Lalitavistara

(Sanskrit, graceful description). An early sūtra, probably 1st century ce, surviving in Sanskrit and Tibetan, primarily concerned with a biography of the Buddha Śākyamuni up to the start of his teaching mission. This text is thought to have been based on Sarvāstivādin material which was subsequently developed into its present form of 27 chapters in mixed prose and verse. Originally it was probably a non- Mahāyāna work to which Mahāyāna elements were subsequently added. Its depiction of the Buddha in supernatural terms may have been influential in the development of Mahāyāna Buddhology such as the concept of the ‘three bodies’ (trikāya), although this may equally be the result of the influence of Yogācāra Buddhology.

One of several biographies of Gautama, the Buddha Sākyamuni (see Gautama Buddha), the Lalitavistara is an ancient and continually evolving Sanskrit text that is concerned with the early years of the Buddha.