The Mahāvastu (Sanskrit for "Great Event" or "Great Story") is a text of the

Lokottaravāda The Lokottaravāda (Sanskrit, लोकोत्तरवाद; ) was one of the early Buddhist schools according to Mahayana doxological sources compiled by Bhāviveka, Vinitadeva and others, and was a subgroup which emerged from the Mahāsā� ...

school of

Early Buddhism The term Early Buddhism can refer to at least two distinct periods in the History of Buddhism, mostly in the History of Buddhism in India: * Pre-sectarian Buddhism, which refers to the teachings and monastic organization and structure, founded by Ga ...

. It describes itself as being a historical preface to the Buddhist monastic codes (''

vinaya The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions remai ...

''). Over half of the text is composed of

Jātaka The Jātakas (meaning "Birth Story", "related to a birth") are a voluminous body of literature native to India which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. According to Peter Skilling, this genre is ...

and

Avadāna Avadāna (Sanskrit; Pali cognate: ''Apadāna'') is the name given to a type of Buddhist literature correlating past lives' virtuous deeds to subsequent lives' events. Richard Salomon described them as "stories, usually narrated by the Buddha, ...

tales, accounts of the earlier lives of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

and other

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

s. The Mahāvastu contains prose and verse written in mixed

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

and

Prakrit The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...

. It is believed to have been compiled between the 2nd century BCE and 4th century CE."Mahāvastu" (2008).
/ref>

Pali Canon parallels

The Mahāvastu's Jātaka tales are similar to those of the

Pali Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During th ...

although significant differences exist in terms of the tales' details. Other parts of the Mahāvastu have more direct parallels in the Pali Canon including from the

Digha Nikaya Digha is a seaside resort town in the state of West Bengal, India. It lies in Purba Medinipur district and at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal. It has a low gradient with a shallow sand beach. It is a popular sea resort in West Bengal. Hi ...

( DN 19, ''Mahāgovinda Sutta''), the Majjhima Nikaya ( MN 26, ''Ariyapariyesana Sutta''; and, MN 36, ''Mahasaccaka Sutta''), the Khuddakapātha, the

Dhammapada The Dhammapada (Pāli; sa, धर्मपद, Dharmapada) is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures. The original version of the Dhammapada is in the Khuddaka ...

(ch. 8, ''Sahassa Vagga''; and, ch. 25, ''Bhikkhu Vagga''), the

Sutta Nipata The ' () is a Buddhist scripture, a sutta collection in the Khuddaka Nikaya, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. Sections The ''Sutta Nipāta'' is divided into five sections: Uraga Vagga ("The Chapter on the Serpent") Cūla Vagg ...

( Sn 1.3, ''Khaggavisāa Sutta''; Sn 3.1, ''Pabbajjā Sutta''; and, Sn 3.2, ''Padhāna Sutta''), the Vimanavatthu and the

Buddhavaṃsa The ''Buddhavaṃsa'' (also known as the ''Chronicle of Buddhas'') is a hagiographical Buddhist text which describes the life of Gautama Buddha and of the twenty-four Buddhas who preceded him and prophesied his attainment of Buddhahood. It is t ...

.Regarding the Dhammapada parallels, see Ānandajoti (2007), "Introduction," where Ānandajoti writes: :Of the incomplete parallels, two chapters from yet another Dharmapada have been preserved in the Mahāvastu, one of the earliest of the Sanskritised Prakrit texts; one of the chapters is named as the Sahasravarga, and appears to be the whole of the chapter; the other is a selection that comes from an unnamed Bhikṣuvarga. Fro
"Ancient Buddhist Texts"
See also; ch. 8

and ch. 25

/ref>

Mahayana themes

The Mahāvastu is considered a primary source for the notion of a transcendent (''lokottara'') Buddha, common to all

Mahāsāṃghika The Mahāsāṃghika (Brahmi: 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀲𑀸𑀁𑀖𑀺𑀓, "of the Great Sangha", ) was one of the early Buddhist schools. Interest in the origins of the Mahāsāṃghika school lies in the fact that their Vinaya recension appears in se ...

schools. According to the Mahāvastu, over the course of many lives, the once-human-born

developed supramundane abilities including: a painless birth conceived without intercourse; no need for sleep, food, medicine or bathing although engaging in such "in conformity with the world"; omniscience; and, the ability to "suppress ''

karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...

''."

English translations

* Jones, J.J. (trans.) (1949–56). ''The Mahāvastu'' (3 vols.) in ''Sacred Books of the Buddhists''. London: Luzac & Co
vol. 1vol. 2vol. 3

References

Sources

* Jones, J.J. (trans.) (1949–56). ''The Mahāvastu'' (3 vols.) in ''Sacred Books of the Buddhists''. London: Luzac & Co
volume1volume 2volume 3
* * * Ānandajoti Bhikkhu (2007)

U. of Peradeniya. Retrieved 25 Nov 2008 from "Ancient Buddhist Texts" * J.K. Nariman (1923)
Literary History of Sanskrit Buddhism
Bombay: Indian Book Depot; pp. 11–18 * *

External links

* J. J. Jones (1949)
The Mahavastu (English translation)
including footnotes and glossary

by Dr. A. B. Keith, D.C.L., D.Litt.

by B.C. Law * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahavastu Early Buddhist texts Jataka tales