A History of Pali Literature v2.c17.2

v2.c17.2

Pāli literature is incomplete by itself. It is wanting in many works of secular interest, such as those on mathematics, astronomy, astrology, medicine, logic, and royal polity. The few such works that we have are of recent origin and as such, they do not fall within the scope of our present investigation. Even as a pure literature, it has just one work, the Jinacarita, which deserves the name of a Kāvya. The Jinacarita itself is chiefly based upon the Jātaka Nidāna-kathā which latter may be regarded as a Kāvya in prose, or in prose and verse.