II
as its basis. This period makes Brahma, the highest God. This must therefore have preceded the Buddha era.
(ii) Handed down by rhapsodists, the body of the epic got unusually swelled up. The two Gods, Siva and Vishnu are introduced on a level with Brahma, and Krishna appears as a Vaishnavite incarnation.
(iii) The sectarian division was already prominent by the time of Megasthenes and mention is made of Hindu temples and Buddhistic mounds. The reference to the Yavanas and the Pahlavas makes also probable an extension of the epic just after 300 B. C,
This epic is a traditional record of an early period of Hindu history, compiled and modelled by them to suit a special purpose of their own, that of imposing their own law on the Kshatriyas. ^u The fabric of this voluminous epos was not built in a day. Different times supplied different materials for it and with the importance of the object the greatness of the task increased."
In dealing with this traditional lore of the military caste,. the authors would have to meet three categories of facts:— facts which-were'more or less in accordance with the religious and political system to be established and consolidated by them ; facts, if not in harmony, yet not antagonistic ; and facts- » entirely opposed to it. Of these the first would be lauded, the second tolerated and so the third could only be explained away, because they could not be suppressed, as being toa
deeply rooted in tradition   and consequently  as having the	|
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strongest presumption in favour   of their authenticity, £.£V	|
five-maled marriage of Draupadi.	j,;
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