ABSTRACT
THE Buddhist heresy had adapted itself to classical Brahmanism by providing itself with a Sanskrit literature with which to confront the epics, Purānas, Dharmaśāstras, and Upanishads. To counter a Buddhism which had become learned and literary, Brahmanism found it necessary to codify its tenets, hitherto unorganized, in finally established systems. Indeed, the orthodox systems are drawn up parallel to the Mahāyāna. It is true that many of them were of much earlier inspiration, but they were now set down authoritatively in sūtras which are as condensed and rigid as possible—a form so abstract and succinct that these works at once required commentaries. More than ever Brahmanism took on a scholastic aspect. Thereby it was the better able to combat heresy.
