A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t2.8

v2.c19.s6.t2.8

When we say that the main purpose of the Mahāvastu is to relate the life-story of the Buddha for the Lokottaravādins, this by no means exhausts the contents of the work, nor has any idea of its composition been given. Far from its being a specimen of artistic literature, the Mahāvastu should rather be described as a labyrinth, in which the thread of a connected narrative of the Buddha's life can only be discovered with some difficulty. This narrative is continually interrupted by other matters, especially numerous Jātakas and Avadānas, but also by dogmatic Sūtras. There is no apparent principle of systematic arrangement. Frequently there is not even an attempt made to establish any connection, however loose, between the various parts. Moreover, one and the same story, be it an episode of Buddha's life or a Jātaka, is very often told twice consecutively, first in prose and then again in verse, this latter form diverging sometimes more and sometimes less. Not only this, but in various places the same episodes recur several times with slight variations. Thus the legend of Buddha's birth is told no less than four times.¹ The language, too, is not unified. Though the entire work, the prose as well as the verse, is written in "mixed Sanskrit," this dialect is sometimes more and sometimes less akin to Sanskrit. In the verse it is more archaic.² As regards style, too, earlier and later portions of the work can be clearly distinguished.³