कृपया पुष्पके जपून वापरा रामायणनिरीक्षण. पण ते चुकीचे असून वाल्मीकीचीच रामकथा मूळची व जास्त संभवनीय आहे असे रा. वैद्य यांनीं आतां सिद्ध करून दाखविलें आहे. बौद्धांच्या जातकग्रंथांविषयीं महाराष्ट्रवाचकांस व शोधकांस विशेष माहिती नसल्यामुळे त्यांविषयीं पाश्चात्य शोधक काय म्हणतात तेंच येथें देतों. डॉ. बुल्हर त्यांविषयीं म्हणतात कीं, " But there are other circumstances connected with them (जातकें ) which make it very probable that the picture of the national life of India, furni- shed by them, refers to a much earlier period than the 3rd century B. C. ... 1t is already now evident, that the stories which they contain, are not, as was believed formerly, inventions of Budd hist monks, but almost throughout loans from the Ancient Brahmanical Literature, or the old pre- Buddhistic national tradition of India .... There are remarkably few traces of Buddhism in these stories, and they do not describe the condition of India in the 3rd and 4 th century B. C., but an older one. Peculiarly Buddhistic are only the intro- duction of the future Buddha in most tales, who invariably is identified with the wisest and best actors. " [ Indian Studies, Vol. V., On the Origin of the Brahmi Alphabet, pp. 18-20.] प्रो. हॉपकिन्स् म्हणतात कीं:- -- ... ... Epic tales are recognized in the Jatakas, the oldest Jataka being of the 3rd century B. C. their contents are still earlier. (The great Epic of India.)
