Meera Sasithal | Jul 26, 2015 The Free Press
Journal
Asvaghosa was an
Indian Philosopher-poet. He was born to a Brahmin family in Ayodhya
in Northern India. He is believed to have been the first Sanskrit
dramatist, and is considered the greatest Indian poet prior to
Kalidasa (5th century). He is acclaimed as the father of
Sanskrit drama. He popularized the style of Sanskrit poetry known
as Kavya. His span of life was from 80 AD to 150 AD. He died in
Peshawar.
He was it seems the
most famous in a group of Buddhist court writers whose epics
rivaled the contemporary Ramayana. Much of Buddhist literature
prior to the time of Asvaghosa had been composed in Buddhist Hybrid
Sanskrit but Asvaghosa wrote in Classical Sanskrit. He was said to
be an outspoken opponent of Buddhism till he had a heated debate
with a noted Buddhist scholar on the relative merits of Hinduism
and Buddhism; he accepted the value of Buddhism and became a
disciple of his opponent.
According to the
traditional biography of Asvaghosa which was translated into
Chinese by Kumaragiva and preserved in that language, he was
originally a wandering ascetic who was able to defeat all comers in
debate. He set a challenge to the Buddhists monks that if none
could meet with him in debate then they should stop beating the
wood-block which signaled to the people to bring offerings to them.
There was no one there to meet the challenge so they stopped
beating the wood-block.
However at that
time, in the North, there was an elderly Bhikshu named Parsva, who
saw that if he could convert the ascetic, it would be a great asset
to propagation of the Dharma, so he travelled from Northern India
and has the wood-block sounded. The ascetic when he heard the
wood-block sounded, he questioned as to whom and why it was
sounded. Though thinking the old monk would be unable to debate
with him, he accepted the challenge.
After seven days,
the debate was held in front of the King, Ministers, and many
ascetics and Brahmins. The loser agreed to become the disciple of
the other. They agreed that the elderly Parsva should speak first
and he said: “The world should be made peaceable with a long-lived
king, plentiful harvests, and joy throughout the land with none of
the calamities,” to which the ascetic had no answer. And, so the
ascetic was bound to become Parsva’s disciple and he was given full
ordination as a Bhikshu.
Although he had to
consent to this, the ascetic was still not convinced of Parsva’s
virtues until he showed him he had mastered the Basis of Spiritual
Power, after which the ascetic was convinced. Parsva then taught
him the Five faculties, the Five Powers, the Seven factors and the
Eightfold Noble Path and eventually he mastered the
teachings.
Later it seems the
Central Kingdom was besieged by the Kusan king’s army who demanded
300,000 gold pieces in tribute. The king of the Central
Kingdom could not pay so much. The Kusan king, therefore, asked for
the Buddha’s begging bowl, the converted monk (ascetic) and 100,000
gold pieces. Though the king of the Central Kingdom was reluctant
to part with the converted monk, the monk persuades him saying it
would be good for the propagation of the Dharma which would spread
across the continent if he went with the Kusan King. So the Kusan
king takes with him the ascetic or the converted monk or
Bhikshu.
The Kusan king’s
Ministers were, however, were not happy as they thought the Bhikshu
was priced incorrectly at 100,000 gold pieces. But the King who
knew the worth of the Bhikshu ordered that seven horses be starved
for six days. The King then had the Assembly make the Bhikshu
preach the Dharma. To everybody’s surprise even the horses leaving
their favourite food placed in front of them were entranced by the
teaching of the Monk and listened intently!! All were convinced now
of his worth. The ascetic or the converted monk was then honoured
with the name of ‘Asvaghosa’ (Horse-cry).
Apparently the
philosopher rose to the position of spiritual counsellor in
Kanishka’s court at Peshawar. He travelled throughout Northern
India proclaiming the Dharma and guiding all with his wisdom and
understanding. He was held in great regard by the Four-fold
Assembly who saw him as the Sun of Merit and Virtue. Asvaghosa was
a brilliant orator who could speak on length on Mahayana (Greater
Vehicle) Buddhist doctrine at the Fourth Buddhist Council which he
helped to organize. His fame lay largely in his ability to explain
the intricate concepts of Mahayana Buddhism.
Asvaghosa is
described in Tibetian history as someone who could just solve any
solution, any query and could give a solution to any problem. His
opponents were intellectually beaten down by him. Asvaghosa was
also known for his musical talents. He used to roam around with his
musical partners, men and women, playing music and singing songs in
market places. His songs used to narrate about the banalities of
life and the meaningless of human existence without faith and
belief. Later, he made this one of his techniques to spread the
message of his religion.
There is another
story pertaining to the term ‘Asvaghosa’. Asvaghosa was once
teaching and singing the principles of Dharma to a crowd in the
royal city when the king deliberately tried to feed seven hungry
horses to test their reaction to Asvaghosa’s teachings. The horses
were distressed due to hunger, but they did not touch the food to
appease their hunger. They seemed to understand Asvaghosa’s sermon
and were relieved. That is how the name Asvaghosa bodhi sattva came
into being; it literally means “horses that listen to
Bodhisattva”.
Asvaghosa’s famous
works include Mahayana Sraddhotpada-Sastra, which means Awakening
of Faith in Mahayana, Buddhacharita or Life of Buddha and
Mahalankara or the Book of Glory. He also wrote a poem called
‘Saundaramanakavya’. It was about the conversion of Nanda
(Buddha’s half-brother) to Buddhism by Lord Buddha in order to give
him Salvation.
Regarding other
works, Sraddhotpada was translated in Chinese language first time
in 534 A.D. and then 710 A.D. After its second translation, it was
it seems finally translated into English language by T. Suzuki. It
was called the “Discourse on the wakening of Faith in the
Mahayana”.
Though Asvaghosa
initially was a strict opponent of Buddhism he finally became one
of the most noted disciple of Buddhism and preacher of
Buddhism.