A History of Indian Literature v1.c9.s6.2

v1.c9.s6.2

These Itihāsa-Saṃvādas, as we may call those discourses clothed in the form of narratives (saṃvāda), for the greater part no longer belong to the brahmanical legend-poetry, but to what, for lack of a better expression, we have called Ascetic poetry.⁴ The latter is clearly distinguishable from the brahmanical poetry connected with the ancient legends of the gods, which are already forgotten to a considerable extent among the people; it is far more closely related to the *popular* literature of fables and fairy-tales, partly because it draws upon the latter, and partly because it approaches it as closely as possible. And while the brahmanical legends, like the brahmanical Itihāsa-Saṃvādas, serve the special interests of the priests and teach a narrow priestly morality, reaching its climax in the sacrificial service and in the worship of the Brahmans (more than of the gods), the ascetic poetry rises to a general morality of mankind, which teaches, above all, love towards all beings and renunciation of the world. Traces of this literature are first to be found in the Upaniṣads, but later just as much in the Mahābhārata and in some Purāṇas, as in the sacred texts of the Buddhists and the Jainas. Therefore it is not to be wondered at, that in these different literatures we often meet with the same legends of saints and the same maxims of wisdom and ethics, often literally the same.