84000 Glossary of Terms

Our trilingual glossary combining entries from all of our publications into one useful resource, giving translations and definitions of thousands of terms, people, places, and texts from the Buddhist canon.

mahāvastu | Glossary of Terms

    • mahāvastu
    • Note: this data is still being sorted
    • Text
    Publications: 2
    • Mahāvastu
    • mahāvastu
    Definition in this text:

    The Mahāvastu or “Great Chapter” is a lengthy work of the Lokottaravāda (Proponents of the Supramundane) subsect of the Mahāsāṃghika (Great Saṅgha) tradition, which some scholars have regarded as a precursor of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It is written in mixed Sanskrit, Pāli, and Prakrit and is regarded as the earliest Sanskrit biography of the Buddha. The work belongs to the Vinayapiṭaka and in fact describes itself as a historical preface to the Buddhist monastic codes (Skt. vinaya). In this regard, it does correspond loosely to the Mahāvagga section of the Khandhaka in the Pāli Vinayapiṭaka. Over half the text comprises avadānas and jatakas (some having no Pāli antecedent), which tell of past lives of the Buddha when he was a bodhisattva on the path to awakening.

    • Mahāvastu
    • mahāvastu
    Definition in this text:

    A work in Sanskrit related to the Vinaya of the Lokottaravāda branch of the Mahāsaṃghika school. It contains a biography of the Buddha interspersed with many teachings, avadānas, and jātakas.