Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t17: Asvaghosa

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t17

Language
English

Asvaghosa

v2.c10.s2.t17.1

Asvaghosa (about 80-150 CE) was an Indian poet, dramatist and philosopher, and the greatest poet prior to Kalidasa and the first Sanskrit dramatist. He is also known as a poet-philosopher and has a profound influence on Chinese Buddhist and literary circles.

v2.c10.s2.t17.2

Life and Legend

v2.c10.s2.t17.3

Though legendary, *The Biography of Bodhisattva Asvaghosa*, translated into Chinese in the early 5ᵗʰ century CE by the reputed Kumarajiva, still contains some information about the life of Asvaghosa. Generally, he is believed to be born in a Brahmin family in Saketa in northern India, have a profound literary learning and live from about late 1ˢᵗ century CE to early 2ⁿᵈ century CE. Originally, he was a follower of Brahmanism, but after debate with Parsva, he was convinced, and he converted to Buddhism and became a monk. He belonged to Sarvastivada and Theravada, but also entertained burgeoning Mahayana thoughts. He was smart, eloquent and good at debate, and was a treasure of the nation. Later, Kusana (a kingdom founded by a sect of Xiao Yuezhi, a sect of Da Yuezhi) came to besiege the central kingdom and demanded the Buddha’s begging bowl and Asvaghosa, who was well versed in sutras and travelled to preach and persuade the people. His preaching was eloquent and edifying, and those hearing it all felt enlightened.

v2.c10.s2.t17.4

Aśvaghoṣa (Ma Ming)

v2.c10.s2.t17.5

It is said, Kanishka ordered that seven horses be starved for six days, then he made an assembly and had Asvaghosa preach the Dharma. Ignoring the grass placed in front of them, the horses were attracted by his preaching, neighing with tears and seeming to have understood the meaning. For this, he got the name Aśvaghoṣa, which means ‘neigh of the horse’. Kanishka was finally convinced and converted to Buddhism, together with his courtiers and people, and treated Asvaghosa with great regard and respect. Several scholars across the world generally think Asvaghosa was born in Ayodhya in northern India.

v2.c10.s2.t17.6

Major Works and Influence in China

v2.c10.s2.t17.7

Asvaghosa was a poet of classical style, and displayed an extraordinary talent for poetry. He wrote two long poems, ‘*Buddhacarita*’ and ‘*Saundarananda*’ to propagate Dharma. The remaining chapters of his three plays (corrected and published in 1911) were unearthed in Xinjiang in the early 20ᵗʰ century, including among others ‘*Sariputraprakarana*’. Of Chinese and Tibetan sutras, many works of philosophy and Buddhist stories also have been ascribed to him.

v2.c10.s2.t17.8

‘*Buddhacarita*’ is a masterpiece by Asvaghosa. It describes the life and teachings of Buddha in an elegant and eloquent manner. It is a classical text of Indian Buddhist literature and had been well spread in ancient India. As Yijing mentioned in volume 4 of *Account of Buddhism Sent from the South Seas*, *Buddhacarita* “was extensively read in all the five parts of India and in the countries of the South Sea (Sumātra, Jāva and neighbouring islands). He clothed manifold notions and ideas

v2.c10.s2.t17.9

‘*Buddhacarita (Fo suo xing zan)*’, *front cover of the Sanskrit-English version*

v2.c10.s2.t17.10

in a few words which so delighted the heart of his reader that he never wearied of perusing the poem.” For this reason, it was translated into Chinese in the early 5ᵗʰ century by Dharmaksema, who was an Indian monk versed in Chinese and translated many Buddhist texts for Juqu Mengxun, the Duke of Zhangye in the Northern Liang Dynasty. His translation of ancient Indian poems into classical Chinese is a much-told story in the history of India-China cultural exchange. A different translation was made by Baoyun (Liu Song Period in the Southern dynasties, 420-479) which includes seven books and 31 chapters, is longer than ‘*Buddhacarita*’ and with different details and intermingles five-character with four-character or seven-character. There was also Tibetan translation in Tang Dynasty which is the same as the one in Chinese. Only the first half of the original Sanskrit text is left while Chinese and Tibetan translations are complete, and to some extent, compensate for the lack of the original texts.

v2.c10.s2.t17.11

*Buddhacarita* is a biography of Buddha, and its Chinese translation contains five books, 28 chapters and about 9,300 lines and more than 46,000 words. The poet told in great details the life of Gautama Buddha from his birth until his attainment of Nirvana. The first 14 chapters are about his family, his marriage, his travels, ascetic practices, and meditation, and the remaining 14 chapters are about his first teaching, disciples and preaches. Lengthy and homiletic, yet, overall, this epic achieves a unity between form and contents. Then, it was also the first long poem in history of Chinese literature, and from then on, blank verse entered and expanded in China.

v2.c10.s2.t17.12

Confined by the style the Chinese translation is in five-character form and without rhythm and thus could not totally be in agreement with the original text. However on the whole, it has reproduced the original contents. Due to aesthetic standards then prevailing in China, some erotic phrases about women were deleted, while in other places, some addition was made. The poem’s meaning and style are sinicised.

v2.c10.s2.t17.13

*Saundarananda* with 18 chapters, relates the story of Gautama Buddha returning to Kapilavastu to preach and convert his half-brother Nanda. Nanda had a nice wife and thus, he was reluctant to leave. Buddha took him to roam the heavens and there Nanda, captivated by prettier nymphs, wished to stay and live there. Buddha told him that only ascetic practices could do that. Nanda therefore converted and was prepared to return to the heavens. Through instructions from Ananda, a disciple of Buddha, he finally realised that nymphs should not be desired and joys in heaven were uncertain as well. Liberation only arises from faithful conversion. As a result, he retreated to the forest and practiced four Jhanas and eventually turned into an Arhat. Literarily inferior to *Buddhacarita*, this poem has not been translated into Chinese but the basic story could be found in Chinese sutras, for example, Article 96 (‘Brother Nanda Converted by the Buddha’) of ‘*Za Bao Zang Jing*’ translated by Kinkara and Tan Yao in the Northern Wei Dynasty.

v2.c10.s2.t17.14

His three plays unearthed in Turfan, Xinjiang in the early 20ᵗʰ century CE, are the earliest extant ones in Sanskrit. The nine-act ‘*Sariputraprakaran*’ describes the conversion of Buddha’s two disciples, Sariputta and Maudgalyayana. Though incomplete, it is yet a standard and mature Sanskrit drama in terms of characters, language and structure.

v2.c10.s2.t17.15

Also ascribed to ‘Asvaghosa are ‘*Jianzhui Fanzan*’ transliterated in the Song Dynasty and ‘*Dazhuangyan Lunjing*’ translated by Kumarajiva. The former consists of 29 stanzas, and the latter includes 14 books and 89 Dharma-preaching stories.

v2.c10.s2.t17.16

In his *Literary Translation and Buddhist Texts* (1920), Liang Qichao, a modern Chinese scholar, pointed out, “In modern China, pure literature, such as novel and song is closely related to translated Buddhist texts.” He said, when reading Asvaghosa’s ‘*Buddhacarita*’, he felt “it is similar to Yuefu poetry, such as *Peacock Flies Southeast*.” He was of the opinion that, Chinese epics, such as ‘*Peacock Flies Southeast*’ and ‘*Mulan Ballad*’ might have been composed under the influence of ‘*Buddhacarita*’. Lu Kanru held a similar opinion, while Hu Shi thought that ‘*Peacock Flies Southeast*’ had a different origin rather than having anything to do with Buddhist texts.

v2.c10.s2.t17.17

*Buddhacarita (Fo suo xing zan), Yongle Nanzang edition, Ming Dynasty*

v2.c10.s2.t17.18

Liang Qichao also thought, Asvaghosa’s ‘*Dazhuangyan Lunjing*’ was a novel like ‘*Scholars*’ in China. Early Chinese novels since ‘*Soushen Ji*’ in the Jin Dynasty, all had something do with ‘*Dazhuangyan Lunjing*’, while *Buddhavatamsaka-mahavaipulya-sutra* and *Mahaparinirvana-sutra* have much influence on modern Chinese novels, such as *Water Margin* and *Dream of the Red Chamber*. In the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, Zaju, Chuanqi, Tanci and other forms also drew something indirectly from ‘*Buddhacarita*’.

v2.c10.s2.t17.19

In modern China, Jin Kemu, in *A History of Sanskrit Literature*, and his female student Guo Liangyun, in *A history of Ancient Indian Literature*, each gave a separate chapter to discuss the contents and the value of Asvaghosa’s major works as well as merits and demerits of their Chinese translations.

v2.c10.s2.t17.20

(*Liu Jian*)

Linked texts (5)