<p>Presenting vivid pictures of Gautama Buddha's life, teaching, suffering, death and subsequent nirv??a, the Mah?parinibb?nasutta is one of the principal Buddhist texts. In Hermann Beckh's words, it describes '?one of the greatest human beings that ever lived, who stood at the threshold of the super-human ? a teacher and leader of humanity.'<br>Prof. Beckh's translation of this important sutta achieved a quality and faithfulness that was based o...