A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3.t1.118

v2.c19.s3.t1.118

The fact that the Aṅguttaranikāya was compiled at a time when the Buddha had already become an omniscient demi-god, if not god, the sole fountain-head of all truth, is shown by the passage, in which the god Indra asks a few preaching monks where they have learnt such excellent things, whether from Buddha or through their own intuition, and they reply: If, near a great granary, one sees people carrying corn, some in a basket, others in their garment, yet others in their hands, then it really does not matter whence the corn is taken, for it all comes from the great granary. In exactly the same way, everything which is well said is said by the Lord Buddha. This is much more dogmatic than Aśoka's Bhābrū edict, which says: "All that Buddha has said, is well said," even more so than the word of a later Sanskrit work, the Divyāvadāna: "the heavens with the moon and the stars will fall, the earth with its mountains and forests will pass away, the ocean will dry up, but the Buddhas will never utter what is false.[^1)