A History of Pali Literature v2.c19.27

v2.c19.27

Pāli Inscriptions at the Sārnāth Museum. The Museum at Sārnāth shelters a huge, more than life size image of a standing Bodhisattva. At the front and back of the pedestal of the image, as well as on the umbrella over his head, there are three Pāli inscriptions inscribed in the 3rd year of the reign of Kaniṣka, the great Kuṣāṇa king. The text of the inscription relates itself to the subject of the first sermon delivered by the Buddha to the five brāhmaṇas immediately after the sambodhi at Sārnāth. It is not exactly a quotation but is rather of the character of an abstract of the original subject from the Mahāvagga (1, 7, 6).