Definition
A prominent Buddhist philosopher and author of well-known Buddhist literature.
Aśvaghoṣa is a well-known Buddhist philosopher and author of profound Buddhist literature written in classical Sanskrit. He is considered founder of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Despite this fame and recognition, different sources provide different information about Aśvaghoṣa about the time when he existed and who he was.
Limited information is available about his life through the Tibetan and Chinese translations of his work. Many Buddhist texts and Sanskrit works around the time period of Aśvaghoṣa, including his book Saundranand, have now provided means to examine his language and ideas [1]. By some accounts he was a Brahmin heretic living at the time of Emperor Kanikṣa during the second century. The Li tai san pao chi (fas. 1), quoting the Record of the Sarvāstivādin School, claims Aśvaghoṣa was born a Brahman in Eastern India some 300 years after the Nirvāna of Buddha. It is also believed that...
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References
Johnson EH (1972) The Buddhacarita or acts of the Buddha part 1- Sanskrit text. (Reprint) Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi
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Rongxi L (2002) The life of Aśvaghoṣa Bodhisattva (Translated from the Chinese of Kumārjīva-Taishō Volume 50, Number 2046). In: Kyōkai BD, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research (eds) Lives of great monks & nuns (BDK English Tripitaka Translation Series). Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Berkeley
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Verma, C. (2017). Aśvaghoṣa. In: Sarao, K.T.S., Long, J.D. (eds) Buddhism and Jainism. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0852-2_9
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