A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s5.32

v2.c19.s5.32

In Books IV-VII we find, on the one hand, a liberal sprinkling of quotations from the canon, and on the other, frequent allusions to traditions divergent from those embodied in the canon, and most likely belonging to a later period, and especially allusions to legends which appear only in the commentaries, in the commentary on the Jātaka and in those on the Vimānavatthu and Dhammapada.⁴ These legends are permeated with a low conception of the doctrine of Karman, an exaggerated cult of the Buddha (Buddha-Bhakti) and a somewhat crude belief in miracles, which would seem to indicate a later period.