The influence of religion into the politics and government of India started with

Chandragupta Maurya, when he renounced his Mauryan empire. He renounced it when

the famine in India happened and he realized his powerlessness. He turned to a
Jain guru, went in penance to the mountains in the south, and renounced his king
dom for moksha or salvation. He then became a holy man and seeked moksha, for li
beration through knowledge. He starved himself to death in a cave, to pursue kno
wledge and liberation.
With the things he learned from his journey in pursuing knowledge and liberation
, he made the first great Indian state, then renounced his kingdom. He formed th
e idea of secular authority, wherein a universal king is the source of power and
law.
But then, his grandson Ashoka, with again the influence of Jainism and Buddhism
religions, took his grandfather's secular ideas with Jain and Buddhist ethics,
and made it the heart of politics.
Before, during Ashoka's early rule, he built a torture chamber, a "hell on earth
" and thus, he was called "Ashoka the Cruel." He started a war with Kalinga, and
conquered it. However, he came to a realization as well, that he violated an im
portant idea in history which was non-violence. He turned over a new leaf after
turning to Buddhism. Buddhism changed him: he built memorial stupors to atone fo
r his violence from before, and desired non-violence for all creatures of the ea
rth and the resolve to conquer by persuasion alone.
With the further influence of buddhism on him (with the help of a Buddhist monk)
, it caused him to live an enlightened life, and this affected his ruling over h
is empire. He became more generous by giving gifts to the poor and sick. He seek
ed further consultation with the local communities to aid him to have proper gov
ernance and good conduct - citizenship. With this, he conceived political order,
a very important part of politics, needed to connect with the people under his
rule so that the empire can flourish.
Aside from these, he made the forerunner of the UN Human Rights, etched on rocks
and great stone pillars, which showed his moral authority. He considered all hu
mans as his family, and all men as his children. Of course, he considered animal
rights too - these laws were even enforced by the police, until today. He wante
d to protect all living things. He also sent embassies to the kings of Greece an
d Macedonia, Syria, North Africa, and Babylonia, so that he can connect with oth
er countries - for the brotherhood of man and to promote world peace.
Ashoka also asked for religious tolerance - he knew that all the other religions
should be respected, because he knew that all of them have the same goal which
is enlightenment.
These great leaders made empired of the spirit, and not of the sword, through de
voting themselves to finding the liberation and knowledge, truth and enlightment
, and non-violence through following Buddhism and Jainism. They made great acts
of charity to all kinds of people. Ashoka was able to do this through combining
the ideas of the eightfold path of the Buddhists and the Jain's take on non-viol
ence. He opened the path to better politics with a social welfare logislation, r
eligious toleration, ecological measure on conservation and preservation, and th
e rule of reason and morality.