History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s14.47

v1.c6.s14.47

There is hardly any distinctive reference to things Buddhist except one passage (III. 20) where a fine of one hundred (*paṇas*) is prescribed for him who invited to dinners in honour of gods or Manes a Buddhist (Śākya), an Ājīvaka, a śūdra ascetic.¹⁸¹ This shows that the work was written at a time when Buddhism was yet not a wide-spread religion and had not secured an honourable place among the people. The Ājīvika was a well-known sect in ancient India, said to have been founded by Makkhali Gosāla (vide V. A. Smith's Aśoka, pp. 134, 198 of edition of 1909, I. A. 1912, p. 286, ‘Dialogues of Buddha’ I, p. 71, n. 1, Journal of Bihar & Orissa Society, 1926, pp. 53-62). Aśoka bestowed some caves on them. Kauṭilya says that weights should be made of iron or of stones from Magadha and Mekala (country near the sources of the Narmadā).¹⁸²