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360 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA
Aitareya Brahmana that king Harischandra of the Ikshvaku family did not scruple to offer a Brahmana boy as a victim in a sacrifice.
Against the surmises regarding the anti-Brahmanical policy of Asoka we have the positive evidence of some of his inscriptions which proves the Emperor's solicitude for the well-being of the Brāhmaṇas. Thus in Rock Edict III he inculcates liberality to Brahmanas. In Edict IV he speaks with disapproval of unseemly behaviour towards the same class. In Edict V he refers to the employment of Dharma-mahāmātras to promote the welfare and happiness of the Brahmaņas.
Pandit Sastri says further that as soon as the strong hand of Aśoka was removed the Brahmaņas seemed to have stood against his successors. We have no evidence of any such conflict between the children of Aśoka and the Brahmanas. On the other hand, if the Brāhmaṇa historian of Kasmira is to be believed, the relations between Jalauka, one of the sons and successors of Aśoka, and the Brahmanical Hindus were entirely friendly.'
In conclusion Pandit Sastri refers to the assassination of the last Maurya Emperor of Magadha by Pushyamitra Śunga and says, "We clearly see the hands of the
1 Note also the employment of Brāhmaṇa officers, e.g., Pushyamitra, by the later Mauryas. Kalhana has nothing but praise for Aśoka. Another Brāhmaṇa writer, Baṇa, applies the epithet anarya (ignoble) not to the Maurya kings, but to the Brahmaṇa general who overthrew the last of them. Visakhadatta compares Chandragupta with the Boar Incarnation of Vishnu. Certain epic and Puranic writers, it is true, refer to the Mauryas as asuras, and the GārgiSamhita draws pointed attention to the oppressive rule of some of the later members of the family. But there is little to suggest that the Brāhmaṇas were special victims of Maurya tyranny. On the contrary, members of the class were freely admitted to high office as evidenced by the case of Pushyamitra. The epithet asura or sura-dvish was applied not only to the Mauryas but to all persons 'beguiled by the Buddha'. The testimony of the Purāņas in this respect is contradicted by that of contemporary epigraphs which refer to Aśoka and the only one among his imperial descendants who has left any epigraphic record as devanampiya, that is, the beloved (and not the enemy) of the gods.
