འཕགས་པ་སངས་རྒྱས་བདན་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.13

intro.13

Named buddhas of the past³ are a regular feature of the Jātaka literature, as well as of the episodes in many sūtras and vinaya texts in which the Buddha Śākyamuni recounts his own and others’ past lives. Explicit lists of such buddhas, often giving details of each, can be found in many works. For example, one of the several Bahubuddhaka (“many buddhas”) sūtras is represented among the first century bce Gandhāra scrolls, and lists fifteen;⁴ another version (incorporated in the Mahāvastu) mentions hundreds of millions; and the later Pali Buddhavaṃsa details twenty-five.