A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t2.26

v2.c19.s6.t2.26

From the way in which the Mahāvastu is composed it follows that the date of the origin of the work is hard to determine. Many circumstances indicate great antiquity, notably the language itself, and the fact that the work belongs to the Lokottaravāda school. The fact that the work is written entirely in "mixed Sanskrit," whilst in the Mahāyāna texts this dialect alternates with pure Sanskrit, is a sign of higher antiquity: for, as Barth³ says, Sanskrit is only an intruder as far as the Buddhist texts are concerned. Those numerous pieces which the Mahāvastu has in common with the Pāli Canon, and which hark back to a common earlier source, are undoubtedly old. Thus the Gāthās of the Khaḍgaviṣāṇa-Sūtra (I, 357 ff.) are probably earlier than those of the corresponding Khaggavisāṇa-Sutta in the Pāli Suttanipāta. But when in the Mahāvastu these verses are sung by 500 dying Pratyeka-Buddhas, the refrain "May he wander lonely like a rhinoceros" sounds strange enough coming from their lips, and it is not likely that the prose setting is as old as the Gāthās. The Mahāyānistic features mentioned above, as well as some passages which seem to be influenced by sculptures of the Gandhāra art, indicate the period belonging to the early centuries after Christ.[^1) We are brought down to the fourth century A.D. by the references to the Huns, to the Chinese language and script, and the designation of the astrologer as "Horā-pāṭhaka" (III, 178).[^2) The nucleus of the work is old, however, and probably originated as far back as the 2nd century B.C., even though it was enlarged in the 4th century A.D. and perhaps still later, by additions and interpolations. It is only the embellishment which is borrowed from the Mahāyāna, while only a weak admixture of actual Mahāyāna doctrines and none of the Mahāyāna mythology is to be found in the Mahāvastu.