Buddha: His Life, his Doctrine, his Order c11.s1.78

c11.s1.78

In the lists of tribes in “Ait. Br.” 8, 14, and in Manu the Bharatas are wanting; as little do we meet them in the Buddhists’ enumeration of peoples,† or in the numerous references made by the Buddhist texts to the peoples through whose country Buddha wanders or who figure in any other place in Buddhist sacred history.‡ And anyone who goes through the mentionings made of the Bharatas in the Brâhmana texts will find that there, in a certain way, the course is being prepared already for the vanishing of the Bharata name out of the circle of Indian tribal names which are wont to be mentioned. The Bharatas are referred to with great deference, but in quite another tone than that adopted with regard to the peoples influencing the life of the Kurus, Videhas, etc. ; in the incidental way in which, for example, Brahmans of the Kuru-pañcâla stock are spoken of, or in which it is said that some one wanders in the country of the Matsyas or Uçînaras, the Bharatas do not appear. The peculiar importance and at the same time the isolation of the Bharatas shows itself, perhaps, in the most decisive manner when Agni is spoken of as brâhmana Bhârata (“Çat. Br.” i, 4, 2, 2), and is invited to dispose of the offering Manushvad Bharatavat (ibid. i, 5, 1, 7).