[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.rapson-1922) › v1.c19.s9.9 # The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c19.s9.9 The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c19.s9.9 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c19.s9.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.rapson-1922.v1.c19.s9.9) Asoka in the Bhabra Edict recommends his co-religionists the special study of seven selected passages. Two of the titles given are ambiguous. Four of the others are from the four Nikāyas, and the remaining one from the Sutta Nipāta now included in the fifth Nikāya. As was pointed out a quarter of a century ago³ it is a critical mistake to take these titles as the names of books extant in Asoka's time. They are the names of edifying passages selected from an existing literature. It is as if an old inscription had been found asking Christians to learn and ponder over the Beatitudes, the Prodigal Son, the exhortation to the Corinthians on Charity, and so on. There are no such titles in the New Testament. Before short passages could be spoken of by name in this familiar manner a certain period of time must have elapsed; and we should be justified in assuming that the literature in which the passages were found was therefore older than the inscription⁴. - [Previous: v1.c19.s9.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.rapson-1922.v1.c19.s9.8) - [Next: v1.c19.s9.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.rapson-1922.v1.c19.s9.10) - [Up: v1.c19.s9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.rapson-1922.v1.c19.s9) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.rapson-1922.v1.c19.s9.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.rapson-1922.v1.c19.s9.9) · Pramāṇa