Muh Principles And The Emergent Hypocrisy // as usual double linebreak = new para // single linebreak = NO new para (just a convenience for editing) Let's do a quick retrospection into the reign of Jayavarman VII the first buddist prince of Khmer Empire. It contains an interesting lesson more relevant to us in the present rather than obscure cultures of the past. Unlike all the previous rulers, Jayavarman was a devout buddist. When his father died he prepared to ascent to the throne, but his rival brother Yasovarman made a competing claim to the crown. It spelled a civil war, but the Jayavarman's faith forbade him from shedding blood. Instead of fighting, he gave up the crown and went into exile into the land of Champa. Yasovarman turned out to be a crappy king. He mismanaged the country which quickly descended into civil disorder. Six years later the situation developed into a full-sized revolt lead by a military officer Tribhuvanāditya. The revolutionaries killed Yasovarman, and Jayavarman promptly returned from his voluntary exile to claim the throne. But Tribhuvanāditya had a different opinion about the revolution and proclaimed himself the king. The Jayavarman's faith forbade him from shedding blood again. Instead of fighting, he gave up the crown and went into exile into the land of Champa. Having an usurper on the throne did not improve the political and social situation of the empire. Yasovarman's supporters organized bloody rebellions one after another for almost 10 years straight. Until the neighbouring Champa empire took advantage of it and conquered the capital city. Then their king was killed in a battle and the Champa forces were routed. Then they returned under a new king and properly pillaged and burned the capital city to the ground, also they killed Tribhuvanāditya in the process. The pillaged and damaged land of Khmer laid in complete disarray when Jayavarman returned to claim his crown. He finally succeeded to do so in the ruins of his former capital city. He presently ordered to rebuild the city, which was not a difficult decision in the society of non-voluntary labour. And by the decree Number Two declared buddism a state religion. I let you figure out how has it improved the political situation of a majority hindu society. Khmer Empire never recovered. It permanently set course to decline. It would take another three centuries to degrade the land of Khmer to its present state, but it was a monotonous decline started by the great turmoil of Jayavarman. The ruins you marvel in Cambodia are the ruins of the most principled god-loving king of the region. Jayavarman VII, who came to power on the wave of 17 years of civil wars followed by an invasion and utter destruction, is still worshipped as the most peaceful king who SHED NO BLOOD.