Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c8.13

c8.13

In the chapter (IX) on Religion Dr. P. C. Bagchi makes a penetrating study of the ascetic movements in general, of Brahmanism, Ājīvikas and Nirgranthas, as well as of Buddhism and the beginnings of the theistic movements; he may appear to rely rather more on Buddhist texts than on other lines of evidence, but that has seldom stood in the way of the justice and truth of the interpretations offered by him. He has not included in the scope of his chapter forms of popular worship centring round flag-staffs, yakshas and so on, which have been noticed incidentally in the two succeeding chapters. The chapter (X) on Language and Literature and the life of the people is contributed by two scholars. Prof. Suniti Kumar Chatterji, the most competent linguist of India, offers a comprehensive and critical survey of the distribution and development of language and script in the various parts of Mauryan India. Dr. V. Raghavan's contribution in this chapter on Learning and Literature and popular life is the necessary complement to that of Dr. Bagchi on Religion. Depending more or less on exclusively Sanskrit and Brahmanical sources, Dr. Raghavan has produced a compact and illuminating account of the learning and literature of the age in their various branches, of the rites and forms of worship prevalent among the different strata of society, and of the habits, beliefs and modes of thought prevalent among the common people.