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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s4: D. Personalities

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s4

Language
English

Contents

D. Personalities

Indian Personalities

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Sakyamuni

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Sakyamuni (Śàkyamuni) is the founder of Buddhism. Buddha’s own name is Siddhartha (Siddhàrtha), meaning "righteousness achiever". His surname is Gautama. Since his father was a member of the Sakya clan, after he got enlightened, he was respectfully referred to as Sakyamuni, meaning the sage of the Shakya clan. Siddhartha was also known as the Buddha (Enlightened) or Bhagawan (*Bhagavàna*) and so on.

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Early life

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By tradition, he is said to be the prince of Kapilavastu, a descendant of Iksvaku, famous imperial kinsmen of the Vedic Period in ancient India. And he belonged to the Kshatriya caste. Annexed to the Kingdom of Kosala (Koṣala), Kapilavastu was a small town with settlements of the Sakya clan in the Himalayan foothills, now the vicinity of Tilauakot in the south of Nepal, adjacent to India. When Faxian visited India in 4th century CE, Kapilavastu was declining with each processing day. At the end of the 19th century CE, archaeologists excavated a stone pot with osseous remains. On the pot was engraved Brahmi which was popular for several centuries before Christ and meaning that Buddhist relics worshipped by the Sakya clan. Besides, carved stones which were built when Asoka made an inspection tour were discovered in Kapilavastu. These discoveries verified its probable geographical location, where the Nepal government has continuously carried out archaeological excavation afterwards.

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The father of Sakyamuni was the king of Kapilavastu with the name of Śuddhodana (*śuddhodana*), (King Suddhodana in Chinese translation). The mother of Sakyamuni was named Maha Maya (Mahàmàyà), the eldest daughter of Suprabuddh, the castellan of Devadaha which was just across the river from Kapilavastu. As was the Shakya tradition when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilvastu for her father's kingdom to give birth. However, her son was said to have been born on the way at Lumbini Park which is now the Luo Meide monastery in a village in south Nepal.

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There was no specific record on the year of birth of Sakyamuni from ancient books and records in ancient India and the legends of countries and research of scholars generally tried to prove from historical records of Buddhism and calculation from

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*Śākyamuṇi Buddha*

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the year of death. So there have been as much as 60 different versions. And there is a difference of several hundreds of years between the earliest version and the latest one. In Theravada Buddhism countries as Sri Lanka, India, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and so on, it is generally acknowledged Sakyamuni was born in 624 BCE and died in 544 BCE, the anniversary of nirvana of Sakyamuni. Unlikely, Western scholars have different theories on the death year which varies from 489 BCE, 487 BCE, 486 BCE, 484 BCE, 483 BCE, 482 BCE, 478 BCE to 477 BCE. According to Samantapa translated by Sanghabhadra, a translator in Chinese Southern Qi Dynasty (479-502 CE), Upali collected Vinaya rules at the same year of Parinirvana and marked a point on the back of the book on July 15 that year and from that year on, a point was added each year. And there were 975 points altogether until the seventh year of Yongming in Southern Qi Dynasty (489 CE). Scholars of modern China concluded that Sakyamuni was born in 565 BCE and died in 486 BCE, almost the same as Confucius, his contemporary in the spring-autumn and Warring States Period of China but died seven years earlier. This theory has also been accepted by Buddhist scholars in Japan, India and so on.

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Buddha's mother, Queen Maya, died seven days later after his birth. In his childhood, Siddhartha was brought up by his mother's younger sister, Maha Pajapati (Mahàprajàpatã). He learned all knowledge and skills (ie five branches of knowledge) that should be equipped by imperial kinsmen at that time. When he reached the age of 16 (other versions mention 17 or 18), he married his cousin named Yaśodharā (Yaṣodharā) and had a son named Rahula (Rāhula).

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Ascetic Life

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Buddha's noble life was very affluent and comfortable. Volume 29 in *Madh Yamagama-sutra* recorded his memories about royal life. He owned three palaces for comfortable living in different seasons, one for cold winter, one for hot summer and one for humid rainy season. With expensive clothes and delicious food, he appreciated singing and dancing in the court and enjoyed the joy of all. His father, King Suddhodana, also placed great hopes on him. He hoped his son inherit the throne and become Chakravartin unifying the entire country. However, Sakyamuni left home to practice at the age of 29 (19 in another version). The causes included both social and personal factors.

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On the era of Buddha, countries of Ancient India sent armed forces to suppress and annex each other, and there were very sharp class and ethnic tensions. His Shakya clan was threatened by neighbouring countries and at a precarious situation. He forecast the country would end up in destruction, so he believed the world was “changeable”. In addition, he witnessed people grew old, sick and dead after one's birth, and thought he could not get away from the same fate. Therefore, he was vexed by hard suffering. The thoughts and acts of Brahman at the time could not bring him the way of spiritual liberation, so he finally gave up the throne and left home to practice.

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Ruins of Lumbini, Nepal

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After becoming a monk, he initially went to Uruvela of Bhaàrgava where he met many other practitioners who tormented their bodies through ascetic practices to ensure spiritual liberation. Unsatisfied by such kinds of behaviours Sakyamuni left after staying just one night. His father was very sad on the news of his becoming a monk and since it was in vain to persuade him to give up, he sent five people from the same clan to accompany him.

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Sakyamuni went to the south and crossed over the Ganges River to Rajgir, capital of Magadha, where King Bimbisara (Bimbisàra) met him. Later, he visited two Samkhya embracers recluse in wooded mountains near Rajgir and learned meditation from them. However, from Sakyamuni's opinion, their doctrine was still not the truth to real freedom of life. So he came to the riverside of Nairanjana to take meditation thinking and asceticism. Six years later, he did not attain his goals and decided to abandon apastia and austerity and seated under a Pippinga where he sat with lotus position, for tranquil contemplation and meditation until he finally found the truth at the age of 35.

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Travels and Teaching

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After attaining Enlightenment, Sakyamuni formed his unique ideas on observation and analysis. He began to travel and teach for 45 years in order to make his thoughts understood and accepted. He travelled to the Deer Park near Benares (now Varanasi) where he set in motion what Buddhists call the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon including Four Noble Truths, 12 *Nidanas*, *bodhipakṣa dharma*, five accumulations, four meditations and triple brightness and so on to the five companions, all of whom become the first batch of disciples of Buddha called *arahants*. At the same time, he persuaded Yasa, son of Benares superior and his relatives and friends to practice religion as well as Sariputta and Maudgalyayana. Hereafter, he persuaded many of his relatives like his younger male cousin, Devadatta, his son, Rahula and so on to turn to Buddhism.

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The main area of Sakyamuni’s teaching was Majjhimdesa in the Ganges River basin, covering approximately Kapilavastu to the north, Rajgir to the south, Campà to the east and Kosambi to the west. The influenced areas of his direct disciples included downstream regions of the Ganges River basin to the east, the Godavari riverside to the south, the Arabian Sea coastwise to the west and Takxila to the northwest (now Takxila is in Pakistan). The places where the Buddha stayed longest were Sravasti in Kosala and Rajgir in Magadha. In Sravasti, there was Jetavana (also named as Jetavana Vihara) donated by a rich merchant Sudatta and Prince Jeta. While in Rajgir, there was Kalandaka Venuvana, an important place for Sakyamuni to deliver his

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A sculpture depicting the birth of the prince, Lumbini

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sermon. It was also said he once stayed in Vrji, Anga, Malla, Kàṣã and other countries.

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Sakyamuni delivered his sermon to all castes and stratums at that time including Brahman, Sramana (holy man), kings, ministers, merchants, handicraftsman, fishermen and even prostitutes and robbers and so on. Many persons of royal lineage and rich and powerful people offered strong political and economic supports.

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Sakyamuni delivered his sermon in different ways, not to stick to one pattern. On different occasions, he utilised various forms like *gatha*, prose, tales, metaphors, statements, questions and answers and so on... to deliver different contents to different objects. He taught monks about understanding life and death to attain supreme enlightenment while he discussed with layman about morality and doing good works. He allowed his disciples to deliver sermon with local dialects instead of normalised Sanskrit. All these made his thoughts widely spread in the society.

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Formation of the Sangha

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During his teaching, Buddha established a Buddhist organisation -- *sangha* (*Samgha*). It is generally believed that Sangha begins from his first sermon at Deer Park and five *arahants* turned to Buddhism. This *Samgha* expanded gradually in the process of preaching. At the beginning, the *Samgha* only recruited male disciples (Buddhist monk), later after the recruitment of his mother’s younger sister, Pajapati, female disciples (Buddhist nuns) were also adopted.

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At an early stage, there was no strict system in *Samgha*. Everyone, noble or cheap, whatever his caste was, he could join *Samgha* as long as with beliefs in the ideas of Buddha. And they led equal life inside *Samgha*. Later on, in order to prevent the Samgha in disorder and avoid discording with the legal orders and moral principles of secular society and promote a better implementation of activities in *Samgha*, specific rules were made to restrict slaves, debtors, murderers, robbers (except penitential ones), disabled, patients and people under 20 years old to join the Samgha.

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At first, *Sangha* travelled to beg for food, without settled dwelling. Later, Buddhist temples began to be built at places where monks locate to adapt living and assembly needs in rainy season. During monks’ group living, detailed rules and regulations were formulated on dressing, diet, utensils, rites, residence and medicine, serving as common commandment abided by all members of *Sangha*.

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At the same time of establishing *Sangha*, Buddha granted corresponding status to believers at home. Any layman abided by the five commandments including ahimsa could become a disciple of Buddha and reach the same nirvana through practice. By tradition, Yasa’s father and mother were the earliest Buddhism followers - Upasaka and Upasika. Later on, the number of believers grew constantly, and became a side-by-side social power advocating Buddhism with *Sangha*.

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Nirvana

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Sakyamuni resided in Rajgir in his old age. It was said that he once convened monks there for many times. He told them about principles of keeping *Sangha* unfading, and required them to “act in accordance with *dharma*, not anything else”. Then he left Rajgir for the north, beginning his last travelling and teaching. He led his disciples travelling across Nalanda and Patna, crossing the Ganges River and arriving at Vaishali where he got consecrated by Amrapali, a local rich prostitute. Later they got to Venuvana, neighbouring Vaishali. It was the rainy season and Sakyamuni decided to settle down there, only with Ananda accompanying him and other disciples dispersed to live in other places. During the rainy season, he got serious disease. After that, he continued his journey to northwest to deliver his sermon. In the mango park of whitesmith Cunda in a village in South Malla, Sakyamuni ate food consecrated by him and got poisoned and diarrhoea and in turn, his state of illness became serious. When he reached the Hain Salavana nearby Kushinagara, he lied at the right side and got nirvana between two *itsuki sara*. Before nirvana, he warned his disciples to perform diligent practice and delivered his sermon to Subhaadra, a Brahman who begged for an audience, making him his last disciple. He died at the age of 80.

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Statue depicting nirvāṇa of Śākyamuṇi

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After his death, his remains were cremated. His osseous remains (Buddhist relics) were divided up by eight kings including Ajatshatru who built dagoba to enshrine so. That is the legendary of “eight kings dividing Buddhist relics”.

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Historical Materials

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There is no specialised record in Agama and Tripitaka, both of which are early Buddhist classics about the deeds in the entire life of Sakyamuni. The collector of Tripitaka mainly recorded the words of Sakyamuni. But in the words in collections of *Sutras* and *Vinaya*, every teaching and the reason to formulate the first commandment were recorded and narrated in detail. Although these records are fragments, they contained memories of people directly contacted by the Buddha on his thoughts and acts (it is impossible to verify its reliability). In addition, the collections of *Sutras* and *Vinaya*, recorded his experience in early life through Shakyamuni’s own voice. Among early collections of *Sutras* and *Vinaya*, *Dirghagama-sutra* recorded the family of Sakyamuni and how he became a monk; *Dhammacakkappavattana Sutra* and others in *Samyuktagama-sutra*, recorded the first turning of the Wheel of the Dharma; *Mahasangha-vinaya*, *dharmagupta-vinava*, Rule of fifth and sutras in Agama recorded some teaching activities; Travelling Sutra (also named as Sacred Books of the East, *Mahaparinirvana-sutra*) in *Dirghagama-sutra* and *Mulasarvastivada Vinaya* miscellaneous and so on recorded his life in the old age.

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Afterwards

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With the development of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent, the unified Buddhism was divided into many factions. At the same time, with influences from idolatry in Hinduism and Jainism and from Greek cultures, in sectarian Buddhism, there appeared worships to Sakyamuni, describing the Buddha to have far-reaching supernatural powers and formidable forces and own great wisdom with physical characteristics of the Buddha and 80 kinds of good virtues such as arms over knees, cheeks like full moon, sound far-reaching and chests with swastika etc. As a result, special scriptures went to earth to record the life of Sakyamun, Buddha’s life, enlightenment and deeds such as *Cāryānidāna* (also named Life of Buddha, Cause and Effect in Past and Now, Deeds of Buddha) and *Lalitavistara sutra* and so on. Their characteristics are to integrate materials scattered in collections of *Sutras* and *Vinaya*, join together all deeds to form into the biography of Buddha. However, in content, they are merely rendering the deification of Buddha, making him an idealised worship sage. The longest one simply describes the first few years’ life of the Buddha after his enlightenment. Later, Ma Ming wrote Buddhacarita, the first complete biography based on legends and materials, describing all life experience of Buddha.

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A Thangka painting depicting the Jātaka stories from the life of Śākyamuṇi Buddha

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Many monks in ancient China wrote biography of Sakyamuni, like Buddha, composing of five volumes by Sengyou in Liang Dynastry and Pedigree of Buddha, composing of one volume by DaoXuan in Liang Dynasty. In addition, there was Hierarch Biographic Sketches of Sakyamuni Buddha in annalistic style in The Chronicle of the Buddha by Zhipan in Song Dynasty in ancient China.

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Historical materials about Buddha's life include not only classic records in Buddhist scriptures but also cultural relics. In modern times, archaeologists and Buddhist masters from India and other countries have excavated in succession a batch historical sites and cultural relics at Buddha's birthplace and places of Enlightenment, the Wheel of Dharma, nirvana and so on, according to records in *Travelling Around India by Faxian* and *Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang* by Xuanzang and incomplete historical materials conserved in India and on this account proved that Buddha was a real person in history.

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(*Bian Bu*)

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Mahamaudgalyayana

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Muqianlian (Maudgalyayana or Mahāmaudgalyāyana) was one of the 10 closest disciples of Gautam Buddha. His full name was Mahāmaudgalyāyana but in translation is also referred to as Maudgalyayana. The abbreviation name of Maudgalyayana is, however, popular among the Chinese folks. According to “Fobenxingjijing”, Maudgalyayana was born in a Brahman family in the suburbs of Rajgir, Magadha (near Nalanda, Bihar). He led the followers to convert to Buddhism together with his townsman, Sāriputta. According to legends, he had obtained supernatural power so he can ascend to the heaven or descend to earth and was known as “the one with largest magical power” among the 10 disciples. According to *Ullambana*

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*Mahāmaudgalyāyana*

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*Sutra*, Maudgalyāyana’s mother went to hell due to sins and he was very sad and determined to save his mother. Afterwards with the help of Buddha, his mother was saved. The *Sutra* was popular in China for over 1,500 years and the story was deduced into various novels and plays scripts and became popular in the folk with large influence. Maudgalyāyana has also been regarded as the model of Chinese filial piety and got respect and praise.

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(*Xue Keqiao*)

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Asoka

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Asoka (273¹-232 BCE), as one of the early empire builders of pre-Christian ancient India who made himself well-known simultaneously as a great conqueror, a builder, an administrator, a statesman and a patron of Buddhism with unparallel devotion and dedication. Historical documents reveal that he was exceedingly violent and cruel in the early phase of his life while being engaged in power struggle with his brothers in a bid to occupy the throne. But later on embraced Buddhism by renouncing violence and hatred altogether. A careful study of this ancient emperor, therefore, may be divided into two phases based on the turning point in his life brought about by the devastating effect of the Kalinga War that he waged in the ninth year of his formal coronation. The empire that he built with Pataliputra as its capital was wide indeed, being comprised of the vast areas extending from the Himalayas in the north to Karnataka in the south and from Bengal and Kalinga in the east to Afghanistan in the west.

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A wealth of information about Asoka’s life and exploits is available from literary traditions, foreign accounts as well as his own sayings engraved on rocks and stone pillars. The Gujarra, Nittur, Udegolam and the Maski versions of the Minor Rock Edict 1 are the only four inscriptions which refer to him by the name “Ashok” which implies the meaning of “painless or without sorrow” in Sanskrit. Elsewhere in other inscriptions he is generally mentioned as Devanampriya (beloved of the gods), Priyadarshi (one who glances graciously upon all²) Raja. Most probably Asoka adopted such titles only after his initiation into Buddhism.

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Asoka was the third in the line of succession among the Maurya emperors after his great grandfather Chandragupta, the founder of the dynasty and his father, Bindusara. According to tradition, Asoka was solemnly enthroned at Pataliputra in 273 BCE and died after a glorious reign of about 36 or 37 years, in or about 232 BCE.

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The Kalinga war marks a watershed in the life of Asoka; it was the harbinger of the second phase of his career, by changing him into a *Dharma-soka* (the pious Asoka) from the earlier alleged title of Chanda-Asoka (the fierce Asoka). What brought about the [Figure: Lion Capital from the Ashokan Pillar at Sarnath, India]

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The notable features of Asoka’s reign are marked by three-fold characteristics mentioned below. First, he represented the theology of peace and brotherhood after he became a Buddhist, adopted a policy of tolerance towards all other religious sects and thus espoused the cause of secularism as the core value of his overall religious and spiritual administration. In recognition of his great contribution towards building a secular state by the government of modern India, the emblem of Republic of India, is marked with the Lion Capital of Asoka. Secondly, he was the first emperor in India to record his own ideas and activities (the first time in written language known as Brahmi script) in the annals of Indian history. Thirdly, Asoka sought to convert Buddhism into a world religion. To attain this objective, he despatched many emissaries to foreign lands for the propagation of the Buddhist faith. He sent his son, Mahendra and daughter, Sanghamitra to spread it in Sri Lanka and many other famous Buddhist monks (*Bhikshus*) to other countries like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Iran, Egypt and Turkey. It is through such emissaries that Asoka wanted to impress upon the turbulent tribesmen and hostile neighbours that the true mission of life lies in the “conquest of men by morality” rather than the “conquest by force of arms”. “The reverberation of laws (*Dhamma-ghosha*) should be accepted as superior to “the reverberation of war-drums” (*Bheri-ghosha*). It

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Asokan Stone Pillar at Lingshan Shengjing at Wuxi, Jiangsu, China

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change in him may be enumerated here? The first cause is that the sight of misery and bloodshed caused by the war he fought struck the emperor’s conscience and awakened a sense of sincere feelings of repentance and sorrow. Secondly, Buddhism that strongly focussed on non-violence and toleration in all forms of human thought, conduct and behaviour served as a spiritual resort for the great emperor to preach and propagate the values of humanitarianism to win human hearts and maintain durable peace and prosperity in the society.

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Asoka, having come in contact with the *Sangha* (Order of the Buddhist Monks), made a deep study of the Buddhist scriptures and undertook many “tours of morality” (*Dhamma yatra*) instead of the “pleasure tours” (*Vihar yatra*) of his ancestors. Thereafter, Asoka totally abjured coercion and violence even in matters of the political administration of his state but he assumed the role of a moral and ethical administrator of society and people so that a harmonious society could be built up based on the virtues of truth, non-violence and toleration to give a lingering life to his empire. In pursuit of this goal, he established a department of religious affairs which was conducted by a class of special officers called *Dhamma Mahamatras* who had to set out on tours of inspection in all the parts of the empire at least once in five years to supervise the cultural works being carried out by the local officers. Wherever Asoka went on *Dhamma yatra* (tour of *Dhamma* or *Dharma*), he used to enjoin that all his instructions were to be engraved on rocks and stone pillars so that the pious messages that he wanted to convey could be read by all concerned and put into practice in their practical life in all possible ways and manners. Large numbers of “Pillars of morality” (Dharma-stambha) were thus constructed throughout his empire.

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is claimed that Asoka’s policy of *Dhamma-vijaya* (*Dharma-vijaya*) met with phenomenal success in Western Asia but it was not favourably accepted by the Greeks. However, it is alleged that his policy of pacifism later on proved to be disastrous for the survival and continuity of the Murya empire and as the historical evidences show, the Greek forces poured into the Kabul Valley, Punjab and even the Gangetic region, bringing about the gradual disintegration and collapse of the great empire of the Maurya kings.

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Asoka became well-known to the enlightened Chinese society and the people as A-Yu-Wang (阿育王) in Chinese through the translation of Buddhist text “Divyavadana” which gives, besides many religious tales, a graphic account of him as a great patron of Buddhism, a philanthropist, a saint, a religious and a social reformer of superb ability and talent. Asoka’s reputation as the brightest luminary in the political firmament of India remains undiminished till this day.

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1 The formal coronation of Asoka seems to have occurred in 269 BCE.

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2 The term also means "one who looks after the welfare of all and one who is handsome".

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(*Arttatrana Nayak*)

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Asokan Inscriptions

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The edicts of Aśoka, the great Mauryan king (268-231 CE), are found as inscriptions in various parts of his empire and speak of his concerns both as a king and as a Buddhist and above all, as a human being. The inscriptions are written in three different languages — Prakrit, Indo-Aramaic and Greek and in four scripts viz Brahmi, Kharosthi, Aramaic and Greek. Ever since the inscriptions were fully deciphered by James Princep in 1839 CE, they have added significantly to the legends of Aśoka and introduced many new perspectives in early Indian history.

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Aśoka made a distinction between his personal belief and support for Buddhism and his obligation as a king and a statesman. His edicts are, therefore, of two kinds. The smaller group consists of declaration of Aśoka addressed to the Buddhist *Samgha* as a lay Buddhist. Far more important is the larger group of inscriptions on rock surfaces known as the Major and Minor Rock Edicts and the Pillar Edicts. All these edicts are located in places where people were likely to gather and accept these as exhortations. These exhortations primarily relate to administration, public welfare and the formulation of *Dhamma*.

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Aśoka, in his edicts, provides enough evidence of his belief in Buddhism. He repeats the established Buddhist formula of faith in the Buddha, *Dhamma* and *Samgha* (Bairāt Rock Edict) and if he does not directly refer to the Four Noble Truths, he does use the word *majhan* (middle) in the Separate Rock Edict I. The *Samgha* or Buddhist monastic order, is mentioned in Minor Rock Edict I, Bairāt Edict, Pillar Edict VII and Schism Edict. On the actual extent of his patronage to Buddhism, the edicts are silent, but Buddhist traditions both of the Thervāda and Mahāyāna greatly appreciate his patronage. Dipavamsa and the Aśokavadāna both assert that Aśoka after his conversion to Buddhism, built 84,000 Buddhist stūpas. He repaired or enlarged the *stūpa* of Buddha Konākamma in the Nepalese Terai and visited Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha (Rummindei Pillar edict). It was during Aśoka’s reign that Buddhist *Samgha* underwent further re-organisation with the meeting of the Third Buddhist Council at Patliputra in 250 CE. This re-organisation initiated the process of schism in Buddhism and is reflected in the Schism Edict. In this, Aśoka expressed his anxiety to maintain the unity of the *Samgha* and to secure the expulsion from it of all such monks and nuns if indulged in schism.

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The decision to send missionaries to various parts of the subcontinent and even further, and to make Buddhism an actively proselytising religion, appears to have been taken at the Third Buddhist Council, leading eventually to the propagation of Buddhism all over Asia by the turn of the Common Era. Aśoka mentions various contemporaries in the world to the west with whom he exchanged diplomatic missions, such as Antiochus II of Syria (260-246 BCE), Ptolmey II Philadelphus of Egypt (285-247 BCE) and others in Major RE XIII. He also informs us about Mauryan relations with Sri Lanka (Tambapamni).

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The ideology of Buddhism guided Aśoka’s state policy at home and abroad. His obligation as a king and statesman, however, insisted that all religions must be respected. Divergent forces such as multiple cultural and social systems, rapid urbanisation and complexities of a vast empire further added to the situation. All these played a role in Aśoka’s formulation of his *Dhamma*, the universal law or righteousness which was based on the principles of tolerance, non-violence and welfare of people. By tolerance, Aśoka meant tolerance towards people and towards their belief and ideas (Major RE XII). The principle of non-violence included the renunciation of war and conquest by *Dhamma* (Major RE XIII), as well as a restraint on the killing of animals (Major RE XI). Under the policy of public welfare, banyan trees were planted on highways, wells dug, rest-houses built and arrangements made for medical treatment for human beings and cattle (PE VII; Major RE II). To implement the policy of Dhamma and publicise it, Aśoka instituted a special category of officers — the *dhamma-mahāmattas* (Major RE V; PE VII).

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*Stone inscription of Ashoka (replica), preserved at the National Museum, New Delhi, India*

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The principle of *Dhamma* thus set a very high ideal not only for the people but also for the king. Aśoka’s theory of paternal kingship clearly reflects this high ideal. It is, therefore, not surprising when we find that in Buddhist tradition he is depicted as ‘Chakkavatti’ — the universal monarch who ensures that the turning of the wheel of law is the essence of his rule.

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(*R K Sinha & Kamal Sheel*)

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Kasyapamatanga

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Kāśyapamātanga [Shemoteng] (Chinese: 摄摩腾; pinyin: Shemoteng, 1st century CE), was also known as Kasyapa Matanga and in short as Matanga. According to legends, he was the first Indian Buddhist monk to translate the Sutra and introduce Buddhism in China.

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According to the Biographies of Eminent Monks, Kāśyapamātanga originally resided in Majjhimdesa (central India) and later went to various places for travel and teaching, explaining the Mahayana and Theravada classics he was expert in. In Yongping period of Han Dynasty (58-75 CE), Emperor Ming had a dream one night that a golden man flew in front of the palace. An official, Fu Yi, practiced divination for him and said it should be the Buddha. Emperor Ming then sent Qin Jing et al to India to look for the Buddhist doctrine. The people met Kāśyapamātanga and Dharamarakùa (or Dharamaratna) at Greater Yuezhi (ie Indo-Scyths) and invited them to return to the central mainland, accompanied by white horses carrying the sutra scrolls. In 10th Yongping year (67 CE), they returned to Luoyang. Emperor Ming showed them high respects especially built fine houses for their residence outside the west gate of Luoyang (another saying is that they were settled at Honglu Temple) which made them the earliest of Shramana on the Han land. Later, the two people took great endeavours to translate and write and came out with *Sutra of 42 Chapters*. The fine house they lived in was called White Horse Temple or was originally

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*Kāśyapa Mātanga*

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named Zhaoti Temple but then renamed White Horse Temple. Kāśyapamātanga died in the 16th Yongping year (73 CE) and was buried in the temple.

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The *Sutra of 42 Chapters* briefly explained the basic doctrines of Theravada Buddhism. It was extracted and compiled with its key points from Āgama, rather than an independent classic. Whether it was translated by Kāśyapamātanga has always been controversial. Someone proved that it was a pseudo graph by later generations based on the fact that the *Comprehensive Catalogue of Scriptures* by Dao’an, an eminent monk in Eastern Jin (314-385 CE) did not record this *sutra*. And as for the name of *Kāśyapamātanga*, it did not appear until as late as South Qi (479-502 CE) in the Miracles in the Ghostdom by Wang Yan so the real existence of this person is in doubt. There are various opinions about this and the truth still needs to be checked.

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(*Guo Tong*)

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Dharamaratna

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According to a legend, Dharamaratna or Dharamarakṣa [Zhufalan] (c. 1st century CE) was one of the first Indian Buddhist monks to translate the *Sutra* and introduce Buddhism in China.

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According to the *Biographies of Eminent Monks*, Dharamarakṣa originally lived in Majjhimdesa (central India) and he claimed that he could chant tens of thousands of *sutras* and tutored over a thousand apprentices. He travelled and taught together with Kāśyapamātanga at Greater Yuezhi and was willing to accept the invitation of Qin Jing and other envoys of Emperor Ming of Han to go together with them to the central mainland for the spread of Buddhism. However, he was hindered by the local king and his apprentices and had to wait for a chance to leave stealthily. Soon after he arrived at Luoyang, he learned Chinese, translated the *Sutra of 42 Chapters* together with Kāśyapamātanga. After Kāśyapamātanga died, he alone translated *Sutra of Terminating Knots in the Ten Holy Terras*, *Jàtaka*, *Buddhacarita* and *Sutra of Dharmic-Sea Repertory* etc.

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*Dharmaratna*

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which were lost in disasters of later generations. A legend says that during the Emperor Wu of Han period (156-87 BCE) the Kunming Pool was repaired and dug to bottom and black ashes were found. People asked Dongfang Shuo but he answered that he did not know what it was, and the people from the Western Regions could be consulted. Dharamarakṣa, after arriving at the central plains, was asked about it and answered that when the world approached the end of each kalpa, it would be burned by kalpa fire and black ashes were the result of the burning. There have always been different opinions about the real existence of Dharamarakṣa and the classics he translated. (for details also refer to the entry on Kāśyapamātanga).

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(*Ge Weijun*)

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Nagarjuna

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Nàgàrjuna (about 2-3 CE) was the founder of Madhyamaka School of ancient Indian Mahayana Buddhism. He carried forward Mahayana Buddhism and delivered a broad range of teaching, his doctrines were later inherited by a number of sectarians of Buddhism in China. He was hailed as “Father of Eight Sectarians”. His name was also translated as Longmeng or Longsheng or transliterated as Najiayulashuna.

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Life of Nāgārjuna

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According to *Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva* biography, Nāgārjuna was born into a Brahmin family in Dakshinapatha. Even in his infancy, he had showed his extraordinary gift. Legend has it that he could follow and recite the four Vedic classics that adults read aloud only by hearing them and could understand its meaning. He had an outstanding memory and everything needed to be told to him only once. Due to his extraordinary talent and quick comprehension, he could not only understand Brahminical classics but knew everything of the world’s knowledge and skills such as astronomy and geography, prophetic remarks and mysterious divinations as well as a variety of religious methods and ways. Thus, when he was a teenager, he was well-known among many countries for his broad and profound knowledge. The self-reliance on his rare smartness, however, had made him entrapped in absurdity. He learned stealth with several bosom friends and sneaked into the palace to encroach on the palace maids. Although he nearly died for this, he came to realise the principle that “desire is the base of suffering, the root of all evils; the fall of moral and the misleading of life both result from it”. Thus, he swore to follow Śramana and became a monk to learn the doctrines. Later, he went deep into the mountains and found a temple. He was initiated into monkhood there and learnt Theravada first. He finished reciting Tripitaka within 90 days.

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Then he went further to the snow mountain in the north and got the chance to read the Mahayana classics given by an old monk as a gift. Though he understood the fundamental principles and felt quite enlightened, he still felt he could not be thoroughly acquainted with everything and travelled to many countries to seek more classics and at the same time, he had debates with the believers of external religions and Theravada, and was invincible for a time. Seeing that the dissidents “were all subdued” and the Buddhist doctrines he had learned failed to be perfect, he wanted to expand and carry forward the doctrines himself to enlighten future studies. And thus he felt proud in heart and initiated the idea of establishing a sect. He intended to set up the admonitions, design monk robes and enlist the apostles. Myth has it that a Bodhisattva named Dalong (“big dragon”) was quite regretful for this and invited him to the palace under the sea, showing him with more esoteric classics. After reading and studying for 90 days, his former problems were generally solved. After leaving Dragon Palace, he returned to Dakshinapatha. There, he established the doctrines and preached and waged a struggle against the Brahmins with strong power. There were some fairytales that told how he visited all the imperial courts to persuade the royal to give up external religions to believe in Buddhism.

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As for the end of Nāgārjuna, there are different stories, but quite a few suggest that he committed suicide. One legend goes like this: a Theravada master was very jealous of him. Before Nāgārjuna died, he asked the master whether he would like him to stay long in the world. The master admitted, “I really would not.” Then he withdrew into an idle house, and remained inside for many days. Later the disciple broke in to watch, and he left like a cicada sloughing off its skin. Another legend comes from Xuanzang. It says that Nāgārjuna was good at making the medicine of immortality. Emperor Satavahana of South Kosala got his miraculous medicine and lived a life for a few hundred years. The prince could not inherit the throne, so he was very anxious and resorted to his mother. His mother said that Nāgārjuna was compassionate and had nothing that could not be handed out so he might as well beg him for his head to cut off the source of his father king’s medicine. The prince went to the temple where Nāgārjuna lived and told some Jakata stories about the Buddha who gave up his life first. And then he said he needed a head which could not be recruited and nor be obtained by killing the innocent. Therefore, he came to beg. Nāgārjuna cut his throat with dry grass leaves and presented his head. After hearing the news, the king died as expected.

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The two stories both showed that Nāgārjuna died of suicide and Dakshinapatha at that time was in the era of very intense religious and political struggles. After Nāgārjuna died, countries in Dakshinapatha built temples for him and worshipped him as a Buddha.

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Important works and his Chinese translations

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By the active carrying forward of the *Svabhāva ūnya* theory of Mahayana Prajna, Nāgārjuna became a landmark character in the history of thought of Mahayana Buddhism. He had plentiful work, and was nicknamed “Lord of Thousand Theories”. About 20 books of these works have been retained in Chinese translations, and 118 in Tibetan translations. The most important Chinese translations are as follows: *100 volumes of Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom* (*Mahāprajnāpāramitāśāstra*), translated by Kumārajīva, was written for the interpretation of Mahàpraj¤àparamitàsåtra, the classic with the greatest length at that time and had a great influence on the later development of Mahayana Buddhism, so it is called the “Treatise of the Treatises”. The treatise is widely involved in doctrines, canons, cases, history, geography and legends and refers to numerous classical sutras, such as the classics and treatises of primitive Buddhism and Sectarian Buddhism, among which there were *Saddharmapuõóarãkasåtra* of early Mahayana Buddhism classics and *Avatamsaka*

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Nāgārjuna

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*Sutra* (*Buddhavatausakamahavaipulyasatra*). It even touched upon the thoughts of Hindu Vaishesika. It is nothing short of the then encyclopaedia of Buddhism and provides important information for present-day study on Mahayana Buddhism and ancient Indian culture. The treatise is long. Considering the fact that the Chinese language advocated concision, Kumārajīva cut the length and made it brief and did not translate all of the originals. But according to a recent study, the Chinese translation contains most of the content of the original sutra.

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*Daśabhūmika-vibhāṣā-śāstra*, also known as *Ten Abidings Sutra*, 17 volumes, was recited by Buddhayasas in late Qin Buddha and translated by Kumārajīva. The sutra was the annotation of *The Ten Grounds of Avatamsaka Sutra* (Kumārajīva called “ten grounds” as “ten abidings’), but did not give the explanatory note on the whole article, but only on the first ground (“joy ground”) and half of the second ground (“immaculate ground”). It’s said that the rest of text was left out as it was not recited by Buddhayasas. The structure of the book was chequered with verse and prose, briefly introducing the scripture meaning first, and extended and commented on it later. The content of this sutra is of some importance in understanding the thoughts of Nāgārjuna.

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Bodhi Sambhara Treatise (Pu Ti Zi Liang Lun, six volumes) was translated by Dharmagupta in Sui Dynasty. The book was originally written by Nāgārjuna in verse with his own notes. But the notes have been lost and now there are only brief notes written by monk Ishvara. *Sambhara* means qualifications, or in particular, the qualifications required for believers to achieve Bodhi. Nāgārjuna took Prajnaparamita as the initial qualification, followed in order by *Sila, Ksanti, Virya, Dhyana, Upaya, Vow, Bala, Prajna*, as well as *Metta, Karuna*, Joy and Renunciation etc. The book is very helpful in studying Bodhicitta and Bodhi Sambhara.

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Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, also known as The Treatise on the Middle Way, 4 volumes and 27 sections, were translated by Kumārajāva. The translated version included the Nāgārjuna’s 446 original verses and the brief notes by Aoki. This is a work on debate, aimed to refute Theravada Buddhism and other schools and to propose his own assertion. The thoughts expressed in Mūlamadhyamakakārikā had great influence on the later Mahayana Buddhism. It was old that after the Treatise was published more than 70 people wrote brief notes about it which showed the heat of the study then. Among these people the more renowned were Bhavavivek, author of *Praj¤àpradãpa ÷ àstrakarika*, 15 volumes (translated by Prabhāmitra in Tang Dynasty); Sthiramati, author of *Måla-madhyamaka-sandhi-nirmocana-vyàkhyà*, 18 volumes (translated by Wei Jing and Dharmarksa in Song Dynasty); Asaïga, author of *Shun Zhong Lun* (translated by Prajnaruei in North Wei Dynasty), etc. After the inheritance of several generations of the Middle Way philosophy, a sectarian of Buddhism was formed in India - Madhyamika. The theory also had far-reaching influence in China. Sengzhao, a disciple of Kumārajīva, wrote *Bu Zhen Kong Lun* and other thesis. After that, Ji Zang wrote *Zhong Guan Lun Shu* to further extend the theory and on the basis of the works of *Śataśāstra* and *Dvādashanikāya-śāstra*, established the Sanlun school. The theory is also popular in the Tibetan region. Gen Ben Zhong Lun Zhu written by Buddhapālita has a Tibetan translated version. Tsongkhapa also wrote *Zhong Lun Guang Shi* and systematically elaborated the fundamental insights of the Middle Way philosophy.

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*Mādyamika Śāstra*

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*Dvādashanikāya-śāstra* with a total of 26 verses in the book was translated into Chinese by Kumārajīva. The book provided an outline for *Mūlamadhyamakakārikā*, setting up 12 doors to explain the fundamental truth of it, refuted Theravada prejudices and expressed the Mahayana emptiness theory which can be regarded as an introductory book to *Mūlamadhyamakakārikā*. The important comments written by Han monks for it were Notes for *Dvādashanikāya-śāstra*, three volumes (or six volumes), by Ji Zang of Sui Dynasty, keynotes of and comments on *Dvādashanikāya-śāstra*, two volumes, by Fa Zang in Tang Dynasty, etc.

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*Vigraha-vyàvartanã*, one volume and 72 verses with the author’s notes were translated into Chinese by Vimokùasena and Praj¤ànaruci in the Late Wei Dynasty. The book on the debate aimed to criticise Hindu Nyāya theory. The content comprises two parts: the questioning by Nyāya of the Mahayana doctrine of “everything is empty and non-self” and the corresponding refutation by Nāgārjuna. In the process of disproving the other’s point of view, Nāgārjuna illustrated the basis on which the aforementioned theory was established and effectively promoted and spread the Mahayana viewpoints. Nyāya was an expert in epistemology and logic and the analysing and enquiring methods used by Nāgārjuna here to refute the opponent in the debate also provided valuable information for the study of the primitive logic study in India. This book also has the Tibetan translation.

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*Ratnāvalī*, one volume and five sections, was translated into Chinese by Paramàrtha in Chen Dynasty. This book focussed on the sermon for the rulers which can be seen as a political writing. The book described the Buddhist world view, emphasised on the theory of *samsāra* and *karma* and the doctrine of *pratitya-samutpāda* and listed good and evil deeds to advice the good and give commandment to the evil. It pointed out that the king wanted to create a great career with his own good deeds and at the same time he built temple towers and Buddha statues to contribute to society. The book has a detailed explanation on the king’s way and the path of dharma practice. Most of the aforementioned Chinese translations have no Sanskrit versions any more.

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Religious Philosophy and Theory

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Nāgārjuna believed that the ultimate reality of the universe was *śūnyatā* (“emptiness”), ie “not being, not non-being, not being and non-being, not no being or non-being”. Everything in the world, including the Buddha, was in a kind of a relative, interdependent relationship ie hetupratyaya. The seeming existence was but a borrowed concept, ie praj¤apti. It had no independent entity in itself, ie anātman (“no-self”). He summed up this thought in the 18th verse of the 24th section *catvārī āryasatyāni* of *Mūlamadhyamaka-kārikā*: *yaþ pratãtyasamutpàdaþ ÷ånyatàü tàu pracakùmahe, sà praj¤aptirupàdàya pratipatsaiva madhyamà*. For this verse, Kumārajīva translated it: “For all the hetupratyaya, I say it is empty (or non-existent); it is also praj¤apti and it is middle way.” This is the famous “three is verse”. It suggests that the key to understand “dependent origination” (*pratītyasamutpada*), the fundamental principle of Buddhism, is to know the empty nature and false existence at the same time in order to get rid of the “side opinion” (*antaparigrahadçùñi*)persisting to the either side. This is the so-called “middle way philosophy”. To illustrate the theory of *śūnyatā* (“emptiness”), he proposed the two-truths doctrine and believed that there were two levels of truth or reality in Buddhist teaching for people with different foundations: to teach the conventional or common reality (*saüvçtisatya*) for ignorant ordinary people, saying “everything (including the world and the living beings, etc.) exists”; to teach the ultimate or real reality (paramàrthasatya) for the saints who could understand the truth, saying “everything doesn’t exist”. This is a “common existence” and “ultimate non-existence”. In order to discuss the non-authenticity of the world, he put forward the theory of “eight no’s”, ie the no birth and no vanishing in terms of entity; no continuity and no interruption in terms of time; no uniformity and no difference in terms of space; and no coming and no going in terms of movement. He thought that by denying the eight categories, he could prove the relative reality of the objective world and subjective understanding, which showed the truth of the absolute reality or emptiness. As in the meaning of “emptiness”, the wide gap between the real world and the world on the other side no longer existed, the world and nirvana has no difference in between. Thus, as long as people eliminated ignorance, and denied the just relatively existing world, people entered nirvana. This nirvana concept is clearly different from the nirvana signaled by vanishing and death in early Buddhism. In terms of inheritance, Nāgārjuna was the second generation disciple of Aśvaghośa (Maming), the ancient Indian Mahayana Buddhism theorist and poet. Among his own disciples, Deva was the most famous. The writings of Nāgārjuna and Deva, after being introduced and translated by Kumārajīva in the 5th century, had a great influence on Chinese Buddhism and were commonly praised and worshipped by Sanlun, Tiantai, Huayan, Chan, and other schools.

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*Mahāprajnāpāramitā Śāstra*

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Deva

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Deva [Tipo] (c. 3 CE) was a disciple of Nāgārjuna. Also known as Āryadeva, he was an important representative of Mahayana Madhyamika. He was also named Kàõadeva (meaning one-eyed *devas*) due to his loss of an eye.

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*Deva*

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Life Story

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According to the biography of Bodhisattva Deva, Deva was born in a Brahmin family in Dakshinapatha. However, Xuanzang’s Great Tang Records on the Western Regions claimed that Deva was from Simhala (present-day Sri Lanka). Legend has it that he was knowledgeable, eloquent and often regretted that people in the world were not able to believe and make use of his words. As for his loss of an eye, the story says that he once took out the glass eyeball of a Siva statue in a temple because he thought that the Siva God was flashing his glass eyes to confuse people. However, one day when he prepared exquisite dishes and went to the temple to worship, the statue demanded him to make his own eye as an offering instead. Deva immediately plucked out the left eyeball and as a reward Siva promised to make all his words came true and that he was to be worshiped by people. As expected, his wishes were fulfilled. He met Nāgārjuna, became a monk and then traveled around various places to publicise the doctrine of Madhyamaka. According to Xuanzang’s record, Hinduism was prosperous then in Pātliputra of Uttarapatha (present-day Patna, Bihar) while Buddhism was in the decline and the Buddhist monks would be defeated whenever there was a debate, resulting in a ruling to their insult that for 12 years Buddhists were not allowed to knock the *ghaṇṭā* (the likes of bell, inverted bell) to convene the followers. After hearing this, Deva voluntarily went to restore the reputation. Worried about his lack of scholastic ability, Nāgārjuna himself acted as a heretic monk and debated with Deva who exhausted Nāgārjuna’s arguments seven days later and thus was able to go. He disguised himself and sneaked into the city, spent the night near the *ghaõñà* stage. He slammed the ghaṇṭā the next morning and carried on a heated debate with the heretics in front of the King. He finally won with his eloquence. Xuanzang saw the stupas set up for the commemoration of this debate when his visited the city.

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