->KashKarti at 22:29, 9 October 2021

2021-10-09T22:29:51Z

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{{short description|Buddhist monk}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| image =
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| alt =
| religion = [[Buddhism]]
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Varanasi]], [[India]]
| birth_name =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| guru = [[Gautama Buddha]]
| philosophy = [[Buddhism]]
| honors =
| known_for = Spreading Buddhism in [[Kashmir Valley|Kashmir]] and [[Gandhara]]
| founder =
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}}

'''Majjhantika''' (also known as Madhyantika<ref name=Willemen2013>{{cite journal |first=C |last=Willemen |title=XUANZANG ABOUT AVALOKITEŚVARA, JIBIN, AND MADHYĀNTIKA |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |date=2013 |volume=94 |pages=111–123 |jstor=26493958}}</ref>) was the Indian Buddhist monk of [[Varanasi]] who was deputed by [[Ashoka]] to spread Buddhism in the regions of [[Kashmir Valley|Kashmir]] and [[Gandhara]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kumāra |first=Braja Bihārī |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-lJI9avHstYC&pg=PA66 |title=India and Central Asia: Classical to Contemporary Periods |date=2007 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |isbn=978-81-8069-457-8 |page=66 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hirakawa |first=Akira |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XjjwjC7rcOYC&pg=PA87 |title=A History of Indian Buddhism: From Śākyamuni to Early Mahāyāna |date=1993 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-0955-0 |page=87 |language=en}}</ref>

==Early life==
Majjhantika was born in [[Varanasi]], [[Uttar Pradesh]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Warikoo |first=Kulbhushan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qvAr6ZJLLuIC&pg=PA33 |title=Cultural Heritage of Jammu and Kashmir |date=2009 |publisher=Pentagon Press |isbn=978-81-8274-376-2 |language=en}}</ref> He was tasked by [[Ashoka]] to travel from Benares to Kashmir and Gandhara and spread Buddhism following the [[Third Buddhist Council]] which is held in [[Pataliputra]].<ref name="Baruah2000">{{cite book|author=Bibhuti Baruah|title=Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s1PZAMD13SMC&pg=PA453|year=2000|publisher=Sarup & Sons|isbn=978-81-7625-152-5|page=453}}</ref>

==Missionary activity in Kashmir and Gandhara==

Pali sources detail that Majjhantika was one of the monks sent by Ashoka to cover the Kashmir and Gandhara region. This is also corroborated by the 7th-century monk, Xuanzang. Xuanzang visited this region he noted that most Buddhists belonged to the [[Sthavira nikāya]] school which is also the school that Majjhantika belonged to.<ref name=Willemen2013 />

==See also==
* [[Culture of Kashmir]]
* [[Kashmir Valley]]
* [[Buddhism in Kashmir]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:People from Varanasi]]
[[Category:Indian Buddhist monks]]
[[Category:Indian Buddhist missionaries]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:Year of death missing]]

{{Buddhism-bio-stub}}

Majjhantika - Revision history

->KashKarti at 22:29, 9 October 2021