A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3.t2.106
A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3.t2.106
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v2.c19.s3.t2.106
of Buddha. Even if we admit that the ideas of heaven and hell already existed in ancient Buddhism beside the ideal of Arhat and Nirvāṇa, and that the conceptions of the Petas may be traced back, in part, to very ancient popular superstition, we cannot ascribe great antiquity to these "poems."¹ Notwithstanding, even in these late books also, some ancient materials, Itihāsa-dialogues and ballads, have been incorporated.