ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the English translations of Sanskrit text of the Buddha-karita that was published in the Anecdota Oxoniensia and included in the series of 'Sacred Books of the East'. The Sacred Books of the East is an early Sanskrit poem written in India on the legendary history of Buddha, and therefore contains much that is of interest for the history of Buddhism, beside its special importance as illustrating the early history of classical Sanskrit literature. It is ascribed to Asvaghosha; and, although there were several writers who bore that name, it seems most probable that our author was the contemporary and spiritual adviser of Kanishka in the first century of our era. The Buddha-Karita of Asvaghosha, has been translated by E. B. Cowell from Nepalese texts. Of Indian origin, around the beginning of the Christian era, it is concerned with the life and teachings of the Buddha, now quite far removed from the Pali documents of the Hinayana.
