d to Sankara in the other
portions of Mr. Barth's book, but there are a few isolated passages
which may be taken either as inferences from the statement in question
or arguments in its support, which it will be necessary to examine in
this connection.

Mr. Barth has discovered some connection between the appearance of
Sankara in India and the commencement of the persecution of the
Buddhists, which he seems to place in the seventh and eighth centuries.
In page 89 of his book he speaks of "the great reaction on the offensive
against Buddhism which was begun in the Deccan in the seventh and eighth
centuries by the schools of Kumarila and Sankara;" and in page 135 he
states that the "disciples of Kumarila and Sankara, organized into
military bands, constituted themselves the rabid defenders of
orthodoxy." The force of these statements is, however, considerably
weakened by the author's observations on pages 89 and 134, regarding the
absence of any traces of Buddhist persecution by Sankara in the
authentic documents hitherto examined, and the absurdity of legends
which represent him as exterminating Buddhists from the Himalaya to Cape
Comorin.

The association of Sankara with Kumarila in the passages above cited is
highly ridiculous. It is well known to almost every Hindu that the
followers of Purva Mimamsa (Kumarila commented on the Sutras) were the
greatest and the bitterest opponents of Sankara and his doctrine, and
Mr. Barth seems to be altogether ignorant of the nature of Kumarila's
views and Purva Mimamsa, and the scope and aim of Sankara's Vedantic
philosophy. It is impossible to say what evidence the author has for
asserting that the great reaction against the Buddhists commenced in the
seventh and eighth centuries, and that Sankara was instrumental in
originating it. There are some passages in his book which tend to show
that this date cannot be considered as quite correct. In page 135 he
says that Buddhist persecution began even in the time of Asoka.

Such being the case, it is indeed very surprising that the orthodox
Hindus should have kept quiet for nearly ten centuries without
retaliating on their enemies. The political ascendency gained by the
Buddhists during the reign of Asoka did not last very long; and the
Hindus had the support of very powerful kings before and after the
commencement of the Christian era. Moreover, the author says, in p. 132
of his book, that Buddhism was in a state of decay in th