Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c5.s3.t1.1

c5.s3.t1.1

From what we have seen above in regard to the lines of development in the preceding period, it is evident that the Hīnayānists either to popularise Buddhism or to interest the laity more in it, incorporated in their doctrines the conception of the Bodhisattva and the practice of the pāramitās.¹ This was effected by the production of the new literature, the Jātakas and Avadānas. As the Jātakas confine themselves to the previous lives of Buddha, we must look to the Avadānas specially for the introduction of the Bodhisattva conception, and for its presentation as an ideal for the laity. The object of the Avadānas is to show how the devotees sacrifice every thing, even their lives, for the performance of the pāramitās, not for any earthly or heavenly pleasures, but for the attainment of bodhi and thus for the rescue of all beings from misery.²