Note 547 — Chapter IX · PROBLEMS OF THE ARABIAN CULTURE (C) PYTHAGORAS, MOHAMMED, CROMWELL (continued 2)
Charles Francis Atkinson translation
It was only in old age and after long and heavy warring that both these Cæsars gave themselves up to a mild and weary piety, and both of them held aloof from the more definite religions. From the point of view of dogma, Asoka was no Buddhist; what he did was to understand the currents and take them under his protection (Hillebrandt, Altindien, p. 143). [Asoka’s life is dealt with in several of the works of Rhys Davids; for example, Ch. xv of his Buddhist India.—Tr.]