A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t4.302

v2.c19.s6.t4.302

A work which attempted a synthesis of the teachings of the Mādhyamika and Vijñānavāda schools, is the Mahāyāna-Sraddhotpāda, “The Origin of the Mahāyāna Faith.” It is attributed to Aśvaghoṣa, but cannot possibly have been written by the poet of the Buddhacarita. It must remain an open question whether it was attributed to the great poet with a view to securing a greater reputation for the book, or whether there was an Aśvaghoṣa II in about the 5th century A.D., who wrote this philosophical work, which gives evidence of an advanced stage of development of Mahāyāna philosophy.² The work has come down only in two Chinese versions, one by Paramārtha (about 553 A.D.) and one by Sikṣānanda (about 700 A.D.).³ It is entirely unknown in Sanskrit, and is not quoted either by the great masters of the Mahāyāna or their commentators. In a biography of Hsüan-Tsang, the Mahāyāna-Śraddhotpāda is ascribed to the celebrated Aśvaghoṣa, but it is said that Hsüan-Tsang translated it *from Chinese into Sanskrit*, and thus propagated it throughout the five empires of India.¹ Even at the present day the work is much studied in the schools and monasteries of Japan and it is a favourite work of reference.