2nd-century Indian books

thumbnail|Buddha's First Sermon', India, 11th century|alt=A sculpture of Buddha sitting Buddhacharita (; ) is an epic poem in the Sanskrit mahakavya style on the life of Gautama Buddha by Aśvaghoṣa of Sāketa (modern Ayodhya), composed in the early second century CE.

The Ashokavadana (; ; ) is an Indian Sanskrit-language text that describes the birth and reign of the third Mauryan Emperor Ashoka. It glorifies Ashoka as a Buddhist emperor whose only ambition was to spread Buddhism far and wide.