ABSTRACT
Buddhism had become the strongest of Indian religions, at least as measured by the building of monastery temples. The political and social crisis was matched by an intellectual and religious crisis. Reaction against perceived injustices or immorality is a pervasive phenomenon in the history of human societies, but in Eurasian history the two centuries between 600 and 400 b.c. stand out as a truly remarkable era of ethical protest. The age of the great Asian reformers overlaps the preceding period in the growth of civilization in West, South, and East Asia, and indeed it was in many respects the processes of political organization and territorial expansion themselves that stimulated the reaction. As ancient civilizations developed and became more highly organized politically, they tended to become increasingly militaristic. Parallel and closely related to military expansion and material acquisitiveness was the trend toward the cynical abuse of political power and social status.
