A History of Indian Literature v1.c7.s3.7

v1.c7.s3.7

about 315 B.C. Candragupta, the Sandrakottos of the Greek writers, conducted successfully the revolt against the prefects of Alexander, took possession of the throne, and became the founder of the Maurya dynasty in Pāṭaliputra (the Palibothra of the Greeks, the present Patna). It was at about the same time, or a few years later, that the Greek Megasthenes was sent by Seleukos as ambassador to the court of Candragupta. The fragments which have been preserved of the description of India, written by him, give us a picture of the state of Indian culture at that time, and enable us to draw conclusions as to the dates of several Indian literary works. A grandson of Candragupta is the celebrated King Aśoka, who was crowned about 264 B.C.,¹ and from whom originate the oldest dateable Indian inscriptions which have been found up to the present. These inscriptions, partly on rocks, partly on pillars, are the oldest evidences of Indian script which we possess. They show us this powerful king as a patron and a protector of Buddhism, who made use of his sovereignty, which extended from the extreme north to the extreme south of India, for the purpose of spreading abroad everywhere the teaching of Buddha, and who, unlike other rulers, in his rock and pillar edicts, did not narrate his own conquests and glorious deeds, but exhorted the people to virtuous conduct, warned them against sin, and preached love and tolerance. These singular edicts of the King Aśoka are themselves precious literary monuments hewn in stone, but they are also of importance for the history of literature on account of their script and their language, as well as for evidences of religious history. In the year 178 B.C., 137 years after the coronation of Candragupta, the last scion of the Maurya dynasty was hurled from the throne by a king Puṣyamitra. The mention of this King Puṣyamitra, for instance, in a drama of Kālidāsa, is an important evidence for the determination of the date of several works of Indian literature. The same is true of the Græco-Bactrian King Menander, who reigned about 144 B.C. He appears under the name Milinda in the famous Buddhist book “Milindapañha.”