I was talking with a collection of colleagues and the conversation switched to religions and I mentioned the reforms that Ashoka Maurya set up in India.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka#Contributions
One of these colleagues family was from India and he said my positive opinion of Ashoka was 'wrong', and stated that he did a lot to weaken India and pave the way for chaos and invasion. I disagreed and he said that he knew better than I and I didn't know what I was talking about. I told him i disagreed from what I read and left it at that. But where does Ashoka line up in Indian history - is he viewed as a failure? Is it a case of cultural perspective with Sikh and Hindu peoples see this Buddhist king as 'tainted'?
Is it a case of cultural perspective with Sikh and Hindu peoples see this Buddhist king as 'tainted'?
I doubt that. Hindu Indians picked the Ashoka Chakra as their symbol on the Indian flag. Ashoka's Lion Capital is India's National Symbol, was displayed on India's first ever domestic stamp. It used to be the watermark on every Indian banknote. You will find Ashoka's symbols widely in use across India to this day.
Nor is it a matter of Hindus versus Buddhists. Most Hindus think of Buddhists as "cousins", in the sense that Buddhism is an offshoot of Hinduism, a related Dharmic religion which has coexisted with Hinduism in India for thousands of years. Many Hindus consider Buddhists to be yet another variety of Hindus, and Buddha can easily take a place among the plethora of Hindu gods.
I think what you may be referring to is more a criticism of Ashoka's policies. After Ashoka converted to Buddhism, he turned to non-violence, which meant no wars, not even defensive wars. He lost interest in maintaining his empire, many of his own sons and daughters became Buddhist monks and nuns. Less than fifty years after his death, the enormous empire built by his father Bindusar and grandfather Chandragupta was no more. Centuries of infighting among the resultant kingdoms followed.
Some people may consider this a bad thing, since they see a direct relationship between Ashoka's conversion to Buddhism and the breakup of the Mauryan Empire. But overall, Ashoka is a much celebrated figure in India.
