| Part ofa serieson |
| EarlyBuddhism |
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| Buddhism |
*This list is a simplification. It is likely that the development of Buddhist schools was not linear. |
TheMahāvastu (Sanskrit for "Great Event" or "Great Story") is a canonical text of theMahāsāṃghikaLokottaravādaschool of Early Buddhism which was originally part of the school'sVinaya pitaka.[1][2] TheMahāvastu is a composite multi-lifehagiography of the BuddhaShakyamuni. Its numerous textual layers are held by scholars to have been compiled between the 2nd century BCE and 4th century CE.[3][4][5]
TheMahāvastu was first published in the West in aneditio princeps byÉmile Senart between 1882 and 1897.[6] This edition is in a language which has been termedBuddhist Hybrid Sanskrit.[7]
The text is a composite one which includes past life narratives, stories of previousBuddhas, stories ofGautama Buddha's final life, embeddedearly Buddhist sutras and two prologues (nidānas).[8][6] Over half of the text is composed ofJātaka andAvadāna tales, accounts of the earlier lives of theBuddha and otherbodhisattvas.[3]
TheMahāvastu opens with two prologues (nidānas), theNidānanamaskāras (dating to around the 3rd century CE) and theNidānavastu (c. 1st century CE).[6]
Four sections of theMahāvastu contain texts of theBahubuddhaka sūtra genre. This includes abahubuddhasūtra in chapter XXI of Jones' translation, Volume III and Chapter V in Jones Volume I. TheBahubuddhakasūtras aresutras which contain narratives of past Buddhas and these narratives often served as sources for Buddhist doctrines relating to the bodhisattva path.[6] Parallel examples ofBahubuddhakasūtras have been found inGandharan Buddhist text collections.[9][6] One of these manuscripts dates to the 1st century BCE. Another parallelBahubuddhaka sūtra is the Chinese translationFo benxing ji jing (Taisho 190).[6]
TheMahāvastu's Jātaka tales are similar to those of thePali Canon although significant differences exist in terms of the tales' details. Other parts of theMahāvastu have more direct parallels in the Pali Canon including from theDigha Nikaya (DN 19,Mahāgovinda Sutta), theMajjhima Nikaya (MN 26,Ariyapariyesana Sutta; and, MN 36,Mahasaccaka Sutta), theKhuddakapātha, theDhammapada (ch. 8,Sahassa Vagga; and, ch. 25,Bhikkhu Vagga), theSutta Nipata (Sn 1.3,Khaggavisāṇa Sutta; Sn 3.1,Pabbajjā Sutta; and, Sn 3.2,Padhāna Sutta), theVimanavatthu and theBuddhavaṃsa.[10]
The more recent layer of theMahāvastu is theDaśabhūmika, a text which contains teachings on a scheme of bodhisattvabhūmis (stages). According to Vincent Tournier, this text was grafted into theMahāvastu (which itself does not contain any teaching on bodhisattva stages) during the last period of textual formation (ca. 4-6th centuries CE).[6] TheDaśabhūmika seems to have originally been considered an appendix or supplement (parivāra, parisara) which later made its way into theMahāvastu itself. A similar case occurred with the secondAvalokitasūtra which shows similarities withMahayana scriptures.[6]
TheMahāvastu is considered a primary source for the notion of a transcendent (lokottara) Buddha, common to allMahāsāṃghika schools. According to theMahāvastu, over the course of many lives, the once-human-bornBuddha 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 "suppresskarma."[11]
In spite of this school affiliation however, theTheravadin Bhikkhu Telwatte Rahula concludes in his study of the text that its depiction of the Buddha is not that much different than the depiction of the Buddha in thePali Canon, since the more docetic and transcendent ideas common to theLokottaravāda are not widely present in the text.[12]
TheNidānanamaskāras prologue introduced the doctrine of the fourfold "phases" of the bodhisattva's career.[6] According to this doctrine, the four stages (caryās) of the bodhisattva path are:[13]
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