The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature c13.2

c13.2

(1) *Mahā-vastu* ("The Book of the Great Event or Subject"). In its oldest form, it was probably extant in the early part of the third century B.C. The final redaction probably dates from the sixth or seventh century A.D. (fourth century, according to M. Winternitz and A. B. Keith). Cf. Vassilief, p. 270; ZDMG., vol. lii, 1898, p. 673; *Indologica Pragensia* i, p. 76 (1929); "Journal des Savants," 1899, p. 628; *Tāranātha*, p. 271, l. 1; "Cambridge History of India," vol. i, p. 304; J. N. Farquhar, "Outline," p. 110.