28. Refutation of Max Miiller's theory of the Rena 

 of Sanskrit literature in the fourth century A.E 

 a lull of seven centuries from the time of the 

 Buddhism. 



By Mahamahopadhyaya Haraprasad ShastrI. 



It is a fact known to all oriental scholars that the earliest 

 inscriptions yet discovered in India are all written in the verna- 

 culars of the time. The inscription in the Pipraha vase is in 

 vernacular. The Asoka inscriptions are all written in the 

 local dialects of the third century B.C. The Dasaratha inscrip- 

 tions are in the dialect of the earlier part of the second century 

 B.C., the earlier inscriptions of the Barhat and Sanchi topes 

 belong to the vernacular of about the same period. The Sagaura 

 copperplate also belongs to a similar dialect. All the Indo- 

 Scythian inscriptions are written in a form of spoken language. 

 Some of these are in a highly sanskritised form of the contem- 

 porary dialects. 



The first inscription written in grammatical Sanskrit is the 

 Girnar inscription of Rudradama. But it is again followed by 

 vernacular inscriptions. Sanskrit does not come before the 

 middle of the fourth century A.D. as an inscriptional language. 



From these facts, Sanskrit scholars, forty years ago, 

 thought that Sanskrit disappeared as a literary language with 

 the rise of Buddhism in the fifth century B.C., and they were 

 justified by the utter want of chronology in Sanskrit literature. 

 They could not accurately fix the date of any Sanskrit work 

 whatever ; while epigraphic evidence was certainly much more 

 accurate. The theory of the renaissance of the Sanskrit litera- 

 ture in the fourth century A.D. found a powerful advocate in 

 the late professor Max Miiller whose authority was very great 

 in all matters relating to Indian history, Indian literature and 

 Indian scholarship generally. His brilliant power of expression 

 and his fascinating style made the theory exceedingly popular 

 both in Europe and India, and in some quarters it was regarded 

 as a gospel truth. Though many distinguished Sanskritists 



it. The late Mr 



theory 



India 



brilliant publications. All Indian writers on history followed 

 in his wake, and even such a discriminating author as Mr. 

 Marsden, late of the Madras Educational Service, wrote in his 

 History of the Hindus that with the rise of Buddhism, Sanskrit 

 went to sleep for seven centuries. 



