Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c13.10

c13.10

As Sylvain Levi puts it, Aśvaghoṣa's Sûtrâlaṅkâra, along with his Buddhacharita, constitutes the first chronological landmark "in the nebulous chaos of the literary history of India." It is thus Aśvaghoṣa who stands at the head of classical Sanskrit literature.² He is the forerunner of Kâlidâsa. But he occupies so prominent a place in Buddhist Mahâyâna literature that he has to be noticed in connection with Buddhist theory. The Mṛichchhakaṭika has been ascribed to the 3rd century A.D., but the date is more than doubtful. After Aśvaghoṣa the next outstanding figure is probably the dramatist Bhâsa whose plays, recently discovered in Southern India, seem to prove him a forerunner of Kâlidâsa.³