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

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...?

184. The Vedic community and their leaders in North India had already experienced a surge of heroic spirit because of the victory of the brave Kharvela of Kalinga. To add to it, the news arrived of Menander’s menacing invasion! Besides, the Indian Buddhist populace showed clear signs of defection and betrayal of their co-nationalists to Menander. The nationalist Indian leaders, therefore, formed a revolutionary body with a view to dethroning the vacillating and weak Brihadrath Maurya from the royal seat of Magadha, and replace him with one of the Vedic sect, who was of proven mettle like Chandragupta Maurya. But everybody was confronted with the difficult question, as to who was there so bold and powerful, to take the lead in this national revolution and to destroy the Yavanas (the Greeks) completely. Pushyamitra
185. Amongst the remnants of the Magadhan warriors in the army of the above-named Brihadrath Maurya was one, named Pushyamitra. He was a Brahimin by birth. He was, moreover, a staunch supporter of the Vedic religion and Indian nationality, and a devotee of Lord Shiv. His family name was Shung. Even in the Magadhan army, he had attained so much importance because of his military exploits that Brihadrath Maurya himself had appointed him, not very willingly but only out of necessity, to the office of the Commander-in-Chief of the forces in the face of the deadly war with the invading Greeks. The moment he got the reins of the highest military authority, Pushyamitra began to enlarge and reorganize the army of Magadha, and equipped it with all the weapons. This focussed the attention of all the patriotic Vedic populace on Pushyamitra, the general of the army. Everybody anxiously hoped, if General Pushyamitra should lead the political coup...? Who else, they thought, was at that time fitter and abler than this valiant hero, to ascend the traditional imperial throne of the Indian empire?
186. From the historically established facts of this Magadhan political revolution, which are going to be related very shortly, it will be amply clear that General Pushyamitra must have accepted the leadership of the future conspiracy. It is very likely that he must have secured, in advance, at least tacit consent of his army and some of its leaders before he acted openly. Assassination of Brihadrath Maurya
187. While all these preparations were going on, one day it was decided to hold a grand military review in the vast courtyard of the royal palace in the

capital city of Pataliputra. Emperor Brihadrath Maurya was present there to witness the march-past and receive the salute of the army. But while as per Pushyamitra’s orders, the ceremonial movements of the four-fold army and their different formations were going on with all pomp and show and noise and bustle, for some reason, not known to history, some trouble arose near the place where King Brihadrath was sitting. In the excitement of the moment, General Pushyamitra marched on Brihadrath Maurya, who had come to be merely the titular head of the empire, and beheaded him. 188. This chopping-off of the head of Brihadrath put a stop to the dynasty of the Mauryas! The Buddhistic Mauryan Empire met its doom that day. 189. This unexpected and horrible turn of events caused a great furore in the large crowd assembled there. But did any of the armed warriors or anyone from those of the royal household, who were sitting near King Brihadrath attack General Pushyamitra? No, not at all. On the contrary, the whole army hailed him as their leader. 190. For, General Pushyamitra had done exactly what the soldiers themselves and many others wanted to do but could not, as nobody in the whole of India dared shoulder the responsibility for such an hazardous deed. Pushyamitra had simply done the unavoidable national duty of killing Ashoka’s descendant, Brihadrath Maurya, who had proved himself thoroughly incompetent to defend the independence of the Indian empire. Pushyamitra and Chandragupta 191. Chandragupta and Chanakya had to assassinate, as an unavoidable national duty, Samrat Mahapadmananda, who had proved himself thoroughly incapable of repulsing the Greeks for the protection of the Indian empire and its independence, at the time of the first Greek invasion of Alexander. Just for the same reason, Pushyamitra had to cut off the head of Brihadrath Maurya, the nominal Buddhist emperor, simply as a national duty. Emperor Pushyamitra Shung 192. This momentous event took place round about 184 B.C., and with all the Vedic rituals, Pushyamitra was appointed Emperor of India on the throne of Ashoka in Pataliputra. It marked the end of the Maurya dynasty and the beginning of the reign of the Shungas. Emperor Pushyamitra’s Campaign Against the Greeks! 193. First of all, Pushyamitra stabilized the administrative set-up and consolidated his position in his capital and the regions around it, and after

mobilizing a strong four-fold army, eager to fight, he fell upon Menander, who had so far dug in his feet safe in Ayodhya. Finding it extremely difficult to hold their ground before the mighty arms of the Indian army, the Greek general Menander began to retreat. Earlier, Demetreos had not been pursued, but this time, Pushyamitra was not going to be slack. He chased and hunted down the Greek army. Inflicting defeat after defeat on the Greek army and causing confusion in their ranks, Pushyamitra drove the dispirited and vanquished Menander far beyond the Indus. The Indian empire right up to the Indus was once again set free from the Greek political dominance. The Greek sword was broken, the Greek shield shattered, the very root of their Political power dug up and Destroyed! 194. This was the last of the Greek aggressions on India. This terrible defeat inflicted on the Greeks by Pushyamitra consumed their strength so much, that they never had the heart to strike again at Bharat any time in future! Bharat, thus, annihilated this Greek enemy that had been a source of constant trouble since the time of Alexander. 195. Pushyamitra annexed all the territory liberated from the Greek hands to his own empire. He appointed at Ujjain his son, Agnimitra, as the viceroy of the region. General Agnimitra was a brave and able commander like his father. He forced the land up to Vidarbha in the South, to acknowledge his overlordship. But later Vidarbha refused to do so. Hence, Agnimitra attacked it. In the battle, Vidarbadhish (the lord of Vidarbha) was defeated. Amidst all this confusion, Princess Malavika, the daughter of the Vidarbharaj, was enamoured of the bravery and other virtues of Agnimitra, and was very eager to marry him. So with the consent of Pushyamitra, the King of Vidarbha celebrated her marriage with Agnimitra. This not only created the bonds of friendship but also the bonds of blood-relation between the two royal families. On this romantic theme itself, Kalidas composed his famous play Malavikagnimitra. A Horse-Sacrifice in the very Pataliputra of Ashoka! 196. Pushyamitra, who had completely destroyed the Greeks, the age-old alien enemies of the nation, and rejuvenated the Indian empire, had acquired with his own splendid victories, the right to perform a horse-sacrifice according to the Vedic tradition. About this right of Samrat Pushyamitra, Vincent Smith writes in his Early History of India (1924), “The Yavanas and all other rivals having been disposed of in due course, Pushyamitra was justified in his claim to reign as the paramount power of north India, and

straightaway proceeded to announce his success by a magnificent celebration of the Ashvamedha sacrifice at his capital (p. 212).” 197. This declaration of celebrating a horse-sacrifice by Samrat Pushyamitra thrilled the whole country, barring the minority community of the Buddhist with national pride and martial triumph. In the very capital of Ashoka, who had deprived the Vedic Hindus of their religious freedom by means of his supreme political authority, was this Ashvamedha of Samrat Pushyamitra to be performed. This horse-sacrifice of Pushyamitra was, in fact, a public imperial proclamation of Samrat Pushyamitra, that all the restrictions imposed by Ashoka on the religious freedom of the Vedic Hindus were withdrawn. 198. Emperor Pushyamitra’s grandson, Vasumitra, was also a spirited young prince, as his father, Pushyamitra’s son, Agnimitra was a veteran army-leader and an efficient royal administrator. When Samrat Pushyamitra let his sacrificial horse loose on its triumphal march throughout the land, the task of protecting that horse with a strong army was entrusted to this brave young grandson, General Vasumitra. The horse was not obstructed in his free ramble right up to the banks of the Indus. But on the banks of the Indus, he was opposed by a certain Yavan King which, according to the conventions of the time, meant that the sovereignty of Pushyamitra was challenged. So the young General Vasumitra fought with the ‘Yavan’ enemy and after defeating him completely, got released the ceremonial horse. The boundless joy that was universally felt in the capital, when after a year the invincible and unconquered General Vasumitra tiumphantly marched into the city, can very well be seen in the formal invitation sent by Pushyamitra to his son, Agnimitra, which is still available to us in almost the very same words of the Emperor. Kalidas has practically reproduced it verbatim et literatim in his aforesaid play, ‘Malavikagnimitra.’ That letter in the drama is so interesting, that everybody might read it with pleasure. It is a living document of the thoughts of Samrat Pushyamitra and the common feelings of the people of those triumphant days. A National Festival 199. The festive occassion of the horse-ceremony was graced with the presence of the great sages and ascetics of India, Brahmins, well-versed in all the Vedic lore, the high-born Kshatriya kings and princes, the prominent officers and administrators of the empire, eminent citizens and leaders in towns. Patanjali, who was renowned as the greatest of the scholars, and who

has now come to be listed with universal approval, among the world’s greatest scholars—including the western ones—was also present on that glorious occasion. With the blessings and participation of such celebrities the festival of that horse-sacrifice naturally came to acquire the dignity and grandeur of the Indian national victory over the Mlenchchas. Totally Annihilated Asian Greek Stock 200. After the Greeks were driven away beyond the Indus by Samrat Pushyamitra round about 190 to 180 B.C. and India was rid of all Greek dominance, the Greek race saw the beginning of their extinction. Beyond the Indus in Gandhar and Bactria (Balhik), they had some small states dragging on their uncertain existence. And about the beginning of the first century of the Christian era, when a great tide of the fierce war-like race of the Sakas from Central Asia dashed against Bactria, Persia and Gandhar, the Greeks knew not where to flee in order to escape the terrible impact of ‘Sakas’ sharp swords. They fled with wives and children, the old and the infant. At last, they crossed the Indus and entered India to save their lives. But now they came as displaced persons seeking shelter! What a tragic irony! This influx of theirs was a far cry from the triumphant entry of their forefathers under Alexander and Seleucos! The latter rushed in crying hoarse for war, while the present Greeks came in begging for shelter!! 201. But India gave them shelter very graciously in those most unfortunate days, forgetting all enmity. These runaway Greeks settled severally, wherever and whenever their separate batches could find any shelter. Some of them became converts to Buddhism while some courted Hinduism. But as Vedic Hindus alone had their states everywhere in India, these Greeks, whether they were Buddhists or Vedic Hindus, were not able to cause any sort of political trouble. They adopted the Indian languages, Indian customs and swiftly, they were merged completely in the Indian society. And because they had marital and other social relations with the Indians, within a century or two, they completely lost the sense of their separate existence as Greeks—the sense of their separate nationality! Just as a lump of salt dissolves swiftly into the torrential current of the Ganges, in the same way, their Greek extraction was totally merged into the tidal wave of Indian life. The Mlenchchas Merged into our Civilization 202. Most of the western historians, and our own too, have completely missed one point in this connection, which, for that very reason, must be

made explicit here. It is this, whether it was the Greeks or other foreign aggressors, whoever came flashing their swords, were ultimately conquered and engulfed, and completely submerged in our society, leaving not a trace of their separate existence behind. In every case, it has been amply proved that it was only when the aggressor’s insolent sword was beaten down—it was only when the aggressor was vanquished completely in the deadly armed conflict on the battlefield—that those foreigners became so very tame and pliable as to be easily overwhelmed and dissolved in our society. This was achieved not by peaceful persuasion, but by the stronger and deadlier weapons. No Religious Persecution—but the most Appropriate Punishment for Treason! 203. Some of the old Buddhist books, in the loquacious style of the Puranas, enlarge upon the cruel treatment meted out by Pushyamitra to Buddhist bhikksus, upon the outright massacre of some of them, and the destruction of some of the Buddhist monasteries. Even the European historians have set aside all these references as exaggerated ones! Still, some of them have stated, that there should be some grain of truth at the root of these exaggerated accounts that Pushyamitra might have been guilty of some slight persecution of the Buddhists by way of revenge. We also feel that Samrat Pushyamitra might have taken good many of the Buddhists to task, but not for any philosophical or theological difference of opinion. 204. The Buddhists were not persecuted as a class simply because they believed in nihilism or agnosticism, or because some of them were atheists while others were non-violent on principle and condemned the Vedas, or because their religious rituals were in many ways different from those of the Vedic Hindus. Lord Buddha himself experienced no obstacle in the propagation of his faith! Let that alone! The Buddhist faith had been more or less three hundred years old by the time of Chandragupta’s succession to the throne! In his undivided all-India Hindu empire and also during the tenure of the ministerial office of the staunch Arya Chanakya, no Buddhist persecution of any sort was reported by the Greek ambassador, Megasthenes, who had stayed at the court of the first Maurya Emperor for years together. Megasthenes does not refer to Buddhism even by name, for they had not till then formed any anti-national and political alliances detrimental to the interests of the nation, either with Alexander or with Seleucos. It was not then possible for them! That is why, along with many

other religionists, the Buddhists also could observe their own rituals according to their own beliefs and likings. Besides, they could openly preach by sweet persuasion and discussion. 205. Subsequent to the invasions of Alexander and Seleucos, when the Greeks came raiding for the second time under Demetreos and Menander, and when advancing as far as Ayodhya, they were about to dethrone the reigning king of Magadha and endanger the independence of the Indian empire, the Indian Buddhists played a brazen-faced treacherous role, as is seen from the fact that these Buddhists swore their loyalty to the Greek Emperor, Menander, whom they called Milind. When the latter adopted the Buddhist cult, they accepted him as the King of the region conquered by him. The Buddhist scholars and 'bhikksus' proudly struted in the Indian courts of those Greeks, as if they were moving in some national court. In order to put down as sternly as possible these highly objectionable treacherous acts of these Indian Buddhists, the plots hatched to undermine the national independence, and the open instigation to do anti-national acts, which went on incessantly through various Buddhist monasteries and viharas, Pushyamitra and his generals were forced, by the exigency of time when the war was actually going on, to hang Indian Buddhists, who were guilty of seditious acts and to pull down the monasteries, that had become the centres of sedition. It was a just punishment for high treason and for joining hands with the enemy, in order that Indian independence and empire might be protected. It was no religious persecution. As the supreme authority in the imperial administrative structure of India, it was Pushyamitra’s duty—a religious and kindly duty, according national legal code—to chastise perfidy, whether it was on part of the Buddhists or on that of the Vedic Hindus! Ashoka and Pushyamitra 206. In traditional historical writings, mainly based on Buddhist myths, Ashoka has been extolled as tolerant of different religious sects, while Pushyamitra wholly conniving at his efforts to establish religious freedom, is generally imputed with intolerence and persecution of the Budhists. This false notion has to be corrected. If any body is at all guilty of religious intolerance, it was Ashoka himself. For not only with verbal propaganda but with the abuse of his regal authority, he declared illegal all the fundamental religious rituals, such as sacrifice and hunting by the Vedic Hindus, who formed the majority of his subjects. But Pushyamitra did not issue any royal

decree enforcing any performances of sacrifices in the Buddha Viharas or the worship of Vaishvadeva in every Buddh household, even as a fitting retort to Ashoka’s junctions. The Buddhists were as absolutely free as all other religious sects, to perform their religious rites and enjoy religious freedom, so long as they abstained from any anti-national foreign contact. It is likely that in the troubled times of national war, the chastisement of the disloyal Buddhists might have affected some of the innocent ones. But it was not a rule—but an inevitable exception! 207. What Pushyamitra really did was to reinstate the religious freedom, which was annulled by Ashoka. If anybody is to be called intolerant of religious difference, it should be Ashoka and not Pushyamitra. 208. In this context, the words of Vincent Smith, who shows no particular partiality for the Vedic Hindus, and yet writes judiciously, are worth remembering. 209. However, Vincent Smith, too, like other historians, has not realized that the main reason of the general animosity that the Vedic Hindus feel towards the Buddhists, and the persecutions that the latter suffered at their hands from time-to-time, culminating in the total annihilation of Buddhism in India, is that the Buddhists, often times betrayed the cause of Indian independence and Indian empire. In spite of the fact that Vincent Smith never realized this main reason of the downfall of Buddhism, he has held the Buddhists responsible for the religious persecution mentioned in various Buddhist writings. An extract from his Early History of India (1924) (P. 213-14) will bear out the above remarks: 209A. “The memorable horse-sacrifice of Pushyamitra marked the beginning of Brahmanical (Vedic?) reaction which was fully developed by centuries later in the time of Samudragupta and his successors... if credit may be given to semi-mythological stories of Buddhist writers, Pushyamitra was not content with the peaceful revival of Hindu rites, but indulged in a savage persecution of Buddhism.... it will be rash to reject this tale as wholly baseless, although it may be exaggerated.... That such outbursts after all should have occurred is not wonderful, if you consider the extreme oppressiveness of the Jain and Buddhist prohibition, when ruthlessly enforced, as they certainly were by some Rajas and probably by Ashoka. The wonder rather is that the persecutions were so rare, and that as a rule, the various sects managed to live together in harmony and in the enjoyment of fairly impartial official favour.”

210. Pushyamitra who, with his armed might, completely exterminated the Greek intrusion, which from the time of Alexander had often caused great harm to India, and who, therefore, rightly deserves the title, ‘Yavan- destroyer’, protected ably for 36 years not only the independence of India, which he himself had won, but brought about the many sided development of his country, and then died peacefully in 149 B.C.
211. In the sense in which Chandragupta’s rout of the Greek pockets of influence in India is said to be the first glorious epoch of Hindu victories over aggressors, this total extinction of the greeks in India at the hands of Yavan-destroyer PUSHYAMITRA becomes necessarily, THE SECOND GLORIOUS EPOCH of Indian History. ❑ .