This work is a translation of the Chinese version of the Abhiniskramana Sutra done into that language by Djnanakuta, a Buddhist priest from North India. It refers to Buddha’s leaving the palace for a religious life, as in Buddha’s flight from his palace to become an ascetic. The legend also includes Buddha’s previous and subsequent history. The work is called Romantic Legend, because, as is well known, the first romances were merely metrical histories. There can be no doubt that the present work contains, so to speak, some of the earliest verses in which the History of Buddha was sung, long before the work itself was penned. The inscriptions found on Buddhist ruins, recently discovered in India, confirm this hypothesis. Many of the stories related in this work are found sculptured at Sanchi and Barhut.The interest of the book will be found to result from the stories which throw light on contemporaneous architectural works in India.
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