The History of Buddhist Thought c24.26

c24.26

The Theravāda teaching is much the same, but, as has been pointed out (p. 171), the doctrine is discussed only in one Pāli work, the Buddhavamsa. This work is quoted in the Mahāvastu, so that it certainly existed in another school, and it is possible that it was adopted as it stood by the Theravādins. It shows considerable development of the doctrine, as in the clear statement made by the bodhisattva to postpone his Nirvāṇa, in the list of the eight qualities required to make a Buddha, and in the list of the ten Perfections. But there is no list of bhūmis, and the commentator on the Jātaka seems to have no notion of the significance of the Perfection of wisdom (paññā). For the Theravādins this is the full knowledge of the arhat, and for the Mahāyānists the apprehension of the highest Mahāyāna doctrine, but the commentator explains it by instancing some Jātakas in which the bodhisattva showed great intelligence and practical sense. This makes it appear as a fragment adopted from a school where the doctrine was much more complete and systematized.