A History of Indian Literature v1.c7.s3.4

v1.c7.s3.4

There is above all the evidence of language, which proves that the hymns and songs, prayers and magic formulas of the Veda, are indisputably the oldest which we possess of Indian literature. Further, it is certain that Buddhism arose in India about 500 years before Christ, and that it presupposes the whole Vedic literature, as represented by its chief works, as practically finished, so that one can assert: The Vedic literature apart from its latest excrescences is on the whole pre-Buddhist, *i.e.* it was concluded before 500 B.C. Also, the chronology of the Buddhist and Jain literature is fortunately not quite so uncertain as that of the Brahmanical literature. The traditions of the Buddhists and the Jains with regard to the formation, or rather the collection, of their canonical works, have proved themselves fairly trustworthy, and inscriptions on the preserved ruins of temples and topes of these religious sects give us appreciable indications of the history of their literature.