The History of Buddhist Thought c19.65

c19.65

As may be seen from the biographical details mentioned in the Scriptures, the Buddhists are more interested in those events of Buddha’s life that have a doctrinal significance than in those which appeal to the historian. A whole sutta is devoted to his conception and prenatal existence, and nothing further except the visit of Asita is told until he left the world. But not all these details can be referred to the state of the legend at one time. When we find him mentioned in some discourses as a great ascetic and teacher without any reference to a former existence or former Buddhas, we seem to have an earlier stage of tradition than that which puts him in the succession of former teachers. This is borne out by the fact that in the four Nikāyas only six previous Buddhas are mentioned. Even this does not appear primitive, but the names are common to all schools. In the Buddhavaṃsa, one of the latest works in the Canon, a list of twenty-seven is given, and under Buddha Dīpaṅkara, the twenty-fourth before Gotama, Gotama is said to have first made his vow to become Buddha. The other schools also mention Dīpaṅkara, but the numbers and names of the others vary considerably. This implies a later and independent growth of the legend.