A History of Indian Literature v2.c20.s2.56

v2.c20.s2.56

In the third Aṅga, the Thāṇaṃga,² as in the Aṅguttara-Nikāya of the Buddhists, various themes of the religion are dealt with in numerical order from 1 to 10. These enumerations sometimes contain parables in a nutshell, as for instance : There are four kinds of baskets, and also of teachers ; there are four kinds of fishes, and also of mendicants ; there are four kinds of balls, and also of men, etc. Occasionally, too, enumerations occur which are not directly connected with religion, *e.g.*, the ten themes of mathematics (in Sūtra 747). This Aṅga also contains important literary data regarding the Siddhānta, especially a table of contents of the Diṭṭhivāya which has gone astray.³