egins with the simple hymns
of the Veda. These are followed by the tracts, known by the name of
Brahma_n_as, in which a complete system of theology is elaborated, and
claims advanced in favour of the Brahmans, such as were seldom
conceded to any hierarchy. The third period in the history of their
ancient literature is marked by their Sutras or Aphorisms, curt and
dry formularies, showing the Brahmans in secure possession of all
their claims. Such privileges as they then enjoyed are never enjoyed
for any length of time. It was impossible for anybody to move or to
assert his freedom of thought and action without finding himself
impeded on all sides by the web of the Brahmanic law; nor was there
anything in their religion to satisfy the natural yearnings of the
human heart after spiritual comfort. What was felt by Buddha, had been
felt more or less intensely by thousands; and this was the secret of
his success. That success was accelerated, however, by political
events. _K_andragupta had conquered the throne of Magadha, and
acquired his supremacy in India in defiance of the Brahmanic law. He
was of low origin, a mere adventurer, and by his accession to the
throne an important mesh had been broken in the intricate system of
caste. Neither he nor his successors could count on the support of the
Brahmans, and it is but natural that his grandson, A_s_oka, should
have been driven to seek support from the sect founded by Buddha.
Buddha, by giving up his royal station, had broken the law of caste as
much as _K_andragupta by usurping it. His school, though it had
probably escaped open persecution until it rose to political
importance, could never have been on friendly terms with the Brahmans
of the old school. The _parvenu_ on the throne saw his natural allies
in the followers of Buddha, and the mendicants, who by their
unostentatious behaviour had won golden opinions among the lower and
middle classes, were suddenly raised to an importance little dreamt of
by their founder. Those who see in Buddhism, not a social but chiefly
a religious and philosophical reform, have been deceived by the later
Buddhist literature, and particularly by the controversies between
Buddhists and Brahmans, which in later times led to the total
expulsion of the former from India, and to the political
re-establishment of Brahmanism. These, no doubt, turn chiefly on
philosophical problems, and are of the most abstruse and intricate
character. But such was