A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t4.217

v2.c19.s6.t4.217

According to the biography of Nāgārjuna translated into Chinese by Kumārajīva (in about 405 A.D.), Nāgārjuna was born as a Brahman in Southern India, studied the four Vedas and learned all sciences. He was also, however, said to be a great sorcerer. By his magic art he was able to make himself invisible, and, accompanied by three friends, he secretly entered into the royal palace, where they began to violate the women. They were discovered, Nāgārjuna's three companions were sentenced to death, but he himself escaped after he had first vowed to become a monk. He fulfilled his vow, studied the whole of the three Piṭakas in 90 days, and grasped their meaning; yet he was not satisfied with this, but began to seek other Sūtras, until at last he received the Mahāyāna-Sūtra from a very aged monk in the Himalaya. With the aid of a Nāgarāja, a serpent-king, he also found a commentary on it. He zealously propagated Buddhism in Southern India. He directed the religion, says the biographer, for over 300 years.¹ The Tibetans even go as far as to let him attain the age of 600 years.