Buddhist Philosophy in India and Ceylon c19.s2.42

c19.s2.42

Asaṅga’s brother, Vasubandhu, originally like him an adherent of the Sarvāstivāda, and author of the Abhidharmakoça, was converted in late life by Asaṅga to belief in the Mahāyāna, which he illustrated by commenting on the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, the Prajñāpāramitā, the Vimalakīrti, the Avataṃsaka, the Çrīmālāsiṃhanāda &c., and by composing the Ratnatraya and Vijñānamātrasiddhi. His fame seems to have been extraordinary, and his works to have been studied by both the Hīnayāna and the Mahāyāna schools and to have spread far beyond India. He also wrote a Paramārthasaptati attacking the Sāṃkhyasaptati of the mysterious Vindhyavāsa, whose identity with Īçvarakṛṣṇa is still in doubt. The date of the brothers is uncertain, but the Chinese evidence suggests strongly that they flourished up to the middle of the fourth century A. D., a date which suits well all the evidence available.¹