A History of Indian Literature v3.c35.s3.23

v3.c35.s3.23

Of the 2ndcentury A. D. we have the epics and the dramas of the Buddhist poet Aśvaghoṣa⁴, that in language and style belong to the ornate court poetry. The finished form of the epics together the perfect technique of the dramas of Aśvaghoṣa proves that they were composed only on some long-standing models. By itself it appears improbable that a thoroughly Buddhist poet should be the first to have composed in this style. On the contrary, the possibility is that he adopted the earlier poetic style to Buddhist themes for the simple reason that this style was common for secular poetry in his times. Aśvaghoṣa, however, was not the solitary Buddhist poet. Mātṛceṭa and Āryaśūra must have been not very far away from him in time¹.