ctrines so definitely as the other treatises here enumerated. It is
said to have originally belonged to the school of the Sarvastivadins
and to have been subsequently accepted by the Mahayanists, and though
it is not an epic but a collection of ballads and legends, yet it
often reads as if it were a preliminary study for Asvaghosha's
Buddhacarita. It contains Sanskrit versions of old legends, which are
almost verbal renderings of the Pali text, but also new material and
seems to be conscious of relating novelties which may arouse
scepticism for it interrupts the narrative to anathematize those who
do not believe in the miracles of the Nativity and to extol the merits
of faith (_sraddha_ not _bhakti_). It is probably coeval with the
earlier Gandharan art but there are no facts to fix its date.[134]

4. The Lankavatara[135] gives an account of the revelation of the good
Law by Sakyamuni when visiting Lanka. It is presumably subsequent to
the period when Ceylon had become a centre of Buddhism, but the story
is pure fancy and unconnected with history or with older legends. It
relates how the Buddha alighted on Mt. Malaya in Lanka. Ravana came to
pay his respects and asked for definitions of virtue and vice which
were given. The Bodhisattva Mahamati (apparently Manjusri) proceeded
to propound a series of more abstruse questions which are answered at
considerable length. The Lankavatara represents a mature phase of
speculation and not only criticizes the Sankhya, Pasupata and other
Hindu schools, but is conscious of the growing resemblance of
Mahayanism to Brahmanic philosophy and tries to explain it. It
contains a prophecy about Nagarjuna and another which mentions the
Guptas, and it appears to allude to the domination of the Huns. This
allusion would make its date as late as the sixth century but a
translation into Chinese which is said to correspond with the Sanskrit
text was made in 513. If so the barbarians referred to cannot be the
Huns. An earlier translation made in 443 does not agree with our
Sanskrit text and perhaps the work existed in several recensions.

5. The Suvarna-prabhasa or Glitter of Gold[136] is a Vaipulya sutra
in many ways resembling the Lotus. It insists on the supernatural
character of the Buddha. He was never really born nor entered into
Nirvana but is the Dharma-kaya. The scene is laid at Rajagriha and
many Brahmanic deities are among the interlocutors. It was translated
into Chinese about 420 A.D