The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c24.12

v1.c24.12

as a class of literature with the general title *Itihāsa-Purāṇa* ‘story and legend’; and both in the Upanishads (*Chhāndogya*, vii, 1 and 7) and in early Buddhist books (*Sutta Nipāta*, iii, 7) this literature is called the fifth Veda. It was in fact the Veda of the laity; and as such the epics and Purāṇas have been universally accepted all through the classical period even down to the present day.