A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t3.61

v2.c19.s6.t3.61

The Saundarānanda-Kāvya,² a second poem by Aśvaghoṣa, also belongs to the same class of ornate court poetry. This work, too, is connected with the life story of the Buddha, but it amplifies those scenes and episodes in particular, which receive scanty attention or none at all, in the Buddha-Carita. Thus, in Canto I, the story of the founding of Kapilavastu is related in minute detail. The actual theme of this poem, however, is the story of the love-lorn Nanda, the half-brother of the Buddha, who is ordained as a monk against his will by the Buddha: