A Comparative Grammar of the Modern Aryan Languages of India v1.c4.37

v1.c4.37

There is, it appears to me, only one way of accounting for the presence of words like *rât* and the rest in the modern languages, and that is, deliberate purpose on the part of some person or set of persons who had sufficient influence to effect what they desired. This set of persons can be no other than the Brahmans. In this instance history, usually so silent in ancient India, steps in to help us. We know that the Buddhists were finally extirpated by the Brahmans about the ninth or tenth century of our era, just before the dawn of modern Indian literature. Brahmanism then resumed its sway, and gradually crushed out the hostile sect, though they still lingered on in some parts of India for a long time. Sârang Dev, son of Bisal Dev, King of Ajmer, in the ninth century,¹ embraced Buddhism, but was argued back into the orthodox faith by the contemptuous remonstrances of his father, who urged that this नष्ट ग्यान, *nashṭa gyân*, or, as we should say, "exploded theory," was not a becoming religion for a Rajput prince.² At this time the