MBh as it is, but certainly gItA, appears to be *at least* older than the birth of the bauddha mata -- tathAgata makes several mentions of themes and personages of itihAsa but reverse is not there. same holds for both pAlI and saMskR^ita jAtaka-s. in the oldest known jAtaka compendium, you have references to vidura, arjuna, and yudhiShThira.
By 400s, MBh was already translated into pehlavI, where the writer says he translated it from the hindI language (referring to devabhAShA, but this is the oldest known use of "hindI" as a name for a language).
By 400s, MBh was already translated into pehlavI, where the writer says he translated it from the hindI language (referring to devabhAShA, but this is the oldest known use of "hindI" as a name for a language).