A possible deliberate Mahābhārata-echo in the imagery of the Buddhacarita compounded-rūpakas

The main focus of the paper is to tentatively document traces of hypertextuality between the Buddhacarita and the Mahābhārata, under the assumption that Aśvaghoṣa probably knew this latter work, albeit non-definitive version of it. The selected methodological approach is a comparison between Bc and MBh in-compound-rūpakas. Indeed, since it is plausible that he benefited from an erudite court audience, Aśvaghoṣa is here assumed to take for granted that even indirect hints at MBh passages would be promptly understood. Therefore, he sometimes re-uses Mahābhārata expressions, and merely changes the word-order or replaces a single constituent in the matching figurative phrases or compounds, and sometimes plays with the MBh rūpakas in a more complex way. On the basis of the survey and analysis of all the Bc’s rūpakas and their supposed inspirational MBh source, the present inquiry tries to show how the singled-out cross-references are not only aimed at building a generic sophisticated literary pattern for his mahākāvya and his learned audience, but they are also intentionally targeted at evoking Epic heroic imagery as clues for the kingly commitment the author attributes to Buddha.