A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t4.277

v2.c19.s6.t4.277

¹ *I-tsing* (transl. *Takakusu*, p. 181) classes Asaṅga and Vasubandhu among the celebrated men of the "middle ages," *i.e.* the period between the time of Aśvaghoṣa, Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva on the one hand, and his own time on the other. The Indian monk Paramārtha (499-569 A.D.) compiled a biography of Vasubandhu, in which that of his brother Asaṅga is also included. It has been translated from the Chinese by J. *Takakusu* in T'oung Pao V, 1904, pp. 1 ff.; given in extracts by W. *Wassiljew*, Der Buddhismus, p. 235 ff. Still more fabulous than the Chinese is the Tibetan biography in *Tāranātha's* History of Buddhism, p. 107 ff. Paramārtha took the works of Asaṅga and Vasubandhu from Magadha to China in the year 539. Hsüan-Tsang, too (s. *Watters* I, 854 ff.), relates legends of Asaṅga and Vasubandhu.