elves say
that the Pali canonical texts were written about 88 B.C.[93]

Any fair comparison of the two histories should confine itself to the
writings which are regarded as canonical respectively, and whose dates
can be fixed. No more importance should be attached to the later
Buddhist legends than to the "Apocryphal Gospels," or to the absurd
"Christian Legends" which appeared in the middle ages. The Buddhist
Canon was adopted by the Council of Patna 242 B.C. The legends which are
generally compared with the canonical story of Christ are not included
in that Canon, or at most very few of them. They are drawn from certain
poetical books written much later, and holding about the same relation
to the Buddhist Canon that the "Paradise Lost" and "Paradise Regained"
of Milton bear to the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Who
would think of quoting "Paradise Lost" in any sober comparison of
Biblical truth with the teachings of other religions?[94]

Even the canonical literature, that which is supposed to contain the
true history and teachings of Buddha, is far from authoritative, owing
to the acknowledged habit--acknowledged even by the author of the
"Dhammapada" of adding commentaries, notes, etc., to original teachings.
Not only was this common among Buddhist writers, but even more
surprising liberties were taken with the narrative. For example: The
legend describing Buddha's leave-taking of his harem is clearly borrowed
from an earlier story of Yasa, a wealthy young householder of Benares,
who, becoming disgusted with his harem, left his sleeping dancing girls
and fled to the Buddha for instruction. Davids and Oldenberg, in
translating this legend from the "Mahavagga," say in a note, "A
well-known incident in the life of Buddha has evidently been shaped
after the model of this story;" and they declare that "_nowhere in the
'Pali Pitakas' is this scene of Buddha's leave-taking mentioned_."

As another evidence of the way in which fact and fiction have been mixed
and manipulated for a purpose, one of the legends, which has often been
presented as a parallel to the story of Christ, represents the Buddha as
repelling the temptation of Mara by quoting texts of "scripture," and
the scripture referred to was the "Dhammapada." But the "Dhammapada" was
compiled hundreds of years after Buddha's death. Besides, there were no
"scriptures" of any kind in his day, for nothing was written till two or
three centuries later; and