Studies in the Origins of Buddhism c6.90

c6.90

(b) The state of literary evolution: In general, an older style is revealed by its striking simplicity, spontaneity and earnestness. It is often found in short texts although these short texts are frequently found embedded in larger ones. They are either dialogues reminiscent of the Upaniṣads,⁶⁶ but marked by a gentle, almost Socratic irony and sometimes more sustained reasoning;⁶⁷ or they are brief sermons, concerned not so much with philosophical niceties as with spiritual practice;⁶⁸ or more rarely, they are fragmentary biographical narratives.⁶⁹ In most cases they are sun-lit by apt similes and parables (both covered ple). The Brahmanic sources, however, are curiously silent.