Buddhist Literature and Art : Collection of Articles from the Indian
Historical Quarterly/compiled by Mahendra and P. Mittal. Delhi, Originals,
2004, xii, 274 p., plates, $20. ISBN 81-88629-28-6. [Facets of Buddhist Thought
and Culture: 4]
Buddhist Literature and Art : Collection of Articles from the Indian
Historical Quarterly/compiled by Mahendra and P. Mittal. Delhi, Originals,
2004, xii, 274 p., plates, $20. ISBN 81-88629-28-6. [Facets of Buddhist Thought
and Culture: 4]
Contents: Introduction. 1. The Buddhist Manuscripts at Gilgit/N. Dutt. 2. The Buddhist Manuscripts at Gilgit/N. Dutt. 3. The Buddhist Manuscripts at Gilgit/N. Dutt. 4. The Buddhist Manuscripts at Gilgit/N. Dutt. 5. The Buddhist Manuscripts at Gilgit/N. Dutt. 6. Bodhicitta-vivarana of Nagarjuna/P.C. Bagchi. 7. Bodhicittavivarana/Prabhubhai Patel. 8. Bodhisattva Pratimoksa Sutra/Nalinaksha Dutt. 9. An appendix to the new edition of the Bodhicaryavatara/Sujitkumar Mukhopadhyaya. 10. Mahayana and Hinayana works known to Nagarjuna/R. Kimura. 11. Derivation of Pali/S.V. Viswanatha. 12. Marriage in Buddhist literature/B.C. Law. 13. Slavery as known from the Buddhist Pali sources/Madan Mohan Sigh. 14. An early Buddha statue from Yunnan/W. Liebenthal. 15. Observations on the Buddhist remains at Jaggayyapeta/Debala Mitra. 16. Iconographic notes on some Buddhist Sculpture at Ellora/R. Sen Gupta. 17. Some Buddhist antiquities and monuments of Rajasthan/Ratna Chandra Agrawala. 18. The absence of the Buddha image in the Prekushan period/D.K. Sinha. 19. A Bodh-Gaya Image Inscription/B.M. Barua. 20. The earth Goddess in Buddhist art/O.C. Gangoly. 21. The Harmika and the origin of Buddhist Stupas/J. Przyluski. 22. A temple of the Buddhist God Mahakala/Debala Mitra. 23. The hair and the Usnisa on the head of the Buddhas and the Jinas/Ramaprasad Chanda. 24. Some images and traces of Mahayana Buddhism in Chittagong/Narendra Nath Law. 25. Old Buddhist Shrines at Bodh-Gaya/B.M. Barua. 26. A rare type of Bodhisattva-images from Sanchi/Debala Mitra. 27. The Jaina reference in the Buddhist literature/Kamta Prasad Jain. 28. Buddhist education in Pali and Sanskrit schools/E.J. Thomas. 29. Buddhist evidence for the early existence of drama/O.H. De A. Wijesekera. 30. The Gamabhojaka in the Buddhist birth-stories/Atindra Nath Bose. 31. On the 'Buddhacarita' of Asvaghosa/Sukumar Sen.
"Buddhist literature is amazingly vast. It has been produced at all points of time in ancient, medieval and modern times in India and outside all over the world. Buddhist literature can be classified time-wise, language-wise and country-wise. Unfortunately a large amount of ancient literature could not be preserved and has been lost in oblivion. Some of it has been lost in original but some of it is available in translations and can be retrieved. It will be a huge but highly significant task to restore the lost literature, but it should be attempted by world scholarship as it would be valuable asset to human culture.
The basic Buddhist literature grew up on Indian soil in Pali and Sanskrit languages and has shaped the intellectual climate of India in ancient times. Soon it spread out to other Asian countries and reformed their psyche. In modern times Buddhist literature is being produced all over the world mostly in expository form. For the ancient literature there are several catalogues like that of Tanjore, Gilgit, Nanjio and some good bibliographic histories like that of Taranatha. A classified and comparative account of the entire Buddhist literature produced so far is a need of the times. It will be a gigantic work to be undertaken by a team of scholars.
The Buddhist literature is mainly concerned with biographies of Sakya Muni, the Buddha, his previous births and future incarnations, the Bodhisattvas and their noble conduct, teachings of the Buddha, disciplinary codes for the Samgha, expositions of philosophical, epistemological, moral, religious and eschatological ideas, beliefs and practices.
The Buddhist art occupies a very significant position in the totality of Indian art traditions. Though distinctive in ideas and thematic descriptions, it is in line with the general Indian art traditions. The Buddhist art went outside India alongwith the spread of Buddhism and it assumed newer forms in the countries of its locale. It is a remarkable event in world history to witness Buddhist art in variegated forms in the countries of Asia. For example, the Pagoda at Barabudur in Java, at Anuradhapuram in Ceylon and the Swayambhu Nath Temple in Nepal are artistic marvels which provide richness to world culture and civilisation." (jacket)