A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t4.275

v2.c19.s6.t4.275

Asaṅga, more properly Vasubandhu Asaṅga, is the eldest of three brothers, who were born as the sons of a Brahman of the Kauśika family in Puruṣapura (the present-day Peshāwar) in the extreme North-West of India. They probably lived in the 4th century⁶ and were all three originally adherents of the Sarvāstivāda school. The youngest, Vasubandhu Viriñcivatsa, was not prominent in literature. So much the more important was the middle one of the three brothers, Vasubandhu, one of the most prominent figures in the history of Buddhist literature.¹ He combined great independence of thought with astonishing erudition. His chief work, the Abhidharmakośa, has unfortunately not come down in the Sanskrit original. We only know the Abhidharmakośa-[cont]