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older than the Dhamma Sangani; that both are older than the Kathā Vatthu; that all three are older than the Milinda. And the Pali scholars most competent to judge are quite unanimous on the point, and on the general position of the Pali literature in the history of literature in India.
But this sort of evidence can appeal, of course, only to those familiar with the language and with the ideas. To those who are not, the following points may be suggestive:
LITERATURE
On the monuments of the third century B.C. we find the names of donors-donors of different parts of the building-inscribed on those parts (pillars, rails, and bas-reliefs). When the names are common ones, certain epithets are added, to distinguish the donors from other persons bearing the same name. Such epithets are either local (as we might say, John of Winchester) or they specify an occupation (as we might say, John the carpenter, or John the clerk) or are otherwise distinctive. Among these epithets have been found the following:
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1. Dhamma-kathika.-" Preacher of the System" (the Dhamma)—the "System being a technical term in the Buddhist schools to signify the philosophical and ethical doctrine as distinguished from the Vinaya, the Rules of the Order.
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2. Peṭakin. 'One who had (that is, knew by heart) the Pitaka." The Pitaka is the traditional statements of Buddhist doctrine as contained in the Sutta Pitaka. The word means basket, and, as a technical term applied to a part of their literature, it is used exclusively by the Buddhists.
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
