Page:The Religion of the Veda.djvu/35

The Veda
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the Palibothra of the Greeks, the Patna of to-day.
The most important date in Hindu secular history
is that of Candragupta's grandson, the famous
Buddhist Emperor Açoka or l'iyadassi, who ruled
India from north to south around about 250 B.C. His
edicts, carved into rock all over his great empire,
show us the singular spectacle of a great ruler who
used his power to propagate his religion peacefully.
His inscriptions upon pillars and rocks boast not
of victory or heroic deed; they exhort his people to
virtue, warn against sin, and plead for tolerance and
love of humanity. This is an important date in the
history of India, but an even more important date
in the history of good manners.
Unquestionably a century or two must have passed
between the conclusion of the Vedic period and the
beginnings of Buddhism. Buddhist literature pre-
supposes Brahmanical literature and religion in a
stage of considerable advancement beyond the Vedas.
We are, therefore, reasonably safe in saying that the
real Vedic period was concluded about 700 B.C.
We are further on safe ground in demanding a num-
ber of centuries for the much stratified language,
literature, and religion of the Veda. But how many?
It is as easy to imagine three as thirteen or twenty-
three. Only one thing is certain. Vedic ideas are
very old. I have noted the fact that the concept rat,