Given below are two statements, one labelled as Assertion A and the other labelled as Reason R:Assertion A: After the death of Emperor Asoka, Buddhism lost its royal patronage.Reason R: Rulers of the post- Mauryan period supported the cause of Hinduism.In the context of the above two statements, which one of the following is correct?Codes:

• A. Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
• B. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
• C. A is true, but R is false.
• D. A is false, but R is true.