A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3.t2.318.3

v2.c19.s3.t2.318.3

In Burma, too, the Jātakas are and have been for centuries the delight of both learned and unlearned, of monks and laymen alike;¹ and it is the same in every place to which Buddhism has penetrated. A. *Schiefner* ² has given us an idea of the immense wealth of Buddhist narratives in Tibetan literature, and Ed. *Chavannes*¹ has enlightened us as to the abundance of Chinese Buddhist narratives. Directly and indirectly the Jātakas have also enriched the literatures of many other peoples, and have therefore been of immense importance in universal literature, even though to-day we no longer believe, with Th. *Benfey*, that the entire fairy tale literature of the world is of Buddhist origin. Nevertheless, however largely the Brahmans, Jains and other sects might have contributed to Indian narrative literature, Buddhism alone pressed forward far beyond the limits of India as a world-religion, thus diffusing Indian civilisation and literature far and wide in all countries of the East and West.² On the other hand, it was Buddhism, too, which brought the Indians more than ever before into contact with other peoples; and it is not probable that it was only the Indians who brought their stories to those peoples every time; they, in their turn, must have received narratives from them too, especially from peoples who stood so high, intellectually, as the Greeks, Persians and Semites.