The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c8.22

c8.22

I may add that *Purāṇas* in some shape were already authoritative in the fourth century B. C. The author of the *Arthaśāstra* ranks the *Atharvaveda* and *Itihāsa* as the fourth and fifth Vedas (Bk. I, ch. 3) ; and directs the king to spend his afternoons in the study of *Itihāsa*, which is defined as comprising six factors, namely, (1) *Purāṇa*, (2) *Itivṛitta* (history), (3) *Ākhyāyika* (tales), (4) *Udāharaṇa* (illustrative stories), (5) *Dharmaśāstra*, and (6) *Arthaśāstra* (Bk. I, ch. 5).