If the successors of Ashoka were strong and followed his religion and ideology, the Theravada Buddhism might have developed as the majority religion and also Pali as the official language. If some of these Mauryan emperors were fanatic Buddhists they might have tried to suppress the Vedic Brahminism and also other religions like Jainism and Shaivism. Ashoka, though he adopted Buddhism did not take any action against Vedic Brahmanism. It looks as if he ignored their anti-Buddhist activities and let their actions go unpunished. It might have been this careless attitude of the Mauryan Establishment that led to the overthrow of the dynasty by a Brahmin commander-in-chief like Pushyamitra Sunga.
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