Kilka refleksji przy lekturze Suttanipāty

The main subject of the essay on Ireneusz Kania is to recall his great contribution to the study of Buddhism in Poland. First of all, late śruti texts, mainly the Upanishads, are compared with the oldest texts of early Buddhism, the suttas. Reading texts from these collections together gives a fuller, more multidimensional picture of the era than by analysing only Brahminical or Buddhist sources. The analysis of both groups of texts indicates evidence of mutual contacts. Ancient India 3rd–2nd century BC they were neither exclusively Brahminical nor exclusively Buddhist, but were an arena for mutual discussions, polemics, the exchange of thoughts, and the flow of ideas.