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AshwaghoshaIndian poet, playwright, Buddhist preacher
Date of Birth: .
Country:  India |
Content:
Ashvaghosha: A Prominent Indian Poet and Buddhist Scholar
Early Life and Conversion to BuddhismAshvaghosha, an esteemed Indian poet, dramatist, and exponent of Buddhism, is believed to have lived during the 2nd century. Born in Ayodhya (present-day Awadh) to a Brahmin family, legend has it that he initially followed the tenets of Shaivism before renouncing his faith and becoming a disciple of the bhikkhu Parsva or his protégé, Punyayashas.
Rise to Prominence
Ashvaghosha's brilliance as a thinker and poet flourished at the court of Kushan emperor Kanishka. Adherents of the Mahayana teachings regarded him as a preeminent authority alongside Nagarjuna and Aryadeva. In the Zen lineage and the Sutra on the Patriarchal Transmission of the Dharma Pitaka, Ashvaghosha is listed as the twelfth patriarch of Buddhism, while the extended list in the Sixth Patriarch's Platform Sutra places him as the eighteenth.
Literary Accomplishments
Ashvaghosha composed numerous literary works in Sanskrit, though only three are widely recognized as genuine:
- Buddhacharita ("The Life of the Buddha"): An epic poem narrating the life of the Buddha, it originally featured 28 cantos but only 13.5 survive in the Sanskrit original, with Chinese and Tibetan translations providing additional content.
- Saundarananda ("On Nanda and Sundari"): A poetic tale about Nanda, the Buddha's stepbrother, who pines for his beloved Sundari. Through the Buddha's teachings, Nanda gradually realizes the futility of worldly desires, elucidating the principles of Buddhist philosophy.
- Shariputrkarana ("The Story of Shariputra"): Fragments remain of this drama, one of the earliest known Sanskrit plays. It adheres strictly to the canons of dramaturgy outlined in the "Bharatiya Natyashastra."
- Sutra Alankara: A collection of edifying legends and poems in prose and verse, preserved in Chinese translation.
