imported>WikiCleanerBot at 12:57, 30 August 2021

2021-08-30T12:57:35Z

New page

{{Short description|2nd century Buddhist Indian poet and philosopher}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox writer
| image = Ashvaghosha.jpg
| caption = Aśvaghoṣa as a [[Mahayana]] patriarch
| period = {{circa|1st century CE}}
| occupation = Poet, dramatist, philosopher
| nationality =
| ethnicity =
| language = [[Sanskrit]]
| education =
| genre = [[Sanskrit drama]], [[epic poetry]], [[kāvya]]
| subject = [[Sarvāstivāda|Sarvāstivāda Buddhism]]
| movement =
| notableworks = ''[[Buddhacharita]]'', ''Saundarananda'', ''Sutralankara''
| partner =
| children =
| relatives =
}}
{{Buddhism}}
'''{{IAST|{{noitalic|Aśvaghoṣa}}}}'''<ref>Also [[Devanagari transliteration|transliterated]] '''Ashvaghosha'''.</ref> ({{IPA-sa|ˌɐɕʋɐˈɡʱoːʂɐ|lang}}; {{circa|80|150}} [[Common Era|CE]]) was a [[Sarvāstivāda]] [[Buddhist]] philosopher, dramatist, poet and orator from [[India]]. He was born in [[Saketa]] in northern India which is also known as [[Ayodhya]]. <ref>{{cite book|title=Doctrine and Practice in Medieval Korean Buddhism: The Collected Works of Ŭich’ŏn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8B_HDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA161|date=30 November 2016|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-6743-0|page=161}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Manu's Code of Law |editor1-first=Patrick |editor1-last=Olivelle |editor2-first=Suman |editor2-last=Olivelle |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=9780195171464 |page=24 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PnHo02RtONMC&pg=PA24}}</ref> He is believed to have been the first [[Sanskrit]] dramatist, and is considered the greatest Indian poet prior to [[Kālidāsa]]. He was the most famous in a group of Buddhist court writers, whose epics rivalled the contemporary [[Ramayana]].<ref>Randall Collins, ''The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change.'' Harvard University Press, 2000, page 220.</ref> Whereas much of Buddhist literature prior to the time of Aśvaghoṣa had been composed in [[Pāli]] and [[Prakrit]], Aśvaghoṣa wrote in [[Classical Sanskrit]].<ref name="teachYourselfSanskrit">{{cite book | last = Coulson | first = Michael | title = Sanskrit | publisher = NTC Pub. Group | location = Lincolnwood | year = 1992 | page = xviii | isbn = 978-0-8442-3825-8 }}</ref>

==Life as an ascetic==
According to the traditional biography of Aśvaghoṣa,<ref>Li Rongxi (2002). The Life of Asvaghosa Bodhisattva; in: [https://web.archive.org/web/20140820052907/http://www.bdk.or.jp/pdf/bdk/digitaldl/dBET_LivesGreatMonksNuns_2002.pdf The Lives of Great Monks and Nuns], Berkeley CA: Numata Center for Translation and Research, pp. 9–16</ref><ref>Stuart H. Young (trans.), [https://web.archive.org/web/20140103164731/http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-AN/103180.htm Biography of the Bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa], Maming pusa zhuan 馬鳴菩薩傳, T.50.2046.183a, translated by Tripiṭaka Master Kumārajīva.</ref> which was translated into Chinese by [[Kumārajīva]], and preserved in that language, he was originally a wandering [[ascetic]] who was able to defeat all-comers in debate. He set a challenge to the [[Buddhist]] monks that if none could meet with him in debate then they should stop beating the wood-block which signalled to the people to bring offerings to them. There was no one there to meet the challenge so they stopped beating the wood-block.
He is said to have been born into a Brahmin family in [[Ayodhya]].<ref name="Keown2004">{{cite book|author=Damien Keown|title=A Dictionary of Buddhism|url= https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095430861|date=26 August 2004|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-157917-2|page=23}}</ref>

However, in the north there was an elder bhikṣu named Pārśva at the time, who saw that if he could convert this ascetic, it would be a great asset to the propagation of the [[Dharma]], so he travelled from northern [[India]] and had the wood-block sounded. The ascetic came to ask why it had been sounded. Though thinking the old monk would be unable to debate with him, he accepted the challenge. After seven days, the debate was held in front of the King, his Ministers, and many ascetics and brahmans. The loser agreed to become the disciple of the other.

They agreed that the elder Pārśva should speak first, and he said: "The world should be made peaceable, with a long-lived king, plentiful harvests, and joy throughout the land, with none of the myriad calamities", to which the ascetic had no response and so was bound to become Pārśva's disciple, and he was given full ordination as a bhikṣu. Although he had to consent to this, he still was not convinced of the elder's virtues until he showed him he had mastered the Bases of Spiritual Power ([[Iddhipada|r̥ddhipādāḥ]]), at which point he gained faith. Pārśva then taught him the 5 Faculties, the 5 Powers, the 7 Factors and the 8-fold Noble Path, and he eventually mastered the teaching.

Later, the central kingdom was besieged by the [[Kushana|Kuṣāna]] King's army, who demanded 300,000 gold pieces in tribute. The King could not pay so much, as he had only 100,000. The Kuṣāna King therefore asked for the Buddha's begging bowl, the converted monk, and the 100,000 gold pieces for his tribute. Although the King of the central kingdom was unhappy, the monk persuaded him it would be for the good of the propagation of the Dharma which would spread across the four continents if he went with the Kuṣāna King. He was therefore taken away.

The Kuṣāna's King's Ministers, however, were unhappy, not thinking that the bhikṣu was priced correctly at 100,000 gold pieces. The King, who knew the worth of bhiksu, ordered that seven horses be starved for six days. The King then made an assembly and had the bhikṣu preach the Dharma. Even the horses, whose favourite food was placed in front of them, were entranced by the Teaching of the monk, and listened intently. Everybody was thereby convinced of his worth. He was then granted the name Aśvaghoṣa, Horse-Cry.

He travelled throughout northern India proclaiming the Dharma and guiding all through his wisdom and understanding, and he was held in great regard by the four-fold assembly, who knew him as The Sun of Merit and Virtue.

==Written works==
He was previously believed to have been the author of the influential [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] text ''[[Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana]]'', but modern scholars agree that the text was composed in China.<ref>Nattier, Jan. 'The Heart Sūtra: A Chinese Apocryphal Text?'. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies Vol. 15 (2), 180–81, 1992. [http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ojs/index.php/jiabs/article/download/8800/2707 PDF]</ref><ref>''Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha'' by Robert E. Buswell. University of Hawaii Press: 1990. {{ISBN|0-8248-1253-0}}. pgs 1–29</ref> And it is now believed he was not from the Mahayanist period,<ref>Dan Lusthaus, "Critical Buddhism and Returning to the Sources." Pages 30–55 of Jamie Hubbard, Paul Loren Swanson, editors, ''Pruning the bodhi tree: the storm over critical Buddhism.'' University of Hawaii Press, 1997, page 33.</ref> and seems to have been ordained into a subsect of the [[Mahasanghikas]].<ref>Alexander Wynne, ''The Origin of Buddhist Meditation.'' Routledge, 2007, page 26.</ref> Some recent research into his kavya poems have revealed that he may have used the [[Yogacarabhumi]] as a textual reference, particularly for the Saundarananda, which opens up the possibility he was affiliated with either the [[Yogacara]] or the [[Sautrantika]] school.<ref>Yamabe, Nobuyoshi. 'On the School Affiliation of Aśvaghoṣa: "Sautrāntika" or "Yogācāra"?' Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies Vol. 26 (2), 225-249, 2003. [http://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/jiabs/article/download/8937/2830 PDF]</ref>

He wrote an [[epic poetry|epic]] life of the Buddha called ''[[Buddhacharita]]''<ref>E. B. Cowell (trans): Buddhist Mahâyâna Texts, "The Buddha-karita of Asvaghosha", [[Sacred Books of the East]], Clarendon Press, Oxford 1894. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe49/sbe4900.htm Available online]</ref><ref>Willemen, Charles, transl. (2009), [https://web.archive.org/web/20140827205858/http://www.bdkamerica.org/digital/dbet_t0192_buddhacarita_2009.pdf Buddhacarita: In Praise of Buddha's Acts], Berkeley, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. {{ISBN|978-1886439-42-9}}</ref> (Acts of the Buddha) in [[Sanskrit]]. The monk [[Yijing (monk)|I-tsing]] (Yijing) mentioned that in his time ''Buddhacarita'' was "...extensively read in all the five parts of India and in the countries of the South Sea (Sumātra, Jāva and the neighbouring islands). He clothed manifold notions and ideas in a few words which so delighted the heart of his reader that he never wearied of perusing the poem. Moreover, it was regarded as a virtue to read it in as much as it contained the noble doctrine in a neat compact form."<ref name="ancient-buddhist-texts.net">J.K. Nariman: Literary History of Sanskrit Buddhism, Bombay 1919. [http://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Buddhist-Texts/XX-Early-Buddhist-Texts/05-EBT-Asvaghosa.htm Aśvaghoṣa and his School] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110110133430/http://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Buddhist-Texts/XX-Early-Buddhist-Texts/05-EBT-Asvaghosa.htm |date=10 January 2011 }}</ref>

It described in 28 chapters the whole Life of the Buddha from his birth until his entry into Parinirvāna. During the Muslim invasions of the 10th – 12th centuries, half of the original Sanskrit text was lost.<ref name="ancient-buddhist-texts.net"/> Today, the second half only exists in Chinese and Tibetan translations.

He also wrote ''Saundarananda'', a [[kavya|kāvya]] poem with the theme of conversion of Nanda, Buddha's half-brother, so that he might reach salvation. The first half of the work describes Nanda's life, and the second half of the work describes Buddhist doctrines and ascetic practices.<ref>Yoshichika Honda. 'Indian Buddhism and the kāvya literature: Asvaghosa's Saundaranandakavya.' Hiroshima Daigaku Daigakuin Bungaku Kenkyuuka ronshuu, vol. 64, pp. 17–26, 2004. [http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16560383] (Japanese)</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Johnston|first1=E. H.|title=Saundarananda|date=1928|publisher=University of Panjab|location=Lahore|url=https://archive.org/download/TFIC_ASI_Books/SaundaranandaOfAsvaghosa.pdf|ref=saundarananda}}</ref>

He is also thought to be the author of the ''Sutralankara''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Strong|first=John S. |author-link=John S. Strong|title=The Legend of King Asoka|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|year=1983|page=108|ISBN=9780691605074}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Nariman|first=J.K.|title=Literary History of Sanskrit Buddhism|year=1992|url=https://archive.org/details/literaryhistorys00nari|url-access=limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/literaryhistorys00nari/page/n191 177]|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|ISBN=9788120807952}}</ref>

==Buddhist Vajrasuchi and Hindu Vajrasuchi Upanishad==
The relationship between the ''Vajrasuchi'' text of Buddhism and ''Vajrasuchi Upanishad'' of Hinduism has long been of interest to scholars.{{Sfn|Winternitz|1920|pp=254–255 (German version: pages 209–211)}} This interest began with [[Brian Houghton Hodgson]] – a colonial official based in [[Nepal]] who was loaned a Sanskrit text titled ''Vajra Suchi'' in 1829, by a Buddhist friend of his, whose contents turned out to be similar to the ''Vajrasuci Upanishad''. In 1835, Hodgson published a translation.<ref>Brian Houghton Hodgson (1835), [ Vajra Suchi by Asvaghosha], Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Transactions, Volume III, J. Murray and Parbury, Allen & Co. https://www.sacred-texts.com/journals/jras/tr03-08.htm </ref> The first line of the Hodgson translation mentioned "Ashu Ghosa" and invoked "Manja Ghosa" as the Guru of the World. The details of the caste system, its antiquity and "shrewd and argumentative attack" by a Buddhist, in the words of Hodgson, gained wide interest among 19th-century scholars.{{Sfn|Winternitz|1920|pp=254–255 (German version: pages 209–211)}} The scholarship that followed, surmised that "Ashu Ghosa" is possibly the famous Buddhist scholar Asvaghosa, who lived around the 2nd century CE.{{Sfn|Dalal|2010|p=35}} It is widely known that Ashwagosh was the philosopher guide of king [[Kanishka]].
The ''Vajrasuci'', the author Ashwagosh was contemporary of [[Kanisha king]] who lived around 2 second century. It is during this time the 'Vjrasuci'was compiled. It is extensive beautifully written poetry that is critical of caste and inequity imposed by vedic religion.

==See also==
*[[Sanskrit drama]]
*[[Sanskrit literature]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last=Buswell|first=Robert E., ed.|title=Encyclopedia of Buddhism|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediabudd00busw_933|url-access=limited|publisher=Macmillan Reference USA|year=2004|isbn=0-02-865718-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediabudd00busw_933/page/n72 35]}}

==External links==
* {{Gutenberg author | id=Aśvaghosha | name=Aśvaghosha}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Aśvaghoṣa |sopt=w}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Buddhism topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asvaghosa}}
[[Category:80s births]]
[[Category:150s deaths]]
[[Category:1st-century Buddhist monks]]
[[Category:2nd-century Buddhist monks]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:Ancient Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Indian scholars of Buddhism]]
[[Category:Converts to Buddhism from Hinduism]]
[[Category:1st-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:2nd-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Indian male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Sanskrit writers]]
[[Category:Indian royal advisors]]
[[Category:Brahmins]]

Aśvaghoṣa - Revision history

imported>WikiCleanerBot at 12:57, 30 August 2021