Some Details from the Representations of the Parinirvāṇa Cycle in the Art of Gandhara and Kucha: The Iconography of the Wandering Ascetics (Parivrājaka, Nirgrantha and Ājīvika), in: Art of the Orient 7, 2018, pp. 137-170. (original) (raw)

This chapter examines the localization of Buddhism in ancient Gandhāra based on the material culture of regionally distinctive art and an expanding corpus of early Buddhist manuscripts from the first century BCE to third century CE. Preliminary comparisons and contrasts of literary and visual narratives of previous-birth stories (Jātakas, Avadānas, and Pūrvayogas) reveal uneven patterns of transmission and varying degrees of innovation depending on media, genre, and chronology. Selective translocations of past and present rebirth stories of the Buddha in written texts and images in Gandhāra and beyond to Central and East Asia served as catalysts for achieving religious aspirations.