens, men and women, young or old, took the field to face the aggressive foreign enemy. Where, unfortunately, a certain republic got beaten, the brave Indian ladies there leapt into the fire with the dauntless children (cf: paras 40 to 55)

at their breasts! One more thing can be adduced in support of the martial spirit of the Vedic Indians of the time of Chandragupta-Chanakya, who were ever prepared to protect the national boundaries. 169. It is interesting to note how martial prowess has been extolled in glowing terms in the famous treatise, ‘Arthshastra’ of Chanakya, which mainly guided the administration of the magnificent Indian empire of Chandragupta. According to Chanakya’s treatise, all the varnas including the Brahmins, had free access to the military service. अमर्याद प्रवृत्तेच शत्रुभिस्स॑गरे कृते। सर्वेवर्णाश्च दृश्येयुः शस्त्रवन्तो युधिष्ठिर॥ (In the event of an extensive war with the enemy, O Yudhisthir, all the classes of people should be seen well-armed with weapons.) This was the tradition of the Vedic Hindus! When such a large imperial army entered the battlefield in order to face the enemy, the emperor, dictates Chanakya, himself was to address the whole four-fold army in the following way: “वेदेष्वप्यनुश्रूयते समाप्तदक्षिणाम् यज्ञानामवभृतस्त्रानेषु या ता गतिः शूराणामिति। क्षपेन तामाप्यतियान्ति शूराः प्रणान् युयुध्येषु परित्यजन्ति। तुल्यभोगोस्मि भवद्भिः सहभोग्यमिंद राज्यम्। परान् हन्तव्यम्।” (The brave warriors enjoy the same bliss as the one which is obtainable through the final ceremonial bath after the completion of sacrifices—it is vouchsafed by the Vedas! In the righteous war, the warriors sacrificing their lives go instantly to the same blissful state (in heaven). This kingdom is to be enjoyed by you as well as it is by me. Then, why wait. Fall upon the enemy, and annihilate them!) 171. Who can tell, even Chandragupta himself might have thus inspired his Indian fighting forces, when they marched upon Seleucos! 172. The war, which beats down unjustifiable aggression, protects the virtuous people and destroys the wicked ones, is never considered ‘violent’ by the Vedic religion. It is called a religious war (a righteous war!). 173. At the time of Alexander, the Vedic propagandists had been going round, kindling the fire of heroism and bravado in order to fight such a

righteous war of liberation against the Yavan (Greek) enemy throughout that region, from Panchnad to Sindh. Many of such national propagandists, mostly Brahmins, were being caught and hanged by Alexander! (cf: paras 32 and 69 for Plutarch’s citation). 174. After the valiant soldiers of Chandragupta, thus, routed the forces of the Yavan emperor, Seleucos, Chandragupta and Chanakya built a strong steel wall of the mightiest four-fold army in the world to protect the Indian empire right up to the Hindukush mountain. The dread of that armed might alone stopped the Bactrian Greeks beyond the Hindukush, from harbouring any thought of enmity towards India for about 125 years. So long as Samrat Ashoka called himself the follower of the Vedic religon, which means till about 252 B.C., the north-western frontier guards of the Mauryan empire remained well-equipped and invincible. 175. But as soon as Ashoka adopted Buddhism, this security of the empire fell to pieces! Had Ashoka abdicated from the imperial throne of Magadha, when he adopted Buddhism as Lord Gautam Buddha himself forsook the Sakya nation before him, and had he travelled around as a bhikksu propagating the faith, the Indian empire might have been spared a great calamity and Ashoka’s loyalty to Buddhism, too, would have been truly tested. But till his death, Ashoka could not bring himself to abdicate this imperial throne. On the contrary, he turned his whole empire into a Buddhistic monastery to carry on the propaganda. Evidently enough in those frontier provinces, the dictums like ‘Religious victory excels martial glory’, ‘Anger should be conquered by the negation of anger’, “Non- violence is the supreme religious duty’, ‘Never kill any animal’ and such others, which had their roots in the Vedic religion, and which were beneficial to the society so long as they were practised with due regard to place, time and person, began to be preached in the Buddhist way, irrespective of any such consideration and in absolute terms without any reservations, bands of ‘bhikksus’ brought up and maintained by the imperial treasury of Ashoka began to preach in that region that armed might was a sin! Only the followers of Buddhism were appointed to high offices of Dharmamhamatra’ (धर्म महामात्र), provincial officers, and the faithful government servants like the Rajjuks. All these were expected, according to the orders from Ashoka, to render every sort of help at government level to the precept and practice of the Buddhistic cult. Throughout the provinces like Gandhar and Panchnad, Buddhism was preached not only amongst

civilians but also amongst the soldiers. Naturally, in those frontier provinces of India, the warlike spirit and armed strength began to decrease as speedily as the untrammelled propaganda about non-violence and other Buddhistic principles gained momentum everywhere with the avowed royal support. After carrying on such demilitarizing and anti-national propaganda for twenty years, Ashoka breathed his last. His successors, the Buddhist weaklings, surpassed Ashoka in the neglect of the invincible frontier guards, which had been so scrupulously and assiduously maintained in well-equipped military outposts since the time of Chandragupta. This was ignored to such an extent that the whole defence-line collapsed as would a whole turret, the base of which has sunk underground. In Short 176. Because Ashoka and his descendants with their imperial support carried throughout their empire, the incessant propaganda of the one-sided extremist Buddhist principles, which derided martial prowess, and criminally neglected the intrepidity and valour which fought for national independence, and because they transformed the whole empire into a gigantic Buddhistic monastery, and converted the fighting warriors into saffron-clad Buddha bhikksu, the heroic spirit among the people of the frontier provinces and their staunch patriotism suffered a horrible debasement, and the military organization that had been the strongest in the world since the time of Chandragupta wore out completely because of this internal virus. And that is the reason why Demetreos' Greek forces, far inferior to those of Alexander and Seleucos, could so easily reduce the whole region from the Hindukush to Panchnad and could march proudly towards Magadha. 177. With all the imperial authority and resources at the disposal of these Buddhists, none of the provincial governors, nor any administrator, nor even the Buddhist population, got excited and boldly came forward to fight in the battlefield these Yavan foes, who dared snatch away the independence of India and subjugate it. They were not enraged at this insult of India, nor were they ashamed of it. The very descendant of Ashoka in Magadha, who called himself emperor and was warming the imperial throne, the Buddhist King Brihadrath, never took a step to resist the advance of the Greek enemy! 178. Perhaps that Buddhist King was trying to win over the Greeks by his unrestrained observance of the Buddhistic principle of ‘non- resistance’ and

the one that preached, “Anger should be conquered by the negation of anger” and was trying to succeed in the application of the Buddhistic doctrine by keeping indoors! Wave of Nationwide rage among the vedic hindus: the Valiant Kharvela, the king of Kalinga, Marches on the Greeks 179. Although the Buddhists were neither enraged nor disturbed, nor for that matter, even ashamed of the fact that the Greek aggression was undermining the national honour of India or that it endangered the nation’s liberty, the Vedic Hindus, at least, were highly enraged at this national insult and the imminent national calamity. Unfortunately, they had no political power left in the north of India, which could immediately resist this national calamity. But within a decade of Ashoka’s death, the provinces of Kalinga and Andhra in south India had renounced the paramountcy of the Buddhist Mauryas, and established their independent kingdom. The kings of both these provinces were staunch followers of the Vedic religion and so equally staunch Indian patriots. Both of them had built up mighty armies, well- equipped with arms. The news that the Greeks had conquered northern India, and that the Magadha king, a weak Buddhist, could not at all resist it, caused a great furore amongst the Vedic population in South India. At last, the king of the independent state of Kalinga, the valiant Kharvela, decided to march himself at the head of an army against the Greek army of Demetreos. The Yavanas Routed: their Hasty Retreat! 180. First of all, with a mighty army, he conquered Magadha and joined battle with the Greek forces somewhere near Ayodhya. The strong Indian army of Kalinga dealt such a crushing defeat upon the Greeks, that Demetreos immediately turned his face backwards, and marched off with all his army back to his home beyond Panchnad. 181. After driving the Greeks beyond the frontiers of India, Kharvela did not find much time either to pursue the fleeing enemy or to organize the administration of the whole of that region. Political emergency drove him back to Kalinga almost immediately. He did not dethrone the Maurya emperor of Magadha, King Brihadrath. As soon as he returned to Kalinga, Kharvela celebrated, according to the Vedic tradition, the horse ceremony to commemorate the brilliant victory he had gained against the Greeks in defence of the honour and liberty of India. This horse-sacrifice was particularly known to have a national and political significance. Besides

owing to Ashoka’s ban, the Vedic Hindus had not been able to perform any sacrifice whatsoever for the last forty or fifty years. But soon after the Vedic states were established in Kalinga and Andhra, this horse-sacrifice, the first of its kind, was celebrated in total defiance of all the injunctions of Ashoka on the Vedic religious practices, immortalising the crushing defeat inflicted on the Greeks, the national enemies of India. Another Greek Invasion 182. Seeing that Kharvela had returned to the south, Menander, who had so far stabilized his position in Kamboj and Gandhar, and who was furious at the disaster met with by Demetreos on his march against Magadha, once again invaded India within a period of four years. As at the time of the invasion of Demetreos, so also at this time, the Greeks did not meet with any opposition worth the name in Panchnad, which was dominated by the Buddhists and, as such, had become pacifist, the weak descendant of Ashoka on the throne of Magadha, too, offered no effective resistance. The Buddhists Sympathize with the Greeks 183. On the contrary, Menander could enlist the sympathy of many of the Buddhists in his campaign. For, he openly said that he approved of many of the Buddhist principles and that he was soon going to become a convert to it. So, many Buddhist preachers began to publicise that the Greeks had come to fight with the Vedic Hindus alone, and that if they conquered India, there would be a Buddhist rule! The Buddhists were not much concerned with the alien nationality or the Greeks. Buddhism did not recognize the differences of caste, race or nationality! This was the anti- national and anti-Indian wicked way in which the Buddhist preachers began to delude the people of India! As their sympathetic assistance was so useful to Menander, he too began to circulate through his Greek agents, that this campaign of his was directed solely to nip in the bud the conspiracy of the Vedic Hindus to snatch away the imperial power from the hands of the weak Buddhist rulers of Magadha. Menander came once again, reducing Panchnad and other provinces right up to Ayodhya. In order to avoid the repetition of the sad plight of Demetreos, who had made undue haste at an inopportune time, Menander spent some time in Ayodhya, consolidating the newly won territories and replenishing his army before he launched an attack on Magadha and waited for the auspicious moment. But there in Pataliputra...?