The Mahavastu #222482

It sometimes happens, again, that a repetitive metrical version is not given in full. Parts are left out, and the con text can only be understood by reference to the fuller prose version. But this does not necessarily mean that the latter is the earlier or original form of the tradition. Rather it may be taken to imply that the narrator, perhaps out of boredom, leaves out details which are assumed to be already known to the listener or reader.