A Study of the Mahavastu

The Mahavastu or any Encyclopaedia of Buddhist legends and doctrines is one of the important books of Mahayana Buddhist Literature. The prose portions of the text are written in mixed Sanskrit while the poems are written more in Prakrit than in mixed Sanskrit. No doubt the language is an arbitrary and unstable mixture of Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrits. It undoubtedly requires care and patience to go through the entire text and give a substance of it-a task which have attempted in this book.