The Buddha : His Nirvana and Mahaparinirvana/K. Krishna Murthy and K. Padmanabha. 1996, xiv, 148 p., 20 plates,

Contents: Preface. 1. Introductory. 2. The Buddha and his life events. 3. Meaning of Nirvana. 4. Nirvana in Buddhist art. 5. The evening of his career. 6. The Mahaparinirvana. 7. Funerary ceremony. 8. The Mahaparinirvana in plastic art. 9. The world of Buddhism. 10. The spread of Buddhism. Appendix. Bibliography. Glossary.

From the preface: "Many books have been written on the great teacher the Buddha and many more are bound to come. It is an interminable quest to comprehend the master and his religion effectually and verily. There can never be a last word on this great yeoman, the Light of Asia. In the present book an endeavour has been made by us to delineate the life and death of the Buddha authenticating with Pali and Samskrt ratifications. Relevant data for this book has been ably marshalled from the literary citations thereby paving substratum to understand the great teacher in the right perspective and to fabricate the life and cessation of the Buddha on equitable and syllogistic grounds. In the preparation of this book we have to dive deep into the Buddhist philosophy and could be able to project the correct meaning of the intricate terms Nirvana and Mahaparinirvana. We have aimed too to lay emphasis on the literary and plastic corroborations of the Nirvana and the Mahaparinirvana of the lord Buddha and hoped against hope to visualise the total personality of the great teacher fully and comprehensively."

[K. Krishna Murthy also wrote Material Culture of Sanchi, Nolamba Sculptures and Mirrors of Indian Buddhism.] No. 11230

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