The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology c9.54

c9.54

² The *Mahâprâtihârya* is indeed mentioned by the text of Harsha and placed, somewhat incorrectly, by Fa-t'ien in the Jetavana of Çrâvastî (the *Divyâvadâna* [pp. 151 and 155, ll. 12-14 and 17-18] specifies, in fact, that the theatre of the scene was situated between the town and the park); but Wou-k'ong associates with the Jetavana the preaching of the *Mahâprajñâpâramitâ-sûtra*. In the same way, at Râjagṛiha, in direct antithesis to the vague « teachings » of Fa-t'ien, he places the preaching of the *Saddharmapundarika* on the neighbouring hill of the Gṛidhrakûṭa. At Vaiçâlî both agree to call by different names the touching episode of the rejection of life (*âyur* or *âyuḥ-saṃskâra-utsarjana*), which supervened three months before the *Parinirvâṇa*. But we shall see that, guided by considerations of a pictorial and technical