Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c12.s9.4

c12.s9.4

The Greek writers seem to have included them within the class of Sarmanes and philosophers. Speaking of some of the philosophers in one place Megasthenes says : 'To the people of India at large they render great benefits ; when gathered together at the beginning of the year, they forewarn the assembled multitudes about droughts and wet weather, and also about propitious winds, diseases, and other topics capable of profiting the hearers' (Frag. I, 40). The physicians also belonged to the Śramaṇa class. Megasthenes tells us that they were engaged in the study of the nature of man and that they were simple in their habits. They had as their food either rice or barley meal which they would get either by begging or from those who entertained them as guests. They like other Śramaṇas practised asceticism.