The History of Indian Literature c8.33

c8.33

¹³ All the technical terms, however, which occur for study of the Veda and the like, uniformly refer to speaking and reciting only, and thereby point to exclusively oral tradition. The writing down of the Vedic texts seems indeed not to have taken place until a comparatively late period. See *I. St.*, v. 18, ff. (1861). Müller, *Anc. S. Lit.*, p. 507, ff. (1859): Westergaard, *Ueber den ältesten Zeitraum der indischen Geschichte* (1860, German translation 1862, p. 42, ff.); and Haug, *Ueber das Wesen des vedischen Accents* (1873, p. 16, ff.), have declared themselves in favour of this theory. Haug thinks that those Brahmans who were converted to Buddhism were the first who consigned the Veda to writing—for polemical purposes—and that they were followed by the rest of the Brahmans. On the other hand, Goldstücker, Böhtlingk, Whitney, and Roth (*Der Atharvaveda in Kashmir*, p. 10), are of the opposite opinion, holding, in particular, that the authors of the Prátisákhyas must have had written texts before them. Benfey also formerly shared this view, but recently (*Einleitung in die Grammatik der ved. Sprache*, p. 31), he has expressed the belief that the Vedic texts were only committed to writing at a late date, long subsequent to their ‘*diaskeuasis*.’ Burnell also, *l. c.*, p. 10, is of opinion that, amongst other things, the very scarcity of the material for writing in ancient times “almost precludes the existence of MSS. of books or long documents.”