A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3.t2.325

v2.c19.s3.t2.325

literature and art, but also from the point of view of the history of civilisation. Though they cannot serve as documents for the social conditions at the time of Buddha, but at the most, for the period of the 3rd century B.C., and for the greater part, especially in their prose, only for the fifth or sixth century A.D., yet so much has remained unchanged in India throughout the centuries, that the picture of civilisation in the Jātakas may nevertheless be regarded as very "ancient." In any case the narratives of the Jātaka book afford us a glimpse into the life of classes of the Indian people, of which other books of Indian literature only rarely give us any information.¹