A possible Mahābhārata-echo in the nature centred rūpakas of Buddhacarita

The purpose of the present inquiry is to analyze how the cross-references to the Mahābhārata in the Buddhacarita are not only a learned literary pattern, but rather clues for the kingly commitment Aśvaghoṣa gives to Buddha. The latter is achieved by means of the imagery the poet involves, which results as being a mixture of Epic heroic poetry with the typical naturally-oriented repertoire of the Kāvya fomulas. Indeed he plays an endless game with his audience, for instance by adopting some compounds including the regal animal siṃha (e.g. siṃhagati BC 1.15, siṃhanāda BC 5.84), which respectively occur as epithets and attributes, combined with the names of the most famous heroes or princes in the Mahābhārata (e.g. MBh 6.49.27.1; 6.50.88.2; 7.99.20.2; 7.131.8.2; 7.145.6.2; 7.171.61.3; 8.19.12.2 and 9.12.24.2). He sometimes even literally re-uses Mahābhārata sentences, and merely changes the word-order or replaces a single constituent in the matching figurative phrases or compounds, such as in BC 1.69, where mohatamas sounds as a sophisticated reference to tamomoha occurring in MBh 3.160.22.1, or in BC 9.1, where bāṣpapratodābhihitau, “hit by the whip of tears” is a self-evident inspired remake of vākyapratodābhihato, “hit by the whip of words” (MBh 1.2.156).