A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s5.44

v2.c19.s5.44

The exegetical and literary activity of the monks, however, extended to all the "three gems": Buddha, the religion (Dhamma) and the monastic community (Saṅgha). The Buddha legend was elaborated; they were not content with the ballads and occasional narratives of the Tipiṭaka, but wished to have a complete account of the Master's life. The religious texts were illustrated and explained in the same manner as was customary in India as far back as the time of the Brāhmaṇas, not only grammatically and lexically, but also by means of narratives and legends.¹ As the Brahmans in their Vedic schools, so also the monks in their monasteries, were true Indians, in that they felt a keen delight in the telling of stories. The numerous narratives contained in the canon were not sufficient for them. They lengthened and completed, they added what they gathered from oral transmission, they inserted what was familiar to them from other branches of literature, re-modelling it in the spirit of Buddhism, and they certainly also composed much that was new in imitation of old models. They also collected the legends on the origin, and made records concerning the history of the monastic order, with the discipline of which they dealt in the commentaries on the Vinayapiṭaka, so that the Aṭṭhakathās also contained the beginnings of a church history.